Bible
Study: Joshua 3:7-17. / Matthew 18:21-19:1.
It is one
thing to know we have power as children of God but a different thing to
properly exercise that power.
Today’s
first reading gives us an idea of what we are capable of doing when we are in
close connection with God in prayer. God spoke directly to Joshua giving him
specific instructions on how they were to cross the River Jordan. And just as
they crossed the Red Sea, the waters of the Jordan parted ways while they
walked through as though it was dry land.
No amount
of technology or money or social influence or political power could have
possibly made this happen. As Joshua said to the people: “…this is how you will
know that there is a LIVING GOD in your midst…” It is sad that today, we Christians
tend to rely on these other sources of unreliable power more than God. We often
do not realise that what we stand to achieve by an active faith-filled prayer
life is far more than anything the world can provide.
One of the
ways of exercising the power that is available to us is our ability to forgive.
FORGIVENESS IS POWERFUL. To forgive is to be able to rise above your circumstances.
To forgive is to become greater than the one who has offended you. No matter
how many times or how deep we have been hurt, we always have the power to
forgive.
When Jesus
answered Peter’s question by saying we should not only forgive seven times but
seventy-seven times, it sounded like Jesus was demanding an impossible task but
after giving the analogy of a man whose debt was forgiven but refused to
forgive his fellow servant, it becomes obvious that forgiving others is not
only POSSIBLE but ALL-IMPORTANT.
Compared to
what we owe God, that which others owe us is nothing! Think of the worst thing
anyone has done to you for which you strongly believe he or she does not
deserve to be forgiven. Does it occur to you that God has already forgiven you
for a greater offence than that? Do you realise you actually have the power to forgive?
One fact
we must bear in mind is that forgiveness is not the same thing as
forgetfulness. To forgive is to let go of the feeling of hate and desire to
revenge, to forgive is to decide not to inflict pain on the offender, to
forgive is to decide not to demand refund or compensation for the harm done, to
forgive is to be able to remember the past but rather than feel sad, you just laugh
over it.
And the
beautiful thing is that it is only after we have forgiven, that we can forget. It
is never the other way round. Unless we drop the painful feeling, the desire
for revenge or demand for justice, the past remains forever fresh and continues
to hunt us. Then we become victims of our offenders. But if we chose to turn
things around and forgive instead, we exude real power over our offender who
then becomes our victim instead.
Exercising
power goes beyond controlling people, it is the ability to control our
situation rather than let our situation in life control us. And controlling our
situation demands that we FORGIVE, such that we are no longer held down by
pain, anger or vengeance.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to exercise power over the world around me by forgiving as you
did on the cross when you said: “Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do.” Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
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