Offence and forgiveness

Like water off a duck's back, offence is supposed to go straight off the Christian's soul. What keeps the duck's feathers free from water? it's the oil. So we need the Holy Spirit to help us forgive. God requires forgiveness; Col 3:13 says, " bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." This seems like a tall order, especially when people say or do things that hurt! That is why we need the oil- the Help of the Holy Spirit. It has been said by Alexander Pope, "to err is human, to forgive is divine". I think in some sense this is true, it is only possible for us to forgive with God's help. God in His great mercy has forgiven us of so much, and when we think of this it becomes easier to do the same. If I desire mercy, I need to be willing to show mercy (see Matt 5:7). When I look at God's example of forgiveness, and allow His Spirit to fill me with love it is much easier to show mercy.

Col 3:3 says "your life is hidden with Christ in God", if my life is truly hidden in Christ then it becomes unimportant/irrelevant what others think (or don't think of me). I'm definitely not there yet, bur I want to get to a place of security in Christ; where what He says about me and thinks of me is what defines me (and NOTHING ELSE!)
 "May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love" Eph 3:17 AMP. This is my prayer- that Jesus would live in my heart, and that my entire personality, who I am, would be secured in His love. If this would be my truest reality, how could I not forgive and love others?! 

"LORD make Your love our utmost, deepest reality. Ground us in Your love, let us draw from You- for You are the fountain of life. Hide us in You, that when offence comes it will not touch our hearts- for we know beyond a shadow of a doubt we are loved. Make us secure in You, we ask in Jesus name".

May the Lord bless you and keep you hidden in Him.

May He make His face to shine upon you so you will be rooted in His love.

May He give you peace as you forgive as He has forgiven you.

WEIRD!

Recently someone called me weird. It felt like a poisonous arrow that tried to pierce my soul. It brought up all the old wounds of rejection. It’s not like I haven’t tried to be ‘normal’ (who defines these things anyways?), but I am slowly accepting that my life does not look like the world thinks it should. James 4:4 says “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” And Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world” so in some ways it is good that I am different to the world. 1 Pet 2:9 “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (KJV). We as Christians are called to be different than the world; to be light. But sometimes we try so hard to fit in because we want acceptance and love. Jesus knows what it is like to be rejected, “He was despised and rejected by men” Isa 53:3. This gives me comfort that Jesus knows what it feels like to be rejected. And in Jesus we become loved and accepted, Eph 1:6 (KJV) “he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” What great joy to know no matter what others think of me, in Him I AM LOVED <3

How do we treat people that are ‘different’? People can be different because of a disability, a psychological disorder, social class, the way they dress and speak, culture etc. Jesus loved the outsiders. He often healed leapers (see Mark 1:40-42, Luke 17:11-14). Lepers were such outsiders that they had to live outside the city and could have little human contact (Bible-gateway). Jesus hung out with prostitutes (can you imagine a ‘normal’ person having a conversation with a lady of the night?) and tax collectors (they were the ones siding with corrupt politicians of the time).

Luke  5:31-32 (GNB) "Jesus answered them, "People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts." So we see that Jesus loves outcasts, he calls them to repent and turn to Him. Again I ask how do we treat the man begging? The lady on the street corner? The person we think is a bit ‘strange’? Do we love them like Jesus, or do we also cast them aside?

I think that rejection is part of the human experience, we have all felt the pains of it. We can use that pain to come closer to God, and from the place of being loved by Him love others who don’t fit our box. We can remember the pain we felt when rejected by words and choose to speak words of life. Let us be like Jesus accepting the outcast, because we have been accepted by Him.

May the LORD bless you to know in Him you are the beloved.

May He keep you free from the sin of judgment.

May He make His face shine upon you as you share His love

And give you peace despite the rejection.

"Deliver me from the pit"

How many of our prayers are "deliver me from the darkness" rather than "Thank you that you are with me in the darkness". We so often pray that God will deliver us, we forget that God is with us therefore we do not need to fear. It's hard! At times David prayed for God to deliver him from the pit. Let's be honest the pit (fire/refining/whatever you want to call it) SUXS! But what if God put us (or allowed us) in the pit? I mean let's be honest, we all tend to forget how we need Him for everything- literally for every breath. But boy when we are in the pit we KNOW. Pride disappears, we are desperate for Him, because we know we can NOT do it without Him. 

Following this, I wander how am I supposed to pray? For myself? for others?
I don't necessarily think it is wrong to pray and ask God to deliver us from he pit, because it's coming to God with our pain. Psa 62:8 (NIV) "Pour out your heart to Him". I believe we need to do this. As we do this, we realise again how small we are and how big He is; it help us trust in Him for He is our refuge (see rest of the verse). I think it is important that like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we should include that even if God does not deliver us, we will worship no other god (see Dan 3:16-18). You see the breakthrough can become an idol, an idol being anything that is more important to us than God. 

Let us pray that we would be aware of God's presence with us in the hard times. This helps us have faith, and not fear the winds and waves. His presence with His guidance and protection (see Psa 23:4 AMP) bring us comfort and peace. Let us also have the courage to pray "yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42. Here we see Jesus pouring out His heart to the Father about the pain and fear, yet a willingness to submit to God's plans and thoughts. God's thoughts are after all higher than ours (Isa 55:9). When we pray like Jesus for God's will, it shows humility, trust and a knowing/believing that God knows best. 

May the LORD bless you with knowing He is with you

May the LORD keep you unafraid of the shadows

May the LORD make His face shine upon you, to make you brave to pray for His will.

And may He give you peace in the pit.