Sometimes I am struck about how important forgiveness is to Jesus. In some case it seems to predicate our forgiveness (Mark 11:25). And other cases it seems that it protects us from the attacks of Satan (2 Corinthians 2:10-11). I recently came to new understanding on the power of forgiveness from the story of the Joseph.

As the story goes, Joseph quickly goes from living under the favor of his father to being rejected by his brothers and living as a slave. His bad circumstances became worse in Egypt as he goes from slavery to prison. We must realize that just because we read this account in a few minutes of our time, Joseph life played out for many years. He had day after to day to think on his rejection... to think of how life could have been.

So finally at the end of Genesis Joseph is second in command of all Egypt and his brothers come to him begging for forgiveness (Genesis 50:18-20). Does Joseph brothers deserve the forgiveness? Does Joseph have the right and power to execute judgement on them. God had elevated him to this position, could he now take his revenege on them? In the natural, we can answer yes to each of these questions. God could have rightly executed his brothers for their sin.

But, this is the part that strikes me... If Joseph had done this, he would he killed the line that Jesus was going to come from. Jesus does not come from Joseph's lineage. It is Judah. If Joseph had not forgiven Judah, our hope would have ended.

Think of Jesus statement on the cross (Luke 23:34). "Father forgive them..." Jesus, of course, has every right to withhold his forgiveness on the those actively killing him. If he withhold that forgiveness, we will all be left without access to God's forgiveness.

What I get out of all this is if I am withholding forgiveness on anyone for anything, I could very well be hindering God's provision and plan for me and/or for those I care about. The path of life is found through forgiveness. We cannot neglect this. It is too important. If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them now. Forgive your enemies, your teachers, your father, your mother, your sibilings, your spouse, your boss, your children, your ex, yourself, etc. Be thorough. Forgive everyone for everything.

In human reasoning, you may have every right to not to forgive. But in the spiritual nothing will hinder you from experiencing the fullness of God more. If you are having trouble forgiving, ask God for help.

As long as you are withholding forgiveness, you are trusting in yourself for your protection. This is a role only for God. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Forgiveness does not mean I will let you hurt me again. It means I will not hold myself as a judge over you. Again, this is God's role not ours. And, if God finds it in His heart to forgive...

Shame Off You is written by Alan Wright, the pastor of church I was a member. I also had the priviledge of leading a 4-week follow up class for Pastor Alan after he held a conference at his church, Reynolda. I say this as a disclaimer, but it is a very good book and worthy of your time. Shame is an important topic that often goes ignored and therefore many people are hindered in their walks with God as shame goes unaddressed. Shame will keep you from approaching God with your requests and keep you from living out who God has called you to be. Here are some thoughts from the book that I hope would encourage you to take the time to read it.

1. The world is filled with people under the weight of shame. Knowing you have to measure up in order to feel acceptable while knowing that you can’t quite measure up leaves you with a gnawing anxiety that wreaks havoc in your soul. We might recognize them as lies, but since the shame feels true, we live out of them. Other people also put shame on us. It is a common motivator in today’s world, and while it can get us to try harder, it never sets us free.


2. No matter what degree of shame you have experienced, you have a chance to let go of judgment, bitterness, and unforgiveness. Healing comes not just from the acknowledgment of the pain, but the forgiveness you choose to give. Forgiving does not mean denying or excusing the shame you suffered, but rather means letting go of its hold on your heart. The issue is never the capacity to forgive, but whether you desire to forgive.


3. God never uses shame to motivate us toward right living or excellence. He never motivates us by withholding His love from us.


4. One of shame’s greatest goals is to get you hiding from God. Fear of exposure leads us into hiding. In a shame‐free relationship, every ounce of Adam and Eve’s relationship went to exploring their future rather than covering their tracks. The humiliation and guilt of shame erode our self‐esteem and breeds deviousness and manipulation as a means of no letting our self’s to be exposed. Shame can only be healed once it is exposed.
   
   Doesn’t God already know us completely? Why then do we hide? We are afraid that he might expose it and shame us some more. We are afraid He may confirm our fears of rejection and unloveliness. God is not hiding from us; He wants to be known. He wants to heal us so we can experience the abundant life He is offering.


5. God’s answer for our shame is not personal success nor God’s pledge to take away our pain. God’s answer is, and always has been, to be with us in our pain, to bear our shame, and nourish us for the journey ahead. We do not overcome shame by focusing on our success. The effort to hide the truth of our inadequacies through the façade of success builds more walls around our hearts. Shame is overcome by walking with God.


6. Christians don’t substitute idols for God; they add idols in addition to Him. We raise up idols in our lives to salve the wounds of our past. Something happens to us and we make a commitment never to be hurt like that again, so we establish an idol to protect us from that pain. Ultimately the idol doesn’t give you peace, instead it gives you constant pressure to always please it. When we don’t perform well enough for our idols, it mocks us and sends us back to even deeper shame.

If you want to lead a class at your church based on this book, here are my handouts for Shame Off You Follow Up Class (PDF).

I also led a small group through the principles of this book. We were primarily focused on as parents how do we keep shame off our kids, but one major point is shamed people shame... wounded people wound. You are welcome to the Shame Off You Bible Study (PDF), just know that some of it will ask parenting questions. The small group focused on the following concepts.

Chapter 1: The Power of Words
Chapter 2: The Power of Marriage
Chapter 3: The Power of Forgiveness
Chapter 4: The Power of Confession
Chapter 5a: The Power of God’s Voice
Chapter 5b: The Power of Celebration
Chapter 6: The Power of Mom and Dad
Chapter 7: The Power of Boundaries
Chapter 8: The Power of Walking With Jesus
Chapter 9: How to Change Others
Chapter 10: How the Church Tries to Change You
Chapter 11: How the Gospel Tries to Change You
Chapter 12: How Idols Keep You from Real Change

I will strongly encourage you getting this book. It would be a great start experiencing more of the grace of Christ in your life.

This morning I got John Eldredge's newsletter in my email. I felt it went along with the post yesterday on hope: An Anchor for the Soul, so I have included the email text below.

Things Are Not What They Seem
3/17/2010

What do all the great stories and myths tell us? What do they have in common? What are they trying to get across? Wherever they may come from, whatever their shape might be, they nearly always speak to us Three Eternal Truths. First, these stories are trying to remind us that things are not what they seem. There is a whole lot more going on here than meets the eye. Much more. After the tornado sets her down, Dorothy wakes and steps out of her old farmhouse to find herself in a strange new world, a land of Munchkins and fairies and wicked witches. The Land of Oz. How brilliant for the filmmakers to have waited for this moment to introduce color in the movie. Up till now the story has been told in black and white; when Dorothy steps out of the house, the screen explodes in color, and she whispers to her little friend, “Toto . . . I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

Isn’t this the very lesson of the Emmaus Road? You recall the story—two followers of Christ are headed out of town after the Crucifixion, as dejected as two people can be, with every reason in their minds to be so and more. Their hopes have been shattered. They staked it all on the Nazarene, and now he’s dead. As they slump back toward their homes, Jesus sort of sneaks up alongside, very much alive but incognito, and joins their conversation, feigning ignorance—and they not seeing it is him.

We live in two worlds—or better, in one world with two parts, one part that we can see and one part that we cannot. We are urged, for our own welfare, to act as though the unseen world (the rest of reality) is, in fact, more weighty and more real and more dangerous than the part of reality we can see. The lesson from the story of the Emmaus Road—the lesson the whole Bible is trying to get across—begins with this simple truth: There is more going on here than meets the eye. Far more.

(Waking the Dead , 26–27)

image courtesy of saturn ♄

I was going through an old journal yesterday looking back at time where I was confused by the actions of a close friend. It was a very difficult time and was affect my work, my home life, and my hope for the future. The journal entry came at a time I was thinking through Hebrews 6:19 talking about this hope that we have that is an anchor for the soul. I was asking God what did He want me to hope. After immediately realizing that my hope is Him, I asked what it looked like. The following is what I wrote in my journal. I pray that you find it as helpful as I did when I wrote it and as I did yesterday when I read it again.

“Your whole life is defined by Me. Circumstances of life seem random and without knowing why they occur they bring doubt, discouragement, despair – death. Look to Me and have Me define and explain the realities of what is really going on. On earth things appear to be dying. You might go through tough situations and become depressed. Take heart! I am with you. I am taking you through the events of your life to grow you, teach you, bless you, and reward you. The things that seem to be the straw that broke the camel’s back is really the sand that tips the scales in your favor. Your faith is strengthened. Your love is unconditional. And, your ministry is effective. I am your hope. Without Me there is nothing. Heaven is eternity with Me. Eternity with perfect love, understanding, and joy. Now your awareness is dimmed. It will improve. In heaven, it will be perfected. It will be worth it. Devote your life for the things in heaven.”

Truth is whatever God says is true. And, it is true that God is always in control. He is for you. He loves you. And, He can work through every circumstance for the good of those who love Him. He redeems. He restores. He is for you. Take heart. He will never leave you alone. He looks on you with love. Bask in His love for you right now and give Him thanks for His hand on your life.

Have you ever considered the implications of God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Sure everything ends up wonderful and Isaac is spared. Sure it is a profound analogy of God offering up Jesus. But, have you ever considered that God asked Abraham to do something God did not want him to do?

God told Abraham to offer up his son as a sacrifice. Then God stops Abraham before he could follow it through. How many of us would have continued with the sacrifice holding on to what God originally said?

The thing that gets me is that God seems to lead us into situations and even leads us into decisions through prayer that He does not want us to ultimately follow through on. He seems to be getting us to a point of obedience that we would go and do whatever and then because of our willingness to do that first thing, He leads us into something even better. This is what happened to Abraham.

This is also what happened to David. He is getting chased all over Israel by Saul. Then on two separate occasions God gives Saul into David's hands. Both times David could have easily ended all of his running around. Both times he feels that God does not want him to harm Saul.

The funniest example I have heard about this is Jesus before He is betrayed tells His disciples to get swords (Luke 22:36-38). Then when Peter tried to use one later on to protect Jesus, Jesus tells him to put it away.

I don't claim to understand all of God's ways. What I do know is that He is intentional with us. He is leading down a path where we will have greater freedom from sin, greater power over the enemy, and greater joy in our lives. He is a loving Father that want His best for His children.

I have been thinking about this lately because, my wife and I feel God leading us to slow down our adoption. We are currently on the second attempt to adopt a little girl. Our first attempt was postponed by the announcement that we were pregnant with our second child. Both times we have felt very clearly that we were to start the adoption process. Both times we have given a lot of our time and money into trying to be obedient. We may have mis-heard His direction. We may also have heard Him correctly, but He did not want us to finish the adoption. Maybe the answer is another unknown alternative. I don't know the answer to that yet. I do know that God loves and rewards faith and obedience (John 14:15 and Hebrews 11:6).

I do not know what God is doing at this time, but I know He loves me. I know that He will take care of me and my family. I am know that He has already blessed me with more than I ever would have dreamed possible. So, I will press on with where I feel He is leading, and I will continue to press in to Him to enjoy this wild ride He has me on.

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I have heard said that the biggest problem in the church today is that it does know how to differentiate the voice of God and the voice of Satan. I would like to argue that this statement is correct.

We know that Satan is our accuser. He is looking to steal from you, kill your desire, and destroy your life. He hates you. How can the church possible mistake that terrible voice with the loving Father?

Easy, we think they are our voice. Have you ever had thoughts of shame, depression, and unworthiness? Where do they originate? Do you really hate yourself? Does God hate you? No, Satan is the one who hates you. He is the one who wants to see you fail and wants to keep you from walking into all that God has for you.

How do we differentiate between the voice of the enemy and the voice of God? The more we know the character of God; the more we will know His voice. God loves us. God is for us. God believes in us. God will lead us to hope and life. (If you doubt any of this read Romans 8 multiple times.)

This is so important because you will live out of the voice you are listening to. If you believe the lies Satan throws at you that you are worthless, a failure, and that those you love would be better off without you, than you will not live out of the unique calling God placed into your life. Instead you will try to be whoever you can that would cause you the least amount of pain. If you believe that if people knew the real you they would reject you, then you will always live your life behind a mask so nobody would ever know the real you.

So how do you know which voice you are listening to? Look at the fruit. If the thoughts are leading you into life, peace and freedom, it is from the Holy Spirit. If it leads to depression, pain, fear, and immobility, then it is from the enemy.

Even conviction can come in either form. True conviction comes not at the sound of God’s displeasure in us, but at the moment He turns the light on brightly enough for us to see our imperfections. His light does not expose us in anger but in love wanting us to correct the errors keeping us from more of Him. He exposes unhealed issues in our hearts, so we can bring them to Him for healing. Without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we do not change and grow. Satan is the one that points out sin to shame us and create fear that will lead us away from God and others.

It is important to discern the voice of who is speaking to us. The voice of God, even when exposing sin, offers hope and life. The voice of the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. Whenever you recognize the voice of God in your life, embrace it freely. If it is from the enemy, reject it boldly (2 Corinthians 10:5).