In the story of Cain and Abel, the Lord was pleased with Abel’s offering of a sacrificial lamb, but he rejected Cain’s offering of fruit from his garden. Why? Because Cain had not followed the Lord’s instruction about how to resolve sin: a blood sacrifice, a sacrificial lamb. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. The Lord said…
When someone offends you, deliberately or ignorantly, what do you do? How do you balance the scales of justice, when you feel like you just got whacked? How do you get the debt created by someone’s sin or transgression paid down? Here are three ways many of us try. 1. Sweep it under the rug method? We sweep the offense…
The desire to punish people who unjustly hurt or offend us seems very natural and reasonable to us. You hurt me; I must hurt you back. The Bible refers to this as the “eye for an eye” method. “If man injures his neighbor … so it shall be done to him: … eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as…
More than 2000 years ago, God provided us with the greatest tool of power ever given to humanity—forgiveness. The sacrificial blood of Christ was given in payment for all our transgressions. It alone has the power to set us free from the debilitating guilt, resentment, anger, and hatred hindering our lives. Forgiveness opens the door to the kingdom of God…
We need to understand the pernicious nature of unforgiveness. It is a luxury that you dare not indulge in, because it leads to far greater evils. Here is a brief description of the downward spiral unforgiveness will take you on: 1. Create a record of wrongs Unforgiveness starts with the feeling we’ve been injured, hurt, or wronged by someone or…
According to Jesus, forgiving others is a necessary condition to receiving answers to our prayers. In his parable about the unforgiving servant, he warns that failure to forgive from the heart carries a high price tag: we’ll be turned over to torturers. We experience great loss when we do not realize how our unforgiveness affects us on every level of…
Former Catholic priest, Francis MacNutt, found that many sins do not block God’s healing power to the same extent as does a lack of forgiveness. In his book, Healing, he said, “I understand better than I used to why Jesus laid such a heavy stress on forgiving enemies when he talked about prayer … He often seems to connect forgiving…
According to the Bible, we can experience failures simply because of ignorance. The prophet Isaiah writes, “My people go into exile (captivity) for their lack of knowledge (Is 5:13).” The Apostle Paul tells the church at Ephesus to “walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from…
In the Gospels, Jesus Christ links forgiving others to answered prayers and well-being. And he warns that if we do not forgive from the heart, we will open ourselves to torturers—the domain of Satan. Recognizing the danger of unforgiveness, we need to consider the relationship of anger, resentment, and bitterness to our very real and practical life problems. Unforgiveness leads…
Pray! Use the spiritual authority God has given you: take authority, in the name of Jesus Christ, and resist the evil forces of darkness trying to take control of our land: anger, hatred, violence, murder, anarchy. Only the church, the body of Christ, can do this. Our war is against principalities & powers, spiritual wickedness, lying spirits—not people. “Resist the…