Need to Move Forward?

Forgiveness is a bridge builder to peace and a sense of joy. Without forgiveness, feelings of security essential to healthy relationships would be fleeting. The Apostle Paul teaches that the primary focus of forgiveness is reconciliation, a key component to fellowship with God and others.

A strong, unwavering desire to correct wrong behavior provides assurance that forgiveness is an honest, worthy objective. Desire for forgiveness has to be the basic primary motivation for seeking reconciliation, which means fellowship without shame and guilt. Desire, for some, is equated with a determination to reach a specific goal.

The desire for genuine forgiveness is made possible by believing an offender is beloved of God and worthy of kindness and goodness. We're all equal in terms of our inherent worth before God. St. Paul makes it clear that "there is none righteous...for all have sinned," and yet God joyfully forgives us. Please apply this truth to yourself and others.  

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With all my heart I praise the Lord! I will never forget how kind he has been. The Lord forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, and protects us from death. His kindness and love are a crown on our heads.

~Psalm 103:2-4 Contemporary English Version

All people have disobeyed God, and that’s why he treats them as prisoners. But he does this, so that he can have mercy on all of them.

~Romans 11:32 Contemporary English Version

Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.

~Ephesians 4:29 Good News Bible

Coming Back to God

Forgiveness and reconciliation are essential for salvation. The Apostle Paul implores us to be reconciled so a right standing with God can be achieved. Reconciliation requires God’s forgiveness. It clears away guilt for sin committed against God that has become an obstacle to fellowship with him. Confession of sins sets the stage for reconciliation.

 

Repentance is more than feeling sorry for sins. It involves a commitment to change your attitude about sin, to see sin as evil and responsible for creating the wall that separated you from God. Because of his great love for you, the Lord is willing to help you achieve reconciliation if you desire it with all your heart.

       

In addition to forgiveness’ liberating your soul from sin, forgiveness empowers you to eternally redefine yourself in the light of God’s love and mercy. God will never let you go. He intends for you to strengthen your fellowship with him so that the righteousness of Christ Jesus in you becomes evident to others. They will desire to have what you have.  

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Everything that we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.

~1 Corinthians 1:30 The Message

Become a friend with God; he’s already a friend with you. “How?” you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

~2 Corinthians 5:20-21 The Message

       

A Mysterious Necessity – Forgiveness

 How did we ever come up with the word forgiveness and then discover what was involved in its ultimate meaning? Initially it sounds complex and hard, if not impossible, to understand. Even so, forgiveness is indisputably a link to a better frame of mind. As forgiveness is activated, cynicism and negative attitudes tend to lose their power.

Forgiveness is a powerful dynamic, yet mysterious in how it can motivate enemies to act with good will. Forgiveness cannot be forced upon someone, for it must be sought like wisdom or a pearl of great value. If forgiveness is brushed aside and rejected, the chance for reconciliation may be lost forever.

Most people realize forgiveness is a necessity for every stage of a relationship. Forgiveness must be offered with integrity and sincerity, or conflict will linger on. There must be a receptive mind and heart willing to trust enough to give reconciliation a shove toward healing. Forgiveness will dismantle the walls of fear and isolation. God will bless your investment.  

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And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone.

~1 John 2:2 Good News Bible

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.  

~Ephesians 1:7 New Living Translation

In Need of a New Beginning?

          

I can only imagine the mixture of feelings Joseph experienced as he faced his brothers who had abandoned him two decades earlier. Now his brothers were facing a crisis, and Joseph could save them from disaster. Joseph deliberately accused these brothers of being spies to set in motion his goal of reconciliation. 

Joseph proposed keeping Simeon, his half-brother, in custody while the others returned home to bring Benjamin, his full-brother, back to Egypt. Their response was guilt and fear. "Surely we are being punished because of our sin. Joseph pleaded for his life, but we would not listen." Unconfessed and unforgiven sin eventually evolves into a crisis. 

Although these brothers were experiencing a personal crisis, God was preparing for their redemption, reconciliation and a new beginning. This is God's way. We must do our part by repenting, seeking forgiveness and making amends for our sins. This builds a bridge for a new beginning.  Are you in need of a new beginning? Think about it.  

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The Lord sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.

~Proverbs 15:3 Good News Bible

And all wrongdoers will be repaid for the wrong things they do, because God judges everyone by the same standard.

~Colossians 3:25 Good News Bible

  

The people whom I dearly love, I always reprove and discipline. So keep on being earnest and once for all repent.

~Revelation 3:19 Williams – New Testament in the Language of the People

An Unexpected Shock!

          

God often visits his people at inopportune times, and not necessarily with pleasant surprises. His visit may shake us loose from the predictable patterns of everyday life. We thrive on predictability, which gives us a sense of being well anchored. When something out of the ordinary is interjected into our well-ordered lives, adjustments are usually required.

By the time of Joseph’s thirty-ninth birthday, he had been governor of Egypt for nine years. Egypt was experiencing a severe drought, but Joseph had prepared the nation by storing up grain to sustain the people for seven years. An unanticipated event was about to occur. However, God seldom advertises an up-coming event.

I wonder how Joseph's brothers had dealt with selling him into slavery? Because their hatred for him was so intense, they probably had felt relief and good riddance. However, God does not forget and will disrupt well-ordered lives to create opportunities for reconciliation, forgiveness and hope for new beginnings. Are you ready?   

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Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

~James 1:2-3 New Living Translation