Heart of Kim

Psalm 130

 1Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.  2Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  3If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?  4But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.  5I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.  6My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.  7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.  8And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Forgiveness.  What exactly does it mean?  It means, to pardon, to release from payment of a debt.   When we receive Jesus as saviour and Lord, we believe that He died for us and that our debt of sin was paid because of His sacrifice.  Basically, that is the Gospel in a nutshell.  Isn’t it strange how from that moment on,  we can get caught up in spending the rest of their life trying to “earn” His approval, trying to “do good” in order to somehow measure up and be accepted.  Think about that for a moment.  It doesn’t make sense!  Salvation cannot be earned.  It is a gift.  It is by grace, through faith. Take a look at what Isaiah prophesied concerning the crucifixion in chapter 53:

 10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

God was fully satisfied with the blood of Jesus.  Forgiveness flowed.  Wow!  The love of God is beyond our human, mental comprehension!  One of  the statements of Jesus when He was hanging on the cross was “Father, forgive them……..”.  Also while hanging on the cross, Jesus forgave the thief and encouraged him concerning the future. The first martyr of the church, Stephen, while being stoned, was asking God to forgive the ones who were stoning him.  Joseph, forgave his brothers for selling him into slavery.    Paul gives us insight, when he was writing to the Corinthian church, about the fact that unforgiveness is a device that satan uses to gain advantage in our lives.

One of the most moving parables that Jesus taught was that of the prodigal son. In that parable, the love and forgiveness of the father is unmistakable and oozes with the awesome love and forgiveness of our heavenly Father. 

   Jesus said that those who are forgiven much, love much.  What we fail to realize is that we ALL have been forgiven much.  A revelation of the grace and mercy of God is absolutely essential to even begin to understand what forgiveness is.  The more we understand about our own state of forgiveness and the fact that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ and that we are loved with an everlasting love; the more we can begin to see others from the same perspective. 

 I am amazed at the number of people I meet who carry unforgiveness year after year after year.  I have seen them turn into angry, bitter, frustrated individuals.  Those who refuse to empty themselves of holding onto unforgiveness view the world from a mindset of unforgiveness.  They see everything and everyone with suspicion and distrust.  They live a life of fear and torment; totally wrapped up in their own hurt and pain.  I am not denying that these people may have been hurt.  We have all experienced hurt at one time or another.  But, over a long period of time, an ever present attitude of revenge and self pity engulf the unforgiving person causing themself and others heartache and pain. It’s sad, because the unforgiveness never solves the issues, it never leads to closure and it never profits anyone in anyway. 

Unforgiveness robs people of peace.  Unforgiveness causes stress on the mind and body thereby creating health issues. Unforgiving people do not have a revelation that they are forgiven. They simply believe that “payment” must be made for there to be justice.  Oh how right and wrong they are.  Yes, payment must be made:  Jesus took our punishment.

John chapt. 1,  ²⁹The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 

Forgiveness is not a feeling; forgiveness is a choice.  When we choose to believe the Word and receive the fullness of what Christ has done for us, we in turn can begin to see others through the eyes of Jesus and choose to forgive.  Living a life knowing you are forgiven and forgiving others is liberating.  It is not the truth that will make us free, it’s a working, experiential knowledge of that truth that will make us free!