Finding Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World

It is 11^o F, and it is mid-November in Detroit, Michigan! My body isn’t ready for this yet! Ready or not, the cold is coming!

It is the same way with relating to others. They are either “cold or hot”. Like it or not, we cannot chose all our relationships. This means we will need to deal with the matter of forgiveness sooner or later. It was designed that way by God. Perhaps this is a significant part of relating to our Lord in a “hot or cold” way. 

This morning someone asked me, (after a disappointing experience), “How does a person have proof they have forgiven someone?” 

In answering I was reminded of the Lord's Prayer, (Luke 17:1-6), given in response to a similar question, verbalizing a need to pray more effectively, like John the Baptist's disciples had been experiencing. John the Baptist had challenged them to be authentic with their lives.

I simply quoted the Lord's Prayer, emphasizing the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, (or the evil one.)” 

We can tell if we have really forgiven another, by observing where our Heavenly Father leads after we have declared forgiveness with our mouths. He does not tempt, but may lead us into areas that are tempting. 

The prodigal, (Luke 15:17), started the road to forgiveness when he found himself coveting the material wealth his father had accumulated, rather than his father, himself. 

Unfortunately, he did it in covetousness! He eventually forgave completely when he realized that he was operating out of the vacuum and desperation of his own heart, rather than Who had made his father wealthy. When he “came to himself”, and went back home . . he found his father had changed (had he really?), and his brother needed to change as well. (Would he be willing?)

I find it fascinating to realize that the one in the more desperate situation, spiritually, is the very one who is allowed to “get by” with the unheard of, until someone more devoted is challenged with something far less significant.

Spiritual poverty is found among those closest to the Lord - that the rest of the world might believe! (These often include those who are rich in faith. This treasure of Grace is found in old clay pots, 2 Corinthians 4:7!) If Peter had not seen his own failure in the midst of his strategies, and observed Jesus healing the ear of an obedient servant of the High Priest, he would have missed another amazing proof of Who Jesus really was!

FAITH

“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21 (HCSB)

It was one of those moments!

Having heard about the man called Jesus, he thought it might be worth a try to see if He just might be able to do something about the desperate problem he had been having with his son.

It is likely that he had to do some research to find where Jesus would be that day, but after checking around, he was soon on his way. He was tired of dealing with the boy’s problem.

What he may not have known, however, was that Jesus, Himself, had slipped away for a while. He had gone up a high mountain along with his closest confidants in the group of disciples, leaving the others behind. It was a special moment for the foursome as God showed them His heart!

As for the rest of them, an old king reflects, “Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 6:9)

“What made them so special to go with him up the high mountain?”

When God looks for faith, presumption and unrealistic expectations quickly surface. I remember what happened while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments. It wasn’t a pretty picture!

The other disciples had been with Jesus. They had seen Jesus do it many times. Why not show who they really were? As luck would have it, the problem might disappear as well! However, the man, himself, may have been wondering why they were attempting what Jesus, himself had been doing. Needless to say, neither the group, nor the man, were satisfied with the outcome.

As the foursome came down from the high mountain, they approached the comrades that they had left behind, and saw a crowd gathered. The religious people were involved in a dispute.

Suddenly, when the whole crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him. Then Jesus wanted to know what they were arguing about.

A man out of the crowd answered Jesus, saying, “Teacher, I brought my son to You. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

Jesus gives a stinging rebuke to the entire age group! I even bite my own upper lip as I remember similar rebukes in my own walk with the Lord! “Better an open reprimand than concealed love.” (Proverbs 27:5)

“You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to Me.” So they brought him to Him. When the spirit saw Him, it immediately convulsed the boy. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus looks the father in the eye, and asks for some history about the problem. “How long has this been happening to him?”

“From childhood,” he said. “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Jesus then addresses the issue of faith, “‘If You can’? Everything is possible to the one who believes.”

The father of the boy immediately cries out in recognition of what Jesus is saying, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”

The scripture record continues with the story. When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!”

Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing him violently. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

After He went into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

Jesus explained that faith prays, and faith also sees God’s heart for the need.

The disciples that had been left behind that day did not realize that the man really did not trust them. They needed to pray before undertaking such an exercise, and they needed to understand God’s heart and the heart of the boy.

And He told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer [and fasting]a.”

An authentic faith matched with a verified authentication of the action of a supernatural God, is what brings Him into action!

An old song comes to mind, “Do you know my Jesus? Do you know my Friend? Have you heard He loves you, and that He will abide till the end?”

a From Mark 9:14-29 [Other mss omit bracketed text] (Italicized remarks are quotes from the Holman Christian Standard Bible)

ALWAYS TAKE FAITH WITH YOU

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5a)

Obedience always goes hand in hand with faith. Faith has to do with what captures our heart. Obedience adds integrity and gives faith its stability. (2 Peter 1:5). But, obedience must have faith to undergird it before it is valid. Otherwise it could be very dangerous.

In other words, obedience is no better than its ultimate object.

God also knows! Faith is born when one senses that its object is exactly what it was made for!

I sensed amazement for the first time this year at the response of Zacharias to the angel when he announced the birth of John the Baptist! It is so different from Mary’s response. The responses are similar, but close scrutiny shows that Zacharias did not have faith, while Mary did. To Zacharias, the angel Gabriel had messed up his pre-planned order of worship, just to tell him they were going to have a child! He was upset, and demanded an explanation!

“. . . Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” (Luke 1:18-20 esv)

In direct contrast, Mary gets a visit from the same angel, Gabriel, with an even more astounding announcement, that she would bear a son without knowing a man in an intimate relationship. Listen to her response, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34 kjv) The angel then explained what would happen, giving sufficient information to quiet her heart with peaceful rest.

It is a lesson in faith! Zacharias did not believe, so demanded proof. To give Zacharias a little room, we need to remember he didn’t do this “priest thing” that often, so was ill-equipped, when facing the angel. Did he think that angels were figurines on top of temple furniture? It looks like he had not done his homework in matters of faith prior to showing up for his appointed time as high priest.

By direct contrast, Mary did believe, and simply asks “how”? There is immense safety in her question, since that demanded an answer worthy of royalty!

When faced with unusual situations in life, I am finding the need to learn to be more consistent in asking myself if I am always addressing the question of faith. We would save ourselves a lot of trouble if we would do just that! Zacharias could not speak until they brought the young child to the temple for the rite of circumcision, and the naming of the child. It was then that he obeyed the angel’s instruction and named him, “John”. Faith had won its day!

We would do well to bring our struggles, questions, insights and ideas before the Lord, and ask Him about our faith. When we have difficulties, and situations that will not go away, we can ask what God wants to accomplish through the scene, and ask Him to train us in matters of faith.

Many years prior to this, God was preparing Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. He was struggling with faith issues, (Exodus 6:30). He acknowledges that he has uncircumcised (kjv), or faltering (niv) lips. This meant that there was trouble in his heart concerning faith. Isn’t it amazing that he knew that God was at work everywhere around him, but he still couldn’t trust him? It shouldn’t really surprise us. Moses had bought into Egyptian ways so much, that when he murdered the Egyptian, he subconsciously communicated that this was how he would free the Israelites. That was not faith, that was compensation. God’s chosen people knew that it would be God who set them free – not another tyrant, no matter how deserving of death! Proverbs 30:10 warns that we dare not accuse a slave to a master, lest we be found to be the guilty party.

We would save ourselves so much trouble if we addressed the issue of faith first, rather than try to solve problems in our own way!

Many years later, as they entered Canaan, when Joshua was by Jericho, an angel appeared to him with a sword in his hand. He asks where he comes from, and finds out the source of this confrontation. It was then that he was instructed to treat the place as holy ground. (Joshua 6:15)

Many years later, a farming family, Nabal and his wife Abigail, along with their hired hands, were having a feast at sheep shearing time. It was soon after God had instructed Samuel to anoint David to replace King Saul. However, while Saul was still king, David and his men were protecting the borders of the land. Consequently, David and his men thought they had the right to enjoy this farmer’s feast since he and his men were protecting them, a great service! David sent his men over to the plantation, and they ran into an angry Nabal who would not let them anywhere near! When David heard of it, he did not inquire whether this was a faith issue or emotional. Even though in the right, he decided to proceed on his own and fight! Abigail steps in just in time, provides for them, and sends them on their way. Later, the next morning, when Nabal had sobered up, Abigail told him what she had done. Now Nabal was both frightened of David and his men, as well as angry about the situation, and died! (From 1 Samuel 25)

In spite of this earlier experience, David still made the same mistake as Nabal did, when he tried to patch up his affair with Bathsheba. He hid the affair, murdered her husband, Uriah, then took her as his wife. When learning of her pregnancy, he murdered her husband, Uriah. God wasn’t to be outdone, however, since God’s enemies now had great cause to blaspheme God, He took the child!

This Christmas and New Year’s, may every battle we face, be a faith battle, remembering that the victory ultimately belongs to Him!

Every “sea” in 2013 begs to have someone bring it down to size! In Peter’s heart on stormy Galilee one night, he knew that if the Lord Jesus would give him permission to walk on it, he would be invincible. He was right! But, he had to have more than permission – which is external in nature. He had to have persevering faith, which placed the boat, the sea, and the situations at hand, under his control, as delegated by Christ. That is persevering faith! It is a faith intertwined with God’s vision for lives in the present and the future!

I pray that you will join me in praying that God will give us such a year in 2013!

The Engine LIght

(Proverbs 3:6)  “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

I had just bought a later model used car. On a trip to Indiana for Thanksgiving, the amber “engine light” came on. I had been used to driving older cars, so this was a new experience to me.

This amber “engine light”, differs from vehicle to vehicle, but promises customers a safer and better driving experience, and helps to address problems earlier, and more efficiently for a broad range of problems. For this reason sometimes repair facilities struggle more to find solutions.

That particular Thanksgiving, I spent most of the day at the dealership, only to discover that the computer itself had incorrectly turned the light on. The manufacturer paid the bill.

The conversations that I had with several people while waiting, helped me to realize that my own spiritual “engine light” was on, and God was taking my life a new direction.

The working of God’s spirit can sometimes be like an “engine light” in our lives. Jesus experienced this when a woman touched the hem of his garment, and he felt power drain from his spirit. We are all spirits, who happen to have bodies, and they can be directed towards evil or good.

I was being introduced to this as a “new dimension” in the Christian life.

For example, I was surprised recently to see that the Bible says that a person of great wrath also has great confidence. Confidence alone, then, does not guarantee that you are operating according to God’s ways. (Proverbs 14:16) In other words, things can appear well without any indication of anything being wrong – but it is helpful to know that there are times when this may be the case.

God is holy, and will always be angry at sin. But the beauty of walking close to the Lord, is that you can learn to recognize his “slightest whisper”!

The root cause of all suffering on earth is the problem of sin. Since sin has been dealt with at the cross of Jesus Christ, what is left is a restored relationship with the Heavenly Father. Faith is what brings this about. But since sin is at the core of our entire human existence, outside of the cross, and the operation of grace necessary for all aspects of this new life, it is becomes a daily challenge!

Fortunately, our pain during these times becomes a picture of what a vehicle is supposed to be like, and attracts more assistance. Our pain draws the Savior!

As I write this, even our little Shitzu dog decided that it was time to get some exercise. I had not done this since yesterday morning. She actually seemed quite vicious as she was playing with me.

How do we know what is happening? We simply develop a regular routine for “checking in with Him”, so as to keep the “engine light” functioning appropriately.

I saw a few fascinating verses in scripture recently that underline this truth for me. The Lord knows what is going on. (2 Peter 2:9) In fact he can be recognized by what He evaluates in our lives, and the lives of those who walk away from Him. (Psalm 9:16).

The thing left, then, is to live our lives from these “roots” upwards and away from things that are dangerous to our “vehicle” – away from the contamination that addressed our lives early on, and from the time when they first began to influence our hearts away from Him.

All we have to do is to . . . acknowledge Him!

I needed to say it in that automobile dealership that day, and I also needed to say it to myself this morning, “Paul, in all of your ways make sure that you make His ways known, in what you acknowledge, and what you do, and he will act as director of your paths, and make them straight!

Is your “engine light” on?  (1) If it is giving out false information – take it the “Manufacturer”, and get it replaced with the “Word of God”; (2) If it is correct, align your life accordingly; (3) If someone else needs your understanding, share with them. (1 Peter 3:15)