2014: THE LIGHT ... OF FORGIVENESS

Happy Saturday!

I pray you had a great week. My week was full of tasks and, if I am honest, I began to feel slightly overwhelmed by everything on my plate. And, while I would like to celebrate the weekend being here – and the opportunity for rest and relaxation – I cannot since this weekend is packed with chores, homework, meetings and class. All is well though. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. There is a light at the end of this tunnel and times of refreshing are on the way. But, I will talk about that next week. This week, I wanted to focus on the light of forgiveness.

I started out my day this morning reading Psalm 109.

Below, I share just a few of the verses penned in this chapter titled –

Plea for Judgment of False Accusers:

Verses 8-15

May his days be few;
    may another take his place of leadership.
May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.
May his children be wandering beggars;
    may they be driven from their ruined homes.
May a creditor seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity on his fatherless children.
May his descendants be cut off,
    their names blotted out from the next generation.

May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
May their sins always remain before the Lord,

    that he may blot out their name from the earth.

Verse 17

He loved to pronounce a curse—
    may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing—
    may it be far from him.

Those are powerful words from the psalmist and you can really sense his disappointment, hurt, frustration and intense desire for vindication. However, as much as I can understand where David was coming from, I could not co-sign to these emotions as I read these verses this morning. As I looked back over the whole of my life, and despite several severely injurious instances, I realized that I could not earnestly pray those words over anyone this morning … not even those who have been most cruel to me. I found myself asking God to forgive those who have ever come against me without cause. I found myself asking Him to draw them to Himself. I found myself asking Him to be merciful to them … even as He has been merciful to me the countless times that I have failed.

Then it took me back to a section of Scripture that I read earlier this week.

BEHOLD, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion: For there the LORD commanded the blessing – life forevermore. Psalm 133

You see – the place of forgiveness, where brothers dwell together in unity, is the place where the anointing of the LORD is present. It is the place where He commands a blessing. It is the place where new life is granted to relationships and to individual souls.

Therefore, as much as depends on you – live peaceably with all men. 

Romans 12:18

Then your light of forgiveness will shine bright … lighting the path for those lost in darkness. From our demonstrations of forgiveness and love, they will be drawn to the One, Jesus, who is the initiator of the ultimate demonstration of forgiveness and love.

Have a tremendously blessed week!