The Rich View for today

Waiting on the Lord. https://faithvisionservice.com/ “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:3-6 English Standard Version (ESV) My motto or major scripture verse of the past few years. “When the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen.” Isaiah 60:22 Before you leave! A short message and prayer for our children and grandchildren! Yes, you can change the world for eternity! Someone before us did by praying for us! We are who we are and where we are because of someone in the past who may have prayed for their offspring…children and grandchildren. ..and may still be praying for us wherever they are.  “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ Numbers 6:24-26 NIV Let’s do the same!

A few thoughts on Forgiveness

Relections on "The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant: Matthew 18:21-35

My notes for a teaching at a local men's group.

Some questions we may want to ask ourselves about “Forgiveness” or just some
 thoughts for further Reflection! 

At HOME…Alone!.

1.    Have you  had good or bad experiences with forgiveness?

2.    Are you in the habit of forgiving people for ways in which they  have hurt you?

3.    Have others forgiven you for the ways you have hurt them?

4.    Do you recall any particular experiences of receiving God’s forgiveness?

5.    Who are the people in your life that you need to forgive?

6.    How do you see the effects of unforgiveness in your life?

7.    What are you fears about forgiving certain people?

8.    Do we have a list in our minds of people who have wronged us, mistreated us, hurt us or mistreated us? 

9.    Sometimes there is no “list”, but a undercurrent or “bitterness” in our lives…like a low grade fever, 100 degrees, not 103. Just an uneasy feeling that can poison our relationships….that eventually can erupt into some terrible actions….”As we think in our heart…so are we.”

10. Sometimes we are like a frog in the water…increasing the temp…and we don’t know what’s happening…we know what happened to the frog!

11.On our way to church…spouse, kids in car…

12.Matt: 18 is all about relationships…among brothers…and how to deal with sin. 

13.Then Peter asks How many times to forgive? 

14.Especially about his “brother”  Present relationship.

15.All about relationships.

16.All about communication

17.All about forgiveness.

18.Then JOY, Circles.

19.Eisenhower and his method. Crumpled paper in wastebasket.

20.He then forgot, but did he.

21.We can do the same.

22.How big is our wastebasket?

23.Are we really forgiving, or just forgetting for the moment…and the wastebasket get fuller and fuller. …Then we can get a paper shredder…smaller pieces…over a lifetime….what is happening?

24.Our families, churches.

25.Forgiveness. Seven times or seventy x seven….It’s really unlimited forgiveness.

26.We are to overflow with forgiveness.

27.The reason I forgive is because of the Lord’s forgiving me, not because of the person who hurt me!

28.It is impossible to receive forgiveness from God and NOT give it to another. 

29.An unforgiving spirit. Do we have one and maybe don’t even know it?

30.S.I McMillen in his book None of These Diseases, says,
"The moment I start hating a man I become his slave. He even controls my thoughts, I can’t escape his tyrannical grasp on my minds. When the waiter serves me steak it might as well be stale bread and water. The man I hate will not permit me to enjoy it.” Obviously as Christian men, we don’t or won’t admit that we hate someone.  What is hate?

31.Dislike or….?

32.Some bottom line thoughts.

33.The source of forgiveness is Gods forgiveness.

34.Until we see ourselves as truly and deeply sinful, we will see nothing else clearly.   Wow!

35.The refusal to forgive is costly. 

36.What did your sin do to God?

37.Think about it!

38.Not a once and for all event. 

39.Need to forgive daily. 

40.The secret of forgiveness is grace.

41.Grace received means grace given.

42.“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Eph 4:32

43.Forgiveness is the great evidence that we have become new creatures in Christ and that the Spirit of Christ lives within us. 

44.The cross is where we receive forgiveness and where we learn to forgive. 

45.Who do we need to bring to the cross,? Spouse, parent, child, friend, neighbor, pastor, one of the men here?

 

More on Forgiveness

   Spiritual Laws & Forgiveness 

You can see my posts on TWITTER 

Reflections on The Parable of "The Unforgiving Servant." Matthew: 18:21-35

Why did Peter ask the question?

Was he repeatedly hurt by a brother? Or is this just a story that Jesus told to illustrate a point or teaching?

The obvious lesson of the parable is “Unlimited Forgiveness”

We can all agree on that!  Right? Ok?

But there may or can be more to the story as Paul Harvey used to say.

Something specific that the LORD wants THIS group to understand.

When we are repeatedly hurt…and really do forgive the person…are we immediately healed of the hurt?

Not necessarily!

Example of friend who was repeatedly hurt…and forgave the people…but had a sort of “low grade fever”. As he said.  Not really incapacitated, but like feeling alittle under the weather so to speak. 

Divorce, estranged family members, etc.

Some things are easy to forgive. But there may be bigger things that we haven’t fully dealt with. Maybe don’t know how to or what to do next.

Process:

1.    Need to see the person, not just in light of how he or she hurt, wronged us,…, but through God’s eyes.

2.    Then we can/may see him or her as the wounded and weak one he or she really is.

3.    Whether the person unintentionally or intentionally hurt us, the process is the same.

4.    Forgiving people who hurt us on a day to day basis enables us to forgive those who have deeply wounded us. Not just a one time event.

5.    Healing starts with asking Jesus into this process and into our heart and mind. Only Jesus can heal completely.

A few steps:

6.    Name the ways you were hurt and the sin done to you.

7.    Perception vs. Reality…

8.    Tell God how you feel. Speak from your heart.

9.    Ask Him to show you what He does with the sin that was done against or to you.

10.Ask Him to cleanse and heal you. 

11.Now, choose to forgive the person.

12.Easier said than done. You already have forgiven the person,,,right?

13.Ask God to forgive the person.

14.Now confess to the Lord the sin (your sin) of holding onto unforgiveness and it’s effects on you…all these years. 

15.Relationships MAY be restored…not maybe not always.

16.Reconciliation is NOT always possible.

17.It may take time…

18.Forgiveness has been started.

19.Healing may take time.

20.With Jesus living in us and empowering us to forgive…we can then forgive those who have hurt us. 

21.“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…Mat. 6:12

22.Unforgiveness effects our relationship with God and others.

23.It’s NOT just an issue we have with one particular brother…

24.It effects ALL our relationships. Our spouses, children, parents especially, and the our co workers, neighbors, friends, relatives, CHURCH members!

What is Sin? Real or imaginary? Perception is Reality!

   

1.   Who are the people in your life you need to forgive?

2.   How do you see the effects of unforgiveness in your life?

3.   Any fears about forgiving?

 Forgiveness is the great evidence that we have become new creatures in Christ and that the Spirit of Christ lives within us. 

·        Personal Reflection

·         

·        Sometimes we think we have already dealt with a person or an issue, yet it comes creeping back into our hearts. That’s because there can be layers of unforgiveness, especially if the offense was severe or happened over a long period of time.

·        Sometimes we may hold unforgiveness, bitterness and even resentment in our hearts towards a person. We may even hold some bitterness toward God for allowing some things to happen in our lives. 

·         

·        Even after we may have consciously forgiven someone, we may still have recurring memories of the situation...

·         

·         "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you." -Corrie ten Boom

·        Closing prayer:  

·         

·         

·        Heavenly Father, I ask that You heal now the wounded places in my (our) soul(s). Heal my memory of those offenses so that I can look back on them realistically, knowing that they were hurtful but also knowing that You Lord, have healed the hurt. And use those experiences for the healing of others that I have come in contact with. 

Some other thoughts on forgiveness

 

The Key to Joy!

 

Spiritual Laws & Forgiveness 

 

You can see my posts on Twitter.