Tag: Unforgiveness

Posted on

DEGREE OF UNDERSTANDING

FEBRUARY 28

MATTHEW 5:19_shall break one…

Laws can be broken. Once again, it is not dependent upon your belief system as to whether laws can be broken or not. Neither are the laws which govern your physical existence dependent upon your belief.

Ask your local state patrol what will happen when you violate the traffic laws which you think shouldn’t be laws. They will be glad to tell you. They are glad because they want you to be safe. They don’t want to send the body bags to pick up your pieces because you saw no value in the law and violated it. 

What’s the difference? The degree of understanding. Law officers are both trained in the laws and experienced firsthand in their results—when laws are kept or when laws are violated. The law officers’ greater understanding of the law comes from their role in life. A life-role to which they are dedicated.

Officers enforce the law not just as a job, but to protect you. Not only you, but everyone traveling the same road at the same time as you.

YOU WILL RECEIVE ANOTHER DEVOTIONAL THIS AFTERNOON SINCE THIS IS NOT A LEAP YEAR

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, I know Your creation principles of life are for my good. Please give me a clear understanding of how to cooperate with them. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ’s creation principles protect me—Thank You, Jesus!

Posted on

A Path to Freedom

JANUARY 22

MATTHEW 5:7_for they shall obtain mercy.

What a lovely blessing the merciful receive—they obtain mercy. Meditate on that. After all the giving and pouring out of yourself and your time, there is mercy to receive! Everyone needs to be on the receiving end of mercy! Praise God there is a time when mercy is poured out on you! 

A day will come when you need mercy. You will experience what a beautiful thing mercy is. You will feel the warmth, comfort, and peace mercy gives. And since mercy is not a Band-Aid, you will receive freedom from guilt. To give mercy to someone is to free them from their wrong done to you. 

Be glad when you are a part of blessing another person. Be grateful that when you felt rejected or taken advantage of, you chose to respond with mercy—even though your offender was undeserving. Most of all, be grateful to the Holy God of Heaven because you are full of the Holy Spirit.

That’s the only way you can be merciful. You see, you don’t deserve mercy either.

Mercy not only frees your offender, it is a part of the path to your freedom from unforgiveness.

PRAYER

Loving Father, Forgive me for any time I have not bestowed mercy. Help me focus on You and Your truth more than the world’s deceptions. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ’s mercy is the path to freedom—He will help me!

Posted on

A New Heart

JANUARY 13

MATTHEW 5:4_for they shall be comforted.

The Bible is such an incredible book—the Book of Life. Life is tough. There’s nothing easy about living in a fallen world—even if you’re a fallen person. What? Seems it would be easier to fit in if you rejected Jesus and followed the devil. Ya think?

Satan is the alpha and omega of deception. Read his introduction into the Scriptures:

Genesis 3:1, ‘Now the serpent was more subtil [deceitful] than any beast of the field.’

Satan and his spirits of darkness are not your friends. His ultimate plan for your life is destruction. 

While you are developing a new heart from Jesus, you will mourn. A new heart living in a fallen world mourns over the devil’s destructive work to convince people to believe his lies.

Your new heart mourns as it sees the many ways people become captive: Alcohol. Pills. Pornographic Images. Anger. Hate. Unforgiveness. Bitterness. Sexual Abuse. Cruel Words: these are words that cannot be stopped because they come from a hard heart.

Blessed are you for mourning over these things. Jesus can deliver from all deceptions and give a life of freedom.

PRAYER

Jesus Deliverer, You are my deliverer. There is nothing satan can hold me captive to which You cannot free me from. Blessed be Your name! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ breaks all my bonds—and gives me freedom!

Posted on

Why Do You Come?

JANUARY 6

MATTHEW 5:2_And he taught them…

Whenever Jesus taught, multitudes came. Multitudes filled with variety. The desperate came to find freedom from demonic bondage. We think of demonic possession as something very graphic and frightening, but demons are at the core of hate, unforgiveness, bitterness, and stubborn rebellion, just to name a few.

Some came with hope of physical healing. Perhaps their diagnosis was “incurable.” Perhaps there was no money to pay for a doctor. Whatever the reason, they had heard of the miraculous power of The Great Physician. 

Some came out of curiosity. Who was this man that attracted multitudes whenever He spoke? Was He genuine? What kind of magic tricks might He perform today?  

Others in the multitude were Jesus’ enemies. Their hope was to find a loophole in His teaching and to expose Him before the crowd.

Jesus had not come on the scene in the usual method. He spoke differently. He taught differently. And what His enemies hated most, He attracted more followers than they.

When Jesus spoke people listened, were freed, and healed.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, Please teach me to listen when You speak to me through Your Word. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ speaks to me—I will learn to listen!

Posted on

Many

NOVEMBER 27

MATTHEW 7:22_Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord…

Jesus begins this verse with the word many. I already feel bad that not everyone will go to heaven, but now I feel worse that the not everyones are many. 

This reminds me of the narrow path, when Jesus says few will find it. It also causes me to think about how He said many will go in at the broad gate.

From this Sermon on the Mount Jesus has taught me who comprises the many:

Those whose righteousness does not exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees (chapter 5:20),

Those who cause others to believe they are empty-headed idiots (chapter 5:22),

Those who profit from the bondage of human trafficking (chapter 5:29-30),

Those who do not forgive (chapter 6:15),

Those who choose the broad path to destruction (chapter 7:13),

Those who are ravening wolves and bring evil into the world (chapter 7:17).

None of these actions exclude anyone from heaven by the action alone. The exclusivity comes from the heart. The heart which excludes Jesus.

The actions can all be forgiven and erased when the heart opens to include Jesus.

The actions reveal the heart.                    

PRAYER

God of All, You have taught me to include You in my heart. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.             

Christ desires to be included in my life—I will let Him!