Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Forgiveness- the kingdom of heaven

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

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We must forgive.
And we must forgive from our hearts.

We live in a world full of payback.  We demand payback from others and often with interest attached. We prey upon the weak, the less fortunate and we do so while happily counting our fortunes, or...maybe not.  Maybe we simply get slighted by someone and feel the desire- the instant desire- to slight back.  Do we forgive much?  Do we forgive little things, just let them go and no longer hold them over the head of the offender?

The offenders- those who hurt us.

Have you forgiven everyone, every slight?  Or do you pass by someone who has hurt you and still feel the pang of injury they caused you?  Do you hear the mere mention of the name of someone who hurt you, and cringe inwardly? 

How are people to forgive great offenders?

How are people to let go of the trauma an offense brings with it?

When an offense has forever altered our lives, day in and day out the reminders are all around us, how then do we forgive?

Is forgiveness forgetting?

We can't deliberately erase our memories, we don't have that capability. The best we can do is as we remember we forgive again and again, and again. Forgiveness is a living entity all its own that must be fed. Sometimes the creature of forgiveness only needs a tiny bit of feeding to survive, that forgiveness is so complete. Other times, that forgiveness needs to be feed several times in one day because of our inability to lay the offense to rest in our minds. Time often has a way of lessening the hunger but even then there might be days when the forgiveness needs to feed more than others. Sometimes we think we've completely put to rest a certain creature of forgiveness and then we are surprised when it rears up roaring to be fed all over again.  We must feed forgiveness and the feeding IS actively forgiving over and over and over.

How often do we forgive?

We forgive endlessly. Yes, endlessly.

Why?

Because we need endless forgiveness from our God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a forgiving king.

If we are not forgiving, we will not be forgiving.

If we are not forgiving we will not be in the kingdom of heaven where forgiveness is paramount. 

Forgiveness- the kingdom of heaven.

Please Lord, we would be in the Kingdom with You, we would be YOURS, we would be forgiven, we would forgive.

Help us to forgive over and over again, forever forgiving, forgiving without end.

By Your LOVE!


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