Coffee With Pat
Forgiveness – Part 2
Written By: Pat Aman
I want to share a Part 2, to last nights devotion. My testimony and opinions were long, so I want to share with you, now from my study Bible.
The following is directly quoted from the Study Bible.
**Lack of forgiveness blocks access to the kingdom and to its marvelous power. Quote:,Pat Aman”
Matthew 6:5-15,
5.”And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to praystanding in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
6. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to yourFather, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they thinkthey will be heard because of their many words.
8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9. “This, then, is how you should pray:
” ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10. your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11. Give us today our daily bread.
12. Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a
14. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgiveyour sins.
Mark 11:22-26
22. “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.
23. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throwyourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
24. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that youhave received it, and it will be yours.
25. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone,forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
The first person you probably have not forgiven is yourself. More people lack forgiveness toward themselves than toward anybody else. They are unwilling to forgive themselves and to recognize that God say,
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12)
If you are a believer, He has already cleansed your conscience from dead-works so that you might serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:14
14.How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
God cleans us for service in order not to leave us with the guilt of past sin.
21. That should be dead, buried, and forgotten.
“If our heart does not condemn us,” the Bible says, “we have confidencetoward God.” (I John 3:21)
Obviously, we cannot have continuing sin in our lives and expect-forgiveness. We have to be free from ongoing conscious sin and rebellion against God. But if we are walking in the light, and walking in forgiveness, the blood of Jesus Christ is continuously cleansing us from all sin.
(I John 1:7)
7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowshipwith one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
The second person we have to forgive, if we have bitterness, is GodHimself. There are people who blame God because a child died, because a husband ran away, because they have been sick, because they have not had enough money. Consciously or unconsciously they think all of these things are God’s fault. There is deep-seated resentment; yet you cannot be resentful toward God and experience kingdom power flowing in your life; you have to rid yourself of any bitterness toward God. That may take some soul-searching. Yu must ask yourself, “Am I blaming God for my situation?
The third person you may have to forgive is a member of your family.
You have to get rid of resentment, especially toward those closet to you. The husbands, the wives, the children, and the parents, all must be forgiven when slights and resentments have built up in family situation.
Many people say, “Well, I didn’t think that counted. I thought that was just a family matter.” All lack of forgiveness has to be eliminated, especially toward every family member.
Finally, there has to be forgiveness for anybody else who has everdone anything against you. It may be that your resentment is justified.
The person may have done a very evil, terrible thing to you. You may have every legal and intellectual right to hold a grudge and to hate that person. But if you want to see kingdom life and power flow in your life, it is absolutely imperative that you forgive.
Forgive them to the point where you actually feel yourself cleansed of resentment and bitterness and are actually praying for them. If you do not, the lack of forgiveness will make it impossible for God’s power to be released to and in you. The miracle life depends 100 percent on your relationship to God the Father. That relationship is built strictly on the strength of His forgiveness of your sin.
Forgiveness is the key. Other sins can be present, and if your heart condemns you for something else, then of course you do not have confidence before God. But it is lack of forgiveness that often comes between people and God.**
Blessings, Prayers, and Love,
Joyfully, In The Master’s Service,
Pat Aman
Scriptures: The New International Bible
**Devotion Quoted Directly from: The Nelson New King James Bible**
Media – Books