Our Forgiving God

Nehemiah 9:16-17

 “But they and our fathers acted proudly,

Hardened their necks,

And did not heed Your commandments.

 They refused to obey,

And they were not mindful of Your wonders

That You did among them.

But they hardened their necks,

And in their rebellion

They appointed ha leader

To return to their bondage.

But You are God,

Ready to pardon,

Gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger,

Abundant in kindness,

And did not forsake them.

Of all God's attributes, his mercy and forgiveness are possibly the hardest for me to understand. Perhaps it is because we as humans are so quick to get offended and so slow to forgive. We harbor grudges over the silliest things. We all know what it is like to see close friends become bitter enemies over something so petty and fleeting as money and material possessions. How quickly we forget that the richest blessings are the relationships we have with family and friends. Yes, because we are so trivial with our own forgiveness, we might tend to think that God is as well. 

The above passage is part of a prayer of re-dedication from the book of Nehemiah. It was prayed over the people by their leadership as an act of consecration to Jehovah during Nehemiah's reconsecration of Jerusalem. As part of the prayer, the leaders remind God of his mercy and kindness. They recall the time when their fathers sinned against God and Moses by creating a golden calf in the desert. They remind God that he forgave them because it is in his nature to forgive. They plead for God's forgiveness in their day, confident that God will do no the same for them that he did for their forefathers. Why? Because he is a God of mercy. Kindness is a part of who he is. He can not help but to be kind. It is Who He Is. 

All humanity was originally created in the image of God. Because of sin, we are not in the perfect state we were before the fall. There are, however, still things about our nature that are like God. We are happy at times and sad at others. We become frustrated and we get angry. But of all these things, I believe we are the most like God when we choose to forgive. Forgiveness is not only a virtue, it is a fruit of the Spirit of God. ( See Galatians chapter 5). Yes, we are most like God when we are quick to forgive and let things go. 

No only do we need to forgive others, we must also forgive ourselves. I have heard people repeatedly ask God to forgive things that he had long forgotten. How do I know he has forgotten? Because the prophet Micah said that he would cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. He is so full of love to us. We can not possibly understand just how deep his love and mercy goes. If you are having problems forgiving someone, ask God to help you see that person through his eyes. You will see how much he loves them and know that you must do the same. Are you having problems forgiving yourself? Ask God to help you see yourself as he sees you. You will probably be surprised at what you find out. He doesn't look at us as we see ourselves but he loves us with an unending love. 

God's love is faithful. If you need forgiveness, God has not changed. All you have to do is ask. He is abundant in kindness and will not forsake you. Don't give up on yourself. God hasn't and he never will.

Thankfully,

Sullivan Jones 

No Evil Thing

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. Psalm 103: 31 

 David's vow not to look at anything unholy seems almost impossible at times. There is so much that is unholy in our world. Everything in the news is about someone's transgression. Have you ever noticed that rarely (if ever) is anything positive reported in the news? It almost seems that people are  interested only in what someone has done wrong. One can not drive down the interstate or walk down the street without seeing advertisements for ungodly businesses and scantily clad persons. And this is not even discussing the evils of television! It seems no subject is so taboo that it is not blatantly portrayed on the big screen. Nor is it confined to television. With the internet on every phone and handheld device we own, there is evil at the touch of a button almost anywhere we are. We are truly surrounded by evil on every side and, if we let ourselves be, we can feel overwhelmed by it. The writer of Ecclesiastes knew this feeling when he wrote, "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In writing this he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by his surroundings. 

 The Christian we must remind himself that this isn't true. Our world may be evil, but it has always been so. The same writer of Ecclesiastes said, "There is no new thing under the sun." In every generation God's people have had some evil to contend with. Yet we can say with the Apostle John, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4).  WWII holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom made this statement about her time in a Nazi prison camp: "The great ploy of the enemy is to display such blatant evil around me that I think my sins do not matter." The modern day Christian must not fall to this ploy of the devil. Just because our world is filled with evil does not give us the excuse to allow things into our lives that we know are wrong. We must all make a fresh commitment (in the words of King David) to "set no evil thing before our eyes." The spirit of religiosity that is in our world says that we can participate in almost anything the world does and still be used of God. We must guard against this at any cost. Just because something feels good doesn't mean it is good. We must judge everything by the word of God. 

Another ploy the enemy uses is to try to make us feel small and insignificant. He tells us that no one wants to hear that what they are doing is wrong. He tries to make us feel old fashioned for having ideas of Holiness and separation from the world. We are tempted to keep quiet in conversations where our voice would be the lone one that stands for Biblical values. We must not give in to this. If there was ever a time that our world needed the people of God to be bold it is now. To be bold does not mean to be unkind. We can speak the truth in love. Not speaking up when we know someone is voicing an opinion that is not Biblical is not being kind. It is allowing the person to be deceived. Our world needs a conscience and we as the church must be that conscience. 

We are salt and light to our world and a city that is set on a hill can not be hid. It is time for us to be the city on the hill. Surely, there is darkness around us but the light of God's word shines brightest in the darkest of the night. With so much wickedness in our world, it's time for the church to shine. I challenge you, fellow Christian. Shine as brightly as you can. Your world depends upon it. 


In Christ's Love,

Sullivan Jones 

Anointed Prayer

Often earnestness can be mistaken for anointing. Someone who is anointed will feel earnest toward prayer. But just because we feel eager to pray, doesn't mean our prayers will be anointed. Men can pray long prayers, using beautiful language, but if the Spirit of God doesn't touch their hearts and lips, the words are empty. Jesus rebuked the pharisees for doing this. We understand this in preaching. A man can stand behind a pulpit and proclaim the gospel without any anointing on his life. The words he speaks may be true but it somehow sounds empty. Why? Because his life doesn't testify that he lives what he is preaching. It is the same with our prayers. The disciples recognized this when they asked, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Matthew 6:9). No doubt they saw that Jesus prayers were answered much more quickly than their own. This was because he always prayed according to the will of his father.  The very first thing he taught his disciples to pray was : "Our father ..... thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE." We can pray long prayers with beautiful words; they may even be sincere. But the prayers that really touch God are prayers that are anointed with His Spirit according to his will and word.

Prayer: Lord, when I come to you in prayer, anoint my mind, heart, spirit, and lips that I might ask of you petitions that be according to your will. Let me pray with the anointing that will destroy the bondage of sin and sickness in people's lives. In Jesus name, Amen.

Prayerfully Yours,

Sullivan Jones