The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 18:35,
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Jesus spoke these words as the conclusion to his parable about an unforgiving servant. Because of the unforgiving attitude of a king's servant, he had the servant thrown into prison to be tortured. He likened that which happened to the king's servant to how our heavenly Father will treat us if we fail to be forgiving.
I note the kind of forgiveness Jesus talks of is that which is "from your heart." This is not the kind of thing one checks off his list of things to do in order to comply with the demands of a pastor's sermon on a Sunday. It is to be heartfelt. It is to be genuine. It is to be from the inside, from "the heart." This requires our lives to be changed from within through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
Here is the problem do-gooders have. Compliance to a list is not the same thing as having a heart that is given to God. We read in the Scriptures that God wants our hearts and it is from deep within us that God seeks our fellowship. "He [God] who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God." Romans 8:27. God is busy searching our hearts.
I am reminded of God's rebuke of his people, "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'" Isaiah 29:13.
The kind of forgiveness Jesus spoke of is reflected in Paul's admonition, "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. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14.
God wants our hearts!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Jesus spoke these words as the conclusion to his parable about an unforgiving servant. Because of the unforgiving attitude of a king's servant, he had the servant thrown into prison to be tortured. He likened that which happened to the king's servant to how our heavenly Father will treat us if we fail to be forgiving.
I note the kind of forgiveness Jesus talks of is that which is "from your heart." This is not the kind of thing one checks off his list of things to do in order to comply with the demands of a pastor's sermon on a Sunday. It is to be heartfelt. It is to be genuine. It is to be from the inside, from "the heart." This requires our lives to be changed from within through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
Here is the problem do-gooders have. Compliance to a list is not the same thing as having a heart that is given to God. We read in the Scriptures that God wants our hearts and it is from deep within us that God seeks our fellowship. "He [God] who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God." Romans 8:27. God is busy searching our hearts.
I am reminded of God's rebuke of his people, "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'" Isaiah 29:13.
The kind of forgiveness Jesus spoke of is reflected in Paul's admonition, "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. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14.
God wants our hearts!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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