JESUS SPEAKING

“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” (Mark 11: 25-26.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

A ‘trespass’ is a harmful voluntary action taken against another person.  In a world filled with human beings, trespasses abound; accompanying those trespasses are resentments; a ‘resentment’ is ‘any feeling of hostility, anger, or hatred toward another person as the result of a real or imagined harm.’  Trespasses against God are also abundant, and very easily remedied; one need only ask God for forgiveness, and He is willing to forgive completely.  The Lord harbors no hidden resentment as human beings often do (even after professing true forgiveness.)  God’s mercy is great but not without condition.  Lack of forgiveness for others is the one circumstance in which God withholds His forgiveness.  A person cannot receive the benefits of God’s forgiveness, if they refuse to extend that same forgiveness to others.

Jesus used a parable to illustrate how God deals with those who are unwilling to forgive others.  He said, “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.  In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt…But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’  Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt…But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment…His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.  But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full…When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.  Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.  Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’  Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt…That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sistersfrom your heart.”

Take a moment to ponder the worst trespasses you have ever committed (trespasses that perhaps you have never revealed to anyone.)  […………………………….]  Has God forgiven you for your evils?  […]  Now take a moment to search your heart for any anger or resentment; is there anyone you have refused to forgive?  […………………………..]  If there is anyone at all, forgive them completely; let go of any lingering pieces of anger; let go of the hurt and the pain; allow God to replace your contempt with love, and your hatred with understanding and compassion; knowing that the God of mercy has fully forgiven you, and requires that you extend that same mercy and forgiveness to others.

“Lord Heavenly Father, please reveal any hatred or resentment we hold within our hearts.  By the power of Your Holy Spirit, give us the ability to forgive all those who have sinned against us.  May we forgive completely, and may our hearts and minds be cleansed of any lingering anger.  May we feel love for those who have trespassed against us.  Father we thank You for Your forgiveness; for Your mercy; and for Your patience and love.  We love You and praise You; and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

                Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.  And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.  But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.  Writethe things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.  The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Revelation 1: 12-20.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                The Apostle John was the author of the book of Revelation.  When the Lord visited him, he was an old man, living in exile on the Aegean Island of Patmos.  John was the last living Apostle; imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ (it is generally accepted that John recorded this revelation around 95 A.D.; some sixty years after the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.)  John heard the voice of the Lord and turned and saw Jesus in his Heavenly throne room (in his glorified state.)  His eyes were aflame; his hair was a brilliant white; his feet were like shining brass.  He was bathed in radiance like the shining of the sun.  John was filled with fear and fell face down at Jesus’ feet.  The Lord commanded John to record all that he was about to see and hear.  Jesus verbally expressed four distinct characteristics of his Godly nature; He is eternal and the creator of all things; He cannot die; He can grant eternal life to whomever he desires; and he stands outside of time (to God, the past, present and future are one in the same.)  Jesus also revealed the mysteries of the seven stars and seven Golden lampstands.  The seven golden lampstands were representative of the seven churches of John’s day.  There were large churches in Ephisus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  The seven stars Jesus held were the seven angels, or spirits that inhabited the churches (Jesus later addressed each individual church, and discussed matters of sin and obedience.)  These churches also stand outside of time (they still exist today.)  Over the course of nearly 2000 years, all seven churches, have grown to circle the earth.  Every true believer is a member of one of God’s churches.  Anyone who does not believe in the God of the bible has no church; they are lost and headed for death and destruction.  Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is seated in heaven as the ‘head of the church.’  The church is ‘the house of God’ and no one in God’s house will ever die.

                Jesus said, “I have the keys of hades and death.”  Only the one true and living God can grant eternal life.  ‘There is an ancient story of a woman who had lost a son; distraught, she sought a way to bring him back to life.  She heard that Buddha had a potion that could bring people back from the dead.  She sought him, and he agreed that he did have such a potion.  Anxious, she asked to help collect herbs to aide him in making the tonic.  Buddha sent her out with one simple requirement; he told her that the herbs had to come from a house that had never been touched by death.  She set out to collect the herbs, but every door she knocked on had (in one way or another) experienced death; (a brother, a cousin, an uncle, a grandparent, a son or daughter.)  The woman came to realize that death afflicts everyone.  She lost hope in the resurrection of her son, and allowed him to be buried.  The woman returned to Buddha to thank him for helping her to come to terms with the death of her child.’  Buddha had no magic potion; he was unable to bring the dead to life.  He was only successful in replacing the woman’s hope with acceptance.  Unlike Buddha, Jesus Christ has replaced the acceptance of death with the hope of resurrection.  Believers understand that there will be a day when they will mourn no more.  Lost loved ones will live again.  For those who love Jesus, death holds no power; all those who have died, will rise to live forever.

                Will you live again?  Are you aware that Jesus is seated on his throne in heaven?  Do you understand that for those who believe, there is no death?  Those who confess that Jesus Christ is their master, and live to please him, are eternal; there is no death, only life.  Don’t lose faith; don’t lose hope; keep your heart and mind focused on that day; the day you and I will see Jesus Christ face to face (just as John saw him); and we will know complete peace; unending peace; eternal peace; in the presence of a loving God.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You and we recognize Your power and glory.  Jesus we look forward to the day we will see You face to face.  You are the only God, the one true and living God, and we put our faith and trust completely in You.  We trust that we will live forever with You, in Your eternal Kingdom.  Give us the courage and strength to reach out to others who may not know You, that they might come to accept You and receive unending life for themselves.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

                “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Mathew 7: 3-5.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                Critiquing others is a natural and effortless endeavor.  It is human nature to overvalue ourselves, by devaluing others.  There is no better way to feed pride than to look at the faults and shortcomings of those around us (Most people, whether consciously or unconsciously, critique and compare themselves to others daily.)  Some become delusional in this regard, and begin to pick at others; they correct others to avoid facing the difficulties within themselves (focusing on the sins of others, allows them to maintain a positive opinion of themselves.)  Jesus warned his disciples to avoid this form of hypocrisy.  A disciple may humbly point out sin in another person’s life, only when they have had victory over that sin in their own life.  Correcting someone else in any other way is very dangerous indeed; because God, in turn, inspects and corrects the life of the disciple in exactly the same manner and with exactly the same standard as they used to inspect and correct another.

                In 1986, a very well known radio and television minister became aware that a fellow Pastor was guilty of carrying on numerous affairs.  He went public with the information and his friend was removed from his position within the church and publicly humiliated.  Unfortunately, this pastor, who had been more than willing to expose the faults of his colleague, became embroiled in a far more insidious scandal just two years later.  In 1988 he was caught with a prostitute (he had been meeting with her for some time; in an interview she stated, “He was a regular customer”); filled with tears, this minister went on television and confessed his sins to the world, to his congregation, and to his family.  He pleaded and begged for forgiveness.  Despite breaking with his denomination when they claimed ‘he was not truly repentant,’ he continued on in ministry.  In 1991, he was stopped by police for driving on the wrong side of the road, and they found the prostitute he had just picked up sitting in his passenger’s seat.  This time, instead of admitting his fault, he lashed out and proclaimed, “The Lord told me, it’s flat none of your business.”  He later stepped down for a period of time.  This minister was guilty of trying to correct the sexual sins of another, before cleaning up his own sexually deviant lifestyle.  In turn, God judged him according to the standard by which he judged his colleague.

                As believer’s today, self-examination is critical; it is the precursor to effectively helping others.  We must ‘face the demons’ in our own lives, and be victorious over them before we can help others to overcome similar difficulties.  We must be extremely cautious before we attempt to lovingly correct others; for if we judge and correct others, the same judgment and correction will be measured back to us by God.  Have you carefully studied your own life?  Are you guilty of using the faults of others to feel better about yourself?  Are you trying to correct others in areas you yourself need correction?  Take time daily to evaluate yourself; write down behaviors that are in opposition to the will of God.  Record the sins that plague you; pray for deliverance and be diligent in your efforts to repent.  You will fight many battles, but with God’s help, you will be a conqueror.  With each new victory, God will use you as a light to guide others who desire victory over their own sins.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You and we ask that You protect us from the sin of hypocrisy.  May we refrain from measuring others in prideful ways; may we not correct others when we ourselves need correction.  Help us in our battles and reveal areas of sin in our lives.  Lord, if there are any opportunities to help others who struggle with the sins we have conquered by Your power, we pray that You would give us opportunities to speak to them and to help them to be victorious as well.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.