The story is told that just before Leonardo da Vinci painted the faces of the disciples on ‘The Last Supper’ painting, da Vinci had a terrible argument with a fellow artist. He determined to paint his fellow artist’s face into the portrait as that of Judas Iscariot, and thus take revenge by handing down the man in infamy and scorn to succeeding generations. Thus the face of Judas was one of the first he finished, and everyone could easily recognize the face of the painter with whom he had quarreled.
However, when he came to paint the face of Christ he couldn’t make any progress at all. Something seemed to be frustrating even his best efforts. At length he came to the decision that the cause of this difficulty was in his bitterness and lack of forgiveness toward his fellow painter. He came to the conclusion that you cannot at the same time be painting the features of Christ into your own life, and painting another with the colors of hatred and enmity.
Is there someone in your life you need to forgive?
Tags: da Vinci, forgiveness
James Garfield was a lay preacher and principal of his denominational college. They say he was ambidextrious and could simultaneously write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other.
In 1880, he was elected president of the United States, but after only six months in office, he was shot in the back with a revolver. He never lost consciousness. At the hopital, the doctor probed the wound with his little finger to seek the bullet. He couldn’t find it, so he tried a silver tipped probe. Still he couldn’t locate the bullet.
They took Garfield back to Washington, D.C. Despite the summer heat, they tried to keep him comfortable. he was growing very weak. Teams of doctors tried to locate the bullet, probing the wound over and over. In desperation they asked Alexander Graham Bell, who was working on a little device called the telephone, to see if he could locate the metal inside the president’s body. He came, he sought, and he too failed.
The president hung on through July, through August, but in September he finally died – not from the woulnd, but from infection. The repeated probing, which the physicians thought would help the man, eventually killed.
Do you think its possible for Christians to spend too long dwelling on their sin and refuse to release it to God?
Tags: forgiveness, Garfield, probing, sin
Arrested by the communists during the Korean War, a South Korean Christian was sentenced to die before a firing squad. But when the officer in charge learned that this man headed an orphanage, he changed the order. Instead, he forced the believer to watch as his 19-year old son was shot to death in his place.
Some time later the communist officer was captured by United Nations forces, tried, and condemned to die. But before the execution, the Christian whose son had been killed made an emotional plea in behalf of the officer, asking that he be released into his custody. His request was granted, and eventually the officer was converted to Christ and became a pastor.
This is a true story. How could that Christian find that kind of forgiveness?
Tags: forgiveness, Korean War, mercy
This week we will begin some discussion about Forgiveness, a powerful tool in our lives.
Back in 1999 wrestler-turned Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura took a beating for his comments in a Playboy magazine about religion being “a crutch for weak-minded people.” Local churches decided to respond by turning the other cheek. They paid for giant billboards around the Twin Cities that read “Strength training for the ‘weak-minded’.”
The ad was signed by Christian Churches of the Greater Twin Cities (CCGTC) as the latest in a series of high-profile media projects by the alliance of churches and advertising professionals.
“We are not mean-spirited,” said J.L. Glass, executive director, “and we were not trying to attack the governor, but we wanted to respond and show him that we had a sense of humor.”
Do you think that was a good way to repond, or what would be a better way?
Tags: forgiveness, signs, Ventura
The newspaper reported that a Utah businessman had filed for bankruptcy and declared his debts to be $613,000,000,000. What’s more, the man claimed assets of only $7,310. If all debts were honored, his creditors would receive about one-millionth of a cent on the dollar. There was no way he could begin to pay his debts.
That reminds me of my situation before I came to Christ. I had violated the Lord’s desires for me so many times that the mountain of offenses was overwhelming. But when I came to Christ all that was washed away. My debt was forgiven. Today I stand before Him with a clean slate. Thank God for forgiing my debt.
Tags: debt, forgiveness, sin
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight” (Ephesians 1:4).
We are chosen! We are chosen in Him. On election day we go to the voting poles to chose our elected representatives in government. Unfortunately, some don’t get chosen. But God had an election day and voted for you! Satan also voted and voted against you. Your vote breaks the tie. If you chose God, then your vote and His vote wins and you are chosen.
Note the scripture says that He chose us before the creation of the world. This is where the predestination comes in. In His divine knowledge, He made a choice, and we are it.
Note also what He chose us to be: Holy and blameless in His sight. How can God, who is all-knowing, see people like us holy and blameless? Answer: He chooses to only see the blood of His Son, Who died for us. He chooses not to see the worldly side of us. That doesn’t mean we’re not sinners in reality. It means that we are sinners saved by grace and have a continual need for His grace in our lives.
What does it mean to you that you are chosen by a Holy God?
Tags: chosen, forgiveness, predestination
“In Him (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7). Think about this today.
Our redemption doesn’t come because we were baptized or turned over a new leaf, but through His blood who died for us. It is not by works, lest anyone should boast. The reason the crucifixion of our Lord is so prominent in the Christian faith is that the Son of God was paying the price for the sin that separates us from God when he died. No other religion has a provision for sin, only ways to improve your life down here. But if sin separates from God, and we are all sinners by nature, what good does an improved life down here do after we die and enter eternity? This is crucial!
Paul goes on to explain that redemption equals the forgiveness of sins. When we accepted what Christ did for us on the cross, the barrier sin creates is removed. The doors to God’s throne swing open and we have immediate access in prayer. So, when we sing, “I am Redeemed”, it ought to be electric with excitement. Redemption is more than a religious term, it is the hope we have in Christ and opens the door to the spiritual blessings God gives.
What does redemption mean to you?
Tags: forgiveness, redemption