Sunday, March 25, 2018

Harboring Unforgiveness

Galatians 5:22-33 (KJV) Says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:  against such there is no law." Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV) Says, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you:  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior others should be able to see the fruit of the Spirit listed in the above verses of scripture taken from the book of Galatians in us. It is through seeing the fruit of the Spirit in us that many people notice that there is something different about us. That difference is the light of Christ, and that light will hopefully lead lost souls to conclude that they want what we have.  It is our hope that once they recognize the divine peace, comfort, and joy that we have in our lives along with the fruits of the Spirit that they too will choose to accept Christ and his precious gift of salvation.

As born again believers in Jesus Christ the fruit of the Spirit is what others should see in us. There are things, however, that prevent the fruit of the Spirit from being obvious in our lives, and one of those things is harboring unforgiveness in our heart. It is not possible to have unforgiveness in our hearts and demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in a sincere manner because when we are unforgiving we are carrying bitterness toward someone or some group of people, and that bitterness is quite evident to others. God knows when we are harboring unforgiveness and he takes it seriously. It is of great importance that we forgive others as Christ forgives us. The above verses of scripture taken from the book of Matthew make it clear that, if we do not forgive others then God will not forgive us. Not only does harboring unforgiveness in our heart damage our witness for Christ in our everyday lives, but it also prevents God from forgiving us.

Forgiving an individual or a group of people can be very difficult and emotional. It may take time and be a process that we have to work through for a while. The good news is that God knows our hearts, and he is well aware of whether or not we are sincerely working toward forgiving. If you are harboring unforgiveness in your heart, I urge you to go to God in prayer and ask him to help you to forgive the person or people who have hurt you in some way. Forgiving gets you back in right standing with God, it frees you to live your life in a manner that allows the fruit of the Spirit to shine brightly through you in a manner that is sincere, and when we forgive it is pleasing to God. Harboring unforgiveness steals our joy, and leaves us in a constant state of restlessness where we will remain until we do the right thing, and forgive. I  encourage you to begin work on forgiving all that you need to forgive, and to do so immediately. Don't go through another day carrying bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness in your heart. I encourage you to remember that Christ forgives us of our sins and if he being perfect and sinless can do that it is certain that we can forgive one another.

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you!

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Omnipotent

Matthew 19:26 (KJV) Says, "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Luke 1:37 (KJV) Says, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Jeremiah 32:27 (KJV) Says, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh:  Is there anything too hard for me?" Mark 10:7 (KJV) Says, "And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God:  for with God all things are possible."

In the above verses of scripture note that Jesus says more than once that what is impossible for man is possible with God. Note also that God says He is the God of all people and he asks if anything is too hard for him? The answer to that question is absolutely not. God is omnipotent meaning that he is all powerful. When he states that he is the God of all the people that means you, and knowing that nothing is too hard for him makes us aware that there is no problem we have that is so great that God can't handle it. The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that means he is still a God of miracles.

The Word of God is full of examples in which people are healed from sicknesses, cured from diseases, received their sight, healed from paralysis, and even raised from the dead. On many occasions, Jesus heals individuals and tells them that it is their faith that has made them whole. In Luke 8:43-48 (KJV) there is the story of a woman who had an issue of blood for years and had seen many physicians who were unable to help her. This woman had faith and believed that if she could simply touch the hem of Jesus' clothing she would be healed. She came near him, touched the hem of his garment and was healed instantly. Her faith had made her whole. There was a man whose servant was sick unto death and he asked Jesus to heal him in Matthew 8:5-13 (KJV). Jesus told the man that he would follow him back to his house to heal his servant, and the man told him that he was not worthy of Jesus coming under his roof and that if he would just speak a word he knew his servant would be healed. His faith made his servant whole. These are just a couple of examples of the many found within the pages of the Bible. The Word of God is filled with testimonies of what even a little faith can do. It is also full of promises from God that we can rest assured he will keep. He has never broken not one single promise, and he never will.

Whatever storm you're facing in life whether it is sickness, disease, financial issues, a situation that you are praying is restored, pain from a divorce or separation, rejection by someone you love, the loss of a loved one, or any other problem or situation that is causing you suffering, take it to God in prayer having faith without doubt, believing and trusting in him to handle it; knowing that he is more than able. Get in God's Word and read scripture pertaining to the issue you're facing, and read the promises that God makes us. Remember he is Omnipotent meaning that he is all powerful which makes clear that there is no sickness he can't heal, no disease he can't cure, and no situation he can't restore. Remember too that God does everything in his time, which is perfect, and that he can make a way where we don't see one.

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you!