Bitterness, Family, Grace, Mercy, Righteousness, Sexual Abuse

                                           When The Door Slams

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.         (Matthew 18:21-22 NIV) 

            A woman I met at the Los Angeles Mission told me how she was sexually abused as a small child by her father. She grew up, overcame the emotional damage that had been done, and eventually married a missionary. Years later, after her children were fully grown, she received a letter from her father telling her he had became a Christian and has asked God for forgiveness and received it. He had, moreover, realized he had sinned dreadfully against her, and was writing to ask for her pardon.

            Feelings she didn't know were there suddenly surfaced. It wasn't fair! He should pay for what he had done, she thought bitterly. It was all too easy. And now he was going to be part of the family! She was sure her home church was busy killing the fattened calf for him and that she would be invited to the party! She was angry, resentful. . . . 

            Then she had a dream. She saw her father standing on an empty stage. Above him appeared the hands of God holding a white robe of righteousness. She recognized it at once, for she was wearing one just like it! As the robe began to descend toward her father, she woke up crying out, "No! It isn't fair! What about me?"

            The only way she could finally rejoice, as our heavenly Father pleaded with her to do, was to realize that her earthy father was now wearing the same robe that she was. They were the same in God's sight. It had cost His Son's life to provide both those robes. As she began to see clearly her father clothed with the garments of the Lord God grace. She was able to begin to praise the LORD.

            Think about this: The same grace of God that protects and heals us also calls us to forgive those who hurt us the most.

            Affirmation: The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11 NIV).      

Related Bible Texts: Matthew 18:21-35; Luke 15:11-32

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                        Never Rest Ministries 

People God Used In A Significant Way Went Through Periods Of Waiting

                                              When The Door Slams

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.              Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV   

            We say that time heals everything because time often dims our memory. This is why parents and trainers know that important principles need to be taught and repeated often. If people were computers, a concept could be entered once and saved, but people forget.

            To the extent we embrace that mentality, we lose touch with one of God's greatest character-building tools: waiting on Him. Most of the people God used in a significant way went through periods of waiting. The Old Testament has many references to waiting on the Lord, especially during trials. 

            Waiting on the Lord in marriage may be one of the most challenging test. If we think our spouses need to change, we are tempted to want that change now. The alternative is to commit that need to the Lord and wait upon Him. It sometimes escapes us that the waiting might be for our benefit; God's best work may be in us, not our spouses. 

            Think about this: Throughout Scripture, the people of God are reminded, "Do not be afraid." When we come face-to-face with God and His glory: "Do not be afraid." When Peter walks on water: "Do not be afraid." When loved one die: "Do not be afraid." When all you have is five loaves and two fish: "Do not be afraid." 

            This simple phrase is God's comfort and invitation to us. We may not have the confidence, skills, or resources needed for our situation, but God does. Jesus invites us to rest, knowing He is God. His peace is ever present. He delights in our requests for more of Him. It is not about ignoring feelings of fear, but about focusing on God's love, power, and provision. As we do, our faith grows as we see God working in the midst of our circumstances. It is worth repeating: "I can wait-on the Lords." "Do not be afraid." 

            Affirmation: "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:27-31 NKJV).   

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness  

                                                     Never Rest Ministries                                   

Weak Minded Christians Sabotage Their Own Future

                                     When The Door Slams

"For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.                   Matthew 6:14-15 AMP                         

            The doorway that opens to a life of love and joy is forgiveness. Your ability to freely forgive other people, and to let the hurt go, is the true mark of integrity, character and a fully developed personality. You can clear your mind and heart of the negativity you have built up over time with one decisive action: You can issue a blanket pardon to everyone for everything that they have done to hurt you in any way. 

            Many people cling to their resentments because they feel that they have paid so dearly for them that they cannot possibly give them up. Sometimes people's entire lives are built around their past hurts and suffering. They have little else to talk about, and they dwell on their negative experiences continually. 

            Eventually, these people make themselves physically and mentally ill. Their repressed anger and negativity sooner or later erupt and spoil any new relationships that they try to build. They sabotage their own futures. And, in every case, there is only one solution and that is to give it to the Lord God and let it go.

           Think about this: Forgiving another person is a perfectly "selfish" act. You do it so that you can be free. You forgive so that you can experience the happiness and joy for which you were created...If you find that you still cannot bring yourself to do a kindness for the other person, this should tell you something about your true feelings as a Christian. This inability to forgive might be holding you back from loving yourself and other people. You might have your own foot on the brakes of your own future.

            Renewal: Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail] (1 Corinthians 13:4-6 AMP).     

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness. 

                                                Never Rest Ministries             

                

The Key Word Is Acknowledge

                                     When The Door Slams

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a lair and his word is not in us.                        1 John 1:9-10 NIV  

            Confession of sin is multifaceted, but there is a core principle. It is not sorrow, guilt, or shame. It is agreement. The Greek translation for "confess" is made of two words: homos, meaning "same," and lego, meaning "say or speak." So to confess means "to say the same thing as." As who? As God! We don't inform God of our sins by confessing them. He already knows what we have done. Our greatest need is to humbly agree with Him: "Father, You call what I did 'sin' and I agree with You." 

            Consider these words from the General Confession in the Book of Common Prayer: "Almighty God, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness. The key word there is acknowledge. It suggests that we are simply agreeing with God about our "sins and wickedness." We are not hiding our sins or hiding from God. We enter God's presence ready to acknowledge (agree with) what God already knows. Such acknowledgement means we humbly accept God's definition of our actions. We don't try to call our sins "mistakes."

            Think about this: We have all had this experience. After investing hours or days searching for a solution to a problem, we finally discover that an expert could have helped us quickly and easily if we had only asked. James reminded his readers to accomplish their goals  turn to God first. In fact, we say, "All you have to do is ask," come from the word of James:

         "You do not have because you do not ask." Instead of seeing God as our first choice, we often make Him our last resort. And we wonder why we don't have the comfort, guidance, or provision we so desperately need and seek.

           If you have sins start today by confessing and agreeing with God. Only what is rightly confessed can be rightly forgiven. You need to make God your first choice. He is our Holy Father who loves to meet His children's needs-if they will just ask.

           Confession: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want. so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:1-4 NIV).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.                        

                                              Never Rest Ministries

When The Guilt Of Sin Is Removed

                                     When The Door Slams

I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my wickedness; I said, "I will confess [all my transgressions to the LORD", And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him. You are my hiding place; You, LORD, protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance.      (Psalm 32:5-7 AMP)  

               All of us can testify to the "before and after" of relief from physical pain. It might happen quickly-an aspirin and a good night's sleep relieves a headache-or it might be a long-term process-a painful broken bone gradually heals. However long the transition takes, we knows how good it feels to be relieved of pain.

            Guilt can be as painful spiritually as an ailment can be physically. The guilt of sin, whether by omission or commission, can be removed. And when guilt is removed, the accompanying pain of fear, stress, despair, or shame is removed as well. The psalmist David described the pain of his unconfessed sin (Psalm 32:3-4) and implied the removal of that pain when he "[confessed his] transgressions to the LORD" (verse 5).

            We don't know if this psalm was written in the aftermath of his adultery and conspiracy to murder (2 Samuel 11-12); but if it was, he had lived almost a year with the pain of his guilt. He saw confession to God as the path to the restoration of his joy (Psalm 51:12). 

            Think about this: A young man was in an outpatient drug rehab program, meeting with a counselor weekly. Some weeks he had to report that he had succumbed to drug use since their last meeting. "Do you want to get off drugs?" his counselor would ask. Hearing yes as an answer, the counselor would respond, "Then I will be here for you until you succeed." When he asked why you didn't give up on me, the counselor would reply, "My job doesn't depend on your faithfulness. It's my job to be faithful regardless." 

            "God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord " (1 Corinthians 1:9 NIV). Let God's faithfulness to you be an inspiration for your own faithfulness to Him. If you are living with an unconfessed sin, ask God to cleanse you and deliver you from pain to relief (1 John 1:9). 

            Intercession: LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before You with our guilt, though no one can stand in Your presence because of this (Ezra 9:15 HCSB).  

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.  

                                                Never Rest Ministries  

     

                

                  

                          

Which Pain Is Worse, Physical Or Emotional

                                             When The Door Slams

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.                                    Psalm 61:1-4 NIV

             We can sometimes succeed at pushing physical pain right out of our thoughts by crowding our time and attention with other matters. But inside suffering...ah, that is a different matter. Mental anguish, resentment, bitterness, disappointment, or even dryness of soul can hound us. And it is not so easy to put those feeling behind.

            Those sorts of hurts and pains of the heart and mind and spirit create an emptiness, and seem to put us in a spiritual vacuum. We can describe physical pain to a doctor or nurse, but inside pain can only be known-really known-by God.

            Think about this: I think God permits this kind of inner anguish for a good reason. Physical hurt is almost outside of us, sometimes we can drive it from our thoughts. But inside pain is within our thoughts, and action that will forces us to cope with the problem. God may allow it because He knows this kind of suffering can be more purifying than any other kind of pain. Today we are forced to face it and deal with the situation at hand. 

            Let this time be significant. Let these days be an event, a milestone you can point to and say, "That was the day I let the Lord God of my life turn my sorrow into joy...Just as pain and sorrow brought us to tears of remorse and regret...Just as certain painful events can cause our lives to come to a full stop, God calls us now to a new start.  

 Confession: For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast (Proverbs 5: 21-22 NIV). Renewal: For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:9-14 NIV).    

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.   

                                                Never Rest Ministries                     

Every Good Shepherd Wants The Best For His Sheep

                                     When The Door Slams

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He let me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet water. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live.                                   Psalm 23:1-6 HCSB 

            Has there ever been a more turbulent era in American history? The two political parties seem hopelessly divided, our role in the flammable Middle East seems indefinable, the value of the unborn and marriage drift further from God's ideal, and our fiscal indebtedness grows by the hour. Yet God remains uninvited into our situation. A nation that proclaims "In God We Trust" seems to put trust in everything but Him. 

            The Old Testament prophets warned about trusting in man and man's methods instead of in God. When Israel was tempted to appeal to Egypt for help against her enemies, the prophet Isaiah warned the leaders, "Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit" (Isaiah 31:1-3). Could there be any plainer distinction? When man finds himself in desperate situations, why would he call on others who are no greater than himself? Should we not call on the One who is God rather than relying on the abilities of man? 

            Think about this: When we consider how to stay calm and peaceful in our chaotic world, we might think of David, the psalmist and king of Israel. He didn't write Psalm 23 as a peaceful picture of his life. After all, this was a man who had faced a giant, done battle with the Philistines, dodged the spear and sword of Saul, been betrayed by his own son, and brought serious trouble upon his own head by his own sinful actions. David led anything but a peaceful life.

            The key to reconciling Psalm 23 with David's tumultuous life-and ours-is in the words he chose. To be led into green pastures suggests that some pastures aren't always so green. To reference still waters is to say that sometimes the waters of life are not so still. To describe his soul as being restored implies that his soul needed restoring, that it had been in turmoil and needed quieting. Every shepherd wants the best for his sheep, but the best isn't always available. When life is challenging, our good Shepherd can be counted on to lead us into a place and time of restoration and healing. When you find yourself in a spiritual jam, don't rely on your own devices. Remember the name of the Lord our God-and trust in Him!

            Renewal: Now I know that the LORD gives victory to His anointed; He will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories from His right hand. Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of Yahweh our God (Psalm 2o:6-7 ).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                Never Rest Ministries