Separating the Issues in Your Life
October 30, 2010 by Mike Wells
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Matthew 16:19-22, And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
We see in this discourse that Jesus is separating the issues in the rich young ruler’s life. What the young man thought was the issue was not the only issue. We think that there is only one issue in our life to be resolved, and even if we discover that there are actually several, the mistake is made of looking for the one thing that will fix all of the issues at once. The same tool will not fix a flat tire, a sink, a bicycle spoke, and a computer; they all have separate problems that need different tools to repair. One answer does not work for every situation, and any one event carries with it several issues, each with a separate answer. The sign that a believer is looking for the magic elixir that will fix every issue is confusion. Therefore, the issues must be separated and dealt with accordingly, such as when an injustice occurs and spawns the need for blessing those that curse, loving the enemy, forgiveness, and the process of reconciliation that will bring closure. Let us take a look at those issues and break them down one by one.
1. We must bless those that curse us or they live in our heads and pay no rent.
2. Loving our enemies is commanded, for He makes His sun to shine on the just and the unjust. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
3. Forgiveness is a package. Just as a person cannot hold a tire and tell me he owns an automobile, since a car comprises many parts, so forgiveness has many parts. There is an offense, a break in relationship, confession by the offender, forgiveness given by the offended (there is no forgiveness for unforgiveness), all ending in restoration. Due to its very nature, there is no forgiveness without confession, since the purpose of forgiveness is restoration. “If we confess our sins,” “repent for forgiveness of sins,” and “as often as your brother comes to you,” all show the context of the giving of forgiveness. We must carry a heart of forgiveness so that when it is asked for, we can dispense it freely. Does God forgive without confession? (I am not teaching here about the common concern of, “What if I die and I forgot to confess a sin?” Once a person is in Christ, Jesus died for all of his sins.) Confession for man is cleansing and releasing, but there is a common teaching that believers should go to an offender and offer forgiveness without any acknowledgement from the wrongdoer that a sin was committed. Instructing a young woman that has been abused to go and tell the uncle, “I forgive you,” when the uncle has not asked for forgiveness, usually has a detrimental outcome. I have heard many stories of believers who went to someone to forgive him when it was not in the offender’s heart to ask for it; the offender actually denied it, walked off, and/or condemned the hurt person for making such an accusation. This is soul killing anew for an injured believer. Many will argue that forgiveness is unconditional, but those two words do not go together, for “unconditional” implies that there is no sin, and if no sin, there is no forgiveness. Yet all have sinned, and through confession, “He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Prodigal Son asked for forgiveness and was restored. Today there seems to be more emphasis on the need for the offended to forgive when it is not asked for, thus loading responsibility on the victim. Why not call attention to confession of the offender as something that is cleansing and restoring? Those that have sinned against another are cheated when there is no mention of confession. Confession and forgiveness are two words that are inseparable and should remain together. However, the victim is not stuck; there is something to do when confession has not, and may never, come. “Bless those that curse you,” “do good to those that harm you,” and “pray for those that persecute you.” All of these things set us free and make us all the more excited about forgiving, should the occasion arise.
4. Forgiveness must be given when asked for. “Forgive us (See? We are asking) as we forgive our debtors.” However, there is a process after forgiveness that brings closure. Let me explain. A man has an affair; once it is over, for three years he is tormented. He repents before God and then tells his wife, asking, naturally, for forgiveness. She must forgive. However, this has taken her completely by surprise, and she is extremely hurt. Yet, if she asks any further questions or gets angry in the future, he accuses her of walking in unforgiveness, which covertly shifts the load of the whole event to her shoulders. The children have been hurt, the wife has been embarrassed and betrayed, there is a break in trust, and she has many unanswered questions; she needs closure. Though I do not want to camp at the event and want the couple to move forward, there are a few things that need to be said about forgiveness. Talking will help bring closure. Yes, she must move on, but talking and getting a few answers will help her do so. The same is true for the believer who has lost a loved one due to an injustice such as murder. We hear many stories about murderers asking for forgiveness, which must be granted by the family. However, normal questions ensue, such as, “How did he die? Where did you put the body?” (This was the question asked by the women at the grave of Jesus.) Some believers use an injustice and the lack of repentance to get stuck at a point of hatred and condemnation; there is no profit in that. Hearts are revealed through injustices, confession and forgiveness.
5. We must and will forgive. However, that does not mean that a lawbreaker should not go to prison. I Peter 3:17, “For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.” A couple told me of a man that killed their daughter. From prison the criminal sincerely confessed what he had done and asked for forgiveness. The parents asked what they should do. I said that the couple must forgive and must also let the man serve his prison sentence. Forgiveness and staying in prison are separate issues. Judging the man and putting him in prison is the job of government in order to protect the populace. “For (governments) are a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.” The thief on the cross was forgiven but not taken off the cross. Lawbreakers are not victims, but it does amaze me to watch the news and see how the world is consequence conscious and not cause conscious. It seems as though the treatment of those who have caused atrocities (consequence of their actions) is more important than the cause of their being treated that way! The victims of their crimes are looking for assurance that it will not happen again, and that security will not come as long as those that violated them do not ask for forgiveness. (Of course, the opposing danger is that victimization is a religion; it is very addictive.) It reminds me of the Great Depression. It left such an impact on my grandmother that she still saved newspaper, jars, rubber bands, bread wrappers, and more. She never forgot what it was like and never, looking at unrepentant government, regained the confidence that it would not happen again.
6. Facts do not oppose each other. It is a fact that birds fly and a fact that I cannot. We separate the facts. It is a fact that I love my enemy, it is a fact that I bless my enemy, a fact that my enemy must ask for forgiveness, a fact that when I am asked I must forgive my enemy, and it is a fact that wounds do take time to heal. Each of these facts will come to fullness in our daily lives as He makes them alive according to His own timing.
Repent!
October 11, 2010 by Mike Wells
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Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
Many say they are called to exhort people to repent, but their call so often is exhibited as something of a one-off from what we know the Old Testament prophets were; for them repentance centered more in the root than the fruit as they sought to bring people back to God. Today the call to repentance seems to take the form of spreading a rebuke, such as, “’You think you are saved, but you are not! You call yourselves My children but do not act like My own. If you would have loved Me you would have kept My word. I am going to cut you off and give your portion to those that obey Me,’ thus says the Lord.” It is fairly consistent and only ends in condemnation, even though we know that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Men instruct on the topic of discipline with a similar approach and fervor, and that, too, ends in condemnation. The offenders’ sin is pointed out, coupled with a threat to punish. Because of such teaching by the religious who wrongly present God’s judgment, one fellow said, “I wish I would have waited to accept Christ until the last minute, got baptized, and had someone shoot me as I came up out of the water. At least that way I would not have accumulated so much of the judgment of God as a believer.” This man expressed a common feeling that has occurred among Christians throughout the centuries, but this kind of view of judgment is not dealing with the root but rather the behavior, the fruit. There are two types of discipline: one is punishment, which reaps few benefits and is rarely successful, and the other is a self-discipline that takes a person back to Christ. A Christian who finds himself continually in the deeds of the flesh does need discipline, but it is that found within himself that can enable him to begin and end each day recognizing the presence of Christ. It is our job as disciple-makers to pull that person aside and urge him to go to the Lord and abide. The subsequent awareness of the fact of Christ’s indwelling that is living through him will free him from the deeds of the flesh. (“If perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,” II Timothy 2:25.) It has been proven that continually emphasizing a person’s deeds of the flesh will never set him free from the flesh. (“But the sorrow of the world produces death,” II Corinthians 7:9.) Believers ought to be disciplined in recognizing Christ. It does take time to teach that understanding; Jesus spent three-and-a-half years with his disciples. However, the fruit of taking this approach is verifiable, for Jesus said that the Father prunes. To say it another way, when we abide, the deeds of the flesh fall off of us. Unfortunately, there are those that will refuse this discipline; they willingly continue in the deeds of the flesh, making themselves an unhealthy leaven in the Body, and at this point to disfellowship them is appropriate. As for the call to spread the message of repentance, it generally is meant to be a call to stop a particular behavior, and repentance is seen as different from forgiveness. The hiccup enters in when Christians do repent and subsequently continue in the same behavior. This is again where Jesus is tying the hands of man and forcing us to a life of abiding, for only the living Christ within can make a permanent change in behavior. Therefore, the message of repentance without the message of the indwelling Christ is incomplete and will not be attainable.
Bad Memory is Godliness
October 29, 2009 by admin
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“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgression for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins,” Isaiah 43:25.
There are two things in the passage that strike me. We are made in the image of God, Who says, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake.” When those to whom you minister, those who minister to you, those you minister with, and those to whom you will never minister do something to hurt you, the thought of the transgression can haunt you for years. It only takes a name being brought up, an event of the past, or a painful experience to renew the transgression. If the hurtful person completely disappears from the scene, never to be heard of again, he can still take up residency in your head and heart. As I often note, the purpose of forgiveness in the Bible is restoration. However, there are those who do not want restoration; hence, they would see no need for forgiveness. There are relationships I have tried to restore in the past by asking for forgiveness, only to be told of more offenses and to stay away. For my own good, I need to forget. Oh, to able to forget, to wipe out a transgression, to remember the sins no longer, just for our own sakes. When I got married, Betty quickly realized what was ahead of her, for each day I would ask, “Have you seen my keys? Have you seen my wallet?” Everything would shut down while we looked. Then a few years ago I got glasses, and we have added them to the list of things that are lost daily, along with a cell phone and the key to the mailbox. You get the picture. “Betty, have you seen my keys, wallet, glasses, phone, and key to the mailbox?” One day, justifiably, she said, “Can’t you remember anything?” I jokingly said, “Forgetfulness is a sign of godliness. Only God could wipe out transgressions and remember no more, and we are in His image. I am glad that in His image, I can forget. I just do not want to remember everything from my past, and if not being able to remember where my keys are is part of not remembering, then it is a fair tradeoff.” You can see why I can be difficult to live with! However, to forget is a great blessing. Research (if it can ever be trusted) says that the average person only loses about 10% of the ability to remember. The difference is that past age 60 it takes more physical effort to correct the forgetfulness. In the younger years, we forgot the mail and thought nothing of running back to get it. In the older years the extra effort is a frustration. My grandfather used to complain about his memory loss, and I would remind him that I had worked with him most of my life and never remembered his having a razor-sharp memory, only now it was annoying him. Start this day knowing that the Lord wipes out your transgressions for His own good. He does not want to think about your failures all day long, so why should you? Second, He does not remember your sin; it is the enemy coming from your past. Guilt is the undertaker’s best friend.
Jesus, Please Make Me a Bipolar Manic-Depressive!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
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God works slowly.
John 14:27“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
Of course, bipolar manic-depressive is a label that is misdiagnosed more than it is correctly diagnosed. The problem with labels is that they receive the treatment, not the individual. Well, amen. At any rate, as the world sees it, a bipolar person is one whose emotions swing abnormally from a depressive low to a giddy high in a matter of moments. Normal emotions are to roll slowly according to events within and without a person. For example, in the presence of the death of a loved one, the emotions of loss, loneliness, and even anger can take many months to level out at a place called normal. Here is my point: I wouldn’t look at a woman who had just lost her husband of 50 years and ask, “Why don’t you laugh?” It would be abnormal; if she did laugh, she would be bipolar. However, many Christians are praying that God would, in essence, make them bipolar. They have experienced a negative event, a failure in their lives, a disappointment with another, or an offense; then they forgive and want their emotions immediately to go from the bottom to the top. That, to me, is completely unrealistic. I can forgive in a moment, but the emotions must take their time in coming back to a place of normalcy. I can acknowledge God in a death, move in faith, put my eyes on Him, and rejoice for the departed loved one, but the deep feeling of loss will take time to subside and give way to the feeling of hope. God works slowly. We are not to be praying to be bipolar. In forgiveness, we must let our emotions calm down after the fact, not try to be a bipolar up and down in an instant. Our spirit will soar, but emotions will take awhile.
Laws, laws, and more laws
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
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“And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Acts 8:1
It is said that in the U.S. there are over 50,000 new laws passed every year. That includes, local, state, and federal. This doesn’t include all the covenants that are passed. Why so many laws? First, the government would like a law to replace the conscience of man. The government believes in abortion. How can there be abortion without the hardening of the heart? (However, I have met many where the intellectual argument for abortion could not override their heart. For those, there has been forgiveness, restoration, and a moving on in Him.) Kill conscience in one area and it is likely to die in another.
The second reason for the multiplication of laws will be revealed in the future. Persecution for the Christian is coming to America. It would seem impossible since Christianity is the foundation for the constitution, laws, and the fact that there is freedom of religion. Christians won’t be put in jail for their Christianity. That would be too overt. Christians will be put in jail for some other vague law that will have been broken. It was the joke in the former Soviet Union, “We will put you in prison and find the law you broke later.” However, when it happens, it will be no joke.
Being Like God
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
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“And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Gen. 1:27
Often I am asked how I can believe in a God that permits suffering. My response, “How can you continue to believe in man that causes it.”
Man seems to love playing God, in science, social issues, in the world, and in relationships. One fellow told me that while watching a loved one die, he realized that he could be God! Incredible!
However, man’s playing God and imitating God seems to come to an abrupt halt when it comes to forgiveness. If man is to imitate God, why not imitate all of God? Imitate His forgiveness, love, mercy, kindness, and will. Why not love as He loves, forgive as He forgave, and be a leaven in the world as He was?
In the end, we see that man doesn’t really want to imitate God. He wants to be God. Man, as God, proves himself to be self-serving, self-centered, void of forgiveness and compassion, violent, and indifferent. We end where we began. Why trust man who causes suffering? There is a way and a “not the way”. Jesus is the way and every other way is not the way.
Freedom From Religion Is Freedom From Man
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
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“And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, My son, your sins are forgiven. But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your pallet and walk’?” Mark 2:5-9
Men are kingdom builders. Kingdoms need subjects. We are raised to be subjects. It is said, “You don’t have to respect the President but you must respect the office of the President.” Translated, “whatever you do, you are not to come out from under our kingdom! What would a kingdom be without subjects?” Kingdom builders must offer you something. If they can’t, the subject might go elsewhere. Now, kingdom builders never give you anything of substance. All things of substance are horded for themselves. They give something with the appearance of substance to keep you a subject. Religion is a kingdom. Those in charge must keep you in subjection. Out of necessity they must give you something, something you can’t get elsewhere. But, remember, it will just be the appearance you are getting something; you never really get anything but more bondage.
Every man, everywhere, knows they have sinned and fallen short. Within is a deep fear of the consequences. The Scribes and Pharisees were offering forgiveness, restoration, and freedom. The catch was that you had to jump through all their hoops. No matter how many you jumped through, they were always able to produce one more. The vast majority of people, wanting what was promised, continued to be in subjection. The kingdom went on.
Then, came Jesus and in one little sentence He destroyed it all. He brought “whosoever will” out from subjection. The sentence: “My son, your sins are forgiven!” He didn’t say “will be”, or “keep trying”, or “check with me next week”, “complete your memory work”, or “have a little more prayer time.” No, “Your sins are forgiven!” No more hoops, no more bondage, and no more need for the kingdom of man! No more religion! Religion destroyed it’s foundation. You are in bondage to no religion. Jesus has forgiven you! He has given what others promised in exchange for your devotion and servitude. You are free! You belong to no kingdom but His.
Repentance and Forgiveness
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
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Repentance and Forgiveness:
“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Matt 18:15
A break in a relationship generally goes as follows: First, there is a relationship, next offense, a break in the relationship, hopefully repentance by the one who offended, forgiveness by the offended part, and in the end restoration. Jesus makes the point in this passage that if a brother sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, “I repent,” forgive him.
He speaks against the teaching of going to someone who has offended you and telling them that you forgive them when they have not asked for forgiveness. It is clear, “returns to you seven times, saying, I repent, forgive him.” It cheapens forgiveness to give it when people are not asking for it. It actually cheapens relationships.
Now, what are we to do when someone has offended us and yet refuses to ask? First, make sure that God has worked a basic principal in you. That is, you have accepted the truth that we are to be offended until we cannot be offended. If others can offend you, then others control you. Do any of us have a legitimate right to be offended and, to even be offering forgiveness, when there is no repentance?
Second, bless those who curse you. By blessing those who curse you, you will be able to keep the offender from living rent free in your head. And finally, when someone does repent, we must forgive.
