March 18, 2005

• Fantastic Bible study today.and great food. We have a potluck lunch Bible study, and we share the food of the flesh and the food of the spirit. Makes for good fellowship, and at the same time is a more relaxed Bible study.

  
  

  I printed out some of the Bible studies for my pastor and showed them to him He feels that I am representing the studies accurately, and if ever I make a mistake, I promise to correct the errors and let you know about it. I was blessed to be able to spend some time talking with him today.

  
  

  What always amazes me about Pastor Don is, on a Friday Bible study he lets people ask questions at times, and then he will answer the question, with a knowledge of the Bible that I envy and want to develop. Sometimes he is led by the spirit to teach something, but whatever, the studies are exciting.

  
  

  It seems to be a common theme on Xanga lately about forgiveness, and someone asked an interesting question about forgiveness. Here is what transpired in response to her question. It had to do with the verse about, if anyone has unforgiveness toward a brother, they must go and clear that up, then come back to communion.

  
  

  Mark 11:22 – end of chapter is a cohesive whole, even though usually people teach Mark 11: 22-24 as a complete thought. The temple rulers questioned Jesus’ authority to forgive, for if he could forgive then he was putting himself equal to God, for the temple rulers could not forgive sins, they could only sacrifice from year to year.

  
  

  Hatred and resentment can keep you from heaven. When you notice that you have hatred or resentment or unforgiveness dump it immediately. In order to be forgiven, you must forgive. Unforgiveness is a terrible burden to bear, because unforgiveness is a weight that weighs you down. The person who wronged you does not care if you harbor unforgiveness, and satan gets two for one if you harbor unforgiveness. He has the person who hurt you in his clutch and he keeps you downtrodden and from receiving God’s best for you because of the unforgiveness you harbor.

  
  

  When asked about how there seems to be roots of unforgiveness that linger, he pointed out that our spirit is cleansed of hatred and unforgiveness when we are saved, but the old fleshly thoughts and feelings still sometimes cling. That it takes an act of will to begin to channel our thinking towards forgiveness. As an illustration, Pastor Don pointed out that his father was so busy in the church that he did not attend any of the sports events that Pator Don as a child participated in. When Pastor Don had sons of his own, he attended their games and competitions, and it would make him teary eyed thinking of how his father did not do that for him. He went and spoke with his father, and over time, by correcting the erroneous thoughts, he could attend his sons’ events and not feel that ping of saddness.

  
  

  When we do forgive others it has an act of faith imbedded in it. When asked what that was, one of the people stated it is that God will take the vengence necessary on the person. That God is a just judge and that we have to trust that God will do what is right for the person who hurt us. We do not know the whole picture that God knows, so we cannot accurately judge another. If we trust God’s justice, then we do not need to worry about forgiving another. Forgiveness is for us. (I know this is true from personal experience as there was great healing when I could finally forgive my parents, but it took time and a readiness to be able to do this.) Fortunately God will not over punish a person, and we tend to punish people far more than they deserve for the “crime” that they committed at us. If we take this kind of judgement on ourselves, we too will be judged the way we judge others.

  
  

  Then he pointed out that honestly, when we get upset with a person (not in every case, but often) it is because we had expectations on how they would act or what they would say. A lot of unforgiveness is a judgement on our part. We attribute an offence to someone who wasn’t planning or thinking or expecting what we expected from it. We attribute plots and plans and why they did or didn’t do what they did. One example he uses is when he is going to preach sometimes he walks down the aisle of the church thinking or praying or focusing on something that needs to be done, and he doesn’t see a person, or say hi or shake hands. The person holds a grudge thinking that Pastor Don is upset with them, or mad at them, or whatever, when it was just that he was preoccupied. They build a whole case, write nasty letters, or confront him and it comes from left field because it was not where he was at the time.

  
  

  Forgiving is easier when you know the person is going to be punished for what they did.  (Pastor Don said that with a smile because he says we all want to know that a person will get what they deserve)

  
  

  Now here is a clincher question that he asked. If you are living in unforgiveness you have to ask yourself, what is it that prevents you from believing that Jesus can forgive your sins or forgive the sins of those who hurt you?

  
  

  If you cannot forgive others, can God forgive your sins. (Now this I know for a fact, I have had so many sins forgiven that it would be awful of me to withhold forgiveness to another for their sins.

  
  

  When Jesus sent his disciples out in Matthew 10 he sent them out to preach, heal, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. There is a spirit of unforgiveness, and that is a spirit sent by satan. The unforgiveness can torment us, leave us open to sickness and disease and block God’s blessings. We are disciples of Christ and as such, we too must learn to speak out against the spirit of unforgiveness in our lives. Because we are a living sacrifice, and are part of God’s temple, we must work to cleanse ourselves (with God’s help for we can’t do it by ourselves) of this spirit of unforgiveness.

  
  

  One person asked if a person that she knew, who claims to be born again, acts in such a way to show that maybe she isn’t born again, how does one deal with the person.

  
  

  Pastor Don said that  Do not judge her statement (only God knows who is and who isn’t born again). 2. Treat her as if she is born again, and pray for her deliverance.

  
  

  He pointed out that a church is a  hospital for hurting souls. NO ONE in the church is perfect, we all sin, all have weaknesses, all make mistakes. We are to build each other up in the Body of Christ, and help each other out. Often people are afraid to share their weaknesses or sins with one another for fear of the kind of judgement, gossip, and hurtful statements that may be aroused by such a confession. That if the church were doing it’s work it would be where people would come with their problems, get prayed for and supported as they struggle with their struggles.

  
  

  We have the responsibility to believe in the authority of God to release demonic oppresion. We have the responsibility to embrace them and set them free. But not to judge or condemn. There is a difference between a person given over to their sin and a person oppressed by their sin. And they need to be handled differently.

  
  

  If a person blatently sins, is not sorry, and does not feel that they are doing wrong, and deliberately chooses to sin that is one thing. But the person oppressed, who is sorry, who is trying to change, who backslides occasionall, needs to be treated with love and compassion because, truth be told, we all have those areas in our lives that need working on. We have all backslid in one situation or another, and we are still trying to get our flesh to line up with our spirits.

  
  

  When we make choices that do not line up with God’s best for us, we become oppressed by unclean spirits. God wants the best for us all, so we must work to line our lives up with God’s choices for us.

  
  

  There was more stuff, but some of it I have to question Pastor Don about because I do not want to write what I am not clear on. Hope this has helped.

  
  

  Please remember Sunday 20th to Thurs the 24th I will be travelling with my Girl Scout troop and probably will have no access to the computer. Please do not worry if you do not hear from me. If I get up early enough on Sunday I will try to write some. Have a blessed weekend.

  
  

  Heather

  • 4:41 pm
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