2021-11-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We’ve been in a discussion of God’s agape love, and it continues now. Having asked and been given what the Holy Spirit tells me to say about the question: What is God’s capacity to forgive, we can now turn to the question: What helps us to be better at being forgiving? We must recognize what God’s rights over ours to take revenge for wrongdoing. RO 12: 19-20, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’” We said in an earlier message that the desires of the human body should not take leadership over those of the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit and the body are always opposites [GA 5: 16-17]. Certainly, that is true in this situation. Our human desires lead us to want revenge when we’ve been wronged, but this is where we must overcome them and “let go and let God!” In my experience, God will find the right way and time to handle this wrongdoing. I testify to this truth in my own life.
How do we allow the Spirit to deal with our desire for revenge? Refuse to ever hold a grudge. Grudges are born of a vicious cycle of negative thinking. Every time we think about how angry we are, the wrongdoing is magnified in our minds. That’s one way the human desire works, and it’s destructive anger, to be sure. Sometimes, people hold grudges for years and years. A relative of mine refused to speak to his cousin for 30 years, and neither of them could remember what started this vicious cycle. Had these cousins handed their bad feelings over to God, He would have found a constructive solution that would reestablish their relationship, or His wrath would have come down on who deserved it. It isn’t easy and is learned behavior to put one’s case in God’s lap after wrongdoing has occurred, but it’s right and necessary to give God His right to avenge. One must teach himself not to engage in self-pity, but to trust our divine Creator. God has asked us repeatedly to put our minds and hearts on wholesome, productive channels [COL 3: 2, 8]. Remember, agape love doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices in truth.
Here is PS 119: 29-32, “Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through Your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on Your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” (Remember that each of the 22 segments of PS 119 represents a letter in the Hebrew alphabet, a number, and a concept).
After reading this passage, we must ask: what are the basic concepts, and how would our lives be different if we embraced them? These are the ones I glean:o deceit; grace through God’s law; make God’s law your own; don’t suffer the shame of wrongdoing (in God’s opinion); find the freedom in taking God’s commands to heart. Listing these concepts will help us to answer the question of why we should embrace them. Now, let’s pray for God’s wisdom and tackle it.
Obviously, this passage is a prayer for God’s help against the temptations of human desires. I’ve said that people with duplicitous personalities cause trouble in our lives. These people show you kindness to your face and stab you in the back. This is not the only form deceit can take. Sometimes the problem is people who “talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.” This might even be a habit of our own. If so, we must get rid of it and make our talk match a godly walk. Careful construction of a plot to cause trouble for the one who has wronged us can be another form of deceit. This kind of behavior should be rejected by us. Remember, we can’t control the bad behavior of others, but we can control how we respond to it. There is grace (undeserved merit) that comes to us by knowing and obeying God’s laws. [See EX 20: 1-17 for the Ten Commandments]. More to come next week.
PRAYER: O Lord, You never go far from those who love You, those who obey Your laws and commands. PS 145: 18-20, “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.” We love You and feel the power of Your messages to us. You are looking for us to be genuine in our prayerful requests and to respect Your ultimate rights. You have told us that we must account for ourselves in the last judgment. You have given Your Son the right to that last judgment, and we are not told exactly when that will happen [DN 7: 13-14]. We must not trample on Your right to this or to taking revenge on wrongdoers. Help us to have the self-discipline to make righteous choices and control the desires natural to us. We offer You thanks and praise for the wisdom You share with us and the agape love You have for all Your human creation. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The subject taken up here is sufficiently important to us that the Holy Spirit guides me to continue it to begin next week’s devotion. We will discuss making God’s law our own, avoiding the shame of wrongdoing, and experiencing the freedom that comes from obeying God’s laws (teaching). The true definition of grace is found in EPH 2: 8-10, which I hope you will read. The undeserved merit that is grace has only one origin, and that’s our loving God. We can choose to mirror it in our lives, but God invented it. I repeat that for God’s way to work in our lives, there must be genuine humility and forgiveness. These are learned behaviors that go against human desires. The very fact that God teaches us through the Scriptures, word of mouth, and especially example of living in the truth is a blessing for us all. No one of us is judged on a different standard than any other; none of us are more important to God than another. Human criteria, eg. degree of education, socio-economic status, clothing worn, gender, sexual orientation, etc. God’s judgments are fair and equitable. God is also keeping us in His sights (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), and ever-present with all of us at once (His supernatural power-omnipresence). He cares deeply about how we think and act -toward Him and toward other humans. He is not eagerly waiting to judge us negatively, although He is sometimes forced to do that because of how we think and act. He knows the extent of both our wrongdoing and our service to Him. By obeying His laws, we will discover good things, like His provision, His protection, freedom from knotty trails, and so on. When we break His laws, trouble comes our way. He is willing to pull us out of the pit of our sorrows when we are genuinely repentant [PS 40: 1-3]. However, He punishes serial evil and rejection. Think about how fair God has been in our own lives and know that “nothing can separate us from His love” [PS 9: 9-10; RO 8: 38-39]. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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