Forgive Those Who Hurt You

  

Forgive Those Who Hurt You

 

Read:  Acts 7:54-60

Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he [Stephen] had said this, he fell asleep [in death].  - Acts 7:60

 

Audio:  Acts 7

 

Bible in One Year: Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25

 

In Acts 6 and 7 we read the story of Stephen who was called before the Jewish council and falsely accused of blaspheming God and Moses by preaching the Gospel. After he had delivered a sermon that angered the council, he was taken out and stoned.

But even as they were stoning him, Stephen prayed for his enemies, saying, Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit! And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! (Acts 7:59,60).

I am afraid that in that situation I would have been tempted to pick up a rock and throw it back. But that is not what Stephen did. He forgave his tormentors and prayed for them, saying in essence, "Forgive them, Lord, they don't understand what they are doing."

A large majority of the time those who injure us don't understand what they are doing. They are just operating out of selfishness. Years ago someone told me something that helped me. He said that 95 percent of the time when people hurt our feelings, that was not what they intended to do.

God does not want us to have an offended heart. If we do, we will not be able to minister to others. You may think this doesn't relate to you because you don't have a pulpit ministry. But every believer has a ministry.

You may not be on a platform teaching, but you've got a ministry to your children, your spouse, your family, to God. How can we properly praise God with a wrong heart condition? It is easy for us to be offended. But according to the Bible love is not easily offended.

 

 

Not Less In Your Mess

Not Less In Your Mess

 

Read:  Genesis 29:16–30
Then Rachel told him, "Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me, and through her I can have a family, too"   - Genesis 30:3

 

Audio:  Genesis 29

 

Bible in One Year: Esther 9-10; Acts 7:1-21

 

God's royal family in Genesis was a bit seamy. Consider Abraham's family. He slept with his female slave and later consented to his wife's desire to banish the woman and his son by sending her into the wilderness (Genesis 21:14). What family could be worse than that?

Isaac's family:  They were divided down the middle as each parent picked a favorite son. Then one son plotted to kill the other for ripping him off (Genesis 27:41). What family could be worse than that?

 

Jacob's family:  One man slept with two wives and two slaves, each desperately trying to produce sons for "Team Leah" or "Team Rachel." Later, out of hatred, the older sons sold their brother Joseph to slave traders and let their father believe that "a wild animal must have eaten him" (Genesis 37:33).

 

We can't excuse what any of these people did, but it's comforting to know that God was not less in their mess. His sovereign plan was not threatened by their sin.  We have all done things we regret. Some of us have really messed up our lives. How we long for a do-over! Whatever we've done, we can remember two things:

 

• You have not messed up your life more than these families.

 

• God remained in complete control of these families, and He's not threatened by your sin.

 

When King David sinned by counting his fighting men, he stopped the ensuing plague by erecting an altar "on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite" (2 Samuel 24:18). It was on this land that Solomon, David's son with Bathsheba, later built the temple (2 Chronicles 3:1). As one preacher has said, "Only God can take a man's two biggest sins and make a temple out of them."

 

Don't despair over your sin. God is the best at cleaning up a mess.

 

 

YOUR PAIN IS SOMEONE'S GAIN

  YOUR PAIN IS SOMEONE'S GAIN

Although he was a So, He learned (active, special) obedience  through what He suffered.  And (His completed experience)making Him perfectly (equipped), He became the Author and Source of eternal salvation to all those who give heed and obey Him.                       HEBREWS 5:8-9

 

 

 

Have you ever needed a job, but every employment ad you read asked for someone with experience?  You did not have any experience, and it frustrated you.  I have been in that situation, and I remember thinking, How can I get experience if nobody will give me a job?

 

God also wants experienced help.  When we go to work for God in His Kingdom, He will use everything in our past.  No matter how painful it was, He considers it experience.  Many of us have gone through difficult things, and those things qualify us to help take someone else through them, too.  Our verses for today tell us that even Jesus gained experience through the things He suffered.

 

How could I write to you now if I had not gone through some difficult things and gained some valuable experience?

 

I encourage you to look at the wounds and difficulties you have suffered from a new viewpoint.  Take a look at how you can use your pain for someone else's gain.  Can your mess become your ministry?  I am a specialist in overcoming shame, guilt, poor self-image, lack of confidence, fear, anger, bitterness, self-pity, and other negative feelings.  Let me encourage you to be positive about your past, and your pain, and realize that it can all be used for good in God's Kingdom.

 

 

LOVE YOURSELF TODAY: Nothing you have been through will be wasted.  Everything that has been pain can become gain in God's hands.

 

Is this a test...??

                                                                                IS THIS A TEST?

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.                          DEUTERONOMY 8:2 NKJV

 

Years ago a blind couple wanted to come to our Wednesday-night teaching sessions in St. Louis.  They normally took the bus, but their usual route was canceled, and they could only continue coming if someone would pick them up and take them home.  Nobody was willing to do it because the people lived in an area considered "out of the way."

 

In other words, provided transportation for this couple would have been inconvenient.  Eventually we had to get one of our employees to do it, which meant we had to pay that person.  We should not allow money to be our main motivator.  We all need money, but we also need to do things for other people without being paid to do it; in fact, often, such opportunities are "testing times" from God.  If you are willing to do something kind for someone else with no pay and perhaps no credit, that's a positive sign that your spiritual heart is in good condition.

 

When God wanted to see if the Israelites would obey His commands, He led them the long, hard way in the wilderness.  He sometimes does the same with us.  He may ask us to do something inconvenient.  God may be using these things to test us.  He may be looking to see what's in our hearts and to give us a chance to prove how much we love him.

 

LOVE GOD TODAY: Next time you feel called to do something you don't really want to do, remember, it could be a test.

 

Re: On this day of your life

Nice!

 

Arlene Wilson

On , Tony & Arlene A. Wilson <atwilson@frontiernet.net> wrote:

                                                                                                       On this day of your life,

I believe George wants you to know...    

 
...that the future is brighter than ever. Not just humanity's
future, but your own, personally.

Things have shifted. The energy has been altered. You
can feel it if you deeply tune in. This shift is not your
imagination, nor is it merely on a national or global
level. There is a shift in you.
 
Feel it today, and use it to propel you to a wonderful
tomorrow. In fact, do better than feel the energy. BE
the energy. Be its Source. Then watch the conditions
of your own life change.

Love,  Your Friend ...

George