Brenda Reid 5/27/24 Brenda Reid 5/27/24

Forgive, and then, Forgive More

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Matthew 6:12

Debts: opheilema (Greek) that which is owed; an offense or sin. (1)

Consider this: withholding love and forgiveness from someone because of hurt they've caused us may seem justified...we want them to acknowledge just how much they hurt us. We want them to earn our forgiveness. Oh, we 'plan to offer forgiveness' once they've proven themselves sorry enough and we consider that being the 'bigger person'. We rationalize our stance based upon our rightness (and our level of hurt) and upon calling the other 'up' to what is right.

But that isn't what Christ calls us to do. He tells us to forgive, and forgive more. If He withheld His love from us until we were sorry enough and worthy enough, we'd never know His forgiveness. We are not deserving of His redemption. He saved us because He loves us. Do we love enough to forgive?

Pray about having a forgiving heart and then, forgive. Forgive again. And keep on forgiving, because it’s what God does for us. You see, forgiveness isn’t about being right. It’s not about holding others accountable. It’s about freeing our own heart to be right with God and to hear His voice because we’ve quieted our own by His truth.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:12-13

“Oh, Heavenly Father, You love us so deeply and far too often, we don’t comprehend the depth of Your love, nor the cost of forgiveness that You extend to us so freely. The depth of the dirtiness and depravity of our own sin is often lost on us. We see ourselves as ‘not THAT bad’, yet all of our perceived righteousness is as filthy rags, impure, soiled, and good for nothing. It can’t purchase our forgiveness- we don’t deserve it. We are hell-bound yet righteous in our own eyes.”

“Lord Jesus, give us a true picture of our sin and lostness. Help us to see that we are so undeserving and, in seeing how lost we are, help us to see how Your redemption is perfect, eternal, unchanging, abundant and FREE. We don’t deserve it, yet You extend it. We can’t earn it, yet You give it to us freely. Help us to see just how much You’ve given and how greatly You forgive, and then prick our hearts with compassion. Convict us to want to forgive others quickly and completely. Remind us that forgiveness is not a ‘feeling’ but a choice, an action, and a willingness to allow You to be the judge and hold the ‘other’ accountable. Remind us that if we want to be like You, Jesus, we will forgive even those who don’t understand how they’ve hurt us.”

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” Luke 23:34

“Holy Spirit, fill us with more of You so that we willingly forgive others. Free us from the bondage of unforgiveness that poisons us and makes it difficult to hear Your voice and obey Your will. Give us strength and conviction to extend forgiveness to others, not with a “yes, but..” rather, with an “I already have, I love you.” Help us to forgive others, just as you forgave us, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Pray without ceasing. Forgive without stopping. Love others generously. Be like Jesus.

G3783 - opheilēma - Strong's Greek Lexicon (nasb95). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3783/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

Brenda Reid 11/18/22 Brenda Reid 11/18/22

Psalm 145: 17-21

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

Lord, You are righteous, yet You love us, sinners condemned by our sin. It’s an example for us, who follow You, that we too can love others even if they don’t know You or follow You. They are image bearers and as such, we need to love them- how will they know? How can they see the love of God if we’re not willing to live it out in front of them?. Help us, Lord. Help us to love those who are ‘different’ than we, who do and say things we don’t like or approve of. Help us to know that by loving them, we’re not condoning what they do. By loving us, Lord, You are not condoning our sin, but You love us in spite of our sin. Your kindness leads us to repentance. Father, I pray that (name) would learn how to be loving to others and by loving them, show the power of God and the change it can bring in a heart and life.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Father, You affirm that You are near to all who call on You, convinced without a doubt, that You will hear and answer. They trust and know that You are not indifferent or disconnected. You are faithfully present and supporting us even before we ask. I pray that (name) would believe without waffling or wavering that You are faithful and True and when (name) calls on You, You will answer and be near. I pray that (name) would understand Your trustworthiness and see Your faithful steadfast Presence in each day and night, in each joyful moment and dark season. Lord, You ARE near to all who call on You in truth. Thank You.

19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

Just as we heard the cries of our children an ran to help them, You hear our cries. You save us, Lord, even when it seems like there is no way out, You make a way. “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.” (Ps 107:6-7) Lord, I pray that (name)’s heart desire would be refuge in the shadow of Your wings and a place in Your house that is their own, a belonging, a provision and a dwelling in Your Presence. Lord, lead them to a city of refuge because they fear You. Let (name) cry out to You today Lord. Direct their eyes, their heart and their plea to Your throne room where You hear and answer abundantly. Fulfill (name)’s desires in a way that brings glory and honor to Your name and that draws them nearer to You. Hear their cry and save them, Abba Father.

20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

Thank you, Lord, for Your watchful care. As a parent, our eyes were always watching for danger and seeking to protect them. But now that (name) is an adult, I can’t do that any more. I have to trust…I have to trust You that You will watch over and protect (name) so much better than I ever could. I pray that (name) would love You. Stir a deep desire in (name)’s heart and mind to run after You with all they have and are. Help them to see this world is temporary and the titles and promotions, the gadgets and trappings will all rot. But their heart…oh their heart is the most valuable thing they have and they need to ensure that it’s properly and rightfully invested. Please, Lord, let them invest themselves in Your kingdom. Let them surrender all they are and have to You. Don’t let them be counted among the wicked. Oh how we love them, but Lord, we know, unless they surrender to You and are counted as Your child, Your saint, Your beloved, unless that is their identity, they are among the wicked. Lord, it hurts our hearts to think that. Show us fruit, Lord! Watch over (name) and guide their steps so they remain faithful to You. If (name) doesn’t know You as their Lord and Savior, I pray that even today You would bring another believer into their life who would speak truth and share the life-giving hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that (name) would confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9). Lord, watch over (name) today and do a work in their life. I believe. I know You can and will. Bring fruit, Lord.

21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

Oh, how I love You Lord! My mouth is filled with Your praise. My heart is overwhelmed by Your goodness and I want to share that joyful praise with others. I want to know that (name) is filled with joyful praise for You. May it overflow and cause them to wonder and be amazed at how praising You brings contentment, fulfillment and joy. Lord, to know that every creature will praise Your holy name is humbling. Today give me moments to sit outside or gaze out the window at Your creation and ponder what the praise of creation for You might look like When the trees sway in the breeze, are they praising You? When the birds sing, are they proclaiming Your greatness? We can’t know, but Lord, Your Word tells us that if we don’t praise You, even the very rocks would cry out in praise of You. (Luke 19:40). Creation knows its Creator. Help us to know You more and more and to live in a way that reflects that knowledge to others.. May the generations of my family praise You and carry on a commitment to follow after You for all their days, no matter what may come. May our lives exhibit praise for Your holy name, always and through eternity. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Pray without ceasing

Brenda Reid 4/18/22 Brenda Reid 4/18/22

Looking for Smoke, Watching for Fire.

Read Jonah 3-4

God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach of His pending judgment for their sinful ways and call them to repentance. Jonah’s response wasn’t obedience, but a fast dash in the opposite direction and from God’s command.. But then, the storm, the fish, the 3 day ordeal and Jonah repented….or so we thought. His prayer in Jonah 2:8 was profound, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

When we join him in chapter 3, Jonah is headed into Nineveh, a city of over 120,000 people. It was a large and influential city and a visit to all of Nineveh took no less than three days. That’s an important fact to remember.

Jonah began on day one, preaching “40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned”. Friends, this was one man speaking to a wealthy, influential city. Just one. We’ve seen accounts of someone storming a government meeting, shouting their warning- and being quickly whisked away, while all go back to their business. We’ve seen pictures of a man standing in a crowded city with a sign, “the end of the world is near” as people walk by, indifferent to his warning. Imagine Jonah, preaching God’s judgment in such a huge city- he was likely to be ignored, mocked or run out of town. But no. No, Nineveh listened. In fact, they listened so well that within a day, the entire city believed God’s warning. They began fasting and the king even made a decree that everyone should call urgently on the Lord.. Can you imagine a revival like that?! One day and the entire city was mourning their sin. That’s the power of God at work! Jonah 3:10 “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”

You would think Jonah would be rejoicing- so overwhelmed, excited, and grateful that Nineveh responded to God’s message. But Jonah? He wasn’t impressed. In fact, he was angry. He was self-righteous and resentful. Jonah 4:2-3 “He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”” Jonah then went outside the city, made himself a shelter and sat to wait and watch what would happen to the city (v. 5) He wanted to see Nineveh receive what they deserved- a fiery judgment from the Lord. So he waited. He watched. He wanted to see smoke. And his attitude kept him from seeing the blessing and grace of the Lord revealed to over 120,000 souls.

Here’s the thing, Jonah elevated his own standard of justice above God’s. Jonah resented God’s forgiveness of the Ninevites. He wanted to see them receive the just reward for their sinfulness. He was eager to see smoke and he was ready to be smug and say “you got what you deserved!” Yet, he was ignoring the sin in his own heart. Oh, he obeyed God…on the outside, but inside, he was still as resentful, rebellious and selfish as he was when he stepped foot on the boat.

Friends, I fear we are more like Jonah than we might imagine. We have a fierce sense of justice. We hate to see people get away with wrongdoing. We hate to see the wicked prosper. When someone wrongs another, we want to see them caught in their sin and punished for the pain they caused. Yet, what if they repent? What if they confess their sin and seek forgiveness? And what if they receive mercy instead of punishment? If we’re honest, we struggle with forgiveness and mercy toward those who did wrong because it’s not what that ‘other’ deserves. They deserve condemnation. They deserve for God to ‘smite’ them. Our sense of justice might demand they pay a little more, they suffer a bit longer, they earn their way back into grace. Oh friends, God’s justice is not ours. Isaiah 5:16 says, “But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.” Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”

Jonah lost sight of his own sin. He couldn’t see that he was rebellious against God, too. He didn’t see the depth of God’s forgiveness and mercy for him- he could only see the ‘injustice’ of God’s mercy on Nineveh. Jonah was outwardly obedient to God’s command and inwardly turning his back to the Lord’s standards and creating his own. Jonah, himself, had a idol- craving his own sense of justice and fairness, and that idol robbed him of the grace he would receive from God through his surrender and obedience.

Oh, the story of Jonah holds much appeal for our little ones as they learn the miracle of his rescue in the fish. But friends, the story of Jonah holds much for us and our adult sons and daughters in the bigger story of his outward obedience but his inward bitterness and rebellion. It’s not difficult to live in such a way that we ‘appear’ obedient- especially if we were raised in church.. We check all the boxes; we show up as we should; we ‘talk the talk’. But, we can appear outwardly obedient and still rebel against God in our hearts. We can resent his mercy to those who are undeserving….and totally miss the fact that we are just as undeserving. Romans 5:6-8 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We were undeserving. Justice demanded that we pay for our sin with our life- for eternity. Yet, Jesus stepped in on our behalf. He showed us mercy when we deserved none. And if we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, God looks on us and sees Christ’s righteousness. That, friends, is amazing. It’s undeserved. It's a merciful redemption that changes our eternity. And we should rejoice when anyone believes, repents and surrenders to God.

Do we have a Jonah heart? Do we hold others' sins against them even when God has forgiven them? Are we giddy to see people receive punishment or do we pray for their repentance and that they would know God’s forgiveness? Friends, we have nothing to resent when someone is repentant and shown mercy- it should always be a reminder of the mercy we also received from God. We were and are undeserving. We should rejoice in the repentance of others. And if we can’t? Well, then it might be time to check our hearts.

And Jonah? He was the author of this book. He could have resolved the story and shared how he followed God faithfully. He could have painted himself in a much better light. But he didn’t. Jonah ended his story with God’s rebuke against this prophet’s rebellious, vengeful heart. There was no ‘neat little bow’ on top of this story. Instead, there was a hard lesson and an unresolved sin that leaves us to ponder how Jonah, the prophet and author, was used by God in spite of his heart. And he was used by God in mighty ways. Even unbelievers know the story of Jonah- and God can use those seeds to change lives. Our rebellion will never be powerful enough to prevent God from working…but it can be powerful enough to cause us to forfeit the grace that would be ours.

There is no doubt we’ll meet Jonah in heaven and when we do, I’m sure he will have quite a story…but it’s not just going to be about the fish. It’s going to be about his heart and the weight of God’s mercy toward him. Instead of looking for smoke and watching for fire, let’s look to see how God is working and rejoice when He turns hearts and lives to Him.

Let’s take time to pray today for our own hearts and for those of our sons and daughters. Pray for forgiveness. Pray for a surrendered heart. Pray for freedom from a judgmental spirit. Pray that God would use each of us in spite of ourselves. And pray that we would not cling to idols and forfeit the grace He wants to lavish on each of us.

Pray without ceasing.

Brenda Reid 11/29/21 Brenda Reid 11/29/21

Sharing Your Treasure

I Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

When our kids were little, it’s likely they had a ‘treasure’ in a box or special spot somewhere. If it was a recent ‘discovery’ or acquisition, they probably kept it close. They were eager to show us and would maybe let us touch it, or even hold it, but it quickly came back to them for safe keeping. They guarded it carefully because it was precious to them. They would excitedly tell us all about it and their eyes would sparkle with excitement. It may have inspired them to learn more about that item and to seek out knowledge, whether in books or the internet, to find information that would help them understand it even better.

Oh, that’s what Jesus should be to us, friends- a treasure that we hold close but are excited to share with others!. Our relationship with Him should be our most precious possession that we guard carefully but want others to enjoy, too! Our eyes...and our lives, should sparkle with joy and light, enough that others will want to know what we have and how they can have it too! Our love for Jesus should compel us to want to know HIm more and learn His word so we can understand Him better.

As time grows short, we must be diligent to pray that our sons and daughters know and pursue the truth of Christ. Today, let’s pray that our sons and daughters have this precious relationship and an eager desire to learn and grow in their faith. Let’s pray they have a living hope that compels them to share Jesus with others gently and respectfully and that they are ever ready to give an answer for that hope they hold. Pray they are salt and light.

Pray without ceasing.

Brenda Reid 11/14/21 Brenda Reid 11/14/21

Sunday Worship-Nothing But the Blood of Jesus