No greater stumbling stone
have I found in churches and among individual believers than this – reluctance
to forgive!
I have seen “born again”
Spirit-filled believers change churches rather than forgive an offense,
rather than humbling themselves and moving on forward in love.
I have found “devoted” believers
in the Lord holding on to a grudge, fostering bitterness, unwilling
to humble their flesh and put pride to death.
Our Heavenly Father and Yeshua
had me once teach on forgiveness but only AFTER I had walked through the
“Gate of forgiveness” in Germany. This “Gate of forgiveness" resulted in
my being immediately set free from the many years of deep seated bitterness
and pain the shadow of the Nazi Holocaust had cast over my soul.
Forgiving the German people
for having robbed me of everything except life itself liberated my soul
while at the same time catapulted me into divine freedom unlike anything
I had ever known.
Now the Lord would have me teach once again on
forgiveness, an act of free will so powerful and far reaching that it would
surely bring worldwide revival.
Revival has been desired in every generation.
Hundreds and thousands have fasted and prayed for hours, days and weeks
on end, depriving themselves of every pleasure for the ushering in of revival.
Yet, why the fires of revival burn lower and lower until they die out eludes
the churches and their leaders.
What causes this heavenly fire to wane?
BITTERNESS AND GRUDGES!
What causes it to flicker to near extinction?
JUDGMENT, JEALOUSY AND ENVY, LIES, SLANDER AND
THE POINTING OF THE FINGER. (Along with, of course, sinful immorality!)
And what extinguishes this heavenly fire for sure?
UNFORGIVENESS!
Let us consider THE FORGIVENESS
OF THE LORD:
Whenever we fall short in
holiness and righteousness; whenever we commit impure acts, lie, and cheat
and are dishonest; whenever we commit any sin at all, no matter how great
or small, when we repent to the Lord with all our hearts and ask Him for
forgiveness… what happens?
Does He say, “No, you’ve
really messed up, this is unforgivable, be gone” and dump us like a hot
potato?
Does He say, “Yes, I forgive
you, you are forgiven of your trespass, I love you” but then has no more
dealings with us, and we cease to exist for Him?
How DOES He forgive?
While near the broken-hearted
and the contrite in spirit, He refuses to despise the sinner who repents
of his sins. Not only this, but He actually FORGETS the sin, the offense,
the wrongdoing, the trespass, remembering it NO MORE!
HE LOVES US as much and as
dearly AS BEFORE AS THOUGH WE HAD NEVER SINNED!
What hope would there be
if our Heavenly Father and Lord Yeshua treated us as so many of us treat
each other?
NONE!!! We would be desolate,
lost, bereft of all hope!
Are we not comforted in knowing
that when He forgives us He STILL loves us? Are we not strengthened in
knowing that He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us?
When the Lord forgives, He
FORGIVES TOTALLY!
