Merry Christmas to you all, dear readers. During this Christmas season it is my prayer that each reader receives a fresh revelation of Jesus and the love that God has for you through Jesus.
If you want to get closer to God I have good news- you can be as close to God as you want to be-you do not have to settle for less than what you desire. God wants all of you, so if you want more of the Holy Spirit, ask of God, using your faith and you will receive (Luke 11:13). That is Good News!
God’s letter to you is filled with Holy Spirit inspired words that ease the inner hunger one feels for God, and the Bible contains all the wisdom needed to live a peaceful victorious life with the Lord Jesus. I encourage each reader who has a hunger to know more of God, that as you grow in relationship with the Lord and begin to do what he says by acting on his words day by day, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit who lives in your heart, that you will be blessed in many ways.
You will grow closer to God and the things of God, you will have peace in your life, and joy. Your health will improve, your finances will improve, the Gospel will spread because God will receive glory for your changed life. People will wonder what has happened to change your life, and you can honestly say, “Jesus saved me and I have renewed my mind by studying and doing the Word. Jesus has filled me with his Spirit and taught me to think and live the way He thinks and lives and he wants the same for you”.
He is a wonderful God, who wants everyone to choose Him. He is Almighty God, who especially loves and cherishes each individual. (Yes, even you).
Let’s continue learning how to be more like our heavenly Father through forgiveness. We have previously learned that forgiveness is a choice that is left up to the believer. It may feel right to hold a grudge but Jesus commands us to forgive. Your natural self (the flesh is what the Bible calls it) may tell you that you are justified in harboring unforgiveness, but holding on to unforgiveness is like drinking poison hoping the other person gets sick. But the one who gets sick (sometimes even physically), but certainly in spirit- is you.
The parable in Matt 18: 21-35 warns believers of the consequences of unforgiveness-which is being turned over to the tormentors until you have forgiven the offender in your heart.
So, as a child of God when the offence comes, the step to take is to decide in your mind to forgive. If you are new to the idea of walking in forgiveness, I am excited for you! When the believer gets hold and practices this teaching of Jesus, you will be set free from so many things in the past, present and future, and offences will pale compared to God’s love through the power of forgiveness. So an offence comes and you have decided to forgive. Great.
As soon as you choose to forgive in your mind your natural self is going to rear up and give you a case of the “yeah-but’s”. Yeah-but they were a jerk, yeah-but that really hurt, yeah-but they do this every time, yeah-but they knew better, yeah-but I am sick and tired of it, and the list goes on and on. The natural self (the Bible calls him the “old man”) can be pretty demanding of it’s own rights, but- some folks have not learned this yet-when you were born again the Holy Spirit gave you a spirit of self-control, which, when applied forces the natural self to come in line with the will of your mind. But the natural self must be trained to come into line with your born again spirit.
Be comforted. We all go through the struggle of training our natural self to be obedient to our new will, and the more you practice walking in forgiveness, the easier it is. Walking in forgiveness will become as easy as water running off a duck’s back. The more you decide to forgive (remember it is an active choice) the more forgiveness will come. You are lining up your will with God’s will when choosing to walk in forgiveness, and God has given you a new heart from the moment you believed and professed your faith in Christ. Your heart will follow the will of your mind, that is why it is so important for Believer’s to renew their minds, or renew their thinking to line up with what God says.
When you practice walking in forgiveness start with something small and be patient with yourself. Just like you can’t expect to run a marathon without training for it, it is the same with renewing our minds to walking in forgiveness.
You will find that the Holy Spirit is a wonderful encourager of following the will of God, He is on your side and wants you to have a peaceful, victorious life in Christ. The Holy Spirit will urge you to forgive. It is so worth it to follow God’s example. He has forgiven everything. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, all sin has been forgiven. God is not holding a grudge against you, God is not mad at you, and he does not want you to hold a grudge against others for your own good.
The only thing, in my biblical opinion, that God will not forgive is the continued refusal to believe in Jesus. Making the choice to not believe in Jesus is what sends you to hell.
Choose Jesus, be saved, and walk with God in forgiveness today.
Until next time, God bless you and your loved ones.
