Category: Spiritual Growth

Forgiving Others as God Has Forgiven Us

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But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses. ~ Matthew 6:15

God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4). The very first characteristic of the Divine nature that every one of us encountered when we were converted was His mercy. That should also be the very first impression that others have when they encounter us, if indeed we have partaken of the Divine nature.

There is no mercy found in hell and no mercy found in our flesh either. Our flesh is naturally hard towards others and it is easy to deceive ourselves that such hardness is part of the Divine severity. Such is the deceitfulness of sin.

If we could look into Heaven right now, we would find that God is constantly forgiving others. From every part of this world, believers and unbelievers are constantly crying out to Him asking for forgiveness for their sins and their failures. And He is always forgiving them – 24 hours of every day. Some may be asking for forgiveness for a sin that they have committed for the 1000 th time. He still forgives, for that is His nature. Jesus said that we were to forgive others in exactly the same way (Matthew 18:35)

Jesus also said that we were to forgive our brothers seven times in a single day (Luke 17:4). A day was reckoned as 12 hours. This meant that if your brother sinned against you at 6 a.m. one morning, and asked for your forgiveness at 7 a.m. you were to forgive him. If he committed the same sin against you at 8 a.m. and asked for your forgiveness at 9 a.m. you were to forgive him again. Then at 10 a.m. he does the same thing a third time, and asks for your forgiveness at 11 a.m. You are to forgive him. He repeats exactly the same sin at 12 noon and at 2 p.m. and at 4 p.m. and comes back each time, an hour later and asks for forgiveness. Each time, you are to forgive him, without keeping any record of the number of times you have forgiven him already, the same day. Some who are legalistically minded may say that Jesus did tell us to keep a record up to seven times. That is exactly what Peter once said to Jesus, and he was told that he was to forgive his brother 490 times (Matthew 18:21,22)

That is what God’s nature is like. And the good news of the new covenant is that we can partake of His nature. It is easier to speak about this than to actually partake of it. We all know that from experience. But “the kingdom of God is not in words but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20)

The glory of Christ is radiated through us, not by our mouthing so many wonderful “truths” and doctrines, but by our manifesting the love of God to others.

***Prayer for forgiving others

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***Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author at CFC India.com. / Photo at Pexels

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It is Not about Doctrine but Life

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Paul speaks about “the holiness which is no illusion” (Ephesians 4:24 – J.B. Philips translation). This does not come through understanding doctrine but through Jesus Himself living His life through us. The secret of godliness mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:16 is not the doctrine of Jesus having come in our flesh, but Jesus Himself Who came in our flesh. It is by looking unto Jesus and not at any doctrine that we are going to be transformed into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). Remember this all your life.“Church is like a hospital, where the worst cases are welcome. They can all be cured. No-one need feel that he or she is too wretched to be helped.”

Every doctrine can lead you astray: (1) if you don’t keep your eyes on the Lord Himself, and (2) if you do not love all who love Him, whichever group they are in, and whatever doctrine they may hold. Jesus Himself is the Head of the church which is His Body. But if a doctrine becomes the Head, then people will become Pharisees – and the purer the doctrine, the greater the Pharisees that will be produced! Remember the words of the hymn: “Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord”.

The image we present as a church must be consistent with the image Jesus presented of the Father – especially what we see in John 8:1-12, where He was on the side of the repentant adulteress against the religious Pharisees. Jesus preached the highest standard of holiness ever preached on earth, and yet He mingled with the worst of sinners (e.g., Mary Magdalene, who was given the privilege to be the first to see the risen Lord). He never once criticised such sinners or reminded them about their past. This is our calling as a church too – to preach the same standard of holiness that Jesus preached, and yet to be warm to the worst of sinners and backsliders, to draw them to Him.

Our church is like a hospital, where the worst cases are welcome. They can all be cured. No-one need feel that he or she is too wretched to be helped. Some churches are like clubs where the rich and the self-satisfied meet together. But we want to be a hospital for the worst of sinners.

Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first at all times (Matthew 6:33). Then you will prosper in everything you do, and God will work on your behalf like a Mighty Champion (Jeremiah 20:11). This is what I have experienced all through my life.

Seeking God’s kingdom does not refer primarily to evangelism or missionary work. It means to make God the Ruler of your life, to live at all times under God’s authority, and to allow His heavenly values to take precedence over the pull of money, earthly pleasures, and man’s honour.

To seek God’s righteousness first means to long for His nature to be manifested in your inner life and in every part of your external behaviour.

May this truth grip you all your days! And when you have children, you must teach your children also this truth, so that they too can find the same result in their lives. Thus, generation after generation the Lord will have a witness on earth until He returns.

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**By Zac Poonen © Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author. https://www.cfcindia.com/ / Photo by pexels

The North Wind and the Sun

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The North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing with much heat and bluster, a Traveler passed along the road wrapped in a cloak.

“Let us agree,” said the Sun, “that he is the stronger who can strip that Traveler of his cloak.”

“Very well,” growled the North Wind, and at once sent a cold, howling blast against the Traveler.

With the first gust of wind the ends of the cloak whipped about the Traveler’s body. But he immediately wrapped it closely around him, and the harder the Wind blew, the tighter he held it to him. The North Wind tore angrily at the cloak, but all his efforts were in vain.

Then the Sun began to shine. At first his beams were gentle, and in the pleasant warmth after the bitter cold of the North Wind, the Traveler unfastened his cloak and let it hang loosely from his shoulders. The Sun’s rays grew warmer and warmer. The man took off his cap and mopped his brow. At last he became so heated that he pulled off his cloak, and, to escape the blazing sunshine, threw himself down in the welcome shade of a tree by the roadside.

The moral of the story is that gentleness and kind persuasion achieve what force and bluster cannot. The lesson here is that it is more effective to warm someone’s heart with love than to try to control them with anger or force.

Is our Heavenly Father like the wind or the sun? The Bible tells us that it is God’s love that draws us to Him (1 John 4:19), and His kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). I believe this principle also applies in our relationships with others. When we love others with patience and selflessness, we foster unity and understanding, rather than engaging in conflict or trying to force them to agree with us or treat us a certain way.

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**Parable By Aesop and conclusion by Bobby McDonald at NCCF Church based on article: Difficult People / Pictures by Library of Congress

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Not I, But Christ

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“Lord, bend that proud and stiffnecked “I,”
Help me to bow the neck and die,
Beholding Him on Calvary,
Who bowed His Head for me.”

The following are some of the features and manifestations of the self-life. The Holy Spirit alone can interpret and apply this to your individual case. As you read, examine yourself in the very presence of God. Are you ever conscious of:

A secret spirit of pride-an exalted feeling in view of your success or position; because of your good training or appearance; because of your natural gifts and abilities. An important, independent spirit?

Love of human praise; a secret fondness to be noticed; love of supremacy, drawing attention to self in conversation; a swelling out of self when you have had a free time in speaking or praying?

The stirrings of anger or impatience, which, worst of all, you call nervousness or holy indignation; a touchy, sensitive spirit; a disposition to resent and retaliate when disapproved of or contradicted; a desire to throw sharp, heated flings at another?

Self-will; a stubborn, unteachable spirit; an arguing, talkative spirit; harsh, sarcastic expression; an unyielding, headstrong disposition; a driving, commanding spirit; a disposition to criticize and pick flaws when set aside and unnoticed; a peevish, fretful spirit; a disposition that loves to be coaxed and humored?

Carnal fear; a man-fearing spirit; a shrinking from reproach and duty; reasoning around your cross; a shrinking from doing your whole duty by those of wealth or position; a fearfulness that someone will offend and drive some prominent person away; a compromising spirit?

A jealous disposition, a secret spirit of envy shut up in your heart; an unpleasant sensation in view of the great prosperity and success of another; a disposition to speak of the faults and failings, rather than the gifts and virtues of those more talented and appreciated than yourself?

A dishonest, deceitful disposition; the evading and covering of the truth; the covering up of your real faults; leaving a better impression of yourself than is strictly true; false humility; exaggeration; straining the truth?

Unbelief; a spirit of discouragement in times of pressure and opposition; lack of quietness and confidence in God; lack of faith and trust in God; a disposition to worry and complain in the midst of pain, poverty, or at the dispensations of Divine Providence; an overanxious feeling whether everything will come out all right?

Formality and deadness; lack of concern for lost souls; dryness and indifference?

Selfishness; love of ease; love of money?

These are some of the traits which generally indicate carnality in the heart. By prayer, hold your heart open to the searchlight of God. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalms 139:23-24).

The Holy Spirit will enable you, by confession and faith, to bring your “self-life” to the death (Romans 8:12-13). Do not patch over, but go to the bottom. It alone will pay.

Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee;
Oh, that it might be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me. “Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

~ Poem by Roy Hession author of ‘The Calvary Road’

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Transformed From Glory to Glory

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(Please look up all the Scripture references)

A New Year prayer: “Teach us Lord, to number our days, so that we can present to Thee a heart full of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12)

Spiritual growth and transformation into Christlikeness do not happen overnight. It happens slowly – day by day and little by little. As we sing in the chorus: “Little by little and day by day; little by little in every way, my Jesus is changing me; I am not the same as I was last year; and though the picture is not quite clear, I know He is changing me; Although it’s slow going, this I am knowing – that one day like Him I shall be”.  So, let us yield ourselves to the Lord every day this year, so that He can do that work of transformation in us.

Transformed by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word

When the Holy Spirit is allowed to be Lord in our lives, He will liberate us first of all (2 Corinthians 3:17) – freeing us from the power of sin, from the love of money, from the traditions of men that are contrary to the Word of God, and from being enslaved to the opinions of people. The Holy Spirit will then show us the glory of Jesus in the Scriptures and seek to transform us slowly into that likeness, by changing our way of thinking so that we begin to think the way Jesus thought (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). The Holy Spirit wants to do that work in us this year. So, submit to Him.

Transformed by Praise and Thanksgiving

“Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:18-20). The Holy Spirit wants to give us a spirit of thankfulness that frees us from all gossip, slander, bitterness, and anger. In the seven glimpses of heaven that we see in the book of Revelation, we find that the inhabitants of heaven are constantly praising God. The atmosphere of heaven is one of constant praise, without any complaining or grumbling. The Holy Spirit wants to bring this atmosphere into our hearts and into our homes this year. So, submit to Him.

Transformed by the Grace of God

“The grace of God enables us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live in a righteous, godly way in this evil world” Titus 2:11-12. God wants to transform our thought-life through His grace and make our speech so gracious that it blesses everyone we meet this year (Colossians 4:6). God’s grace also wants to transform the way husbands and wives behave towards each other this year (1 Peter 3:7). And in every trial that we face this year, God can give us grace that is sufficient to meet the need (2 Corinthians 12:9). So, humble yourself in every situation this year – for God gives His grace only to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

Transformed by Obedience

We are told that Jesus “learned obedience through the things He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Anything that His Father said “No” to, Jesus also said, “No” to. That involved the suffering of denying His own will always. After years of such self-denial, “Jesus was made perfect” (Hebrews 5:9). “Perfect” here means “complete”. In other words, Jesus graduated from the school of obedience and got His degree. This is the degree the Holy Spirit wants us to get too. So, He will take us through many tests. If we fail in any test, He will give us a chance to do it again! He wants us to get the same “degree” that Jesus got and to make us overcomers (Revelation 3:21)! This is the most important degree that we can ever get. So, this year, let us say “No” to our own will and “Yes” to God’s will in every situation, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Transformed by Encouragement from God

“God wants to encourage us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others with the same encouragement that He gives us in our trials” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). We are surrounded by people who are facing many trials and problems. If we want to help them to overcome, we have to go through many trials and problems ourselves first and overcome. The strength and encouragement that God gives us to overcome in our trials will then be what we can offer to others. God wants to make us a blessing to every person and every family that we meet this year (See Galatians 3:8-9, 14). He wants us to encourage someone or the other every day of this year (Read Hebrews 3:13). May it be so.

May you have a very blessed new year.

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**By Zac Poonen © Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author. https://www.cfcindia.com/