Not By Works
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say for example, Christ want us to forgive others
i tried forgiving others, but I find it hard, I'm not even sure if it was Satan who brought back memories which makes forgiveness harder, and the bitterness spills out in unintended areas
i even have good intentions or repenting back then and was falsely accused of having motives of pursuing sin, which was discouraging
It is embarrassing to explain
I'm trying and people still think the worst of me
I want to cry as I think about this, pray for me
i tried forgiving others, but I find it hard, I'm not even sure if it was Satan who brought back memories which makes forgiveness harder, and the bitterness spills out in unintended areas
i even have good intentions or repenting back then and was falsely accused of having motives of pursuing sin, which was discouraging
It is embarrassing to explain
I'm trying and people still think the worst of me
I want to cry as I think about this, pray for me
It is easy ONCE you figure out the Principle.
If YOU do not TAKE Vengeance, then GOD says HE will repay.
If YOU treat the person responsible, with KINDNESS, then you will make His conscience SMOKE.
Romans 12:19-21 (HCSB)
19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.
20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
Oh yes, that is one of Satan's FAVORITE TRICKS. Get your focus OFF OF CHRIST, and put it back on yourself. His favorite TRICK BY FAR.
No one here thinks the worst of you, so focus on US, because guess what, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US ARE SINNERS TOO.
AND JESUS IS A FRIEND OF SINNERS!
How much sin are we Guilty of ? ? ? As much as the WORST MASS MURDERER ON DEATH ROW, is how much every one us has.
Let me show you HOW MUCH all of us are GUILTY OF:
James 2:10 (CSBBible)
10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.
I know there are some people that will never forgive you, but that is between them and God. Some people keep on treating others with contempt and down right wrong, but they treated JESUS TOTALLY WRONG TOO.
John 15:20 (NKJV)
20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
There may even be a Problem with Forgiving Yourself. The is a very difficult task, but IF CHRIST FORGIVES US, AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST, shouldn't we be willing to forgive ourselves?
One other thing you need to be aware of: It is extremely difficult to convince Family or Old Friends that your Conversion is Real. That is perfectly normal, and all of us find they will be the hardest group to reach. So PRAY for someone else to come in to witness to them, who has their respect. It has a lot to do with this verse:
Matthew 13:57 (HCSB)
57 And they were offended by Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”
If you are back in with the same crowd as before you were saved, you need to break away from them, and form a new group of Christian friends. It is like ISRAEL wanting to go back Egypt, instead of going on to the Promised Land.
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Heaping burning coals on his head is a mid-east expression that means, Your actions of kindness will him or them feel guilty.
Now you can take it the wrong way, and I think it comes from a Chuck Swindoll sermon, where he told this JOKE.
"A very wise Missionary had been with this tribe for a long time. He noticed that two of the Village Elders were battling back and forth in a war of words. So the Wise Missionary included these Scriptures into his Sunday morning message.
Romans 12:19-21 (HCSB)
19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.
20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
The very next Sunday, the Missionary noticed one of the two feuding Elders being as KIND as he could to the one that was still mad.
The Missionary went up to the one being KIND, and congratulated him on taking last week's sermon to heart.
The Kind Elder said, "Yeah, I just wanted to see his HEAD SMOKE."
Needless to Say, Right Action, but WRONG MOTIVE. LOL
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This is a very good question, and the fact you are finding it hard means you want to understand and do good.
For me the first question is, are people truly hating one, and doing things because they think I am evil and bad
or because they are driven by the wrong motives and are blaming things outside themselves rather than seeing
all our mistakes are our own?
The next question is likewise, am I any different? Every action has 50% content of our desires and 50% someone
elses. So imagine I park a car beside a rotten tree, that decides that night to fall over and crush my car. Is it the
trees fault or was it mine to not see the danger? A tree does not know, but I can check for signs of risk and choose
other options in case something like this happens.
As we grow and see how love in Christ changes us and makes us react differently, another perspective comes to
the front. So what others do that harms us, is often things they cannot but do, like the rotten tree. What they
see in us is often their own projections, no matter how false, they find us guilty and lash out.
Once you begin to see this picture, you begin to see the love Jesus pours into us, is needed to help change this
cycle of blame and lashing out at others, to repentance and sharing love and understanding.
Another aspect is the Holy Spirit literally taking our hearts and turning us around as we praise and seek His
face and begin to pray for those who we find hard to forgive. Soon we find not only have we forgiven them we
are seeking to bring light and life into their lives.
This is a difficult road, because it is about seeing a lot of what is, and how we are part of it, God bless you.
For me the first question is, are people truly hating one, and doing things because they think I am evil and bad
or because they are driven by the wrong motives and are blaming things outside themselves rather than seeing
all our mistakes are our own?
The next question is likewise, am I any different? Every action has 50% content of our desires and 50% someone
elses. So imagine I park a car beside a rotten tree, that decides that night to fall over and crush my car. Is it the
trees fault or was it mine to not see the danger? A tree does not know, but I can check for signs of risk and choose
other options in case something like this happens.
As we grow and see how love in Christ changes us and makes us react differently, another perspective comes to
the front. So what others do that harms us, is often things they cannot but do, like the rotten tree. What they
see in us is often their own projections, no matter how false, they find us guilty and lash out.
Once you begin to see this picture, you begin to see the love Jesus pours into us, is needed to help change this
cycle of blame and lashing out at others, to repentance and sharing love and understanding.
Another aspect is the Holy Spirit literally taking our hearts and turning us around as we praise and seek His
face and begin to pray for those who we find hard to forgive. Soon we find not only have we forgiven them we
are seeking to bring light and life into their lives.
This is a difficult road, because it is about seeing a lot of what is, and how we are part of it, God bless you.
Hate for God, often means how can a loving God let this happen to me?
When my dad has a stroke, as someone in the twenties, I felt devastated. And the pain that changed
my coping, rang out with the words, why me? It emotionally seemed unfair.
But I was so blessed and kept, so protected from so many bad things, and yes it hurt, but I was safe in Him.
Why should I have so much privilege and yet feel bad about one part of life, which though mattered in
perspective was a blip, part of being alive.
This battle between wanting the blessing, avoiding stress, knowing the cost and paying it, and facing the
serious disappointment that might come on failure, is part of growing up, part of seeing our expectations
and what actually happens. Paul put this tension like this
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Phil 4
Often our circumstances determine our outlooks, and we want to blame failure in these outlooks on
someone, and what better person than God. In Jesus we can do so much better because we are in the
Kingdom, given an eternal place in heaven and are exalted with Him to be called His people, His child,
His friend, Amen and Halleluyah, Thank you Jesus.
When my dad has a stroke, as someone in the twenties, I felt devastated. And the pain that changed
my coping, rang out with the words, why me? It emotionally seemed unfair.
But I was so blessed and kept, so protected from so many bad things, and yes it hurt, but I was safe in Him.
Why should I have so much privilege and yet feel bad about one part of life, which though mattered in
perspective was a blip, part of being alive.
This battle between wanting the blessing, avoiding stress, knowing the cost and paying it, and facing the
serious disappointment that might come on failure, is part of growing up, part of seeing our expectations
and what actually happens. Paul put this tension like this
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Phil 4
Often our circumstances determine our outlooks, and we want to blame failure in these outlooks on
someone, and what better person than God. In Jesus we can do so much better because we are in the
Kingdom, given an eternal place in heaven and are exalted with Him to be called His people, His child,
His friend, Amen and Halleluyah, Thank you Jesus.
