A Nation That God Can Bless

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it." (Matt 21:43)

This verse refers to the nation of Israel versus the Gentiles, but as I was reading it, I couldn't help but to think about our nation. The United States has lived a generally charmed existence and it was founded on the back of Pilgrims escaping religious persecution in Europe to found a set of Protestant Christian colonies. These people risked their lives and died in massive numbers, but succeeded in finding a place where they could worship the Lord without the oversight of a powerful elitist church leadership who were more interested in worldly power than spiritual piety.

From such humble beginnings, we grew up to be the nation that is the beacon of modern Christianity. From greater Europe to Great Britain, and now to the United States, the mantle of world superpower has passed. And along with each successive change in the title of world superpower, so has gone the strength of the Christian church in each nation.

I am not saying that the Kingdom of God is something to pass from nation to nation, but I do believe that it is God's hand that causes nations to rise and fall. And He brings about the rise and fall of nations in accordance to the faithfulness of that nation to His Word and His Ways.

Unfortunately, our nation has become a country of loopholes. People aren't looking to follow God in fullness, but are instead interested in finding loopholes that will allow them to sin without punishment.

In our nation, we don't lie, we misspeak. We cuss constantly and we have no qualms about showing adult sexual situations in the midst of family programming. We teach our kids that materialism is the most important thing in life and we no longer put a premium on honoring our mother and father. I don't know if even 5% of us are even remotely familiar with the 10 commandments (Even as a committed Christian, I am pretty familiar with them all, but can't name them for you in order - probably a good time to go study).

Are we a nation that is deserving of God's blessing? Has the recession, which was caused by personal greed by all levels of society, taught us anything that would get us to re-examine and reform our ways?

I can't say that I know if there is another nation in the world that has the spirit of God growing inside of them although the rumor is that China's underground church is already larger than ours. However, the point is not to be powerful as a nation. It is that we will all benefit from a nation that has God's hand upon it. A nation that respects the ways of God and lives them out in their daily interactions with their neighbor. A nation that prays and has personal charitable compassion for the society around them.

Lord Jesus, I know that a nation is only made up of individuals, and a nation You can bless is made up of individuals who make a personal choice to worship and follow You. So help me to be a person that lives in fear of You above all things, who has the strength to live as You guide us to live. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control - those are the fruits that come from a nation that is worshipful and fearful of You. Please help me to become that man more and more each day. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Why We Forgive

²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. ²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ²⁷ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
²⁸ “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’^{b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[b]} ³⁰ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. ³¹ So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. ³² Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
³⁵ “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

(Matt 18:22-35)

Forgiveness is a really tough issue and one that we have to wrestle with every day. The truth is that we don't live in a world where everything is perfect, and we also live in a world where we each have free will to do good and evil. So there are real times when we are hurt by the events in our lives.

What I've noticed here in this passage are some of the following:

Forgiveness is personal: The reason that we feel so free as Christians is that we have been forgiven our transgressions by God. Yes, we have done many terrible things and each sin is in the end a denial of God's ways, but when we come to Christ, our sins are washed away by his shed blood. We no longer face death in eternity, but life. In the same way however, as we begged our King, Jesus Christ for forgiveness, which he then provided - we must also show that same compassion when we are faced with the chance to forgive.

Forgiveness is a personal choice. No one can make that decision for us, but instead we must exercise it by our own volition. Unlike other faiths, Christians believe that forgiveness should be extended regardless of whether or not someone comes to us and asks to be forgiven.

The main motivation for me is that Jesus Christ has absorbed my sins, and I have given my allegiance and Lordship to Christ. My life is not my own any longer, and it is not myself that I represent, but Christ. In the same vein, I do not take offense and judge on my behalf, but instead I defer all judgments to Christ who will judge us during the end-times. In that sense, there is no longer anything for me to take offense over. Everything I am is given to Christ.

Another more personal reason for this is that keeping the offense within ourselves is toxic. If we remain in a state of offense, we will rehearse and re-live our hurts over and over again. Each time we do that, we are stabbing ourselves with the past and killing our joy. The Lord saved us to be free from sin - those that we have committed and those that have been committed against us. We are new creations, and we should not carry around our offenses because they will act as an anchor - keeping us from becoming the person that God is molding us to be.

We are expected to act according to the way God has treated us: Above all else, God is desiring for us to be cleansed of our sins and of the sins of the world. He desires that we should have eternal life with Him. In the same way, we should not be focused on the faults of the people around us, but we should be focused on seeing their souls saved, that they might have eternal life instead of eternal hell.

When we take offense and keep it with us, it prevents us from seeing the deeper roots - that we are here on earth to spread the good news of the gospel above all else. And in doing so, it is natural and logical that we'll be in the world with non-believers - like missionaries.

In those situations, we must seek to be like the Lord and suspend judgment because they are non-believers. We must be lights in the darkness.

In the case of believers, we must confront sins in a specific way as described in Mt 18:15-17.

Forgiveness is not forgetting: While forgiveness entails a measure of letting go of judgement and not holding it against a person, it doesn't mean that we forget what happened. In this example, the King clearly remembered what the hypocritical servant did, and then paid him back according to his actions when the servant did not extend the same type of forgiveness to others.

Unlike Christ, we don't have the power to grant eternal life via forgiveness of sins. However, we do have the power to let go of our judging of a situation and giving it over to Christ. We will not forget someone's actions against us, but we will not let it simmer within us at the same time. That is ultimately what forgiveness is - suspending and giving the ultimate judgment to Christ - and He is a just and perfect judge.

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your gift of life. Thank You for loving us so deeply that You came to die on the cross. We not only have eternal life, but we have freedom and forgiveness from our sins. Likewise, we have given our lives over to You, and as such, we have passed judgment to You as well. Nothing in all creation is hidden from Your sight, and because of that, You can and will judge everyone fairly according to their deeds. We can rest in that and trust in that. Let us then be focused to the people around us. Let us then be ready to pray for our enemies and seek them to know You more and more. In Jesus' name, Amen!