Undeserved Forgiveness

I think the absolute greatest gift you can give someone this holiday season is an Undeserved Forgiveness. Not because our enemy has finally changed their ways or repented or even apologized. But exactly because they have not. That through this free gift of unmerited forgiveness you have shared with them a glimpse of the eternal love of our living God. Here's some very honest quotes to think about as you make your Christmas Card list this year...


Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me. -Anonymous

Forgiveness is . . . accepting God's sovereign use of people and situations to strip you of self importance, and humiliate your self love. -Martha Kilpatrick

When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it. -Louis B. Smedes

Resentment is like a glass of poison that a man drinks; then he sits down and waits for his enemy to die.—Nelson Mandela when asked why he was not resentful for his imprisonment.

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. --William Blake

East from Eden

We didn't evolve from animals.

We've de-evolved into animals.

We were made in the image of God.

But as generation after generation

continues to walk further from God

we, in every way, resemble him less.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
-Nelson Mandela

How We Believe

I know God has chosen to reveal himself to me in ways he knew I would clearly understand- I'm just not sure why it took me so long. So it's a little sideways for me to say this but never the less, it’s come up in a few conversations this last week with friends I have who tell me they’re not totally sold into believing in God. And because I love them and want to share in God's love with them, I've come up with this response. My hope is that maybe it'll help anyone of you...


I tell them that they’re unbelief is the same as someone who says they don't believe in Gravity. Because whether you believe or not, you are still subjugated to and reaping all the rewards and benefits of it. And your ability or inability to believe does not in anyway affect its truth or power- just your appreciation of it.


In scripture Romans 1:19-21 says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”


And if they're still tracking alongside me then I might say something to the effect of, "So just for the record, it's not so much our inability to believe as it is, our unwillingness. God has already made it obvious to us. Like I heard one pastor say, "Every bush is a burning bush." So instead of saying "I don't believe" maybe it'd be more accurate to say, "I won't believe".


For a great example of this check out the crazy demon story in Mark 9:14-29 where a guy looks at Jesus right in the face and says, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" (That's still one of my favorite things to say in prayer)

Being Made New

The 4th century St. Augustine was accosted one day on the street by a former mistress, some time after he became a disciple of Christ. When he saw her he turned and walked the other way. Surprised, the woman called out, "Augustine, it is I!". Augustine, as he kept going the other way, answered her, "Yes Madam, but it is not I."

Heat

"When you are in the middle of the Heat, you haven't somehow gotten yourself outside the circle of God's love and care. God is simply taking you where you do not want to go to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own."


"I can admit my faults with no need to minimize, hide, or give way to paralyzing guilt. I can confess that I need to grow without beating myself up. I can cry out when life is hard but accept responsibility for the way I deal with it. I don’t have to cover my sin, polish my reputation, and keep a record of my successes. I can look at my tomorrow’s with enthusiasm and hope.


Yes, I am still a flawed person in a broken world. But my view of myself is not dark and depressed because the gospel has infused it with HOPE. Christ is with me and in me, and I will never be in a situation where he isn’t redemptively active.


Though change is needed in many ways, I am not discouraged. I am in the middle of a work of personal transformation. This process is often painful, but always beneficial.”
-Paul David Tripp, How People Change



"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed."
-1 Peter 4:12-13

"I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful. I have the freedom to do anything, but I won’t be controlled by anything." -1Corintians6:12

Plank/Speck

I'm reading an awesome book called A Banquet in the Grave by Ed Welch. It’s a book on faith based addiction recovery used by the CCEF institute.
Anyway, here's a great lesson I got from pg.77-
In Matthew 7:5 Jesus says, "First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye."
I had understood this analogy as a command 'Not to judge others faults'. But this book introduces the second half to that, 'How to counsel to others'.
The author says: "Seeing our own faults does not disqualify us from confronting the other person in love. Rather, Scripture indicates that confessing our own sin is the very thing that does authorize us to speak to another about his own sins. It is only then that we can speak in a way that is not judgmental."
So I went back and read the scripture again and notice it does say, "and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye." So that's pretty cool.
One lesson you learn in a lasting recovery is that helping yourself will help others, and helping others will help yourself.
The 12th step in AA says, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
It's just nice to be shown the 2,000 year old backing for that.

“For the addict dope is God. It is the Supreme Being, the Higher Power, in the junkie’s life. He is subjugated to its will. He follows its commandments. The drug is the definition of happiness, and gives the meaning of love. Each shot of junk in his veins is a shot of divine love, and it makes the addict feel resplendent with the grace of God.” -B.Meehan, Beyond the Yellow Brick Road

Faith at Work

It is not enough to receive the implanted word; we must obey it. There is no virtue in possessing the Bible or even reading it as literature. There must be a deep desire to hear God speaking to us and an unquestioning willingness to do whatever He says.

We must translate the bible into action.

–William MacDonald, Believers Bible Commentary

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18