Forgiveness

Partners

Philemon 1:17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. When you hear the word “partner” what comes into your mind? I think business partner, golf partner, prayer partner. But I also hear the term “life partner” being thrown around these days. What other “partners” come to mind inContinue reading “Partners”

Size of Forgiveness

Luke 7:47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” We love to hear about transformed lives. But not all lives! When someone takes a radical turn toward self-destruction, we don’t like those stories. We want to think that theContinue reading “Size of Forgiveness”

Full Forgiveness – Matthew 18:35

Matthew 18:35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Words can be easy to say. Just ask any six year old who is being trained to think of their younger sibling before they act. The older will rapidly learn that toContinue reading “Full Forgiveness – Matthew 18:35”

Accounting. Yikes!

Numbers 26:63-65 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For theContinue reading “Accounting. Yikes!”

1 John 5:16-17 Some things are worse than others, but some people act as though one bump in the road is as bad as any other, that all bumps are of equal consequences. They get a hangnail and the end of the world has come. Their reaction doesn’t match the event. I loveContinue reading “Forgiveness”

Guilty, but Not Guilty

1 John 3:20 Most of us know someone who has a hyperactive sense of guilt. There are lots of jokes about being raised Catholic when this topic comes up. But some families are just better at imposing a sense of guilt on children than other families. Some spouses use guilt to force their willContinue reading “Guilty, but Not Guilty”

Mountain Movers

Mark 11:22-25 Sometimes we make things so complicated, especially things connected to the LORD. We add if’s, and’s and but’s to so many discussions. Sometimes things really are simple. We add prenuptial agreements to a marriage because we don’t really trust people, even the people we are going to marry. We have to haveContinue reading “Mountain Movers”

Right Between the Eyes

Mark 10:10-12 Sometimes the truth strikes us right between the eyes. It hits us with such force that we get knocked over, our lives forever altered. We are knocked off balance and we must find a new center of gravity. We can’t go back to the way things used to be. The past hasContinue reading “Right Between the Eyes”

Forgiveness Available!

Mark 3:28-30 Have you ever blown it in your relationship with someone that you didn’t think it was possible to fix it? I mean, those mistakes that are catastrophic, earth-shattering, usually morally based choices that bring into question all the previous history of the relationship. Or the betrayal that shows just how mean orContinue reading “Forgiveness Available!”

Outrageous!

Mark 2:5-7 Sometimes people say some pretty outrageous things. They claim they have done things that just aren’t possible. Or they say they saw something, or experienced something that is beyond belief. When we hear these types of things most of us listen politely, but we don’t believe what we hear. We have learnedContinue reading “Outrageous!”