Ask Forgiveness Fast

Matthew 5:23-24  New International Version (NIV)

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Jesus describes a worshipper who has come to offer a gift to God, but has breached a relationship with a brother or a sister. This gift is unacceptable to the Lord until the one presenting the gift is reconciled to the one more valuable to God than the offering. It is inconsistent to seek reconciliation with God without first seeking reconciliation with those the Lord has placed in our life. We ask forgiveness from the one we offended on earth, before we ask forgiveness from God in heaven.

In prayer or worship, who clouds your mind with concern over a disconnected relationship? Who does the Holy Spirit lay on your heart, who has something against you? Maybe you made an insensitive remark that hurt a friend’s heart. Or, you forgot to invite an individual to a special occasion and they felt ignored and rejected. Perhaps a business relationship went awry and you need to ask forgiveness for being greedy. Go quickly, humble yourself and ask forgiveness. The amount of time it takes to seek reconciliation is an indicator of how closely you walk with Christ.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:19-21

Forgiveness cannot sit still until hearts are healed. Initiative accompanies love.

 

Sometimes it is helpful to write out what you are feeling and how you want to express your contrite heart. You may or may not send the written correspondence, but at the very least it becomes a guide for your conversation. Moreover, make sure to own your offense by not saying, “If I have offended you.” Instead, say, “Please forgive me for hurting you. I was mad, my tone was wrong. I apologize.” Godly sorrow goes a long way toward facilitating forgiveness from the one offended.

Yes, your efforts to reconcile may be rebuffed, but you can only give up on someone when your Savior Jesus has given up on them. Also, your restitution may be required before reconciliation will take place. Pray about ways for you to replace what your friend lost, since they felt they were being used. Like Zacchaeus (see Luke 19:8), be extremely generous in your pay back. Most of all, you honor Christ when you take the time to be His minister of reconciliation.
 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me the courage and conviction to seek out those I offend and ask for their forgiveness.

Related Readings: Proverbs 21:24; Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 23:34; 2 Corinthians 7:11; 1 John 2:9

Post/Tweet today: The amount of time it takes to seek reconciliation is an indicator of how closely we walk with Christ. #askforgivenessfast


© 2013 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.
Wisdom Hunters Resources / A registered 501 c3 ministry

Love Letter from God

 

A Final Charge to Timothy

¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God^[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  Timothy 3:10-17

 

A dear friend of mine carries a deep and painful love in her heart. Twenty-five years ago, her eldest son turned his back on her and left home. He has never tried to contact her again, despite repeated attempts on her part to get in touch with him. This mother’s love for her lost son remains inexpressibly deep and true. Each day, she writes in a diary a brief letter to her son, telling him of the daily events in her life. She has already filled three books with these love letters from a mother’s aching heart. Perhaps he will one day return, even after she has gone; and he will read her lifetime of love letters to him.

 This mother’s story reminds me of God’s love for his lost children everywhere and God’s personal love for each of us.
The Bible contains God’s eternal love letters to us, written a long time ago. When we were lost, we had no desire to read them. But when we return home, they should become the most precious possessions in our lives, to be read and treasured each day.

 

The Author  Gerald McCann (Gauteng, South Africa)  rom The Upper Room

Thought for the Day

The Bible is God’s love letter to each of us.

Prayer

Loving Father, thank you for the Bible that contains the whole history of your love for us. Amen.

Prayer focus   Families who are estranged

Spirit Empowered Witness

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth... They all joined together constantly in prayer. Acts 1:8, 14

The very last words Jesus spoke to His followers before He ascended to Heaven focused on the Spirit’s power, not man’s power. Human power builds kingdoms on earth, while the Spirit’s power builds God’s kingdom in surrendered hearts. Issues out of our control defer to trust in God’s timing and do not distract us from being a witness for Jesus Christ. The Lord will come back to establish His kingdom on earth, in the meantime we are to be His Spirit-filled witnesses.

A witness for Jesus can strive in their own strength or thrive in the Spirit’s strength. So, how do we know if we are witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit? Prayer precedes power. Prayer positions us in humble expectation to receive the Spirit’s fullness. By faith, we confess and repent of sin and embrace our Heavenly Father’s love and forgiveness. The Holy Spirit fills our hearts once we have emptied ourselves of dependence on our gifts, abilities and experiences.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the

 

 Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God  boldly. Acts 4:31

Once we experience the Spirit’s fullness, we are compelled to speak God’s word with boldness.  Indeed, witnessing is a supernatural exchange with the Trinity: the Father loves the lost to Himself, the Spirit convicts a heart of sin and the Son freely forgives a soul in salvation. Our part is surrender and submission, the Holy Spirit’s part is fullness and power. Yes, it is necessary to both live the gospel and speak the gospel. Faith comes by hearing the spoken word of God.

Furthermore, look for ways in your church to champion evangelistic training and teaching. Witnesses of Jesus need to know what they believe and why they believe what they believe. Perhaps you enroll in an apologetics class and be prepared to equip others. Just be wise not to substitute the Holy Spirit’s power with superior arguments. Most of all, moment by moment pray for opportunities to speak boldly about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As a Spirit empowered witness of Christ, you can’t help but help others understand the good news of Jesus!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Romans 1:16

Prayer: Heavenly Father fill me with Your Spirit, so I can be a bold witness for Jesus.

Related Readings: Luke 1:35, 3:16; Acts 2:1-4, 8:14-17; Romans 10:17, 15:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:5

Post/Tweet today: A witness for Jesus can strive in their own strength or thrive in the Spirit’s strength. #spiritempoweredwitness

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© 2013 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.
Wisdom Hunters Resources / A registered 501 c3 ministry

Compassion and Courage

Mark 15:37-41

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

 

 

 

 

Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christ’s compassionate and courageous death on the Cross gave immediate access to God for all who seek Him in faith. No more does a person need to go through a priest for God’s forgiveness, Jesus is now the High Priest with instant access to the Lord’s forgiveness.

Christ’s death tore down the curtain to the most holy place, so all can be holy as He is holy. Jesus felt abandoned by God so sincere faith followers could abandon themselves to God. He became sin to forgive sin.

How do you express your gratitude to God for the compassion and courage of Christ for you? How do you by faith, access God through your High Priest Jesus in confession and repentance of sin? Sin is so serious that your Heavenly Father sacrificed His only Son as payment for a debt you couldn’t pay. Thus, a true confession is not conditional, nor does it make excuses. Instead, contrition courageously asks forgiveness and by God’s grace repents and makes restitution.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Furthermore, a solitary soldier and many women who had supported Jesus’ ministry remained with Him to the end, or in three days soon to be the beginning! Yes, it is the compassion and courage of the earliest Christ followers that fuels our faith to compassionately and courageously follow Jesus. Society will ebb and flow in its interest in a Savior, but our passion intensifies as we receive His love. We stay engaged to support Christ’s work, especially when others fall away.

Compassion and courage are steady staples for servants of Jesus. We seek out the spiritually lost, the emotionally bankrupt and the physically displaced to invest our time and money in them for Christ’s sake. Compassion is love in action and courage carries it on its broad shoulders of bold belief. Obstacles are only stepping stones for God to show Himself real and resourceful. Hence, continuous courage is fueled by faith in Christ. While others hide out in fear, we remain faithful.

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Revelation 14:12

Prayer: Heavenly Father fill me with the compassion and courage of Christ, so I remain faithful to You.

Related Readings: Exodus 34:6; Joshua 1:7-9; 1 Corinthians 16:13-14; Colossians 3:12
Post/Tweet today: Compassion is love in action and courage carries it on its broad shoulders of bold belief. #compassion&courage

© 2013 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.
Wisdom Hunters Resources / A registered 501 c3 ministry

Time with God

 

Psalm 34:3-10   New International Version (NIV)

³ Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
    he saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
    and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
    for those who fear him lack nothing.
¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

- Deuteronomy 8:3 (NRSV)

For a long time my husband and I spent many hours at work.
We barely had time to spend together or to share family time to study God’s word.

But one day while we were reading Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, the scripture helped us to decide to make God the center of our lives. For some time a number of factors, principally work-related, separated us from our Creator. We decided to amend our work schedule and to close our shop earlier at night.
We discovered that a daily encounter with God is crucial to our lives. We know there is time for everything in life, so we must not become careless with our time. Time with God — alone or with family — is essential for our spiritual growth. So now we make the time to speak and to share our thoughts and feelings with the Lord. Since we learned the importance of spending time with God and reading and studying scripture, our family has been blessed. Thanks be to God!

The Author  Fabiana Vargas de Pfoederl (Misiones, Argentina)

Thought for the Day

How can I find more time to spend with God?

Prayer

Dear Lord, help us as we plan our days not to neglect the time we need to spend with you. Amen.

Prayer focus   People who are overworked

Audience of One

“I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31).

I struggle playing to an audience other than almighty God. I create an unnecessary tension by asking myself, “What will they think? How will they respond?” Yet the heart of Jesus asks, “What does my heavenly Father want? How can I obey Him with my whole heart?” It is an audience of one with my heavenly Father that requires my focus.

So I ask myself, “Whom do I love more? Do I love my Savior more, or do I love the praise of people more?”

If I truly love the commendation of Christ more than the approval of people, then I will obey His commands, even when I am misunderstood and mistreated. A life that loves God longs to grow in a relationship that faithfully follows His ways.

Caution is required not to become proud in our obedience. In a distorted way, a disciplined life can play into impressing people instead of pleasing God.

 It is false humility to be proud of our humility and wish others could attain our level of maturity. False humility on the stage of life acts out its spirituality for the world’s accolades.

“These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (Colossians 2:22–23).

 True humility seeks only to deflect glory back to God’s glory.

However, when all is said and done, living for an audience of one insists on intense intimacy with Jesus Christ, so that we naturally follow His lead. It is like an eloquent dance rendition, where He leads and we follow. Some steps are new and awkward, while other moves are comfortable and unconscious. If we dance with Jesus before others, He will amuse them most, as He leads us into His will. True humility follows Christ’s lead.

Lastly, learning to live for an audience of one means giving away recognition and resisting taking credit. For example, at work give the team credit for success, and take responsibility for failure. At home quietly serve behind the scenes without a worry about who gets the recognition for the household chores. Most of all, minister for Christ’s kingdom, so your kingdom fades away and His becomes full center. An audience of one pleases the One.

Joseph revealed his devotion to an audience of one with the Lord when he declared, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).

Prayer: Do I live unashamedly for an audience of one? What competing audience can I dismiss?

Related Readings: 2 Chronicles 32:12; Isaiah 65:16; John 17:1–5; Colossians 2:18

Post/Tweet today: Living for an audience of one insists on intense intimacy with Jesus Christ. #audienceofone

© 2013 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.

Your Word

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” -Psalm 119:105