Saturday, June 30, 2012

How do I forgive when I can’t?

How do I forgive when I can’t?

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15, NIV

Long before I was involved with Ellel Ministries I went through a horrible time of deep betrayal. It had huge consequences in my life and I struggled with the whole issue of forgiveness. I started to say things to God like, “I will do anything you want, just don’t ask me to forgive!”

Each time the issue of forgiveness came up I would see people’s faces in front of me and the barriers were just too big, too strong. I did not feel like forgiving, in fact I felt that I should devise ways of getting even! I wanted revenge. I wanted to hurt them even more than they had hurt me. I started to become quite bitter.

Verses like Matthew 6:14 leapt from the pages of my Bible! ‘For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins your Father will NOT forgive your sins’. I knew somehow I had to do it, but how? Finally I came to God and said, “I know I have to do this but I really can’t” and I heard Him say, “You are absolutely right you can’t”. ‘Apart from Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5).

The next Sunday I went to a church which was new to me, and the preacher began his sermon by saying, “This morning I am going to tell you about how to forgive when you can’t”. I knew God was speaking to me. He said “firstly, this is not a transaction between you and the person who has done you wrong, this is a transaction between you and God. Do not see the face of the person. God has said in His word that we must forgive so He will give us the empowerment to do so”.

Part of God’s character is His heart to forgive, so we need to ask God to come supernaturally with His Spirit of forgiveness. Then having received first from Him we can release forgiveness to the person or persons that we need to forgive. We forgive the ‘unforgivable’ because He has first forgiven us. We forgive to be obedient to the Word of God but by so doing we let ourselves out of prison.

Secondly, we are not pardoning them, Only God can pardon. The only place anyone’s sin can be forgiven is by God at the cross. We are releasing them into the freedom of our personal forgiveness. Thirdly, we are not letting them off the hook, but we are taking them off our hook and putting them on God’s hook. We stop judging them and instead we say, ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ Genesis 18:25. We can surely trust Him with this.

God can start to heal the memories. We are unlikely to ever forget what happened, but when we remember it no longer has the power to trigger bitterness and anger. Forgiveness will be the gateway for our own healing.

That Sunday morning I knelt at the altar rail and asked God to come and fill me with His spirit of forgiveness… and He did. I wept buckets as I chose to forgive from deep inside my heart. I poured it all out to the Lord. It took ages but when I was through I had a deep joy well up within me and at last there was closure. I was aware of God smiling and taking hold of my hand to lead me into a new season in my life.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You for dying on the cross for me and for the forgiveness of all of my sins that I have confessed to You. Help me to truly forgive all those who have ever hurt me and to walk continuously in the Spirit of forgiveness, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Today's Writer : Jill Southern-Jones Jill Southern-Jones was a successful business woman before becoming the Director of Ellel Pierrepont, home of the Luke Nine Eleven Training Programme (NETS). People from all over the world come for 5 – 10 months and learn to teach and minister on NETS. Jill’s book on Sex: God’s Truth is an essential guide to the restoration of Godly order in sexual relationships.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Beware the Schemes of Man!

Beware the Schemes of Man!

“This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
Ecclesiastes 7:29, NIV

When I am praying for people, especially those who have suffered many things in their lives, I have in my mind a definition of Christian healing that God gave me many years ago at the outset of the work of Ellel Ministries – the restoration of God’s order in a person’s life. So I sometimes start by asking people the obvious questions about possible roots of disorder in their own lives and the lives of their parents and those whose influence and control they have been under down the years.

Often, however, I discover that some people are only looking for the healing of their present symptoms, and are not really interested in asking God what those roots of disorder actually are. As our Scripture implies, disorder is the fruit of mankind wanting to go after the many schemes that both men and women dream up for themselves – usually with a little help from the schemes of the devil that Paul warned us about in Ephesians Chapter 6! God created mankind upright, but following the schemes of man has resulted in a lack of uprightness. And none of us can escape the reality expressed by Paul in Galatians 6:5 that there is a law of sowing and reaping which applies to our lives as well as our crops.

It is a sad fact that, in the stories of the Kings of Israel, the Bible tells us that many of their problems were caused by things like a lack of uprightness in their lives or because they were not wholehearted in following the Lord. As I read this Scripture afresh I felt God challenging me to examine my own heart and ask Him to show me any areas of my life where the schemes of man have got in the way of the plans of God. May I encourage you to do the same and trust God as you seek His best for every area of your life.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see myself as You see me. Help me to see those places where there has been a lack of uprightness in the things I have done. I want to put things right with You and anyone else who has been affected by my decisions and actions. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Today's Writer : Peter Horrobin Peter Horrobin is the Founding and International Director of Ellel Ministries. He has now written and is currently developing Ellel 365 – a completely new online training school. This is specifically designed to help people understand and apply the practical truths of God’s Word into their lives. Already there have been many remarkable testimonies of what God is doing in people’s lives. The Ellel 365 website has now been completely updated. To take a look for yourself click on the Ellel 365 link on this page.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Hidden Problems

Hidden Problems

"How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults."
Psalm 19:12, NLT

I wasn’t expecting it! There was no visual sign that it was necessary. I was feeling no discomfort from it. So I was surprised when the dentist said that treatment to one of my teeth was necessary to prevent the decay, that he could see, from developing and causing trouble in the future.

So a few days later I was back in the dentist’s chair allowing him to inject, drill, prod and poke, fill, smooth and polish the tooth which, had it been left unattended would have caused future pain, discomfort, and no doubt affected my life in so many ways, as severe pain can. Pain can affect our lifestyle, our relationships, our work, our ability to think properly, and really make us feel out of sorts. Therefore I was prepared to experience the relatively short period of discomfort in the dentist’s chair for the longer term benefits.
The dentist with his skill, understanding and experience was able to detect that all was not right with my tooth. He also knew what treatment was needed and had the skill, the ability and the equipment to carry out that treatment.

There can be things in our spiritual lives we have no idea of, which, if not attended to, could later cause great pain, discomfort and disruption to our lifestyle, our family, and our ability to function properly as the person God intended us to be.

Jesus, like a ‘Divine Dentist,’ can see where the trouble lies and He knows what pain it could cause later on if it is not dealt with now. He also knows how best to treat it, if only we submit to Him and His ways.

The treatment may be painful in itself (like having a tooth filled), as we allow Jesus to reveal the root of the problem and show us how to deal with it, but the long term benefits will be well worth it.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Help me to allow You to reveal those hidden places in my life which are not as they should be - those areas which if not dealt with could cause problems in the future. Give me the courage to let You deal with them so I may become the sort of person You want me to be. Amen.

Today's Writer : Malcolm Wood Malcolm Wood and his wife Anna became part of the Ellel family as House Managers at Ellel Grange in 1990. Since then they have been involved with many aspects of the developing Ministry. In 2001 they became Directors of Ellel Scotland where now at Blairmore House they host several International Schools and Operation Blairmore.They have three sons.