Forgive And Get Free!

We Have Been Given A Way To Get Rid Of Anger!  The problem is, we don’t like the way we have been given, but it is the best!  It really is the only meaningful and productive way to accomplish the task.  Are you ready for it?  Are you sure you’re ready for it?  Okay – here it is:  Forgiveness!  Forgiveness is the way to take on and take out anger and its devastating impact upon your life and the lives of those that you love.

When you can’t forgive yourself – life is filled with guilt and despair!  When you won’t forgive others – life is filled with bitterness and anger!  You can’t or won’t enjoy life and you don’t want anyone else to enjoy it either!  We try to punish those that hurt us and end up destroying ourselves!

Jesus gives us “A Little Lesson On Forgiveness!” in Matthew 18:21-35, it says:  21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.  23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.  32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Forgiveness is a need that we all have!  Jesus is making the point that earning forgiveness is impossible!  The servant in this story owed his master 10,000 talents -10,000 Bags of gold!  There was no way, he would ever be able to repay it!  In a life time of working, he could never be good enough to earn enough to repay what he owed his master!

The Bottom Line:  We all need forgiveness, but not a one of us can earn or deserve it for ourselves! (Isa. 64:6 = says that our most righteous acts are as filthy rags!)  Justification does not and cannot come from man.  Justification comes from God!  The purpose of God Word is to reveal our need for God’s justification!

Forgiveness Is Free!  God does not require penance, but He does require repentance! Repentance is an act of faith!  It is our response to the call of God to lay down our old, messed up life, so that we might take up our new life created for us by God!

We don’t repent because we fear hell, we repent because we see God and His goodness!  Repentance is all about getting the something better that God created you for!  Forgiveness is complete, because the debt is forgotten!

We love to revisit the graves and memorial markers of past sins and failures!  There is just one problem:  Our sins do not reside there!  We want to hold onto what God has let go of!

There are two important things to remember here: 1.) There must be genuine repentance! (God will judge the genuineness!) 2.) Forgiven sin is intentionally forgotten! (An on purpose act of letting go!)

The Scriptures have this to say about God and His forgiveness:

Micah 7:18-19 
”18 Who is a God like you, 
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression 
of the remnant of his inheritance? 
You do not stay angry forever 
but delight to show mercy. 
19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot 
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

And then we read in Psalm 103:11-13 “11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 
so great is his love for those who fear him; 
12 as far as the east is from the west, 
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.  13 As a father has compassion on his children, 
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;”  

And in John 8:34-36  “34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Forgiveness Requires Forgiveness!  When you really get what God’s forgiveness means – it changes everything!  You can’t help it – you must forgive others or it’s just not right!  When you accepted God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love, you give up, surrender whatever little bit you have left, so that you could take in all that He has for you!  When you really get this – you will be glad you did!

Are You Angry?

The often sad reality is todays world is that many of us have an addiction to anger and we don’t even realize it.  Some where inside of us anger has taken up residence and it is slowly eating away at who we were created to be.

We don’t want to admit this.  In fact, even as we read it, we are thinking that does not apply to me, but the truth is:  This world that we live in feeds and nourishes the anger and it is often present and working without our even hardly realizing it, until we start to take a closer look.

I know in my own life, I would say:  ”I am not an angry person!”, but just a casual glance over the last couple of weeks would reveal where anger has raised its ugly head more than once in my life, impacting the lives of those I love.

Once, we realize that anger is an issue for us, then we look to justify it, by calling it righteous or making some excuse for it!  This is a problem because the Word tells us in Ephesians 4:26-27: that while anger is a reality, we should be careful not to let it cause us to sin by doing something that we should not be doing or not doing something that we should.  It also instructs us to deal with our anger by not allowing the sun to go down on it.  We must be careful not to give the devil a foothold!

The real problem is that we tend to nurture and embrace the very thing that is killing us and our joy.  God has given us what we need to defeat anger and its devastating impact upon our lives.  This powerful gift that God has given us is called forgiveness in the days ahead we will be taking a look at how to receive it and give it.

Take a few moments today to get honest with yourself about anger that may be hiding out in your life.  Talk with your Creator about how to deal with this.  And take some time to think about forgiveness, both receiving it and giving it.  You will be glad you did!

Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer!

We know that we need to spend time with our Creator.  We need to talk with Him and listen to Him, but knowing and doing are two different things!  Many know that they need to, but never seem to get around to it.

There are others of us that do it.  We actually make and take the time to be with our Creator, but we sometimes miss a real experience with Him, because the action of being with Him has become more about habit or routine!

Let me ask you a very simple question:  Do you go to God with your needs?  All of them?  We eventually go to God with the stuff that we can’t handle, but how about as soon as you have a need, no matter the size, do you take it to your Creator?

Let me ask the question this way:  Are you growing in your relationship with God?  Now before you throw an answer out, really take the time to think about it!  Are you growing in your relationship with God?  Are you closer to Him?  Do you understand Him better?  Will you go to Him, not just with some things, but all things?

The amazing thing about our relationship with our Creator God is that He created us for relationship.  God actually wants to have fellowship with us.  But far too many of us are missing a real and meaningful relationship with Him, because we are not willing to do the hard work or take the time that makes the relationship work.

Many of us are trying to grow spiritually and are just barely getting by, because we have learned to survive off of crumbs from books, blogs, podcasts, social status updates and sermons.  Many of us are living our spiritual lives vicariously through the relationship that our favorite author, friend or preacher is having with God.

Philippians 3:8-14 says:  “8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Focus in on the last part of verse eight and all of verse nine -  “…so that I may gain Christ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

We don’t want a relationship that we have to manufacture and make-up, but one that God has provided through His Son Jesus and the righteousness that He provides as we learn to live with and through Him in faith!

We were created for relationship and God longs to have fellowship with us.  We need to learn from others, but Jesus calls us to follow Him, not to follow others who are following Him!  This is the biggest battle and struggle that we will most likely face in our relationship – learning to follow Him!

The only way that we can learn to follow Him is by spending time with Him!  This is Basic #1 – We must spend time with our Creator God if we are going to experience the growth and relationship that we were created for.

Here are a few quick tips to help you to get started in taking and making the time to grow the relationship:

1.) Pull The Trigger!  You need to put a trigger in your life that will remind you everyday to actually take and make the time to be with God.  The trigger is the event that sets off, reminds you and encourages you to actually take and make the time!  It could be something as simple as reading God’s Word with a cup of coffee!  Associate the two together, don’t have one without the other and pretty soon, every time you get your coffee ready, you will also be ready to spend some time with God!  Your trigger can be pretty much anything.  Pick what works for you and a time that works for you!

2.)  Be Prepared!  To spend time with God, there are some tools that you will need, here is a simple list:  A Bible – get a version or translation that you understand and enjoy reading!  A Journal – you need somewhere to record what God is saying to you and what you are saying to Him.  A Plan – a lot of people just jump around the Word.  Find a plan that helps you to read on purpose and that has what you are going to be reading next – up and ready to go, so you don’t have to waste time looking for something to read!  A Planner, Post It Note or Pad – to record any random or stray thoughts that might cross your mind and try to distract you!  Get all of these items together and keep them together for easy access!

If you are looking for a good reading plan, I would strongly encourage you to check out http://youversion.com  This is a great app with lot of translations and many different reading plans.  If you have a smart phone, android device or iPad, you can actually download the app and it will assist and remind you!  And the best part is – it’s free!

3.) SOAP – Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer!  When you spend time with your Creator, make sure to read the Scripture, this is His Word to you!  While you read the Word, take time to observe and think about what God is saying to you.  When you begin to understand what He is saying to you, make application by deciding what you are going to do about what He is saying to you.  Wrap it all up by taking time to have some prayer conversation with God = remember it’s about listening and talking!

4.)  KISS – Keep It Sweet and Simple!  This time with God in His Word is all about growing closer to God through relationship!  You cannot really grow spiritually without this time.  Jesus made time with God a priority and this should encourage us to understand just how important it really is.

5.)  Relationship/Fellowship!  Don’t miss the amazing reality that God created you for relationship and He longs to enjoy fellowship with you, not just every now and then, but all of the time!

I hope this post will encourage you to get back to basics and spend some time with your Creator.  I can promise you this – if you do, you will be glad you did!

January 2012 Message Series!

We work so hard to have better lives, but the truth is: Many of us are living with a hidden enemy that keeps us from experiencing that better life. This enemy causes stress, tension in your muscles, loss of sleep, diminished or increased appetite and makes you look and feel older. It chases away possible friends, makes work a place of war, destroys relationships and takes years off of your life!

This hidden enemy is ANGER and it is a very serious problem for most of us – realize or not, believe it or not!  It is on display everyday as road rage, violence, shootings, abuse, addiction and it is a major reason why so many people are living on antidepressants, suffering from alcohol, drug and porn addiction. Many are overweight, in broken relationships and involved in all kinds of destructive behavior all because they have anger, that quiet possibly has camouflaged and hidden itself in their lives.

Anger is a strong emotional feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility with a wide range of intensity and expressions.  It usually begins as a spiritual, emotional, mental or physical response to a threat or a perceived threat!

Anger takes on many forms, shapes, sizes and faces and is great at camouflaging itself, so that it is hard for us to discover the destruction that it if often causing in our lives from the inside-out!

Anger cannot be ignored, it must be addressed and dealt with or it begins to take control of your life.  For some this control is below the surface and hardly recognizable, while for others it is very obvious that there are issues that need to be addressed!

Anger impacts all of us and especially many people who call themselves Christian.  The sad reality is that most of us do very little talking about it and even less praying.  Join us back here tomorrow on this blog and we will begin to take a look at some of what God’s Word has to say about anger and what we should do about it!

Until then, pray and ask the Spirit to open your heart, soul and mind to the truth about you may need to face in this area of your life!

You are also invited to join us this Sunday at 10 AM at 888 Ansel School Road and 11 AM at 407 Ridgewood Drive as we continue to take a look at ANGER, what the Bible has to say about it and what we can do to get victory over it!

888 Ansel School Road

Sunday Morning Worship In The Word! @ 10 AM & 11 AM – Sunday morning is all about having a real life experience with God through His Word and Worship!  We are going to be taking time every Sunday morning during morning worship to explore some of the real life challenges that you are facing, what the Bible has to say about those challenges and how you can overcome them!

Sunday Evening Dreaming A New Dream! @ 6 PM – Sunday evenings are going to be a very special time for the Northwood family.  We will all be meeting together in the “Fellowship Center” to spend some time in prayer and fellowship as we seek to let the Holy Spirit help us to Dream A New Dream by discovering His agenda and finding the strength and wisdom to put it above all others!

Back To The Basics! @ 6:30 PM – Wednesday Evenings are going to be an investment in helping everyone Get Back To The Basics of living and growing in a real and meaningful relationship with the One who really matters!  Bring your Bible, notebooks, pen and an open heart, mind and spirit!

A Little Change Will Do You Good!

What if I told you that the Spirit had revealed a simple truth that was so powerful that this one simple truth has the capacity to totally change your life?  Would you be interested?  Would you want to know this truth?  Many of us know it, but don’t really believe it, or if we believe it, then we don’t allow it to have the power that it could and should have in, upon and through our lives.

This truth that the Spirit has revealed to me has the power to totally change your life for the better in this new year –  if you will believe it, get it and give it the opportunity!  It will change everything, if you will simply give it the chance!

The Truth:  “It does not matter how good of a Christian you are or you think you are, there is always room for improvement and growth in your life and relationship with God and others!”

You get it or you don’t!  It really is just that simple and if you get it, you will be glad you did!

Church Is People - God's People!

Can Church Make My Life Better?  The answer is “YES!”  (If you will let it!)  The problem that most of us have, is that we see church as a place instead of a community of people!

Too many people come to a place that we call church for all of the wrong reasons.  Too many people come to a place we call church and distracted by the stuff that really does not matter.  Too many people come to a place we call church and miss their opportunity to be a part of something bigger and do something more amazing than they could imagine!

Stop looking, thinking, seeing and treating church like a place and instead involve yourself in the common unity = community of faith and watch the Holy Spirit of God begin to do incredible and amazing things that words cannot even begin to explain!

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says: “Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it!”  The church of Jesus is powerful because it is made up of the men, women, boys and girls of everlasting relationship!  This is what God has saved, called and gifted us to be a part of!

Can church make your life better? – Sure it can!  Make sure you let it – you will be glad you did!

We All Mistakes!

Mistakes!  We all make them and all most none of us care to admit that reality, but the truth is – live long enough and you will make more than your fair share.  It’s part of life, part of living and dying.  We are not perfect and so we make mistakes!  There are some things we need to do and should do and we just fail to do them, not necessarily because we are bad people with devious schemes, but just because we are people who are not perfect, people who make mistakes.  On the other hand, there are some things that we should not do and we do them anyway.  Again, this is not because we are evil monsters with sinister plans to crew up the world.  It is simply because we are imperfect humans and imperfect humans make mistakes.

If you’ve never made a mistake it would be pretty easy to have an expectation that others would not make a mistake as well, but the truth is:  If you are human and living on this planet earth at this time, then you have and you will make mistakes.  Mistakes are a part of life.  The great Apostle Paul put it this ways in the Scripture:

¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ ”And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  ²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! ‘  Romans 7:14-25

The battle is always waging!  I have and will continue to make mistakes, not because I want to, but because I have the battle waging inside of me.  I am trying to do better and on some days, I really think I am beginning to make some progress, but then on other days I feel like I am back at the starting block.

I think the real battle is not in living a mistake-free life, but in admitting and learning from your mistakes.  I John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I’ve discovered this will keep you more than busy in this life.  So stop pointing the finger at others and begin to inspect your life.  See your mistakes, admit them, do what you can to make them right and receive and give God’s forgiveness – you will be glad you did!

"Noise, Noise, Noise!"

Whenever my girls go to spend the night with grandparents, I am thinking this is going to be good, I can use the break!  I mean let’s be honest, they asked a thousand questions and usually with just one word like:  ”Why?”, “How?” or “Where?” as in “Where are we going?”  They have loud toys or like to listen to their music loud and if they are the opposite sex, then that creates another set of issues that we don’t even have time to talk about!

While I enjoy my girls going to spend the night, I also can’t stand it, because after about thirty minutes, I am missing them!  I miss the things they say, the expressions on their faces and the crazy things they say!  I miss getting to love them and be loved by them.  When they are gone, it makes me realize how valuable every minute of everyday we get to spend together is!

It’s not just about me missing them.  I am better when I am with them and they are better when they are with me.  God gave them to me and me to them; and He did this on purpose – so that we all could live more fulfilling lives!  Next time the noise from the toys starts to get on your last nerve or the music is just a little too loud, take a moment to think about how you will miss it when it is gone.  Instead of dreading it, jump in there with them and create a memory for you and for them – you will be glad you did!

You Have A Choice!

Habits, we all have them, some are good and some are bad.  There are several questions we need to ask concerning habits.  These questions can help us to get a good start on some goals for the new year:  1) What are our habits?  2.) Which ones are good and which ones are bad?  3) How do we get rid of the ones that are doing us harm?  4) What do we replace them with?  5) When will we get started?  Galatians 4:7 says that we are no longer slaves, but children of the Most High God.  We are children with power to live different, better and more fulfilling lives.  We must be willing to do our part, so let’s get started!

WHAT ARE OUR HABITS?  Take a few moments to actually think about your habits, both good and bad.  Think of as many habits as you can and jot them all down.  You may want to ask people around you that you trust to also help you to see what maybe you can’t see.  Once you have your habit list, then you can move to the next step!

WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS BAD?  This is where you have to take your list and put every habit on the scales to see what it weighs.  It will be easy to distinguish the difference between some, but a lot of our habits walk a very fine line and this is where you will have to do some real soul-searching.  Determine the good from the bad and make a decision about habits that you need to change or get rid of!

GET RID OF THE BAD BY REPLACING IT WITH GOOD!  Steps 3 & 4 actually work hand in hand!  We all have bad habits.  If we want to make life more fulfilling, then we have to learn to replace our old bad habits of reaction with new good habits of purpose!  Once you decide in your mind that you are going to do this, the heart will ultimately follow and you will find yourself living a very different life!

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING ON?  You know what you need to do!  You’ve been knowing what you need to do for a while.  Even if it is just working on one wrong bad habit at a time, then get it done – you will be glad you did!