Oct.
22, 2018 Monday Message:
On
Forgiveness…
Mankind
is plagued with a sinful nature, and the Bible says that all have sinned and
fallen short of God’s glory. But it also says that if you repent and return to
the Lord, you will be forgiven.
Consider
Saul of Tarsus – we know him as Saint Paul. Trained as a Pharisee, he formed a
posse to capture the new Christians, bring them in chains to the Temple for
trial, sometimes resulting in their execution. Saul wrote, “When the believers
were put to death, I cast my vote against them.” He put to death many, many
Christians. Simply put, he murdered God’s Children.
And
yet God forgave him. God got Saul’s attention on the road to Damascus, and then
sent him on a mission for Christ, to deliver the Good News to the Gentile
nations. God saw through what Saul WAS, and focused on what he could BECOME if
he was forgiven! Turns out that the “forgiven Saul” was far more useful for Kingdom-building.
Of
course the lesson here is that if Saul could be forgiven for murdering God’s
children, then we should likewise forgive all manner of sin against us. Jesus
said that our sins will be forgiven AS WE FORGIVE others. Don’t hang onto anger,
frustration, and resentments - just let God work it out. Don’t let someone who
sins against you control how you feel today. Divorce yourself from the whole matter.
Let
go and let God. Smile!
Norton
Lawellin
Jesus
in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, 3249 30th
Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Pastor Michael Pilla continues
teaching from Micah.
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