The Key of Forgiveness

Have you ever wondered why forgiveness is hard?

Some people claim they can forgive easily. But will still be willing to remind everyone what a person did wrong in the past. I don’t think that’s forgiveness.

Before I tell you what I think real forgiveness means, allow me to explain how I got this topic into the thought-train of my mind.

My church did a Passover Feast meeting yesterday. We’re not Jewish, but we were remembering and experiencing how Jesus did it and learning the significance of what they did in their culture. And as we were taking communion, I was being thankful of how Jesus suffered and bore my sins, when I thought, ‘Hey, it wasn’t fair for Jesus at all.’ I knew things weren’t fair in life, but Jesus had to suffer most unfairly. If we died, even if we were seen as a ‘holy’ man, we’d still have come from a sinful background, and dying earlier than expected just means we died earlier than expected. We’ve all sinned. We would all have to suffer death anyway. We deserved it, maybe not tragic horrible sudden death, but we deserve death at the end. But Jesus, no. He’s perfect, He has overcame sin, and did outstanding work for the Father on His short time on earth. So it was the MOST unfair for Him to die in MY place. To suffer tragically for my sins, my wrongs, my mistakes.

But God sent Jesus as an action of His forgiveness to us. He GAVE us Jesus. It is unfair because He gave without needing or forcing us to give back. There was no exchange. Our Father HOPES that we give our lives back to Him, but He doesn’t FORCE us. He loves us that much.

So what is the key word in forgiveness? GIVE. For He GAVE. God FORGAVE. When we ask anyone for forgiveness, we are asking them to Give off themselves for us. There are a lot of things we may be giving of ourselves when we forgive. Think about it. We could be writing off a debt: We’re basically giving our money away. We could be forgiving a mean word: We’re basically giving him good report for the bad report he deserves. It could be a sacrifice of our pride, position, time, thoughts, joy, sometimes even what we believe in, and you may even hate someone but choose to change your mindset and decide to love him instead. That sounds quite preposterous. But IT IS. Sacrificing for an undeserved. That’s why forgiving is hard. In this world where fairness is fought for, we forgiveness can be quite hard to understand or accept. Giving without receiving. Forgiveness has to be FREELY Given to count.

He gave us life, breath, abilities, people, safety, took care of the details of our life. WE owe God. But we offended Him. We foolishly, knowingly, willingly, continuously sin against Him. YET God Forgave us. A clean slate. A passage to heaven. A direct audience with the Holy King at any time. These are all ours without demanding anything in return. These are all ours IF we choose to accept it. He GAVE us these when we deserved nothing.

Ephesians 4:32

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

 

Can we find it in our being to forgive people around us?

How To Be Forgiven 101

Psalms 32:5 (NKJV) I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Mazmur 32:5 (AVB) Lalu aku mengakui dosaku kepada-Mu dan tidak menyembunyikan kejahatan dosaku. Kataku, “Aku akan mengakui keingkaranku kepada TUHAN” – maka Engkau mengampunkan dosaku.

The ONE thing we need to do is usually the HARDEST to do. It’s basically against our nature to humble ourselves and admit our faults. To be totally naked and vulnerable. Not only to face our weakness, but to reveal it to someone else. And to accept the punishments or consequences.
Do you prefer to fix things yourself before you ask for help? Me too.

But God gave us one simple way to gain forgiveness.
Confess.
Try it today.

East To West – Wolves At The Gate

What is true joy or hope?
Where can it be found?
Is it the promise of gold streets?
Is it escaping the fires of hell?
No, all things are worthless in view
The surpassing value of simply knowing God
And being held by Him
All that I may know Him
To what they say that they do
To purchase my life
By His very own blood
To see the king suffered to die
To save souls like me

On the day when I see my dream
Tempest lost at sea (x2)
I don’t let
I’m chasing after this dream (x2)
I’m chasing after you

The living you love me the life long
Dying in save me, my soul gone
Buried you carry my sins away
Carry my sins far away

Carry my sins (carry my sins far away)
Farther west, from east to west
Carry my sins far away (from east to west)
Far away (from east to west), far away

Suffering, imagine I cannot
Forgiving all my sins you forgot
Lies .. dismay
Easy .. my dismay
All my, all my, all my dismay

On the day when I see my dream
Tempest lost at sea (x2)
I don’t let
I’m chasing after this dream (x2)
I’m chasing after you

Carry my sins far away
Farther west, from east to west
Carry my sins far away (from east to west)
Far away (from east to west), far away

I’m looking off into the distance
And though it may just be a shadow
I’m chasing after this to find the joy in knowing Christ

No, all things are worthless in view
The surpassing value of simply knowing God
And being held by Him
Oh, that I may know Him
To what they say that they do
To purchase my life
By His very own blood
To see the king suffered to die
To save a sinner like me

On the day we listen
Take .. love is burned
Take this love, I will join the choirs
Sing out his mercies and grace
Know His love (x4)

What God Has To Go Through Every Day

Betrayal is a funny thing.

 

No, actually it’s not. This morning a pastor Brandon Chin said something about his back. He turned around and asked “You see my back? What do you see? It looks fine. But it’s actually full of bullet holes, knife stabs, and bruises.” Being a leader and being a pastor is hard hard work. Dealing with people is hard hard work, no matter what “holy” setting it’s supposed to be in. The church is full of backstabbers, liars, gossipers, fakers, and anything bad you can imagine. This is what the church is for in the first place remember?

I remember when I felt backstabbed. Lied to. Or just downright betrayed. It’s an interesting experience unlike any other. It hurts to feel like the victim. It hurts to be vulnerable and have some part of your soul torn. So I do what anybody does when he hurts, I look for someone to blame.

I have this ritual of blaming God every time something like this happens to me. When things go bad. Or when I feel like what someone said didn’t mean anything after what he’d done. I like to blame God. I like to accuse God of planning my life this way. For putting obstacles or emotional challenges in my soul. For teaching me to love. So I blame God. I point my finger in His face and say “what the heck, man?” Normally, I may be more vulgar. It’s good to let it out though. I always feel better after throwing my tantrum at Him. But then He shows me a valuable lesson after I’ve had my say.

After my ritual of blaming Him, He has a ritual of teaching me a lesson. How do you think I feel? He says. You promise to cleanse your thoughts, but you think dirty thoughts. You promise to be humble and patient, but you let anger and brashness overtake you. You promise to love people, but you put expectations on them. You promise to serve others, but you think you have rights to your time and your energy. You pray nice prayers in front of people, but who are you really? You tell me you’ll try, but you don’t. You’ve stabbed Me Every single day. Right in front of My Watchful eyes. Sometimes, even knowingly!

Then, Hey, He says lovingly, I know how you feel.

 

Understatement of the ever eh

Time For Plan B

2 Samuel 11:1-13

 

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax.” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?”

Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.”

“Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

 

 

i remember the story about king david sleeping with bathsheba.

i remember that he sent Uriah to the front lines of the battle to get him killed.

but i did not remember this part.

Davids army commander put Uriah in the front lines where the battle is the most heated,

then retreated the other troops so that a few men were with Uriah in the front.

just to get killed.

 

i remembered that part.

but i didnt know that that was davids plan B.

 

problem:

bathsheba got pregnant while husband was away in war.

 

i read and reread the scripture above a few times.

i kept wondering, WHY?

why did david keep insisting for uriah to go home?

i was further baffled when uriah kept refusing to go home.

only after a few times i realised that this was davids plan A to cover his tracks.

smart guy i must say.

david wants Uriah to go home (after a long time at war) and relax.

which means having a good time with his wife.

if uriah slept with his wife, she would have good reason to get pregnant.

but plan A didnt work.

so david had to think of a plan B.

which was worse.

 

its just like lying.

once we start with a lie,

it’ll just have to grow bigger and bigger.

it has to get more and more elaborate.

we have to cover up our cover ups.

sin.

once we sin,

it just gets bigger and worse.

if u ask me, i’d say that im a pro in covering my tracks.

i’m a really good liar for one thing.

and im a paranoid type of person, so i think of all the possibilities that something can go wrong (me being found out for one),

and i can think of a way to cover that up.

 

but im learning.

 

honesty really is the best policy.

it helps release burden.

i feel like a big weight is lifted from me when im honest.

i had to learn to be honest.

i had to learn to stop myself from sinning.

because sinning results in building a mask for myself to hide behind.

sinning results in building a web of deceit that covers my tracks.

 

but no more.

if you are sick of your life being in ruins.

if you are sick of being tied to sin over and over.

if you are sick of not being in control of your life and not knowing what your life is about.

commit it all to Jesus.

first step of healing: honesty.

admit your sin.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23

we have to admit that we are weak and we are human.

we cannot do this without God.

yes, admit to Jesus.

you should tell someone about it as well.

your mentor, your pastor, your spiritual leader.

then, ask for forgiveness from God.

and pray.

pray.

pray.

pray.

pray.