TODAYS BIBLE VERSE:
Mark 11:25-26; “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
First of all, I need to mention that foregiveness is not related to works in any way, If you truly love Jesus and realize what He did for you on the cross, then we should be able to forgive anybody for what they did to us. Jesus took our sins, regardless of how evil they were and erased them from existence, but once again, we have to accept this truth and receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Forgivness is a condition of the heart as is being Born-Again. If you say that you love Jesus, and then you don't obey His commands, then I would question if your confession of faith was real or just lip service. Every sin that we commit needs to be confessed and only forgiven by Jesus Christ, If you live with unforgiveness in your heart, it could be an indication that your confession of faith was just lip service. Its true that we are saved by grace and nothing else, but if you can't forgive someone for something that they did against you, then according to the written Word of God, "if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” This is a catch 22, because unforgiveness is not the upardonable sin, so can we still be saved, appaerently, but only God knows that answer. I suppose it would boil down to why you won't forgive someone, but even then, "if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Its Gods Word!
Here is one definate prerequisite condition that we need to do to be accepted into Gods Kingdom. John 3:3; " Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Born-Again means you have recieved Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and have been Born-Again into the Holy Spirit, then and only then you have been cleansed of all you sins, and your future sins as well, but I don't believe that you can continue living a sinnful life style and say that you are a Christian. That includes hatered of mankind, or a hateful heart. Many will say that they love Jesus and then trurn around and hate one of His created beings.
So, going on, in my opinion, the Bible verse that I just read has to be one of the most misunderstood or unbelieved Bible verse in the scriptures. I’ve heard so many times people say, “They could never forgive someone for what they’ve done to them” Well, that’s a decision that you have to make, but then don’t expect God to forgive you either of all your sins according to the verse above. If you are harboring a grudge or hatred toward someone for something that they did to you, don’t expect God to forgive you of your sins either as it says in the verse in todays Bible verse. For those that don’t understand what this means, listen up! Today’s Bible verse makes it very clear that if you don’t forgive someone that sinned against you, then the God the Father will not forgive you. And once again, since it isn't the unpardonable sin, there are those that believe you can still go to heaven with this hatred in your heart. But then I read the following Bible verse;
1 Corinthians 6:9-11; "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
None of these are the unpardonable sin either, Yet this verse makes it perfectly clear that those that live these lifstyles will not inherit the kingdom of God. Does that include a lifestyle of hatred and unforgivness? I believe it would, and once again only God knows for sure. So lets just forgive those that wronged us and I can tell you with certainty, that you will feel a sence of relief that a load has just been taken off your shoulders and you will be glad you did.
When I read the following verse, I can't help but think to my self, "What is it that will keep so many people from inheritting Gods Kingdom. as we read in; Matthew 7:13-14; ““Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
I need to share this story as an example of what I am trying to get access. I’ve been involved in one such scenario, where a family member has gone way beyond the limits of humanity where todays Bible verse is concerned. A certain member of our family has grown such a hatred toward her father, that she stayed away from every member of her family but one, including her mother, until her father finally passed away. Once her father passed, then she started to visit her mother again, but while her father was alive, she alienated herself from all but one members of her family. In my opinion, she was evil to the core, and what upsets me most is that she claims to be a Christian.
If people want to be hateful, that is their God given right to be what they want to be, but then, I wish they would stop claiming to be a Christian. This is, in a sense is using Gods name in vain. Talk about being a false witness for the Lord, this is one of the worst scenarios I’ve witnessed. Personally, it sickens me to the point where I actually get sick to my stomach. I’ve read the verse in Mark, (which is todays Bible Verse), to this person on many occasions while she was still talking with us before she went totally into a full hate mode. She would never accept this verse as truth. Such is the case with many people that don’t want to read a Bible verse that goes against their life style. Well, to her delight, her father finally passed away about three years ago and since then she has felt that she can visit her mother on a regular basis again, now that he is dead and gone.
Let me share this short, but unsettling conversation that I had with this evil woman at her father’s funeral. She did show up, however, still with a heart full of hate for her father. I hadn’t seen her for quite some time prior to the funeral, so I went up to her and tried to be very pleasant toward her. I gave her a hug and told her I was happy that she showed up. Her arms hung limp at her side in total rejection of my hug and looked at me with what I can relate to as Satan’s eyes. I felt like I was looking into death. I proceeded to say to her, “It would be nice if you would be a part of the family,” Her response was once again, evil to the core. She said, “In so many words, now that my dad has passed away, I can start to visit my mother again.” At that point she started ripping into me because I told her, I didn’t know what she did or what anybody else did to made everybody angry with her, and why she left the family. Of courses she blamed everybody else for what had been done. I walked away at that point with so much hurt that I couldn’t even talk to anyone for the next half hour or so. I felt I had met Satan face to face. I found myself in very unfamiliar territory. Prior to the death of her father, he (The father) had asked his daughter time and time again to forgive him for things that he did as a father. Just so we all understand, it was not sexual abuse, it was just a father keeping his children in line. He was very strict with his children in his early days, but as time went on, he was a very concerned father and would do anything for his children. With tears in his eyes, he asked her again and again, and she continued to hate him all the more. She continued to tear into him about things that happened decades ago, things she wouldn’t let him forget. She enjoyed bringing him to tears, apparently it was her way of getting back. Now, the saddest thing, He went to his death and grave feeling extreme pain and sorrow right up to his last breath because of this one evil person that loved and served Satan.
While my father-in-law was alive, I spent many hours trying to comfort him and I told him, “let God deal with it,” but his love for his daughter wouldn’t let it go. Again, another part of this story and one that still lingers, most, but not all members of her family have forgiven her for what she did, but she won’t accept forgiveness because she felt she did nothing wrong when in fact when she was completely at fault. I feel I needed to share this story so that anybody that is feeling this much hate towards someone, will maybe wake up and see themselves for what you are. These people that are unforgiving believe that if they don’t forgive you, God won’t forgive you either. That is their way of making you pay for what you did. That is a mindset from the pit of hell. If someone won’t forgive a person that sinned against them, they are only hurting themselves. They are in a sense saying that they are better than God. God has forgiven everybody that comes to Him and repents of their sins, regardless of anything they have ever done. Not only does He forgive our sins, but He also forgets our sins as we read in the following Bible verse;
Psalm 103:12; “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He (Jesus) removed our transgressions from us.”
So, if someone cannot forgive someone for what they’ve done against them, they are saying that they are more powerful than God.
Unfortunately, this is very common in today’s world. Let me read this verse again and listen very carefully as to what it is saying;
Matthew 7:14; where we read again “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Few will be that find the way! And just to reiterate what a few means, keep this in mind. When God brought judgement upon the world during the time of Noah, eight people were saved. When God poured down hail and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, four people were saved. That is a few. I’m not saying, that is all the people that will be saved in our time, but when God judges the world this time, a few compared to the days of Noah could be millions of people, which I believe will be the case. Of course, that is just my opinion. We all need to ask ourselves this one question, “Am I going down the narrow path or am I going down the wide path. In other words, if you are a part of a church that has many followers, such as a couple of denominational churches, that is the wrong path. Here is a good time to give you something to think about. In these days in which we live, there is a handful of faithful followers of Jesus Christ that are trying to get the truth out about salvation and the times that we are living in. These people have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have become born again just as the Bible says we must be. The mainline denominations do not teach that you must be born again, nor do they teach the truth about salvation.
Let me share the following Bible verses that make it very clear as what I just said;
John 3:1-21; “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Crystal clear if you ask me, but yet you will not hear this teaching from most of the pulpits of today in America.
Here is why, 2 Timothy 4: 3-4; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will gather up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
I quote these two verses often because they need to be understood, especially in these days in which we live. We are living in the days that these two Bible verses are referring to, yet, once again, you will not hear this teaching from any of the mainline denominations of today as it says in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4;
So now lets get back to the topic at hand. If you are living with hatred toward another human being for whatever reason, and you don’t find it in your heart to forgive them, you will die in your sins and you may be sentenced to death in the “Lake of Burning Fire” forever and ever. God’s law is without compromise, God’s Word means what it says and says what it means. You may say, if God loves me, He won’t send me to hell. You are absolutely correct. He won’t send you to hell, if you end up in hell, it is because you chose to go there, and God will not invade your sovereignty. He will give you over to what you choose to believe. Die in your sins, and you will inherit eternal damnation, die with your sins forgiven, and you enter into the glory of heaven. Simple, but yet very few people take the Word of God seriously as it says in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4;
I find myself on the side of being unforgiven for things that I have done before I gave my life to Jesus and after. Thank God, because there was no way for me to pay for my own sins. I know that I am dispised by quite a few people for sharing the Word of God. Some also hate me for things I've done in the past that weren't very moral. One particular person, I won’t mention names. When I asked this certain person to forgive me, he would always say, he could never forgive me for what I have done, and I really can’t blame him. See, what he doesn’t understand is this, God has forgiven me for all the wrongs that I have done, because I trust in Jesus Christ and His propitiation for my sins that were paid for on the cross. I am sin free, however, this person that feels he can’t forgive me, will die in his sins and like I said, he will likely end up in the “Lake of Burning Fire,' but once again, only God knows for sure what is in his heart. I do feel bad that I put him in a position to hate me, but all of us through life have had someone that has wronged us, and we have to forgive them as well. Know this, you can’t forgive anybody on your own, you have to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, nobody can do the works of a Christian. Obviously, these people that say that they can never forgive someone, most likley do not know anything about the Word of God and what Jesus did for us. How about this verse;
Mark 3:28-30; ““Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Here is a comforting thought. If these verses that I just read bother you, then you are not guilty of that sin.
Apparently God will forgive us for all of our sins accept for the rejection of the Holy Spirit. So, those that say that they can’t forgive us, are saying, what we have done is the same as the unpardonable sin. For those of you that fall into this category, and you know who you are, get things right with those who have wronged you. I know it is a hard thing to do, almost impossible, but with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you can do it. Turn it over to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you through the process. I can guarantee that you will feel free of what has been heavy on your heart for all these years. I know, I had to do it.
I am going to share a few more Bible verse that make this message perfectly clear.
Ephesians 4:32; “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Matthew 18: 21-22; “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
These two verses, in my opinion, are very misunderstood. When Jesus responds to Peter by saying “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”, He is using that as a figure of speech. He is saying we must forgive a person as many times as is needed. I find the phrase, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Very interesting. If you do the math, seven times seventy equals four hundred ninety. The exact number of years that God gave Israel to fulfill the seventy weeks that Daniel prophesied in Daniel 9:24; The Angel Gabriel gave Daniel a prophecy that covered four hundred ninety years for the Jewish people. As a side note, four hundred eighty three years have already been fulfilled which leave one more seven year period that is still in the near future. That will take place during the seven year tribulation that is coming soon.
The prophecy goes like this;
Daniel 9: 24; “Seventy weeks are determined For your people (Israel) and for your holy city, (Jerusalem) (This is referring to seventy weeks of seven years which equals four hundred ninety years.) To finish the transgression, (To bring an end to transgression – wrong doing) To make an end of sins, (This has not been accomplishes yet as we can plainly see) To make reconciliation for iniquity, (This could have been fulfilled on the cross) To bring in everlasting righteousness, (This will happen during the seven year tribulation that is in the near future.) To seal up vision and prophecy, (The fulfillment of all Bible Prophecy) And to anoint]the Most Holy. (Where Jesus will rule, and reign from the throne of David for one thousand years form Jerusalem.)
I just though I would mention this prophecy because its fulfillment is near. We should all be aware of this, so we know how close the second coming of Christ is.
Colossians 3:12-13; “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
Matthew 6:14-15; “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.
As we can plainly see, the bible has a lot to say about forgiveness. There are at least thirty nine Bible verses that I am awrea of that reference how important it is to forgive others that have wrong you in one way or another.
Let me finish with this, just because you don’t read and understand the Bible, does not mean that you will forgo punishment for your sins. Ignorance of the law will not hold up in God’s court any more than it holds up in our own courts in America. There are probably billions of Bibles circulating around the word in every language possible. So you will have no excuse when you stand before Jesus Christ at the “White Throne Judgment” This is why it is so important that we all read the Bible and hear what God has to say to us, not what a Pastor or Priest has to say. They are teaching religion, not the Bible as it is meant to be understood.
You can put your salvation in the hands of a certain religion or preacher, but know this, you are paying Russian Roulette with you eternity. When you stand before Jesus, you will not be able to blame what you were taught by any one religion or preacher. God gave you ears to hear, eyes to see and a mind to learn. Use them wisely.
Now, I could write a book on this topic, but I think you get the point. If not, then you are probably lost eternally and if that doesn’t scare you, then there is nothing anybody can do to help you. Remember, “few will be that find the way” Are you part of that few? That should be the only question that should matter to you.
Now, let me end with this: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
May God guide you in all circumstance and may He continue to bless you in all that you do!
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