Pastor Blog… Star date 2010
By Pastor Rex. Filed in Sermons |
WOW! how cool is this. A blog. this is a first for me. I like it. I’m a blogger! I’ve been called worse.
Yesterday was a Blessing beyond words for me. It’s been 2 1/2 years since I’ve been in the pulpit and I had forgotten how that third service can be testing. I pray that every person left with the knowledge and the belief that God’s Mercy is the original “trickle down” theory. I know, I always thought it was Ronald Regan too. The truth is “The more we are willing to grant Mercy … the more God’s Mercy is poured out on us.”
Think of it in the same way we think of our giving. We are asked for 10% but promised that the more we give the higher our return will be. Just today I received a letter from a member of our church addressing this very thing. I hope he won’t mind my sharing a bit of that letter here. He wrote: “Knowing that God is a loving and generous God, we knew we could never out give Him,” and as Jesus said in Luke, 6:28, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Paul tells us in Galatians 6:7 that “Whatever you sow, so shall you reap” but also tells us in 2nd Corinthians 9:6 that “The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and that the person who sows generously will also reap generously.” It just makes sense that the more you sow, the more you stand to reap.”
Take these words and apply them to the Forgiveness and Mercy we are willing to sow in our relationships. Please!
I believe that if Adolf Hitler could have awakened from his nightmare and realized his sins, and confessed those sins at the feet of God, and Repented and begged for His Forgiveness…that God would have poured out His Mercy on this skumbag.. So why do I still have times in my life where I doubt that He would do the same for pitiful me?
In the 12 step programs, we have a story dealing with Forgiveness that tells us to pray for the person we hold resentment against. Pray for 10 days and ask God to give to this person all the good things we would want God to Bless us with. Try it. I think you will be surprised at the results.
Finally, I want to share a thought with you that was imparted to me by my dear friend Dr. Bob Andrew (I miss him so) If you have sinned (let me correct that) WHEN you have sinned against another ask for forgiveness three times… if they won’t forgive… the sin becomes theirs. ” THEN MOVE ON.”
I don’t ask for forgiveness and mercy for them (whoever “them” may be) and I don’t grant forgiveness for them either… I do it for me… I do it so I can keep My side of the street clean. I want to give God a clear shot at my heart and mind…
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you”. Lewis Smedes, Forgive and Forget
Please remember my invitation to contact any of the pastors for an appointment to discuss this or any issues keeping you from being “Free in the Lord.”
God Bless, Rex