Unforgiveness

Immediately after Jesus teaches us how to pray the Lord's Prayer, He warns us. Why do you think He does that?

(Matthew 6:14) "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

The most miraculous thing that God did for us (through Jesus) is forgive us, wouldn't you agree? If we want God's Mercy and Grace we MUST follow the example of Jesus. So who are we that we can have ANY unforgiveness in our Heart?

Unforgiveness is like death to your spiritual self. He doesn't even desire our offering of worship if we have unforgiveness.

Matthew 5:23-26 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Sometimes this is very hard. Someone has wronged us. Some of the wrongs are very painful and hurt to the core of our being. As hard as it is to hear, it doesn't matter, you must forgive them, without requiring anything of them. That's what Jesus did for us. Salvation is a free gift, for which God requires nothing in return. What you freely give Him is your offering of worship.

Glorious God, I pray that we will know the Joy of the spiritual sacrifice of forgiveness. The greater the forgiveness the greater the freedom and Joy. In Jesus Name. Amen

Barb

The Lord's Prayer

I particularly like Matthew 6 because it is the only place that we actually receive instruction on how to pray, and from Jesus at that! We all pray. We pray for our needs and others needs. We pray for the lost and the sick. We pray for things that we cannot accomplish. But by Jesus own words, we should not worry about all these things, "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Think about that for a moment! Do you think that Heaven "wants or needs" for anything? Do you think there is ANY sickness in Heaven? Of course no one in Heaven is lost. Do you think there is ANYTHING that God cannot accomplish? I believe that God's Kingdom on earth is quite sufficient. How about you?

Heavenly Father, I pray that Your Kingdom will be on earth as it is in Heaven. And may ALL the Glory be Yours. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Matthew 6:7-13 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Matthew 6:32-34 For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Barb

Oh the Joy of Childhood! (2)

Recently on the way home from church my son, Ryan, told me all about the wall at Jericho and the people God was leading to the Promised land. He told me how they walked around it 7 times, blew their horns and then yelled, Praising the Lord, and the walls came down! (Needless to say, this was the unit of study for 5 year olds that Sunday.) This was fascinating to Ryan as he talked about it and thought about it all day long. During the afternoon he played with foam blocks that we have for the kids; building the wall of Jericho, walking around it, blowing his horn, shouting and knocking down the wall. He must have done this a dozen or more times, while singing "I am in the Lord's Army". I smiled to myself at his joy, conquering Jericho over and over again. Never a doubt that he would succeed.

I believe the Lord was showing me that I too had a Promised Land AND a Jericho to conquer, and that for the walls to come down I must be obedient and persistent, as well. Who knows how many times I might have to walk around that wall. Will I keep walking? Am I willing to "walk around my wall" shouting and praising the Lord, even when the odds seem insurmountable? Even when friends and relatives don't understand what you are doing (to put it kindly)? Was I really in the Lord's Army? Do I believe (and not doubt) that He will succeed and bring me to my Promised Land?

What is your Jericho? How will you face it?

Lord, give us all the pure and simple faith of a child. In Jesus name. Amen

Joshua 1:8-9 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Barb

Oh the Joy of Childhood!

My 5 year old son, Ryan, has this kind of uncanny knack for finding change laying around, where ever we may be...grocery store, out for lunch, school, you name it. Recently he decided to get the flashlight and look under the couch. This was not a new event, he looks under the couch pretty much every day, and believe it or not, he almost always comes up with some money. As he started out on his expedition this day, I thought about this. Only a child would even "think" that there would actually be money there again today, since he just looked there yesterday. I smiled to myself at the faith of a child for the unlikely to happen.

I was instantly reminded that our faith was to be like that of a child - we too should be "like children" to the Lord. Our "adult" mind constantly puts God in a box, limits His power and plagues us with doubt. Our experiences shape our world and our decisions about what will or won't happen. The truth is that our experiences don't even begin to cover the realm of possibilities with God. Children haven't had enough experiences to limit all the possibilities - anything is possible! Often our rational mind is our worst enemy. NEVER to stop seeking, regardless of what our "adult" mind might tell us. Believe that we will find what we are seeking.

Do you have God in a box, limited by your experiences?

I pray that we and can push open the box lid and let God out. I pray for childlike hope and faith for all God's children. In Jesus Name. Amen

Matthew 18:3 “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 11:25 “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike."

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Mark 9:23 “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Romans 5:5 "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Barb

Hebrews 6:16-18

Recently I was in Niagara Falls for a conference, and one day when I was running I made my way to the falls overlook. There I paused and looked out over the expanse of water that flows and thought to myself how awesome it all was and what an amazing feature the Lord made for us to enjoy. The very wide river of water that feeds to the falls looks calm enough, yet it migrates around rocks and with definite direction heads towards the falls. There the water quickly turns from calm, yet purposefully surging water to what might be the most powerful display of water power I've ever seen. This is unimaginable power, raw and not redirectable. As it crashed into the surface water, it created a huge mist. This mist rose beyond the heights of the falls and kept anything and anyone nearby moist. And I thought: "How can this water keep on coming and coming? Why doesn't it eventually slow down or stop?"

I believe that the Lord was showing me an analogy of his never-ending presence and power. Our lives flow by like wide and varied rivers, sometimes redirected by obstacles, often looking calm yet with turmoil under the surface, but hopefully with a definite purpose and direction towards the Lord. The awesome power and presence of the Lord is like that of Niagara Falls. It is often beyond our comprehension, yet certainly something to which we are drawn. To those who will continue to seek Him and come close, his presence (like the mist) will be even bigger than He (Holy Spirit) and will cover you. It will change us. And be sure, He will never change and He will never stop! His flow of Love is endless. Never fear that His presence will dry up. It will not. There is more of Him than we can ever imagine.

Hebrews 6:16-18 "When people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence."

Barb