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“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.  Isaiah 43:25

The pressure to be like Jesus can be overwhelming if I’m part of a legalistic environment.  Satan also whispers the lie that God only loves me when I’m making progress.  Never will I struggle more than when I try to be like God and (as we call it) ‘forgive and forget.’  Of the many myths surrounding forgiveness, this is one of the most destructive. 

If I’ve really forgiven someone, does that mean that I will stop thinking about what they’ve done?  And if that event goes through my mind every so often, am I sinning?  ‘Forgiving and forgetting’ is often linked to the Isaiah scripture that headed this chapter. What’s behind God’s words?  

When I repent and ask for God’s forgiveness, He takes the sins that separated me from Him and puts them behind His back, out of sight.  He never brings them out again, holds them up to my face and says, “Remember what you did!?”  They are out of sight. ‘Remembering them no more’ means they are no longer an issue between us. 

Remembering offenses to feed my bitterness is different than remembering  offenses to pursue wisdom.  God is always there to help me review my life, the good and the bad, piece by piece. He teaches me about my offenders and about myself, revealing why I reacted the way I did.  The wisdom gained is what scripture refers to as the ‘treasures of the darkness.’

If I consider my worst hurt and what was done against me, and if I track the instruction given by the Holy Spirit about that event, I discover that my soul and spirit are enriched to the point of overflowing.  If you have forgiven others after something horrendous, you are also rich in wisdom and could give lengthy instruction to others.  That’s because, with the mind of Christ, our scars make us wise.

As helpful as it is to learn what forgiveness is, it’s even more impactful to learn what it is not.  There are many misconceptions surrounding this topic.  One of them is that if I choose to forgive, I’m insinuating that what happened to me was no big deal.  That is simply not true.  

As children of God, we are called to be like our Father. God feels strongly about sin and so must we.  He took it so seriously that He sacrificed the life of His Son to make us holy again.  I must take sin, and the sacrifice of God’s Son, so seriously that I also do something outrageous ~ forgive because I am forgiven.  

Forgiving another doesn’t reduce the gravity of their sin. It is possible to forgive while imposing boundaries.  I can forgive while initiating consequences.  Forgiveness does not even exclude involving the law and civil authorities. Restraining orders and arrests for assault are often necessary.

God forgave King David and gave him a fresh page on the canvas of his life by bringing forth the birth of Solomon.  Yet, included in his future were also the consequences of his sin. It started with the death of the child he and Bathsheba conceived outside of marriage. 

Joseph forgave his brothers but he didn’t excuse their sin.  He set up a test for them to prove a change of heart.  He was clear as he addressed them. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Genesis 50:20  He did not tell not to worry about what they had done because God worked everything out in the end.  

I am commanded to forgive because that’s what my Father did for me.  I  must forgive small things as well as horrific things.  I am not exempt because of the severity of an offense.  God rules over large and small matters and I can trust him to rule and redeem everything that concerns me.     Whether or not I see redemption is dependent on my obedience.  Bitterness and revenge tie God’s hands from blessing me with beautiful outcomes. 

I know that I am not a citizen of earth, but, of heaven.  I know that God is my ultimate authority.  I know that life here is flawed and the kingdom of heaven runs perfectly.  So why do I look for the affairs of earth to go fairly?  Why do I fear God has failed me if a court case doesn’t go my way, or if I’m passed over for a promotion, or if betrayal has become a familiar bedfellow?  I should know better than to be rocked by earth’s imperfections.  I should know better than to blame God.  I live with hope deferred ~ realizing that while sometimes God intervenes and causes justice to prevail here, much of the time, it doesn’t.  I am to live yearning for my future home where nothing is corrupted. 

When life is unfair, I remember that God is my King.  Authorities here are not always going to see things from God’s perspective.  Did Jesus have to battle the discrepancies between earth and heaven?  Yes.  Peter revealed how he handled it. 

Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while they hurled insults at Him, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to His Father who judges righteously.  I Peter 2:1-23

I’m struck by the verb tense in the last sentence.  Jesus kept entrusting Himself to His Father. Since He was tempted in every way as you and I are tempted, He experienced similar thoughts of taking revenge and exacting some kind of immediate justice.  But being sinless, He stopped, restrained Himself, and left ruling the universe to His Father. He did this at every moment of pain and injustice.  Peter enumerates them.  If He had to make this his kind of lifestyle, so do I.  He didn’t just decide to forgive at age twelve and then never struggle with it again.  When his family called him crazy, he had to stop and entrust Himself to His father.  When Judas betrayed Him, He had to stop and entrust Himself to His father again.  At every turn, the same decision was made over and over.

Allowing God to be King of my life is a moment by moment choice.  I decide to lay down my rights to take revenge.  I abdicate my rights to decide when someone deserves to be forgiven, or when they’re sorry enough.

Jesus, who knew God’s redemptive plan, didn’t believe He was exempt from suffering.  He anticipated it and needed grace, as I do, to withstand the trials that come with living here on a broken planet, with broken people.  

Father, just as You infused Your Son with supernatural power to forgive others, even when on the cross, I count on that today in my many disappointments.  Amen

When I choose to forgive someone, it is as though I am gift wrapping a package in the most exquisite paper and then placing it in God’s hands. “Here, this is for you, Lord.”  Because forgiving some people feels excruciating, why would I want to give God a gift that feels so expensive to give?  Because I want to give in response to how deeply He has forgiven me.  

Jesus was once a guest at the home of a wealthy man named Simon. Simon and his wife probably had an expectation of how the evening would go since they were the hosts but they couldn’t foresee that a woman would arrive who would do something outrageous. She came to the table where everyone was reclining and began to pour expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. She emptied the jar. The cost to her amounted to a full year’s salary. Simon, the host, thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is —that she is a sinner.” Jesus began to tell a parable about who loves more….someone who has been forgiven a small debt or another who has been forgiven a huge debt. Jesus said to Simon, “You did not give me any water for my feet when I arrived. You did not kiss me. You did not put oil on my head but she has wet my feet with her tears, has not stopped kissing my feet, and has poured perfume on them. Her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7 

According to Jesus, there is a mathematical equation in play. The amount to which I’m willing to forgive someone else is directly related to how much I have asked Jesus to forgive me.   Do I consider myself a good person compared to others?  Do I believe that I don’t need as much in the way of a pardon?  Perhaps I don’t see that the ground at Calvary is level. We all come condemned, and will leave condemned unless we acknowledge our need of a Savior who paid death’s penalty for our sin. If I believe I’m better than the one I’m asked to forgive, I will be stingy when it comes time to forgive him. I will extend a fist rather than an open hand.   

If you feel that there is no way you can forgive a certain person, and you’re just stuck, ask God to show you how much it cost Jesus to save you. I did that and I ended up mourning my sin for a season. Nothing was more beneficial to my heart than that. 

It’s easy for me to believe that if I choose to forgive someone, I am giving them the gift.  While that may be true, God wants me to also understand that the first person who benefits from forgiving others is me.  If I withhold it, I will suffer long-term.  If I extend it, I will benefit long-term.  Look at Isaiah’s testimony. 

It was good for me to suffer this anguish for you have rescued me from the pit of nothingness and have forgiven all my sins.  I will sing His praises with instruments every day of my life in the temple of the Lord.  Is:38:16-18

Isaiah describes the existence of one who does not know he is forgiven nor does he extend it.  It’s called ‘the pit of nothingness’.  It’s that place we tend to go to when we’ve been hurt too badly.  We swear that no one will be able to wound us that severely again.  We take precautions by shutting our heart away.  Thick veneers of cynicism guard us and distrust relegates us to a lonely place.  In that pit of nothingness, there is no creativity, no artistry.  Before I was able to forgive, the piano lid remained closed and my flutes stayed in the closet.  Everything I tried to write sounded hollow in my ears.  Praise and worship were absent.  That’s because praise and bitterness cannot coexist.  

It’s hard to evaluate ourselves and our level of abundant life when we are the ones holding on to bitterness.  It feels good and it feels justified.  So – let’s look outside ourselves. Can you name 2-3 people who live angry and who rehearse other’s offenses from years back?  You probably dread being around them.  They infect the environment spiritually.  Over the years, their faces became twisted.  Frown lines froze in place and now dominate their countenance.  I often wonder if all the people they rail against are even aware that they have offended them.  Let me ask you, ‘Who is being hurt most by the bitterness?’  The ones who hold on to it, right?  If they forgave, imagine the spiritual oppression that would leave them.     

God wired us to trust Him to rule wisely over our friends and enemies.  The problem comes when faith is required to trust a God we can’t see, who has a plan we don’t understand, and whose timetable is much more relaxed than ours.  But peace is promised for the just who will choose to walk by faith.  

Jesus, delayed gratification is so difficult when it comes to matters of justice.  You waited well and are still waiting for end times.  Wait with me.  Amen

I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.” Ecclesiastes 3:17 By assuming my place on the throne, I set myself up to be king of my world. It didn’t work out well because that’s not how I was wired by God to be at peace. I was meant to be a child in His kingdom, not the pretend King who failed to bow to the real King of the Universe. God’s message in scripture became very clear ~ Give God back His rightful place, put the fate of those who have wronged me into His hands, trust Him to rule over them, and then live by faith that He will do so with holiness. Daily, I remind myself that my posture and mantra is, ‘Long Live The King!’ What trips up most every child of God is that God can appear inactive and we wrongly assume that He is also uncaring. He doesn’t appear to love as well as we love our own children. When they hurt, we come running. When they are wronged, we rise to defend. When they cry that something is unfair, we listen and mediate if necessary. Yet, God tells us that He loves us purely and perfectly. He tells us that all His intentions for us are good. He tells us that anyone who messes with us – touches the apple of His eye. How can I believe that when my heart is aching with injustice?I go immediately to the parallel of Jesus’ life on earth and my life on earth. That’s where I find so many of my answers. He was hunted down by Herod’s henchmen. That was unfair. His ministry was fraught with dangers I can’t begin to understand, and God didn’t deliver Him from everyone. Some, yes. Others, no. His suffering was part of God’s redemptive narrative. What was absolutely so stunning about it all was Jesus’ absolute trust in His Father.  His love and confidence in His Father never fractured while suffering. He never doubted His Father’s love and favor. A little further in our study, we will see that Jesus had to trust God to rule righteously when relationships with people and Satan got dicey.  He had to make the choice to live by faith, and He learned this, scripture says, through obedience. His way, His path, is also my way, my path.

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” Matt. 6:14

Forgiveness.  After hearing many sermons over the years and after reading many books on the topic, I believe it should be clear what forgiveness is.  The mandate, however, is to just do it.  “Forgive and forget.”  But having lived through multiple, messy betrayals in my life, I discovered that it’s not as cut and dry as often portrayed.  Nor is it instantaneous if the hurt is deep and the relationships are ongoing.  

God took me on a 5 month journey of forgiveness and it was mostly new territory.  I learned what forgiveness is, what it isn’t, and why it’s so hard to do.  There were many roadblocks and I found little help in working through them.  (Oh, but the Holy Spirit led me safely through unchartered territory.)  This series will give me the opportunity to share my own journey through anger, injustice, and then trust and active submission to the sovereignty of God.  I can promise you that the devotionals to follow will not contain well worn cliches.  I offer nothing that I have not first tried for myself.  

There was a day in early May, 1997, that God made it clear through an older woman speaking into my life, that I had not forgiven someone who deeply hurt me over a period of 22 years.  I was devastated and went to God about it.  I believe I heard Him speak to me deep in my spirit.  “Let me show you what you’ve done, Christine.  You’ve climbed the steps to the throne, looked right at me and said ~ ‘I want your seat please.’  You put my crown on your head and declared yourself qualified and capable to play judge and jury over the people who hurt you.  You will decide when they’re sorry.  You will decide when they deserve your pardon.  You will decide how long to make them pay.  But know this ~ I want my seat back.  I made you to be a much loved daughter in my kingdom, not a judge.  That’s my job.  Put the people who hurt you into my hands and leave them there.  I rule righteously and you can trust me.”

That was the beginning of my many discoveries about myself and about my King.  I learned that forgiving is not letting someone off the hook.  It’s taking them off my hook and putting them on God’s hook.  Because He is holy, is not that the best place for them to be?  Ah yes.  And here’s the thing.  No child is meant to wear a crown.  

Lord, I pray for each person who is reading this.  So many are eaten up with the sense of injustice.  Lead each of them safely through these next many days.  Give them freedom.  Help them trust you  enough to give You your rightful seat back.  Amen

The most dangerous thing we can do when choosing scripture is to choose with our flesh.  We know what we want and we’ll set out to find a scripture or two that, we think, will get it for us.  

I was teaching Prayer Mapping to a group of women’s ministry leaders.  During the break, a woman approached me and was all excited.  “I’m going to write a prayer map for my marriage,” she said.  

While that sounded like something to applaud, the Holy Spirit must have nudged me to ask more questions.  “How so,” I asked.  “Tell me more about your situation.” 

She went on to explain. “My husband left me for another woman a few years ago.  I have been hurt and angry.  But I believe God has shown me that He will come back to me.  My prayer map will target this ~ finding scriptures that will cause him to leave his new wife and return to me.” 

I cringed inside, knowing how easily she could extract promises from Jeremiah and other O.T. texts about God restoring, rebuilding, etc.  I asked her if she was open to my feedback.  She nodded.  I warned her. “Please don’t do that! That’s actually a form of witchcraft, to twist God’s words to bring about something God is actually against.”  She looked shocked.  

I continued. “God’s will is for him to be a righteous husband to his new wife.  God has a another future for you, first to heal your heart, and then to show you the new path He has for you.”  Thankfully, I felt she listened with an open heart. 

Nothing carries more weight than quoting God’s words.  We need to be careful before we actually do it.  Not only does it need to be in context, but we must wait on the Lord to show us what ‘word’ to stand on.  Jesus said that He did nothing without His Father’s direction.  That would have included how he answered the devil during the temptation period in the desert.  The scriptures He chose, He didn’t choose alone.  God showed Him and He followed the lead.  

You will decree a thing and it will be established for you.  Job 22:28 

A farmer went out to scatter seed. As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it. Whenever people hear the word about the kingdom and don’t understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what was planted in their hearts. This is the seed that was sown on the path. Matthew 13: 3-4, 19 

When my parents traveled abroad, my mother used to bring seedlings from that country back home to her property.  She wanted to grow things that were new to her property, plants that might never have grown here in the US before. 

In a spiritual sense, this is what happens when Christ, the great Sower, sows heaven’s seeds on earth. These seeds are powerful and high reproductive. There is no guess work whether they will take root or not.  Jesus said that if they are planted in the right kind of soil, they willbear fruit.  .

The Bible is full of unseen life. The words on the page may look powerless, but then again, you can’t always tell what you’re looking at.  A handful of seeds don’t look powerful either but when you plant them, oh, they turn into something quite different.  A seed becomes the tallest of trees.

Why kind of seeds do you need to plant?   In at atmosphere of hostility, plant peace seeds.  If there is a church split, plant unity seeds.  If disillusioned and hopeless, plant faith seeds.  The Word, when planted, culminates in the effects God promises.  

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:10-11

As we customize prayers for isolated issues such as generational bents, soul ties, and strongholds of all kinds, we’ll be looking for scriptures that correlate.  Prayers are strengthened when infused with the Word of God.  We pray into them, stand on them make declarations of faith, and even echo the author’s words as they made confessions of repentance.   

To hunt for a scripture, most of us perform a simple word search, and if it seems to fit, we use it.    The problem is, it may be out of context.  We want to make sure to handle the Word with integrity.  To base our prayers on promises that weren’t even meant for us but for someone else in a specific period of time, is to misrepresent it.  

When we find a scripture we want to consider using, we must explore its origins before assuming it fits.  We should go back and read the chapter it’s in.  We should consider the author and to whom he was writing.  We should ask ourselves, “Was this a general promise to God’s people or was it a promise to one person – for a specific purpose and time?”  

When Ron and I faced infertility in our early years of marriage, I leaned into the story of Hannah.  Especially the part when Eli (the priest) announced that God would open her womb and she would have a son.  I was tempted to own that promise for myself, reminding myself that scriptures say that God can open a barren womb.  However, Eli’s words were just for Hannah.  

Before I decided to abandon the idea, I decided there was a way I could incorporate it that would be appropriate.  “Lord, you are the God who has the power to open and close wombs.  Just as you opened Hannah’s, would you also open mine?”  See the difference?  I didn’t use Hannah’s promise as my own; I affirmed that God possesses the power to bring about a miracle, if He chooses to do so.  It might seem like semantics but there is a big difference. 

Lord, give me insight and wisdom when I want to fortify my prayers with Your Word.  I don’t want to misuse it but honor you with it.  Amen