THE ART OF FORGIVENESS
GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS:
First of all, I want to take the time to paraphrase this text into terms that we can use in context for today. PHILIPPIANS 1:20-25 " I have an earnest hope and an expectation for my life in Christ. In that expectation is the hope that I would never do anything that would make me ashamed of the witness that I have been called to give with my relationship with God because I want to be bold in what I say and always to magnify Christ in what I do and say. It does not matter if it is in my life or my death as long as it gives the best witness for Christ. If I live it will be for Christ's glory, and if I die it will be for my gain. If I am to live in this world I can only produce what fruit I can for the Kingdom. I cannot have what I want the most; which is to be with God, and I am caught between two things; to depart and be with Christ which is far better for me than to be here, or to stay with you and to teach you through the wisdom of God's Spirit which is better for you. I know that for now, I will be with you so that you will continue in the joy of your faith"
As Paul wrote these words he was also making a declaration to the world that he had made a decision about his life. We have often heard the words " For me to live is Christ and for me to die is gain" without having any real comprehension of what that statement really means. I want to deal with something that we know very little about today, and that is FORGIVENESS. I want to come at this subject in a different way than you have perhaps ever before understood it. I want to approach it through our accountability to God. You see, we cannot forgive another person unless our hearts are open to being able to accept forgiveness, and that starts with being truthful...another word for being truthful is being straight.
1. Being open to God is ...being open to self. I don't really think that we can be one without being the other as well.
A. Have you ever argued with yourself?
B. Have you ever argued with God?
I believe that most of us have argued with ourselves over matters. There are things that we seem forced into doing that we don't want to do, but I don't think too many of us have allowed ourselves to openly argue with God about something He is telling us...we may mutter under our breath, but any man that has been married for very long knows that won't work with your wife because she seems to hear everything you say. My point is this...so doe God.
2. What kind of relationship do you want to have with God? Most people do not know how to go about that kind of thing other than to use old cliches and worn-out church concepts to describe what they have heard all of their lives.
A. Do you want the same kind of relationship that you have always had with the people around you where you can be as close as you want to be, or hold someone at an arms-length without them realizing it? Is that the kind of relationship that you have right now in your mind and heart with God?
B. Do you want the kind of relationship that makes you and God a part of each other? Do you want to have spiritual truth in your life? What might that really look like?
I can tell you that it does not look like what we see in the church today because we are talking about all of the wrong subjects. We are desperately trying not to offend anyone who needs to get serious with the transformation of their lives to begin to fit into what God's perfection spiritually looks like.
In the word, those of us who actually do believe in Christ need to be working on the transformation of our characters. One of the things we have stopped looking for in others is the natural change that occurs in someone's life when Christ enters their lives. It becomes the experience that we have with meeting Christ in our hearts that seems to be missing, and while we can say that we mentally have accepted the truth about Jesus Christ as our savior it does not mean that we have surrendered our hearts and minds to Him. We must begin to realize that our transformation is very often not an over-night thing, but a life-long process. The character change that we are undergoing is the creation of a new creature in Christ that we could never attain by ourselves. When we say to ourselves " I cannot change that in my life it is a part of who I am" we are simply making an excuse for the sin we are holding on to. Those who are caught in the mind-blowing addictions of this life know exactly what I am talking about. The sexual sins, the life-style sins, the attitude sins that we all have can and must be changed before we can fit into God's Kingdom. If we refuse to change because it is just who we are then we will fail to produce fruit, and if we do that we will be treated like any other dead or fruitless branch and be cut off from the vine at harvest time.
As I study the deeper things of God in the word I am finding that same struggle in everyone who has gotten serious about their relationship with God. We must eventually deal with the natural man that we are in this world. That natural man has been indoctrinated into the thoughts, life, and wisdom of this world, and it causes us to think that we know best how to change our lives, but we do not. Our conversations, therefore, need to be changed from that of the millions of definitions of love or the change needed in how we experience Christ in the transformation of our character. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
First of all, I want to take the time to paraphrase this text into terms that we can use in context for today. PHILIPPIANS 1:20-25 " I have an earnest hope and an expectation for my life in Christ. In that expectation is the hope that I would never do anything that would make me ashamed of the witness that I have been called to give with my relationship with God because I want to be bold in what I say and always to magnify Christ in what I do and say. It does not matter if it is in my life or my death as long as it gives the best witness for Christ. If I live it will be for Christ's glory, and if I die it will be for my gain. If I am to live in this world I can only produce what fruit I can for the Kingdom. I cannot have what I want the most; which is to be with God, and I am caught between two things; to depart and be with Christ which is far better for me than to be here, or to stay with you and to teach you through the wisdom of God's Spirit which is better for you. I know that for now, I will be with you so that you will continue in the joy of your faith"
As Paul wrote these words he was also making a declaration to the world that he had made a decision about his life. We have often heard the words " For me to live is Christ and for me to die is gain" without having any real comprehension of what that statement really means. I want to deal with something that we know very little about today, and that is FORGIVENESS. I want to come at this subject in a different way than you have perhaps ever before understood it. I want to approach it through our accountability to God. You see, we cannot forgive another person unless our hearts are open to being able to accept forgiveness, and that starts with being truthful...another word for being truthful is being straight.
1. Being open to God is ...being open to self. I don't really think that we can be one without being the other as well.
A. Have you ever argued with yourself?
B. Have you ever argued with God?
I believe that most of us have argued with ourselves over matters. There are things that we seem forced into doing that we don't want to do, but I don't think too many of us have allowed ourselves to openly argue with God about something He is telling us...we may mutter under our breath, but any man that has been married for very long knows that won't work with your wife because she seems to hear everything you say. My point is this...so doe God.
2. What kind of relationship do you want to have with God? Most people do not know how to go about that kind of thing other than to use old cliches and worn-out church concepts to describe what they have heard all of their lives.
A. Do you want the same kind of relationship that you have always had with the people around you where you can be as close as you want to be, or hold someone at an arms-length without them realizing it? Is that the kind of relationship that you have right now in your mind and heart with God?
B. Do you want the kind of relationship that makes you and God a part of each other? Do you want to have spiritual truth in your life? What might that really look like?
I can tell you that it does not look like what we see in the church today because we are talking about all of the wrong subjects. We are desperately trying not to offend anyone who needs to get serious with the transformation of their lives to begin to fit into what God's perfection spiritually looks like.
In the word, those of us who actually do believe in Christ need to be working on the transformation of our characters. One of the things we have stopped looking for in others is the natural change that occurs in someone's life when Christ enters their lives. It becomes the experience that we have with meeting Christ in our hearts that seems to be missing, and while we can say that we mentally have accepted the truth about Jesus Christ as our savior it does not mean that we have surrendered our hearts and minds to Him. We must begin to realize that our transformation is very often not an over-night thing, but a life-long process. The character change that we are undergoing is the creation of a new creature in Christ that we could never attain by ourselves. When we say to ourselves " I cannot change that in my life it is a part of who I am" we are simply making an excuse for the sin we are holding on to. Those who are caught in the mind-blowing addictions of this life know exactly what I am talking about. The sexual sins, the life-style sins, the attitude sins that we all have can and must be changed before we can fit into God's Kingdom. If we refuse to change because it is just who we are then we will fail to produce fruit, and if we do that we will be treated like any other dead or fruitless branch and be cut off from the vine at harvest time.
As I study the deeper things of God in the word I am finding that same struggle in everyone who has gotten serious about their relationship with God. We must eventually deal with the natural man that we are in this world. That natural man has been indoctrinated into the thoughts, life, and wisdom of this world, and it causes us to think that we know best how to change our lives, but we do not. Our conversations, therefore, need to be changed from that of the millions of definitions of love or the change needed in how we experience Christ in the transformation of our character. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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