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Faith and Forgiveness
Love is the key
Faith and Forgiveness: Jesus answered and said unto them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive you, your trespasses." Mark 11:22-25 Speak to the mountain, and it will move. When you pray, believe you receive, and you will have it. But did you notice—there is a connection between faith and forgiveness? These verses all stand together. Jesus was not changing the subject when He started talking about forgiveness. He was still teaching on faith and prayer. "Have faith in God," He said in verse 22. The Greek text literally reads, "Have the faith of God." In other words, have the faith that comes from God. Or, Have the God kind of faith. The emphasis is not on something we place in God, but on something God places in us. We do not manufacture it—God puts it in us. We do not work it up; we work it out, applying it to the situation at hand. I remember the many times I prayed for sick people and nothing seemed to happen. I realize that it is impossible to pray and nothing happen so I just endeavored to receive the same Holy Spirit that Peter and John received on that glorious Pentecostal morning when they received power from on high with the outward manifestation of tongues of fire. In the book of Acts, they came upon a lame man begging at the gate beautiful in Jerusalem and they told the lame beggar; “Silver and gold we do not have but such as we have we give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk. And the lame man went walking and leaping and praising God.” Now that’s an example of the faith of God. God had put something inside of them to give to that poor beggar. Wow! Ultimately, faith finds its home in God, but first it comes from Him. (Faith works by love. God is love.) That is the direction of flow. God desires to work in us and through us by means of this faith. As we exercise it, His power flows through us and into the world. Mountains move and His kingdom is enlarged. We exercise our faith by hearing from God, and tuning in to His leading for each situation. The power to change circumstances is activated and motivated by His/our love and compassion for the person for whom we are praying. Our prayer and our heart of compassion must all be in agreement. We can do nothing on our own. I cannot remake a human being much less fix something that in not functioning properly. All we can do is yield our members to (God) the Holy Spirit. But only as the Holy Spirit within us, activates our heart of love and generates a flow of compassionate power will healing power flow through us and accomplish great and mighty things. Continuing on the theme of faith and prayer, Jesus brought in the matter of forgiveness. Notice the parameters He used: "Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him." He left no way to get around the forgiveness part. Unforgiveness is not an option. The second half of verse 25 shows us why: "that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses." When we forgive, we make room for God's forgiveness. But if we don't forgive, God does not hear us and we cannot even get saved much less become a tool or conduit in His hand through which His power will manifest. Think of a garden hose. First it must be hooked up to the faucet or source of water and a way provided to turn that water on. Also there must be a place where water flows into the hose (the tap end) and there must be a place where water flows out (the nozzle end). When the water is turned on the hose directs it to the place its needed most. However the hose by itself can do nothing until the water is turned on. Similarly, when we refuse to extend forgiveness to others, (the tap of our hose is clogged with debris) we stop the flow of God's forgiveness in our own life. It is not that God is unwilling to extend His forgiveness; it is just that we are not able to receive it. (Lord forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us). Forgiveness removes the clog, opens the door and makes the way for blessings to flow. Forgiveness is not an easy thing to do. In fact, it can be the most difficult thing in the world. Consider this: God could create the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, by the word of His mouth. "Let there be," He said, and the stars were flung into the heavens! But the only way God could forgive the sins you and I commit was to send His Son to become fully human just like you and I and go to through the terrible suffering and shame of the crucifixion for us. Forgiveness costs. When we choose to forgive, we are partaking and identifying with our loving Saviors crucifixion and death on the cross. The decision to forgive is a decision to suffer loss. It costs us something, just as it cost God. But at the same time, we are receiving the love and forgiveness Jesus’ sacrifice paid for us on the cross. The process of yielding to God begins. He comes into our lives accepting us just as we are but loves us too much to leave us that way. His Devine purpose is to change us and transform us into His image and likeness for scripture says one day we shall behold Him and when we see Him we shall be like Him, holy and unblamable in His sight. Luke 17 presents another example where faith and forgiveness are linked together. Here, Jesus is talking about the offenses that come our way: Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day returns to you saying, "I repent," forgive him. (Luke 1:3-4). If your brother sins, rebuke him. This is not so easy. Great meekness and humility must be in your heart. You must show the love and compassion of God where you don’t confront but rather come along side your brother who is out of Gods will and help Him to do the right thing. Restore him to right relationship with God and man. Then you can set up a relationship where you can be accountable to each other in Christ. It is for his sake and yours to be accountable and walk in forgiveness. And if he repents, forgive him—take the loss. Now imagine that it gets much more personal. Somebody does something terrible to you, but then says, "I'm sorry. I was wrong to do that." Jesus says, "Forgive." And if that same thing happens seven times a day, what then? Jesus still answers, "Forgive. Take the loss." In another place, Jesus raised the stakes even higher. When Peter asked, "Shall I forgive seven times?" Jesus answered, "Seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21-22). That's a lot of forgiveness to handle, and an awful lot of loss to take, but remember your savior on the cross after He had been beaten and whipped and humiliated beyond all recognition, He looked up at His Father and cried out “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. Many realize that we can not do this on our own. We need God's help. But Jesus answered, "If you have faith like a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you'" (v. 6). The roots of the mulberry tree grow as deep as the tree is high, and they spread out as far as it is wide. Pulling the tree up by them is virtually impossible. It might as well be a mountain. But if you have faith, Jesus said, you can speak to it, and what you say will be done. It is not a matter of increased faith. We already have all the faith we need. It is a matter of faith, forgiveness, and love for your neighbor that wins the day. Like the mustard seed, forgiveness, faith and compassion must be planted together. So it is that Forgiveness can seem an impossible thing, like telling a mountain to jump into the sea, or commanding a mulberry tree to uproot and do the same. And yet, Jesus said, activate your love and faith in God. Choose to forgive trusting in God to change your heart and mind to see the person who wronged you as God sees him (The offender may be a child of God needing more of His grace and mercy. It may be that the offender is lost and headed for Hell and Gods will is that none be lost. That was why He died on the cross. We can choose to forgive—and we must. We must not allow any unforgiveness to block the flow of God's love and forgiveness to us. You see even if we have faith to move mountains, and we don't have love, of which forgiveness is an expression, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2). But when we forgive, trusting God to take care of us, and choose to give up our losses as Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him, then God can flow through us with His love and power and change our heart to see that person as He sees them. Faith working by love in us can move the heart to forgiveness. That same faith empowered by love (God is love) can move any mountain as well. goodreport4u@yahoo.com |
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