Tag Archives: Forgive

Love Much

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muchlove21Something I like to say is that I have to choose between law and grace, I choose grace.  I’m going to always choose grace.  Now, yes, there are things that are wrong and are destructive, and we should avoid evil and stay away from things that will destroy us, destroy others, and destroy our walk with God.

But, even folks that are far, far from God and acting in ways that are destructive, you know what?  I’m going still going to give grace.

I’m going to love much.

Why?

Because I’ve been forgiven much.  Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 7:44-47:

Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

I have been forgiven so much in my life.  Jesus has given me grace after grace, hope after hope, love after love, mercy after mercy.  He has forgiven me so very much in my life, and the only response that I can make is to forgive others.  To give grace.  To show mercy.  To show love.  To show that hope.

Because He has shown that to me. And as I’ve been forgiven and loved, so must I forgive other and love.

I have been loved much.  So, I must love much.

Each of us have.  We have all been given grace and mercy today. We’ve all been given love.  And with that love we’ve been given, we much give love in return.  Today, we must love much. Because we’ve been loved much.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What Grace Looks Like

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What does grace look like? Let’s look at what David does in 2 Samuel 9: 6-8 today and see.

And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

royal-tableWhat happens here is this. David is now the king. And he wants to know if there is still someone from Saul’s family that is alive, so he can show them grace. But, wait, first remember what Saul tried to do to David repeatedly.

He tried to kill him. He threw speaks at him. He chased him around Israel. He did all in his power to kill him.

And now, as king, David wants to show kindness to a member of Saul’s family.

Why?

Well, David remembers his promise to Jonathan. He remembers his love for him, and he will honor his friend in this even though Jonathan’s dad (Saul) tried to kill him.

David will show grace.

Why? Because of his friendship with Jonathan. And because it’s what the people of God do. We have been given grace. We have been given mercy. We have been given forgiveness. We have been given so very much.

That we must give back. We must show it forth. We must give back to others out of the grace that we have been given.

David showed mercy to a man whose family tried to destroy him. He loved, because he had been loved by an awesome God.

That’s what grace looks like. To forgive when we don’t “have” to, to show mercy when there is no reason, and to see to show God’s love to all that meet each day.

That’s what grace look like.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones

Mercy, not Sacrifice

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Jesus got fussed at a lot.

He did things that caused other folks to fuss at Him, or judge Him, or condemn Him. He was always doing things that folks didn’t like, or thought He shouldn’t be.

Why? Why did He do these things? And why did folks fuss at Him?

Let’s look at a text today in Matthew 9:10-13 and see why:

And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

mercy-graceJesus eats with the tax collectors and sinners here in this text. And the religious leaders didn’t like that. They fussed at Him and said, you shouldn’t do that. You don’t need to do that.

They aren’t worthy. They are unclean. They shouldn’t be accepted at a meal, they should be judged for their sin.

And Jesus said – I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

That throws folks off. That notion makes us uneasy. Not within ourselves. I like mercy for me. It’s judgement I want for them.

I want God to forgive my sins. But, they deserve judgement for their sin.

Jesus says no – I give mercy.

The “law” is easy. It’s a check list. Do these things. Don’t do these things. It’s easy.

But, actually it’s not. We find that we wind up doing the things we shouldn’t be doing, and we wind up not doing the things that we should be doing. And then we are confused. Broken. Ashamed. We beat ourselves up.

So, hear the words of Jesus. He came to bring mercy.

Take that mercy on yourself today. And here, here’s the hard part.

Give that mercy to “them.” Whoever “they” are. They need that mercy as much as we do. Jesus came to give us mercy. Jesus came to give them mercy.

Today, be a people of mercy, not a people of judgement. And in that, we are obedient the law of love that Jesus gave us to follow!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Forgive Yourself

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Today, I want you to listen on of my favorite verses in all the Bible.

I have found that the hardest person to forgive in my life isn’t you. It’s me. I hold my sins against longer than I hold yours against you.

Maybe it’s because I’m a preacher

Maybe it’s because of expectations.

Maybe I just expect better of myself.

Whatever reason, I have a tough time forgiving myself.

And that’s why the verse that I read today is one of my favorites, and one that I keep close to my heart at most all times

Listen to what it says in 1 John 3:19-20:

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

forgive-yourself-3When our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart.

What does that mean? God knows our sin. He knows our mistakes. He knows our hurts. He knows our faults. He knows what we’ve done wrong, what we are doing wrong, and what will do wrong

Nothing happens in our lives that God is not aware of.

He knows your sin. Really. He is aware of your sin. He knows what you have done wrong, what you are hiding, what you don’t want anyone to be aware of.

And, if you have asked Him for forgiveness, He has forgiven you.

Listen. If you have asked God for forgiveness, He has forgiven you of your sin. You are forgiven

But, in our minds, it’s not that easy. God may forgive us. But, sometimes, in our lives, we are not able to forgive ourselves. We can’t let go, we can’t move on, we can’t forgive ourselves

Listen to this verse. When our hearts condemn us, God is great than our hearts.

God has forgiven you. He has. Your sins are as far as the east is from the west

You are forgiven

Today, forgive yourself. God doesn’t condemn you. He loves you. He forgives you

Forgive yourself.

Listen to what CS Lewis says here

I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.

Today, God has forgiven you. Today. Forgive yourself.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Forgiveness is Freedom

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Forgiveness is hard. It is not easy. We don’t always like it. We don’t always want to do it.

Some folks have wronged us in some big and bad ways. They have hurt us, angered us, cause harm to us.

We don’t want to forgive.

It’s never easy. And, even the most devout saint, they never enjoy it.

But, we must forgive. Listen to what Jesus says today in Luke 17:3-4:

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, “I repent,” you must forgive him.

Forgiveness. It doesn’t free “them.” It frees “us.” When we don’t forgive. When we hold on. When we keep grudges, when we keep old hate, old wounds, old hurts, when we hold onto them for years and years and years, the only person it hurts is us.

We forgive. Because that forgiveness is freedom. Forgiving them doesn’t release them. It releases us. It frees us. It set us loose.

If you haven’t forgiven them, you are captive to them.

Know it’s hard. It’s not fun. And it’s not done magically with one simple word or wish.

It’s done over and over and over again. Daily. Day after day after day. We take it to the cross and we give it.

Today, forgiveness is freedom. When we forgive, we set ourselves free.

Today, may we know that freedom. Today, may we forgive.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Forgetful

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It’s a bad thing that we can be forgetful. Each of us, through out our days, can forget to do things. We can forget important things. We can forget silly things. We can forget.

Our nature is to be forgetful.

That’s one of the reasons why all through the Old Testament, God has His people always build alters and monuments. He does this so that they will remember. They will remember what He has done and who He is.

He did this so that they will remember, and teach their children. He wanted people to remember His faithfulness.

He wants us to remember. But, for God, He forgets.

Wait, what?

Yep. God will forget? What do I mean? Listen to what it says today in Psalm 25:6-9:

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgression. God is that God that when it comes to our confessed sin, is forgetful.

He purposely forget them. When we confess them, when we give them to Him, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

Yeah, forgiving them is one thing.

Then, He takes it a step further. He forgets them. It’s like they never happened. As it says in another Psalm, our sins are as far as the east is from the west in the mind of God.

That sin that you can’t move past. That you can’t forgive yourself of. That you can’t get of your mind?

God has not only forgive you of that sin. He’s forgotten that has happened. His grace, His love, His mercy. It’s that great.

Today, let’s remember what God has done for us. And let’s be thankful to Him that He forgives, and forgets our sin.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The Hardest Person to Forgive

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Forgiveness is a hard thing. It really is. I once read that forgiveness is not a sign of weakness, but of strength. Only the strong can forgive.

It can be very hard for us to forgive others. They may have wronged us badly. We struggle mightily with sometimes. And, we all understand.

We must, through, learn to forgive. I tell folks the quote that I’ve heard. Unforgiveness is me drinking a poison, and expecting it to kill you.

Our lack of forgiveness only harms us.

And I think we all know that. Even if it’s hard.

Others are often not the hardest to forgive. Sometimes, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves.

We can forgive others. It’s really, really, really tough to move past our failures sometimes. Sometimes we think we have done too much.

Gone too far.

Failed too loudly.

Surely there is grace for you. But, not for me.

We all think that. Listen to what 1 John 2:1-2 says:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

We have an advocate. Jesus. He is the forgiveness for our sins He paid the price. He paid the ransom. He has done it.

We are forgiven. We are.

Listen. It’s not just we.

You.

(Insert Your Name Here) is forgiven. You are. Jesus Christ has purchased your freedom and forgiveness.

You are loved. You are forgiven. Today.

Today, may we live like the loved, forgiven children that we are!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

You’ve Stayed in the Pit Long Enough

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In the Old Testament, during the Exodus, the people of God make some mistakes. They complain. The fuss. The worship idols, they rebel against God, the rebel against Moses.

They doubt God and His promises and refuse to move forward and trust in Him when He commands them to.

They do some pretty dumb stuff. And because of that, they are punished. The Lord says that instead of going straight to the promised land, they will wander for 40 years.

And so they wander. And wander. And wander. And wander. This was in the days before GPS, so there wasn’t much they could do!

Until today. Listen what happens today in Deuteronomy 1:5-8

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

God says through Moses – you’ve stayed here long enough. You wandered long enough. You’ve been here in your pit long enough. It’s time to move. It’s time to go. It’s over. New life awaits.

It’s time to get up and walk. It’s time to get up and move.

You’ve stayed in your pit long enough.

Today, you have stayed in your pit long enough. No matter what that pit is. Today is a new day. You are forgiven. You are new. Today is a day to walk on. Today is a day to start over. Today is a day to go.

God still has big things for you. God still as new things for you. There is still life and hope and peace for you.

You just have to get up and go.

You can do it. You can get up. You can walk forward. You can leave your pit.

Through God’s grace. Today, you’ve stayed in your pit long enough. Today, get up and go.

And God will go with you!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Drinking a Poison

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In life, people hurt us.

Sometimes it’s on purpose. Many times it’s on accident. But the truth is, in life, we all get hurt. We all get wounded. We all get hurt.

The hurts that are accidental, while they still hurt, at least we can understand that. In our lives, we have hurt others ourselves. No one likes that. But, at least it’s understandable. Not likable. But understandable.

But, what about the hurts that weren’t accidents. What about the ones that are on purpose. What about the folks that have went out of their way to hurt us?

Listen to what Paul says this morning in Romans 12:17-19:

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Don’t repay evil with evil. Do the best to live with honor. Live at peace with others. Don’t avenge yourself or seek revenge.

In short, let go and leave it God. Leave those things to God.

And that’s hard. Our natural impulse is to want to get revenge. Our natural impulse is to want to get back at others. Our natural impulse is not to let go.

But, when we hold it against others. When we seek to get them back, when we hold that grudge, we harden our own hearts.

We don’t hurt them. We hurt ourselves. When we hold a grudge against someone, it doesn’t even bother them.

I’ve heard it said – hold a grudge or not forgiving someone is like me drinking a poison, and expecting it to kill them.

It will only kill me. It will only harm me.

So is it with unforgiveness and grudges. Today, leave them with God. Give them to Him. Let Him have them.

He said He will take care of it in the end. Let’s learn to let go. And let’s trust Him in that.

Today, let’s forgive!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

It’s a New Day

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Today in the text we read, Isaiah encounters God. He is in Temple praying and God shows up. He is there, and the Lord God Almighty decides to make an appearance.

And one of the things that I love about this passage is what Isaiah says when God shows up.

Listen to what happens in Isaiah 6:4-7:

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Paraphrasing he says – “Uh oh.”

He realizes how big, how awesome, how mighty God is. God is holy. God is other. God is different than we are. He is the creator of all this, both seen and unseen. He is the author of life. He is the sustainer of everything. His the very reason and purpose of life.

He’s kind of a big deal.

And Isaiah realizes how imperfect, unholy, and unworthy he is. That’s how we can feel when we really encounter God, huh?

Unholy. Imperfect. Unworthy.

We quite often in our faith feel unworthy of God’s love. We can feel like we don’t deserve that God. In light of God’s perfection, we see our mistakes.

And so, look what God does for Isaiah. He makes him clean. He restores him. He allows him to start over. He gives him a fresh start.

Have you done everything right? No? Are you perfect? No. But you are forgiven. Through what Jesus Christ has done, you are forgiven.

Before God sent Isaiah out for the mission He had for him, he restored him. God started over. He let Isaiah begin again.

Today, God has something for you. He has a great mission for you. Something awesome. Something great. Something you may feel unworthy of.

It’s ok. Today, through Jesus, you are restored. It’s a new day. You are forgiven. Today, live in this new life given to by Jesus.

Today, no matter what has happened in the past, it’s  new day. You are restored.

Live in that grace.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.