What is Forgiveness? Forgiveness means we do not harm anyone who has done harm to us but instead forgive them by doing what they least expect, something good.  For example accepting their apology if they do apologize or praying for them instead of cursing them.  Do not give them what they are looking for, such as telling them off and saying hurtful things back. Instead just be humble in the Lord and turn the other cheek.  Jesus talks about this concept in Matthew, Chapters 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount and Beatitudes). This does not mean being a push over, you do not want to fight fire with fire. What puts the fire out is a good cup of water, that is the love of Jesus Christ. Some times this can actually make the other person reflect upon what they did or said to you. The second greatest commandment Jesus stated is, "Love your neighbors as yourself."  There is a reason for this important truth. Sometimes we struggle to do this when we are being hurt, but hang in there! God knows and He will see you through to the very end. There is always a lesson to be learned through it all.

Forgiving others Brings Healing.  The one who hurts others is being easily influenced by the Devil. The Devil or Satan was cast out of heaven and thrown down to the earth.  His pride caused him to exalt himself higher than God.  He aims to harm all of God's creation, especially people, because we have been made in God's image.  We have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.  By believing in Jesus' cruxificition and rising from death by God, through Him we can overcome any obstacle we might face. Remember good will never mix with evil.  They are like oil and water; always choose to do good.  Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  Always be fighting for good and leading others to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives.  Love and evil will never blend they will always be in conflict with one another.  

Jesus gave us a Great Gift. Jesus forgave all of our sins, why is it sometimes hard for us to forgive others?  People can do some hurtful and mean things. This is nothing to sugar coat and it is clearly wrong. But there is a better way to deal with it than retaliation because Jesus gave us the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Unforgiveness: When individuals do not forgive, they are following their flesh or sinful nature and being persauded out of God's will. Ephesians 4:31-32 says "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  If you hold unforgiveness in your heart, you are missing out on what God has planned to bless in your life. You won't be able to do His will.

What is Repentance? The word "repent" is the base word in "repentance."  It is an action one must decide to take. The definition of this word from Random House Webster's College Dictionary, New York, defines repentance as deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing or error.  In simple terms, repentance means to turn away from a sin, reverse course, and intend to not return to doing it again. This can be a sin done once or a habitual sin, done over and over, either way repentance is nessesary. Repentance is being sincere with the Lord and giving the sin to Him, laying it down right there near his feet, at the cross and telling Him you will never do it again.  It is our flesh or sinful nature which make these things hard to do but we have to turn from sin and fall more in love with Christ each and every day.  Jesus is our example of a sin free life.  He is the only one who walked the earth and was perfect.  If anyone thinks they are perfect they are only kidding themselves.  None of us can be perfect.  We can aim to live the life He intended for us by renewing our minds daily, crucifying our flesh or sinful nature, reading the Word which is the Bible, and attending Church. Jesus has to always be first place in your life.  If you have any sins in your life that you know are against the written Word of God lay them down right now to Jesus and ask him for forgiveness, repent, and turn away and never do it again.  Only with the Lord's help can you do this. There are always consequences to sin that will effect you and people around you negatively. This is what Jesus says after He heals a lame man.  John 5:14 "Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him,"See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."  Remember that God cannot bless sin.  These are Peter's words to the crowds explaining that God has risen Jesus and we are His witnesses to this fact.  Acts 2:38 reads, "Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

The World. People who are easily influenced by the Devil try to persaude others to join in on what they are doing even though it is wrong.  Make sure you stand strong and test everything according to the written Word of God.  Others think it is alright to willfully sin once, twice, or multiple times.  The fact is that they are not convicted of sin, because they have no knowledge of the Word of God.  There are still others who are habitually sinning all the time and they do not know it.  It is our job as believers to tell others in love the "Good News" and lead by example.  Be very careful when you are around nonbelievers as this can be foothold for the enemy to come into our lives and lead us astray.  We have to be stronger by the blood of Jesus and pray for this person.  We have to show them in a loving manner that standing strong in the truth that is, the Word of God, is the only answer.  Living out what we say is critical. They will judge us by our own actions and not taking part in sin.  This along with praying for the person should help them see the truth and what they are doing is a sin.  The Bible tells us to become living sacrifices, holy and acceptable in God's sight. Another great option is when they come to us and have problems, start praying for them. Let them know there is a Savior who loves them, and if they are willing, say the prayer of salvation with them. You can also give them the link to this ministry. Our own flesh or sinful nature is always looking out for Me, Me, Me.   Remember to be looking out for what the Holy Spirit wants us to do to further the kingdom of God here on earth. An example of how to combat evil in the Bible, was after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. He was tempted by the Devil for forty days and forty nights.  Here Jesus fasted and used the written Word of God to help sustain him in all truth. He repeatedly said "It is written"and used the words from the Holy Bible. That is all He had to do to send the Devil running, and we can follow Jesus' lead in this same way.

Fighting Against the Darkness. There are some clear ways to fight against evil. Make sure to hold to the truth at all times because the truth will set you free.  John 8:31-32, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  Jesus also used His sword, the Word of God, to defeat the Devil.  In order to stay out of the darkness, there are also some changes that need to be made in your lifestyle.  Check out your daily schedule and analyze where you are spending your time.  Is doing these things all pleasing to God?  There may be some changes needed. Some friends, family members and even co-workers may start to see you differently.  What is happening is that they see the light of God within you. You are now a new creation and the Holy Spirit is within you. Jesus did it all for us so we do not have to be alone and He is there every step of the way.  This is very hard for some people to accept because they always want to be in control of every aspect of their life. We as Christians are giving God control and allowing Him to lead us.  God is in control of everything anyway, we should live out His will for our lives.  One important concept is surrenduring ourselves to him on a daily basis and to let His will be done.  Let God take control and what you will discover is that there is great freedom and peace in your life.  All pains, anxiety, worries, and hurts - the load you are carrying, will begin to be lifted.  We gave this all to him right there at the cross. Where He has overcome death and the devil. This is truest form of love. Do not ever think you are not loved.  There is a great song called "I Surrendar All".  Jesus followed God's will for His life and the Holy Spirit was with Him. He surrendured all of his life over to the Father's will. Through love we should do the same for Him too. Remember what Jesus said on the cross, Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Right before he died he exclaimed "It is finished". Jesus finished the will of God and held the course until His work on earth was done. We need to model this in our own lives and we can do this because with God all things are possible!

How Much Does God Love you? 1 John 4:15-17 says, "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him."  This is exactly how much he loves you brother and sister, even though we do not deserve it.  He loves you so much that he allowed His son to die for you.  The love he has for us never departs, it's new each and every day.  We should love Him so much that in turn we want to live for him and follow all his ways.  Because God is love this does not give us, a free ticket to do what ever we want, to sin and indulge in what ever our fleshly and  worldly desires are at any given time.  No, this means the exact opposite, God is Love and He loves us. Choose to live for him and live Holy lives as discussed in the written Word, the Bible.   Can you picture yourself being there when Jesus was on the cross? Imagine Jesus looking down at you with love, his eyes penetrating into your very soul, and by knowing how special you truly are to Him.  Picture Jesus saying, "I am doing this for you, I love you, your sins are upon Me, and when I die, your sins will be washed clean in My blood, and cast into the sea of forgetfulness. Never will they be remembered by God ever again."  Love that is immeasurable, flowing and running over for us and never ending, comes from our Lord.  When we believe, we are flowing with his love by his Holy Spirit.  We have satisfaction in God through the word, prayer, singing praises, forgiveness, repentance and loving others.  He gives that love to us every new day.  

Forgiveness is accomplished through Jesus. Here Jesus shows us how to forgive others because He first forgave us.  When He died He conquered the devil and all his wicked schemes and lies. We need to forgive others like He did. Jesus is our example to live by and model as Christians. Forgiveness is done by the great strength Jesus demonstrated for us at the cross. When people choose to forgive they are operating in the will of God.  An example, is shown by Jesus asking the Father to forgive us all on the cross while he dying for us. We are all in the world together so lets forgive others like Jesus did.  He has paved the way for us.  We just have to make the right choices in life.  He made every single one of us and we are all special.  We just have to believe it and that faith comes only from God. Our full potential is hindered until we know him and place him first place in our lives.  It is our choice to live for Him, to choose not to sin, and to forgive. 

Jesus leads, we follow. He is the way, the truth and the life. The Holy Spirit will help you and Jesus will be there every step of the way interceding to God.  The book of Romans written by Paul tells us how, Romans 12:17-21 "Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.  On the contrary:  If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  Also read Proverbs 25:21-22 from the Old Testament.  God will take care of everyone who has wronged us, it is His to avenge.  We are His children once we believe.  Praying a blessing over peoples lives who have wronged you can be a hard concept  to put into practice. This means not causing any harm to that person but doing good to them instead.  Jesus, God and the Holy Spirt want us to live righteous lives.  Believe it friends, justice will be served and God's justice is like no other.  We are witnesses, seen by our own eyes and by many other Christians.  Why do you think great leaders always prayed before wars, speeches, and other challenges throughout history.  Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, three in one, hear each and every prayer.  Forgive your enemy like Jesus forgave, because unfortunitely the lost do not know the truth.

More on Repentance. A great example of repentance is John chapter 8 where Jesus forgives a woman for adultery.  The Pharisees and teachers of the law brought Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery to observe exactly how He would react.  John 8:7-11 "When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.  At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said.  "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared.  "Go now and leave your life of sin."  To repent is to leave sin behind.  He knows what you're battling against, he sees and knows all.  Give respect to the Lord and pray to him on your knees showing how sincere you really are and repent to Him.  God cannot bless sin so live free from it.  The Lord will help you through each sinful tempation and others may follow your example.  Then as soon as you can, thank the Lord for getting you out of that uncomfortable sinful circumstance.  Do not forget he is right there with you.  Lastly, the reason we need to ask God for forgiveness and repentance is that our Lord is coming back for his children who believe and follow his ways.  Praise the Lord and give glory to Him!  He is coming for his bride, which is the Church being without spot or wrinkle. The Church consists of all the believers who truly believe and abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We do not know when this will happen so we need to be ready.  Philippians 3:13-14 "Brothers, I  do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavanward in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:17-21 "Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.  For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."  Thank you God for the word of the Lord, it is nourishment to our souls!