Bible League: Living His Word Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."— Matthew 18:21-22 NIV Every individual who calls himself a Christian must face the fact that we cannot walk with God and be a little unforgiving or a little offended. If we are going to walk with God, we must allow His love to wash away every trace of unforgiveness. I often hear believers say, "But you, pastor, don't know how badly they treated me!" Has God forgiven your sin? "Yes." Then you also forgive them. This is the end of this discussion. Put aside crying and whining about how hurt you are. Maybe you were The reason I can speak so directly to you about this is because God has already taught me these things about myself. I remember one day when I was complaining to God about some past hurts and mistreatments, I muttered in self-pity. Just then, God spoke to my heart and urged me to get over these. We should understand that God is the one who cares whether you hurt or not. Your pains mean everything to Him. He carries our burdens for us, so we don't have to carry them—we have to leave them at the feet of Christ. As a Church, we must learn this today. We need to stop paying so much attention to our hurts and leave them to God. We should take a lesson from the pioneers of faith. People like Peter and John and those old Pentecostals years ago would go into the "jaws of hell." They would go through persecutions that make the things we face look like child's play. They didn't come out crying about how they were hurt. They came out saying, "Praise God! We have an opportunity to suffer for His name. What a privilege!" When you have that attitude, it is not difficult to forgive, because your focus is not on yourself. But it is about God and His purposes, God and His love. If you want to discover the secret of true forgiveness, your focus must be on God. We are instructed to forgive others in the same way, or on the same basis, as God has forgiven us. By Pastor Sabri Kasemi, Bible League International partner, Albania Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 70, 71, 72 Psalm 70 -- Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, O Lord. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 71 -- In you, O Lord, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 72 -- God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 4 Romans 4 -- Abraham's Faith Credited as Righteousness NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion God created everything through him,and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. Insight Do you ever feel that your life is too complex for God to understand? Challenge Remember, God created the entire universe, and nothing is too difficult for him. God created you; he is alive today, and his love is bigger than any problem you may face. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Revelation 21:23 The Lamb is the light thereof.Quietly contemplate the Lamb as the light of heaven. Light in Scripture is the emblem of joy. The joy of the saints in heaven is comprised in this: Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glorified us: we are here entirely through the Lord Jesus. Each one of these thoughts shall be to them like a cluster of the grapes of Eshcol. Light is also the cause of beauty. Nought of beauty is left when light is gone. Without light no radiance flashes from the sapphire, no peaceful ray proceedeth from the pearl; and thus all the beauty of the saints above comes from Jesus. As planets, they reflect the light of the Sun of Righteousness; they live as beams proceeding from the central orb. If he withdrew, they must die; if his glory were veiled, their glory must expire. Light is also the emblem of knowledge. In heaven our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus himself will be the fountain of it. Dark providences, never understood before, will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh! what unfoldings there will be and what glorifying of the God of love! Light also means manifestation. Light manifests. In this world it doth not yet appear what we shall be. God's people are a hidden people, but when Christ receives his people into heaven, he will touch them with the wand of his own love, and change them into the image of his manifested glory. They were poor and wretched, but what a transformation! They were stained with sin, but one touch of his finger, and they are bright as the sun, and clear as crystal. Oh! what a manifestation! All this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of effulgent splendour, Jesus shall be the centre and soul of it all. Oh! to be present and to see him in his own light, the King of kings, and Lord of lords! Daily Light on the Daily Path Luke 1:50 "AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.Psalm 31:19,20 How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! • You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. 1 Peter 1:17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; Psalm 145:18,19 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. • He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 2 Kings 22:19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD. Isaiah 66:2 "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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