GospeLines Ministries® Daily Devotional for April 12, 2010
Have you missed any of our devotionals? Remember they can be found in the Archive section of our Website http://www.gospelines.com "Let Us Pray" Part 8 "If you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you" Matthew 6:15 Worldwide Eng NT Lord Herbert said it like this: "He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass." That was Jesus' message in this most frightening verse in all The Model Prayer ; God's forgiveness of a Christian's sin is conditioned upon our willingness to forgive others. So terrible is the power of this one phrase that it has caused saints to hesitate in speaking the words. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the South Seas and it was his habit to gather his wife and children every morning for Bible study. At the close of their "little discussion" together as he calls it, they would say the Lord's Prayer. One day he began to repeat The Prayer and got half way through it and arose and walked away. At that time of his life his health was rather frail and so his wife assumed that he was feeling ill and she went to him and said, "Is there anything wrong?" "Only this," he replied, "I am not fit to pray this prayer today." That's where it starts, isn't it? Don't come asking for something we are not willing to give! Remember that in this verse we are NOT talking about salvation forgiveness for the unbeliever which comes at the beginning of our walk with God. But we are referring to RESTORATION forgiveness for the Christian who frequently stumbles in his daily walk with God. The moral expectation is much greater for the Christian than for the unbeliever, and the consequence of disobedience is severe. Should a child of God choose to go through life with an unforgiving spirit, he will suffer the spiritual fallout of that lifestyle much like a prodigal son who chooses to live in the far country. Where there is an unforgiving spirit there is sin, thus we must practice 1 John 1:9 when we sin so that we can be restored to fellowship with God. First, confess (agree) that we have sinned; second, ask God to forgive us; and third, He will cleanse us of our unrighteousness and restore us to fellowship. Simple formula, right? And most of the time that's all it takes UNLESS our sin involves someone other than God, and then we must forgive that person, too, before we can expect God to forgive us. Be careful what you pray for, you might just get it. By praying "forgive us of our sins as we forgive others," we are actually asking God NOT to forgive us unless we are forgiving toward others. I forewarned you that this was a scary verse! Have you ever left a church service and wondered why you got nothing out of it? Just maybe it wasn't the preacher's fault but it was because your unforgiving spirit blocked your ability to worship. So what do we do about it? If you have a grudge against someone and you have held it for a long, long time how do you get rid of it? First, take it to God as a sin and repent of it. That's where it starts. Second, go to the person. Tough, huh? Go to the person and say, "I want to seek your forgiveness." Third, a practical suggestion which I learned from a godly pastor is to give the person something you value very highly. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is that's where your heart will be also." Maybe it's a book or something you know that person really wants; or maybe it's a check or money. It will vary, but the gift of value will open your heart and his/hers. This gesture will pave the way toward genuine forgiveness and restoration. Beloved, from my heart to yours, I beg you to follow the principle of forgiveness and teach it to your children. We must break the generational sin of harboring grudges against our neighbors, church members and family. GospeLines Prayer: Father, never again allow me to miss a blessing because I have been unforgiving and/or my own sins have gone unconfessed. Amen and amen. Tommy Harrison www.gospelines.com 3 crosses Amen and Amen! _____________________________________________________ GospeLines is a non-profit Christian ministry, providing free devotionals, Monday through Friday, to subscribers around the world. If you are receiving this devotional as a forward from a friend, please use the link below to become a subscriber. Subscribe If for any reason you wish to unsubscribe, please use the link below Unsubscribe Support for GospeLines Ministries® will always be accepted by mail or through the PayPal link on our Website; and, be assured, we will always be humbly grateful for your sustaining love. http://www.gospelines.com GospeLines Ministries P.O. 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