Have you forgiven?

You know that person who offended/hurt you? Pray for God's blessing on them and God's best for them. Pray daily until you really mean it. Then you will know you have truly forgiven them.

FRIDAY, FIFTH WEEK IN LENT - 2013

Scripture:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:11,12

Reflection:

Again we are reminded of one of our Lenten themes, that of repentance. When we examine our hearts and find things that shouldn't be there, we go to God and confess our sins to him. When we do this, we can have the assurance that he hears us and forgives us. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) His forgiveness toward us is sure because of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf.

Then, after being forgiven, we should ask for a clean heart, for all sin begins in a heart that is unclean. The cleaner our hearts, the fewer our sins. We often try to clean up the outside first. We don't do this, or we don't do that, which is okay if we are walking in obedience and are trying to please the Lord, but it does little to purify the heart. The Lord's way is to work from the inside out. As we submit our wills to him, he goes to work cleansing our hearts. When our hearts are clean, all that outward obedience comes so much easier and is just the natural result of staying close to the Lord. Unclean hearts prevent us from staying close to him. It is like we have been cast away from his presence and he has removed his Holy Spirit from us. That is a place we never want to be.

Prayer:

(Today we simply make the words of our Scripture reading our prayer.)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Amen.

MONDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT - 2013

Scripture:

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" ... Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear ... He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." ... Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst ... He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." John 8:3-11 (selected)

Reflection:

I've always thought this was a total set up and all the accusers were guilty of the same sin as the woman. Oh, she was guilty and she was, indeed, a sinner. She knew it. Her guilt constantly reminded her of that. What could she do now? She could never change what she had done. She was condemned, condemned by her family, by society and by herself. Now, she is brought before the purest, truly the holiest man she had ever met. Her guilt just intensified. Her tears flowed out of deep shame. This went far beyond any level of embarrassment or any sense of conscience. She was unclean; Jesus was holy. She was darkness; Jesus was pure light. She was condemned; Jesus was the Judge.

But then she heard something she never expected to hear. "Neither do I condemn you..." She heard a voice of compassion granting forgiveness, cleansing, and mercy. Jesus is about forgiveness. The cross is about forgiveness. Easter is about forgiveness. Jesus didn't overlook or excuse her sin, he canceled her debt of sin. But then she hear Jesus speak something else, "Go and sin no more." It is out of his grace Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven," but out of his holiness he commands, "Go and sin no more." Jesus speaks those same words to us.

Prayer:

Lord, we are so thankful for your forgiveness. May we never take it for granted or presume upon it. Help us to never cast stones of condemnation, instead may we be forgiving, as you are forgiving. May we be willing to protect those who are in the line of fire of those who want to throw stones of judgment. May we be ready to always offer your grace to those who so desperately need it. And may your Holy Spirit help us who have been forgiven, to "go and sin no more." Amen.

WEDNESDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT - 2013

Scripture:

"Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." Matthew 18:21,22

Reflection:

Forgive? 490 times? Lord, isn't that a bit unreasonable?

Forgiveness is not always easy. Sure, it is easier for some than others, and some offenses are, understandably, easier to forgive than others. But that doesn't nullify the necessity for us to forgive. Forgiveness doesn't minimize or excuse the wrongdoing, but it frees us from any sense of retaliation and releases the wrongdoer from our hearts and minds so we don't become angry and bitter. When we get to that point, it affects all those around us, not just the one who wronged us. In fact, very often the offender is not even aware there was ever a problem. When we fail or even refuse to forgive, we are the ones who suffer the most. Not only does it continually eat at us, but it jeopardizes our relationship with the Lord.

God has forgiven us much. Wrongs committed against us, regardless of how serious, are minimal in comparison to our sins against a holy God. As a forgiven people, we should be a forgiving people.

Oh, and that 490 times? We get to start all over again tomorrow.

Prayer:

Father, you have been so forgiving of us. We often offend your holiness and fall short of what you've called us to be and do, and yet you forgive us time and time again. Grant us forgiving hearts toward those who have sinned against us. Remind us, Lord, that we who have been freely forgiven at the expense of your Son, are to freely dispense the forgiveness we have received from you. Lord, though this is difficult, with you all things are possible. With gratefully forgiven hearts we pray. Amen.

SATURDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT - 2013

Scripture:

"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:18-19

Reflection:

The emphasis on repentance during Lent usually focuses on our part of the process: self-examination, confession and turning from our sin. We often miss the best part - God's part: forgiveness. John the Apostle tells us in 1 John 1:9 that "if we confess our sins (our part) He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (God's part)."

The prophet Micah says that God will "hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." Sins cast into a stream or other shallow body of water might be retrieved, but sins hurled into the depths of the sea will be remembered no more. Then, as Corrie Ten Boom once said, after God casts our sins into the depths of the sea, he places a sign that reads, "NO FISHING ALLOWED!"

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your forgiveness and your forgetfulness when it comes to our sins. We thank you that you don't care to dig up our past and hold it over us. Help us, Lord, to forgive ourselves of those things that you have already forgiven. Remind us that your mercy is always greater than our sin. Grant us humble and truly contrite hearts that our times of confession might never become routine and insincere. Amen.