You never want to go into any battle or situation in life without having all of your weapons or equipment. This is why we need to hold Satan accountable to the things stolen from us in our early years. By forgiving those who were influenced or used by Satan to steal from you in order to have you killed or to see you eventually destroyed, will set those people free from the same devices used against them in their life.
In this section we are going to equip you with a very powerful weapon that will not only help you take back what was stolen from you and those around you but will deal a decisive blow to the enemy of your soul. This section will have several key scriptural references that will help you in your deliverance and understanding so that you to can be a Restoration Minister.
Forgiveness:
Please if you will, envision our Lord and Savior after being set up by one of His own disciples, while others that had served with Him run away in His greatest need, He now being demoralized, tortured, beaten, skin ripped off His body, spit upon, cursed, forced to carry His own cross, then having nails driven through His wrist and feet after pompously having a crown of thorns smashed over his brow. Envision if you can; His raw back now subject to lying on a rough sawn, wooden cross full of splinters. After being forced to lie down and then lifted up so that He on the cross would fit snuggly in a hole in the ground so that all those around Him could laugh and taunt Him.
And after all that, our Christ leans forward supported only by the nails in His wrist, looked down at all mankind, (past, present, and future) through His own blood, sweat, and tears, and says to the Father;
Luke 23:34:
“Father, forgive them….for they know not what they do!”
The very act of forgiveness of the people who have injured you as a child sets into motion a great chain of events:
1. You are no longer responsible for the forgiveness of that individual.
2. God now has permission to move on that person’s behalf. The Lord will change their heart or move them out of your way forever
3. Satan has now been caught and must pay back what was stolen in both lives.
4. You now have a greater testimony. And have been set free from the rule of bitterness and the control the other person’s offense toward you.
***Scriptural reference: Proverbs 6:30-31; 2 Corinthians 2:1-11; and 5:18-20
Just recently, the Lord has prompted me to meditate on a few scriptures that I have been quoting now for several years. As I broke down these scriptures I realized the power that these Words had over my own restoration and the restoration of others.
Let’s look at the scripture found in Matthew 16, verse 19;
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus said to Peter His disciple, that this principle was a key. We could bind things and loose things here on earth and it would be done also in heaven. As I studied this scripture I pondered about what it was that we should be binding and what we should be loosing. As I continued to read on, I found myself in Matthew Chapter 18. This chapter alone really speaks on the tools we need to assist us in restoring our childlike faith and walking in a true humility.
Chapter 18 of Matthew is essential in the fact, it brings home the message and power of forgiveness. As was mentioned before in Section Four; we must become as little children, full of humility and faith. When we have the faith and humility of a child we can operate the tool, or should I say the weapon of forgiveness around us. In Matthew 18 verse 18, Jesus once again tells us that; “whatsoever we bind on earth shalt be bound in heaven, and whatsoever we loose on earth shalt be loosed in heaven.” Jesus goes on to say in verses 19 -20 that; “if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they ask, it will be done for them by the Father which is in heaven, and where two or more are gathered together in Jesus name He will be in the midst of them.” This is an important reference for all of us. Jesus is teaching a powerful principle of living by faith and what He is going to do if we are in agreement with Him.
When we bind the evil influence around us and cast it out never to return, we are then assured that it is established in heaven. And who ever we loose through the power of forgiveness here on earth, they are loosed in heaven. Loosing the human offender of our lives gives our Lord the right to move against the enemy of our soul. The Lord now has your permission to save the person who offended you and restore a piece of your innocence stolen from you. Since the economy of heaven is not based on monetary means or riches but souls, it is obvious the Lord is very much interested in filling the heavens with His children, won from the clutches of sin and death.
Let us take a look as what Peter says in, II Peter 3, verse 9:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Please take the time to read all of Matthew 18 and understand the powerful tools Jesus the Christ gives us. “And always, when you pray; pray in His name, the “God who saves us.” “Y’shua, Jesus the Christ of Nazareth.” (Y’shua or Yeshua is Jesus’ name in Hebrew.)
As you read Matthew chapter 18, you will come across words like offenses and to offend. Jesus is making it very clear this is not His will for us His children. He also admonishes us to get rid of anything in our lives that continues to offend. It is important you recognize why this message is very timely. We are living in the last days and greater woes are about to fall on all mankind. The Lord needs us to be restored back to our first love, and remember when we were first saved. He is asking His disciples in these days to do the first works and stand in position at the wall.
The Lord is promoting a “relationship type church” a form of worship that the Lord is invited to participate in fully. (More on relationship church in; Section Eight). The form of worship the Western Church has been involved in has been “program regulated” and caters to the “offenses” of others. Or should I say; “let’s be tolerant of others, so we don’t offend our Tithers” worship services. When we as a body care more about our programs we offer at our places of worship then whether or not the Lord is there, is something that has gone unchecked for too long. Because we don’t deal with the root of offenses that causes bitterness amongst the Body we are never able to fully love each other. We must understand the principle of binding and loosing so that we can strike a death blow to this root that has been entwined in our fellowships for years.
We must be willing to forgive those the Devil has tricked into offending us, and see those around us saved and restored themselves.
You may be the key to someone’s eternal destiny. By the example you live and lead may determine the eternal fate of the lives around you. We have to believe that we are not here by accident and that we all have a calling and a duty to fulfill while here on earth during our short pilgrimage.
Forgive yourself:
My childhood was filled with offenses. The pain inflicted in my childhood was horrible yet; I really don’t remember the offenses anymore and certainly don’t feel the pain of those incidences. My restoration is not fully complete and will not be until the day of Jesus’ return. The biggest hurdle I have had in this time of my restoration has been the “forgiveness of self!”
Time and time again I would struggle over the offenses I had committed in my past even after asking the Lord to forgive me. It wasn’t until I heard Him speak to me one night, before I was to preach on forgiveness the next day, which I finally broke down and forgave myself. I felt as if a dam had burst open over my head and the Blood of Jesus that had been covering me finally was allowed to wash over all of me, through me, and around me. Wow! The next morning I preached with such fire, determination and compassion which to this day has not stopped, praise Jesus!
You might want to take some time here to self reflect on what I just wrote above; go ahead, I’ll wait.
Are we all back? Wasn’t that awesome? Feel a little freer? Go ahead…blow your nose again.
O.K. now we’re getting it. Understanding that we have been totally and unconditionally forgiven requires us to do the same for others, including and most importantly ourselves. You will be able to look at those who have offended you and sincerely say;
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Precious Saints of the Living God, I must give you one more tool so that you can get to work. It is to remind you that “death and life” are in the tongue;
Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
The tongue can set us free or keep us in bondage to sin and death. Learn to speak life into all things that are good and bind all things which are evil. Loose those that need salvation and restoration, and learn to walk in the fruit of the Spirit of God for which there is no law (Galatians 5:22).
Scriptural references: Proverbs 15:4, 18:21, 21:23; James 3:5-8
When we start viewing our lives from Gods’ perspective we start to see how precious we are to Him and how much a threat we are to Satan and his deceitful kingdom. In the next section we will start to investigate the “callings of God” and to identify the “gifts of the Spirit” in your life to give further proof as to why we need to have our faith and innocence restored in the hour.
Galatians 5:1 can now be applied to our lives after we have discovered this valuable key to our success as born again, Disciples of Christ. (I will let you look that verse up yourself)
Forgiven and forgotten:
O.K. saints, I need to address this part of forgiveness so that we inadvertently don’t find ourselves on the wrong side of the offence (little pun there).
When we confess our faults or sins and ask for forgiveness, is not God faithful and just to forgive us our sins against Him? Doesn’t the Word say that our sins are forgiven as far as the east is from the west? If the Lord who takes away all our iniquity has forgotten the offense done unto Him, what business do we have reminding each other of forgotten offences? My point here is this; to practice perfect love of forgiveness, we must act like Jesus. If the God who saves us has forgiven us our offenses against Him, then we are to do the same for each other and for those who have been forgiven.
Let us review three powerful scripture references on this subject.
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirreth up strife: but love covers a multitude of sins.
Proverbs 17:9
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
I Peter 4:8
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
Once a sin is forgiven it should not be mentioned again by anyone. If we repeat a matter of a sin of another person who has been forgiven by God, then who are we working for when we bring the matter up again? In what spirit are we operating from? Isn’t the Devil the accuser of the brethren? Deliverance is in the tongue. We know the power of labeling people. It is as if we have put a mark on them, like a hot branding iron. Oh, the tongue of man who can tame it?
I believe the reason many of us have fallen into this type of behavior is real simple, it was taught to us. Our peers through gossiping have erred in the continuing of offenses because they themselves have been offended. Let us repent of this evil and learn to cover each other with love and not judgment. Matthew chapter 18 is a great study on this matter especially when dealing with an offender.
Many have come to me after I have prayed for someone and asked me why I always speak positive about a person in my exhortation to them. I respond in this matter; it is my responsibility to pull the true person of God out from behind the thick black curtain that is surrounding their true light. Yes, I do see the wickedness and the things that grieve the Lord, but when you as a person don’t know who you really are, what does it matter if I point out all your flaws. I would be assisting the Devil in keeping that dark wall up around you. I don’t work for the Devil’s kingdom. It is our job as Ministers of the Light to shed the Light of the Gospel in others lives and let the Holy Spirit do His work in us, amen?
This manual is unique in that it is helping to bridge the gap between the foundation of the Church and the Church’s Chief Corner Stone, Jesus our Messiah. Since correction of any type should start in the House of God, let us be quick to receive it and rejoice in it’s deliverance for our soul’s sake (I Peter 4:17).
No comments:
Post a Comment