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by Judi Lynn Klug
God bless you in this New Year of 2024! Praise the Lord that goodness and mercy will follow us every day of this year!!
Assuming you plan to pray in 2024, I thought the beginning of the year would be a good time to start with the beginning of prayer.
Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Jesus said that when we are going to pray, the first thing we are to do is to forgive.
Did anyone just come to your mind against whom you have ‘ought’? Anyone you hope you don’t see at your front door today? Start there.
Purposefully choose to forgive each and every one. Think it through prayerfully. List each person God brings to your mind and forgive each one specifically.
Forgive their parents who did not teach them properly ...or their friends/family/co-workers who agreed with them, etc. Whatever the Lord shows you.
NOTE 1: Forgiving someone does not say that what he did was not wrong; we do not call evil good. Nor does forgiving him release him from God’s “hook”. But, by your choosing to obey God you are releasing You!
“Unforgiveness (holding a grudge/resentment) is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.”
It is true. Whether someone else ever chooses to believe, repent or change, YOU can be freed from the enemy’s trap by your choice to obey God. ”What is that to thee? follow thou me.” John 21:22
When ye stand praying, forgive.
Have you ever thought, “they don’t deserve forgiveness; what they did was too bad”?
We are not called to compare ourselves to others. 2 Cor 10:12 So think a bit more…was what he did to you/someone you love worse than what Jesus forgave?
Hebrews 12:3,4 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Have you ever noticed your old man nature defending your own sin?
“Well, I haven’t done what she did!”
“OK, maybe I’ve done that, but not as often!”
“OK, maybe I’ve done it as often, but not as recently!”
King Saul kept saying he’d obeyed God….to which Samuel responded, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 1 Samuel 15:13
Have you ever hoped people would forgive you? Then, do unto others is your commandment.
Matthew 7:12
Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34
NOTE 2: The soldiers knew what they were doing in the natural: they were doing their job of nailing another man to another cross. But they did not know of the supernatural ramifications that would come from nailing the only begotten Son of God to This Cross. Likewise, the people who hurt you knew what they were doing in the natural, but they probably still have no idea of the spiritual ramifications to their lives.
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
How has God forgiven you? Completely! Unequivocally! That is how we are to forgive. And we can, because we are not better than those who wronged us. We no doubt think our own sins are smaller, but if the person who hurt us had never been born, our own sins would have nailed Jesus to the Cross in order to save us.
That is how we remain humble and able to forgive other people no matter what they did.
God says to forgive, and if we say that we serve Him, then we obey Him and forgive, from a heart eternally grateful that He chose to forgive us!
NOTE 3…It may take time to think of everyone in your life whom you have not forgiven. That’s OK; God in Christ in you will remind you of someone else while you’re driving or working. Just gulp, repent, and forgive. With the holy spirit’s help. you’ll get good at it!
Next step? Forgive Yourself.
NOTE 4: If your sin was done ignorantly/unpremeditated, it’s easier to forgive yourself, but some people get stuck in pride, thinking, “I should have known better.” Well, you didn’t. So you showed you need a Savior. Now tell the devil to take his accusations back to hell with him, repent and move on stronger in the Lord!
1 John 3:20 If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
You know some things about you--and the accuser always tries to use then against you. But! God knew everything you’d ever say or do before you said or did them, and He chose to send His Son Who chose to take the punishment for you! You are forgiven! Your debt has been paid! You are free to move about the cabin of Life!
Repeat after me: “I am highly favored!”
The Greek word charitoo is used only two times in God’s Word. Luke 1:28: The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee.”
And…Ephesians 1:6: God “has made us accepted in the beloved.”
Who is highly favored? Mary…and you!!!
Repeat after God: “I am highly favored!”
Jesus said, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40 If you refuse to forgive yourself, you are disobeying, because YOU are one of His brethren.
If you refuse to forgive yourself, you are telling Jesus that you know better than He, and that He was a fool to die for you.
NOTE 5: But….what if your sin was premeditated? What if you actually meant to hurt someone? How do you forgive yourself for that? A man named Saul purposefully hurt people. It was his job...to find Christians and drag them to prison where many of them were murdered. But God saw his heart, Jesus showed up on the Road to Damascus, Saul repented and God called him to the apostleship. Then this man, Paul, went on to receive and write almost half of the New Testament that we have today!
And remember this, as Paul began his ministry he had to go back to the towns where he had dragged fathers. mothers and brothers out of their homes to their deaths. I'm sure he sat down in many a home lacking that person directly because of Paul ….. and yet he taught them about the love of God and the gospel/good news of Jesus Christ. Wow.
So, forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive yourself. Then stand against the wiles of the devil, pray with boldness, and enforce the victory Christ bought for you!
Meditate on the verses in this article. Get quiet with your Lord, ask forgiveness, accept His cleansing and pick up stronger than ever to walk with Him in 2024!!!
God bless us, every one.
Judi Lynn Klug
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Comments
Much appreciated, Judi! We ought never lose sight of the fundamentals.
What a wonderful opening prayer for the New Year, Judi !
Thank you for posting this. I'm certain many others will appreciate it.