Never Forget We Are At War

Never forget we are at war. Hearts are a strategic objective—for us and the evil one. One of his primary aims is to make us bitter.

“Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”
— Hebrews 12:15

Bitterness cannot be contained. You cannot hate people or desire their harm without poisoning the well that waters every other area of your life—including those you love most dearly.

Guard your heart. Fight to love everyone.
#spiritualwarfare #perfectourlove

I Don’t Have To Be Happy About It

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - I Don't Have To Be Happy About It

Sometimes I feel bad for being beat to hell, for being sad, and not being happy about it.

It feels like if I were just better—if I were more holy, if I were more thankful, if I were less selfish—the pain shouldn’t affect me, that I should be happy and able to carry on as though I’m not in pain.

But, I am so thankful for the moments of humanity in the Bible, especially that of Jesus,

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.”
— John 12:27-28

“My soul is troubled…” This is so deeply helpful to me. It, and passages like it, show me that I can register the full range of human emotions and still honor God.

The key, Jesus demonstrates, is loving God, desiring His Kingdom and concentrating on God’s glory—not allowing the feeling to make me put down my cross or cause me to deviate from the path of Calvary—dying and living again for the reconciliation of everything in my sphere.

I don’t have to be happy, but I can be honest and honor. I can carry on doing the things that are profitable for the purpose I am sent.

In that, there’s help, there’s rest, and there’s always joy.

“Father, glorify Your name.”

#sometimesithurts #buttheresalwaysjoy

Sometimes It Hurts

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Sometimes It Hurts

Sometimes it hurts.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
— John 16:33

Christianity is not some magic protection against misfortune, being mistreated or things going wrong. And, I can’t do enough good things to prevent bad things from happening to me.

Jesus called John the Baptist “the greatest one born of woman” (Matthew 11:11).

Not a good one, the greatest.

He’s walking in his calling. He’s innocent, having done nothing wrong.

Yet he’s sitting in prison, about to be murdered by having his head cut off.

In this account in Matthew 11, John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus.

Does Jesus respond to John the Baptist’s wrongful imprisonment by some heavenly miracle to release him?

No.

Not in this case, at least. (Acts 12:5-16, 16:25-34)

How does Jesus respond?

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.'”
– Matthew 11:4-5

What is Jesus doing?

He assures him.

In other words, Jesus tells John, “Your hope in Me is not in vain.”

Jesus is fortifying John’s soul.

A vicious lie, a half-truth at best, often peddled by the industrial church and Cultural Christianity is “Everything will be alright,” as to say, “Things will eventually work out the way I want them to in this life.”

We’ve been deceived to believe that our heavenly conversion exempts us from the earthly consequences of sin being in the world. (John 16:33)

But, disaster, hardship, violence, injustice and suffering can and does befall believers as it does people throughout the whole world. (Romans 8:22)

At this very moment there are believers who are:

losing their jobs,
not able to keep the lights on,
losing their homes,
terminally ill,
disabled,
suffering abuse,
persecuted,
hungry,
in prison,
grieving,
dying

And, it may not be resolved on this side of heaven.

Suggesting otherwise is a complete denial of people’s suffering or implies that they are somehow doing Christianity wrong!

But Christianity is not about denying pain, escaping reality, or pretending everything is fine.

It’s not a coping mechanism or an exercise in cognitive dissonance. It’s real power. (2 Timothy 1:7, 3:5)

Sometimes there’s simply seasons of suffering.

God is completely able to change any circumstance.

But, He may choose not to. (Daniel 3:16-18)

What we can always be assured of is His purposes will be achieved.

And, His purposes are good. (Romans 8:28)

And, you, your suffering and everything concerning you are accounted for in His good purposes. (Matthew 10:30)

Regarding seasons of suffering, a part of God’s good purposes is making your soul able to weather them all. (Matthew 7:24-26)

A part of His good purpose is to make you like His Son-steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. (Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 15:58)

That’s all well and good, but back to John, what good is a steadfast spirit or assurances when I’m about to get my head chopped off?!

If there’s not anything beyond the here and now, it means nothing.

But, if what we believe of Jesus is true, it means everything.

And, it is on this point where the sheep and goats are divided. (John 10:26-27)

Goats may follow up to a point as long as they’re getting what they want.

But, sheep follow to the end. (Revelation 2:10)

Here is where true faith is revealed, or the lack thereof which is not for condemnation but is an opportunity for reevaluation and repentance. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

In the darkness of the eleventh hour is where we’re confronted with what we truly believe and who we will ultimately serve. (Luke 22:61, John 21:15-19)

Here is what Jesus says in His eleventh hour,

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?
But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Father, glorify Your name.
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.'”
– John 12:27-28

Suffering is not only allowed sometimes to test and to steel us, but it is in the darkness of the eleventh hour where we can shine the brightest, giving glory to God.

When we are asked for “a reason for the hope that is in you,” (1 Peter 3:15), it is usually in dark, difficult places.

If you can bear it, John is being glorified. Just as we are being glorified when we choose, as disciples of Christ, to commit our lives, including our suffering to God’s purposes. (John 17:22)

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
– Romans 8:16-17

When we commit it to Him, God achieves His glory through us. (Romans, 12:1, 2 Corinthians 4:7-11)

This is how our glory mainly appears in this life. (Matthew 5:16, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Revelation 3:8-11)

So, horrible things can happen to me, and sometimes I can and should seek deliverance from them, but whether I am delivered or not, I have to decide whether I will commit it to Him, whether I will follow Jesus to the end.

And this is the end: the whole world delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God where we will enjoy Him together without hindrance forever in complete safety because Jesus is King. (Isaiah 11, Romans 8:21, Revelation 22:3-5)

My hope is to see a glimpse of the Kingdom now, but my ultimate hope is not here. My ultimate hope is to be a part of its full consummation with you in the world to come. (Psalm 27:13, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Hebrews 11:16, Revelation 21)

When we confront hardships, including death, Jesus assures us as He did John the Baptist.

“Though you may not see it, the Word is true. I’m liberating the world.”

“Your work in My name is reconciling people from darkness to light.”

“Your hope in Me is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Therefore, I must strive to follow Jesus to the end, and embrace the path even when it is marked by hardship and suffering.

#sometimesithurts

Obedience Makes It Real

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Obedience Makes It Real

Church service after church service.
Bible study after Bible study.
Book after book.

We read.
We read.
We read.

We hear.
We hear.
We hear.

How many times have we heard a Word from God and said, “Ooh that’s good!”, only to revert five minutes later back to the way we were before?

So, how do we make it stick?

How do we lodge what we’ve read or heard of God’s Word in our souls, so our hearts stay lifted and the heaven it brings remains on earth?

We eat.

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”
— John 6:53

And what does it look like to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ?

Jesus gives us an example:

My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
— John 4:34

Jesus is soul-food.

“For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”
— John 6:55-57

To “eat” is to make what you’ve consumed a part of you by walking it out—application is mastication.

Because, faith without works is dead.

The problem is we don’t eat it, we lick it.

We get a quick taste, say, “Ooh, that’s good!”, and immediately abandon it for the next thing that commands our attention.

“Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
— Mark 4:18-19

We don’t drink the Word deep by dedicating time and space to it, sitting with it, exploring it and attempting to live it out. As a result, it never becomes real to us and nothing comes of it.

It’s just an idea that someone has to get us excited about over and over again.

“These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.”
— Mark 4:16-17

But, those who received the Seed and bear good fruit, the ones in whom the Word took root, they operate after their own kind, Jesus—the true vine.

What does that look like?

It looks like people taking up their cross and following, Jesus.

It looks like people concerning themselves with what Jesus concerned Himself with, preaching the gospel, seeking above all the Kingdom of God and its righteousness.

It looks like the ministry of reconciliation, making straight the path for the lost to be reconciled to communion with God through Jesus Christ.

Listen!

Luke 9:49 gives an account of the disciples who came across a man who heard Jesus and immediately got to the business of waging war against demonic occupation, and confronting them in the name of Jesus.

The problem was, he didn’t go to seminary, he wasn’t ordained, he wasn’t known among the establishment and the disciples forbade him.

But how did Jesus respond?

“But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.’”
— Luke 9:50

Why?

Because he was showing us how to make the Word stick.

He took up his cross and followed Jesus.

He got after the Father’s business.

He walked it out.

He ate.

We should do likewise.

Broken With Purpose

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Broken With Purpose

Before Christ, I was just broken.

In many ways, I’m still broken.

But now, I’m broken this way with purpose.

Jesus uses my brokenness to heal others of the same brokenness as He heals me.

Hallelujah!

Jesus healed a man born blind so that others could see.

“And His disciples asked Him, saying, ’Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’

Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.’”
— John 9:2-3

The key is not hiding my brokenness.

“Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ’Are we blind also?’

Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, “We see.” Therefore your sin remains.’”
— John 9:40-41

But we must confess our sins to one another before God that we may be healed.

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
— James 5:16

Lord, if you show me, Imma tell it. Like the woman at the well, I will run and tell of the One who told me everything that I ever did, so they, too, can drink of this living water that You gave me and be healed.

Everything I am, Lord, including my brokenness, is for Your use.

I love You.

Amen.

What Is Sanctification?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What Is Sanctification

Sanctification is learning to love God and to hate everything else.

Does this offend you?

Consider Deuteronomy 6:5,

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

And, Luke 14:26,

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

My prayer has been to be set free even from a desire for my wife, who is most dear and precious to me.

I want my only desire to be for my wife who is in Christ.

See the difference?

Loving who is begotten by God, including those not yet made manifest, is one and the same as loving God.

“And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
— 1 John 4:21

When the affection and desire of my heart is singular, I become “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

I can then be like Jesus, who hated Simon, but loved Peter, who in one breath calls Him blessed and in the next call Him Satan, because one was in God and the other was without.

Matthew 16:17, after Peter’s confession of faith,

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’”

Matthew 16:23, six verses later,

”But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’”

When the affection and desire of my heart is singular, I become pure (oneness) in heart—a prerequisite to see God.

Learning to love God and to hate everything else is the process of being made holy, set apart and fit for service, which is sanctification.

#sanctification #heartwords

How To Experience God

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - How To Experience God

How do we help others who have not yet experienced God relate to a God we cannot touch, taste, see, smell or hear physically?

Ironically, it is by touching, tasting, seeing, smelling and hearing—but spiritually.

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
— Psalm 34:8

People are spiritual.

Have you ever encountered a bitter person?

In many cases you don’t even need any physical indication that they’re bitter; it’s a spirit you can “sense” that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

I believe we are all built with the capability—the spiritual receptors to perceive God.

Could this be what the Apostle Paul is referring to in Romans 1:19?

“because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
— Romans 1:19

But our nerve endings are dead, numbed by sin, their sensitivity suppressed under layers of the filth of this world—what we’ve come to believe and accept as truth rather than The Truth, the ways we’ve come to operate rather than The Way and the value systems that we’re governed by rather than the Kingdom of God—ways that are own ways and government that is lawlessness.

The condition is referred to spiritually as “hardness of the heart”, a condition that progresses to a point that the Apostle Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:19 as “being past feeling”.

And nothing accelerates this condition more than fake church and false religion (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Jesus said to Pharisees who claimed to “see”, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.” (John 9:41)

The degree of the hardness of the heart is a measure of how much territory Satan controls in our heart. Said another way, the degree of the hardness of our hearts is a matter of how much we believe Satan—which is anything other than God, and it is a matter of how much we’re governed by anything that is not the Kingdom of God—which is anything other than Love.

And it is this hardness of the heart that prevents us from perceiving and experiencing God.

The remedy is believing God, being washed by His Word.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
— Romans 10:17

But God, even in our deadness, sent The Word to us that we might be made alive, that we may know Him and be made sensitive to His presence.

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”
— Hebrews 1:1-2

“For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

”And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’”
— Luke 9:35

Do you want to experience God? Then, do not harden your heart.

Humbly and consistently expose yourself to the Word, crying out to the Holy Spirit for illumination.

A wonder I regularly observe is people who close the doors, shutter the windows—barricading themselves in Satan’s house, and then ask, “Where is God?”

I was one of them.

But, God.

Thanks and glory be to God that He came for me, that He broke through, that “God commanded light to shine out of darkness”, and has shone in my heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:5-6)

Hallelujah.

He’s been coming for you. It is why Christ came.

He’s coming for you right now. It is why I preach Christ daily, to make God known to you.

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

‘Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

In the day of trial in the wilderness…’”
— Hebrews 3:7-8

Do not harden your heart.

Today, I am challenged to identify and abandon indulgences that dull my senses and to confront and war against demonic occupation in my heart—the obstruction of lies, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for everything besides God that makes it so I can’t hear and experience Him (Mark 4:19).

I count all things loss that I may know Him (Philippians 3:8-10).

As you read this, do you taste that?

It is the residue that mists up from the implanted Word in my heart that is living and powerful, residue that collects on the heart of believers like dew—manna that is sweet to the taste, that provides nourishment, that manifests in a form we can share with others, Bread from heaven that is Spirit and Life.

Taste that?

That’s Christ.

This is how we and how we help others experience God.

#tastimony

Grieving In Context

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Grieving In Context

One of the most striking verses in the Bible is the shortest, “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)

Think about that.

The God-man who knows the power of God, who knows heaven, –who knows the ultimate outcome, wept at the tomb of Lazarus.

Jesus, as I call it, “grieved in context”. He was fully God and fully man and therefore fully felt the grief of Mary and Martha, and fully felt His own pain over the loss of someone He calls a friend.

Jesus did not gloss over the grief. He did not ignore it. He did not deny it. He did not overlook it.
He wept.

But, what He did next is key. In verse 41, it says, “And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You…'”

The confidence that He expresses in the Father is the context that allowed Him (and us) to grieve but not be consumed.

Grieving in context allows us to be fully human while fully having eternal life and enjoying the peace that comes with it.

“… in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
—Philippians 4:6-7

Dealing With The Debt Of My Offense

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Dealing With The Debt Of My Offense

Man, it cuts deep when someone I care about thinks poorly of me, especially because of sin I’ve committed—sin I’m deeply sorry for, that I’ve since confessed and turned away from. Yet, they continue to hold it against me, refusing to let me escape its condemnation, and won’t receive me.

The Apostle Paul, grieved by his former persecution of Christ and His followers, knew a little something about this. God’s word written through his experience guides me.

Though this specific passage is written in the context of warding against boasting in man and thinking more of someone than is warranted (the error of “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos”), it is equally effective in warding against thinking less of myself than I should (because I’ve thought about the assessment of others more than is warranted).

I believe Paul, in this passage, has both in view with the intention of helping believers navigate either:

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 4:3-4

In short, I am the Lord’s.

“It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you”
It matters little whether you think well of me,

“or by a human court.”
or whether you condemn me.

“I do not even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this”,
It’s not even about what I think of myself or about me finding reasons to feel better about myself,

“but He who judges me is the Lord.”
but at the end of the day, it is about who I serve—the Lord and He has the final say.

I am the Lord’s.

And you know what? My Lord will love me to where I need to be.

“… being confident of this very thing, the He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”
— Philippians 1:6

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ …”
—2 Corinthians 2:14

I am the Lord’s.

That’s the conclusion concerning me—about who I am, what I’m worth and where I stand.

So, though others may condemn me, in Christ I am free, and though others may reject me, I am accepted in the Beloved.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
— Romans 8:1

“to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
— Ephesians 1:6

I am free.

I am free to forgive unforgiveness and love them compassionately because hurt and lingering resentment is the consequence and nature of sin when I’ve offended another.

Jesus warned how unreconciled offense causes this, snowballing into a seemingly insurmountable debt (Matthew 5:23-26).

When I’ve offended another, I don’t get to dictate how or when they should have healed, or when they should release me from the prison of separation and suspicion, and restore me to relationship. This is why we actively seek to avoid sin at all cost, and seek to reconcile it as quickly as possible when it occurs.

Until those I’ve offended release me, I am free to love them, undefined by their unforgiveness.

As my pastor Gregory Jones was fond of saying, they’ve drawn a circle to exclude me, but I’m making a bigger circle to draw them in. I will minister the inexhaustible riches of God’s grace that He has lavished on me toward the debt that they hold against me.

My ultimate hope in doing so is to win a brother or sister in Christ because I am the Lord’s.

#christesteem

What Is Forgiveness?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What Is Forgiveness?

Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting.

If I cannot forget how do I forgive?

For the concept of forgiveness to really click, I must understand and accept that everything God provides me is for the Father’s business—good works, which are the glory and administration of God’s Kingdom: executing God’s mission, caring for God’s beloved people, and maintaining God’s great house (Luke 12:42-48).

Forgiveness is an accounting concept.

Imagine you’re a business owner, as we’re all outlets of God’s manifold grace.

The wares of your store are made available on credit.

But, someone takes something without honoring its worth. This results in a loss for you, otherwise known as hurt, and results in a debt for them, also known as an offense or a trespass.

You have a choice to make. You can either shut down their account, so they can no longer do business. Or, you can forgive the debt so they can continue to do business.

The decision usually comes down to what we’re working for and who. What do we want? What are we attempting to accomplish with our store? Are we working for our own personal profit or another’s? What is “profit”, and what does it look like?

The complexion of the matter completely changes when we’re operating from an economy where:

1. It’s the Father’s business (Luke 2:49),
2. We’re already rich (Ephesians 2:4-7, 1 John 4:26),
3. He’s paid it all (Colossians 2:13-14),
4. His endgame is unrivaled glory: 100% market penetration, to be the only name in the game through domination of all rivals and the redemption of all creation (1 Corinthians 15:22-28),
5. My payoff is My Father being pleased (John 8:29, Luke 19:17, Philippians 2:5-11).

In the normal course of business, when someone receives something of value, they reciprocate that value.

However, every so often we encounter someone who takes but has nothing with which to pay. They’re bankrupt and poor.

The Father’s business model accounts for this: grace.

Even in earthly economies, proprietors go into business ready to accept a certain amount of loss. They have a general ledger account dedicated to it called “Bad Debt” which they will write off at the end of each fiscal year.

But God has left us a blank check, constantly making available to us the boundless riches of His love and grace, so that we do not operate from a loss but have an abundance to continue His work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

God’s mandate is save the lost at any cost for His glory (John 3:16, John 15:8). His desire is that all men might be saved, that all would come to His supper, that His house may be full and that they all would commune with God (1 Timothy 2:4, Luke 14:15-24, Revelation 19:9, 22:17).

Profit is a soul delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought into His house (Colossians 1:13).

“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”
— Luke 15:7

So when someone takes something without honoring its worth, we have a column in our ledger to account their debt to: God’s ocean and immeasurable wealth of grace.

And, I can forgive.

And, I can continue doing business with them in hopes of heavenly profit.

God’s business strategy was to give it all away anyway to establish brand recognition and ultimately for the purpose of exchanging our dead existence for eternal life where He is made known through us that He may be glorified (Isaiah 11:1-9).

Therefore,
“Freely you have received, freely give”
— Matthew 10:8

Coming full circle to our original question, “If I cannot forget, how do I forgive?”

The answer is proper accounting.

The key to forgiveness is accounting the offense to the proper account, to the account overflowing with the riches of Christ that God had credited to me.

When someone offends me, it hurts and pain can be hard to forget.

So when I remember that hurt, I should let that serve as a reminder to get my books and recall where that debt is accounted to, and I should find next to their account: In Good Standing. PAID by the Father through Jesus Christ.

My greatest hope is that’s how I appear in God’s Book, understanding that when I do not forgive I lose that credit line (Mark 11:25-26, Matthew 18:21-35).

Consider Christ who, on the cross suffering the most egregious offense, in Luke 23:34 says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

With that He, through forgiveness, extends us grace.

Now Christ entrusts us with His enterprise and charges us:

“Do business until I come.”
— Luke 19:13

#forgiveness #heartwords