Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said,
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
(NKJ)
Acts 7:60 Then he knelt down and
cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when
he had said this, he fell asleep. (NKJ)
Jason was a man in his early
thirties. Good natured, kind and compassionate, he’s the sort of person you
would expect everyone to love. But, unfortunately, there were those who hated
him. Not because he wronged them, but just because they were uncomfortable round
him (sound familiar?) It happened that some of them conspired against him and
laid up false charges. To cut a long story short, he was innocent, but treated
as a criminal. He was sentenced to death. While waiting for his execution, he
shared a prison cell with two criminals. He was in deep agony. But, he knew
what he must do, and he did it. He forgave his enemies and prayed for their
good. And then, he was killed!
Hmmm…the above story is a true one,
and it touches the heart. While He was being killed, He forgave!!! By now, you
should know who Jason is. Yes, I’m referring to Jesus. You see, Jesus looked
beyond the surface and saw the hearts of those crucifying Him. Those folks
thought they were doing the right thing. Jesus responded by being merciful.
And He commands us to do the same.
How do we do
this?
First, know that the Love of God has
been poured out in your heart by the Holy Spirit. (Rom 5:5) So, you have THE
ABILITY to forgive, even if you don’t feel so. So, see yourself OVERFLOWING
with love and mercy!
Second, think back. How many times
have we made up an excuse for ourselves to justify a wrong action? We say stuff
like, ‘I didn’t know’ or ‘It was a genuine mistake’. Well, we should make
excuses for others too. Like the men who crucified Jesus, they may sincerely
not know what they are doing. Like Jesus, let us show mercy, as God has shown
us mercy. (Luke 6:36)
Third, pray for those who hurt you.
(Matt 5:44) Pray that God blesses them and blesses them indeed!
Finally, in all of this, you may not
feel like it. Don’t worry about that! Feelings inevitably follow our actions,
even if it takes time. Remember, God won’t ask you to do something, if you
can’t do it. So, keep praying and keep loving! Then, you’ll be true sons and
daughters of God!!! And true apostles of His calling!
God bless you and
Shalom!
tduke
Yes, that’s right. Let your dad take care of it! Remember when you were a little child, and you’d bring a problem to your dad. You saw him as an ‘all in all’ who could fix any issue. If he told you he’ll take care of something, you took it for granted that it would be fixed. Right? Now, I know some may not have had that relationship. That’s ok! You have someone right there where you are, wanting to fix things for you. God, your heavenly dad, is longing to fix things for you.
This may sound simple, and the biggest secrets are indeed simple. Over the past few months, especially in moments of distress, God has taught me to go boldly to the throne room and ask Him to take care of stuff. And I can tell you, everything I’ve taken to God and asked Him to take care of, He did! I’m talking of dire situations. Anytime I finish discussing with God, I would assure myself, that my daddy is now taking care of this. And He has never failed!
Folks, we have to learn to magnify our God, and not the problem. There is nothing too hard, or too difficult for Him. And guess what, it’s not only the big challenges you are facing that God is interested in. He’s interested in the small issues as well. Recently, God taught me to take everything to Him, even things I didn’t realise were challenges. 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast ALL our cares. Not some, but ALL and when you do, rest assured that your DAD, the creator of the heavens and of the earth is taking care of business. So, you can go to sleep! You can tap into Ps 4:8: I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. GLORY!!!
Shalom
Tduke
Beloved, God never
intends that we wallow about in doubt and poor decisions. Someone says that
every problem in life is a ‘wisdom problem’. By virtue of the covenant we have
with our Father, we have access to His wisdom for everyday life! Praise God
forevermore! Please read the message from Larry Ollison below and I pray you’ll
be blessed as I was.
Shalom
tduke
From: CFAITH
Online [mailto:newsletters@lists.cfaith.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 5:59
AM
To:
topeodukoya@gmail.com
Subject:
[cfaith-daily-devotions] CFAITH Daily
Devotional
|
By : Larry Ollison,
Ph.D.
|
 James 1:5 says if any of you lacks wisdom,
then you need to ask the Father and the Father will give it to you. Then it goes
on to say that when you ask, you need to ask in faith without doubting, for he
who doubts is like the waves of a sea, tossed and driven by the wind. You go to
the Father and say, "Father, I need wisdom, and I'm asking You to give me wisdom
for this situation."
The Father then says, "I give you
the grace to use My wisdom. I'm giving you My ability. Where your ability falls
short, I'm giving you My ability that will take up the slack. You can think with
the mind of Christ. You can think the way I think. I'm giving you grace in this
situation."
At this point you have a choice. You can say, "Well, I sure hope I
have wisdom in this." But when you speak statements of doubt, you have
immediately proven you were not in faith. If God has said He will give you
something (and the way He gives it to you is by His grace), then you have to
believe He did (by faith). That means you have to believe, speak and act like
you have it.
Pray something like this, "Father, in the name of Jesus, I humbly
come before Your throne of grace. I have the right to, because I've been made
righteous. I've got a decision to make this week. I don't know what to do,
because there are a lot of options. You said in Your Word You would give me
wisdom and You would give it to me liberally. Liberally means more than enough,
more than I even need. Well, that's fine. I'm here. I'm asking. Please give it
to me."
At this time, the Father, by His grace, gives you the grace to use
His ability and to have His ability work through you and take up the slack. When
He gives you His grace to make a decision, if you believe you have the ability
to make the wise decision, then you will make the wise decision.
Faith
has to kick in. Faith says, "All right! Praise God! I've got that ability now. I
can make that decision now because I've got the mind of Christ. God has given me
wisdom. Praise the Lord!" Then when the situation you were praying about arises,
you feel right about going one way or the other, so you make the decision.
Immediately, Satan will step in and try to make it look like
you've made the wrong decision. Why? Because Satan knows sometimes we're
gullible and we might be pressured to go by what we see.
That's why God tells us over and over in His Word to walk by
faith, not by sight. If He told you He was going to give you wisdom and you
believed He actually did give you wisdom; if you subsequently utilized wisdom in
the situation and made a decision you felt good about in your spirit, then, at
that point, you know you made the right decision.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let
him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be
given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is
like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind For let not that man
suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; He is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways" (James 1:5-8).
Afterward, if something happens
that makes it look like it was the wrong decision, you cannot say, "I wonder if
I made the right decision?" The minute you say that, you've stepped out of
faith. You're doubting. What you are doubting is whether God actually gave you
the wisdom or not. If you say, "Maybe God didn't give me the wisdom," then you
are calling God a liar. That's not a wise thing to do - both Hebrews 6:18 and
Titus 1:2 confirm that it's impossible for God to lie.
We
have no excuses...no excuse for gossiping, no excuse for losing our
self-control, no excuse for worrying. Why? Because God's ability (grace) takes
up the slack where we fall short.
This is an excerpt from Larry Ollison's book,
"Discover the Power of Grace in
Righteousness, Copyright © 2000.
Copyright © 2002
Larry Ollison Ministries
All
rights reserved. Used by permission.
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Beloved,
Today, I share a simple truth that’s
often taken for granted. THE LORD IS GOOD and HIS MERCIES ENDURE FOREVER.
Folks, we tend to make this statement when things are rosy and okay, but once
we get the revelation of God’s goodness, then we can declare it in spite
of any circumstance we may be in.
Hey, God loves you and nothing can
separate you from His love. See, God is not a man that He should
lie. If He has said it in His word, then it MUST BE SO!
Today, I challenge you not to look at the
circumstances around you, which are seen, but rather to look at the truth of
God’s word, which may still be unseen. (2 Cor 4:18) You see, the seen
things (the circumstances, the troubles) will pass --- they are temporary.
But the truth of God’s word will ALWAYS come to pass, because it’s
eternal; GLORY TO GOD!! I dare you to believe the word that the Lord is
good and to declare it until you experience His goodness. He says that His
plans for you are plans of good to bring you to an expected end and to give you
a hope and a future. This gives me rest, because I know that before He formed
me, He knew me, and planned a good future for me. And you see, nothing
can stop it, because God is the END. Praise God forevermore!
So now, let’s declare this together,
until it lights up within us, ‘My God, my maker, my creator, who formed
me, who knows me and who is leading me, is a GOOD GOD and HIS MERCIES towards
me are FOREVER!’
Shalom
Tduke
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wordencouragement/