FORGIVENESS 101

Your back to basics guide to swift forgiveness

By Wendy Barge

To my Father, Husband, BFF & to infinity: God! & to my children, who please e eryday that they breathe Than!s for the support !ids! To Tone!a, you !now who you are!

"opyright # $%&' by Wendy Barge (ll rights reser ed) *o part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrie al systems, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission from Wendy +) Barge e,cept for brief e,cerpts in re iews and analysis -nless otherwise indicated, .cripture is ta!en from the Holy Bible, /ing 0ames 1ersion, 2ublic 3omain

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"H(2T6+ & Weekly Worship Worship at my former church consisted of an energy field e,perience 7 loo!ed forward to all wee!) Being newly returned to "hrist after a two year hiatus from God, 7 wanted all he wanted for me and wasn8t trying to go bac! to the unfulfilled mess of a life style 7 led pre iously) 9ne .unday 7 lifting my hands focusing on the :ord and his goodness and attempting to gain fuel for the wee! from Him, 7 opened up my eyes briefly to see an 6lder ;inister in front of me who bec!oned me to come to her) 2erple,ed at her re<uest for my attention 7 pointed at myself and mouthed =;e>? .he said =yes you?, 7n a ery firm manner) Being a part of the 2entecostal tradition since childhood, 7 wasn8t in the dar! about what might be ne,t, in regards to our interaction) .he said that all that wee!end the :ord showed her my face) 7 will say that, 7 am not one to ignore a person if they belie e they ha e recei ed a message from God) 7 do belie e in testing messages against scripture, but at this time, my mindset wasn8t as it is now! What she said alarmed me, because in my pattern of thin!ing, her message had to be a reprimand from the :ord! 7 was bracing myself for a spiritual confrontation) .he said God told her to tell me to let it go) Hmm@@@let it go> :et what go> What ensued after that was a =ministry session? in which 7 was

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on the floor praying to 0esus to ta!e away whate er it was that needed to go) 7 didn8t !now what ?it? was, but 7 was not trying to get caught with it) (nother member of the ministerial staff came o er) .he !ept saying, if you don8t let this go its going to affect your whole household! 7f 7 didn8t let whate er =it? was go 7 would mess my children up, my potential husband up, and whate er it was would lead me to hell perhaps> The re elation was way too much for me to grasp) 7 did as!ed the 6lder later and she said that she didn8t !now what =it? was, but that it would cause me not to be as anointed if 7 didn8t dump it) That cryptic message was the beginning of a Bourney that carried on for years) 7 needed to !now what =it? was and learn how to be free of =it?) 7 began to immediately loo! at my relationships) My father Before that 7 really didn8t gi e the absence of my father and how 7 really felt about him any thought, but the challenges 7 went through seemed to ha e a connection to him) 7 began to realiCe they were significant, but 7 really could not grasp how large the issue was at that time) (nd to be honest, 7t too! many years to truly gain a real appreciation of Bust how large that mountain was, that was set before me, but 7 was about to scale it) 7 was Bust doing e eryday life, ta!ing care of my son, and in my mind ser ing the :ord)

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The only times 7 ga e it any thought, was when 7 would attract attention of the opposite se,) 7 would, without fail, want to run if they e en seemed to indicate a tiny form of interest) They were really great "hristian guys, but 7 didn8t feel worthy) 7 really didn8t !now what to do with all of my an,iety and it was beginning to worsen, because 7 had met someone 7 was interested in, but it wasn8t going anywhere because of my fear) 7 really didn8t !now what to do) 7 truly was in great despair about my situation) 7 prayed, begging the :ord to re eal what my problem was and to set me free from the mental bondage 7 was in) 7 could not grasp what was wrong with me, then after thin!ing of all of my past psychology courses, the amateur psychologist in me reared its head once more) 7 can be self analytical to a fault, at times) ;y inner psychologist led me to burning letters, tal!ing to chairs, and e en seeing a psychologist, who had no answers by the way) *9*6! The :ord re eled to me it was, indeed, unEforgi eness of my father, which at first was baffling to me, because 7 didn8t gi e two thoughts about him on a daily bases) He was out of my life at three and that was it) 7 had no communication with him and 7 didn8t really thin! of him in a negati ely) 7n fact, consciously, 7 had no opinion of him negati e or positi e, as far as his lea ing) The Holy .pirit !new better and in order for me to be used, the unEforgi eness that he made me conscience of, as well as other unEforgi eness in my heart, had to go) (nd 7 had a lot of it! The phone call ;y heart begins to beat faster as 7 press each finger to the

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number pad) 7t seems the coldness of the phone itself, coupled with my apprehension !ept pushing the numbers from my mind) .o, 7 try it again) 7 pressed my thumb to the largest button without thin!ing and put the phone to my ear in determination) =0ust ha e to get this darn number right?@@@))grrrr (s 7 ta!e it away from my ear to e,amine both the numbers on the small piece of paper and the number pad, it seems my mind, and finger connects) The phone rings) 9ne ring, maybe two 7 don8t remember but he answered) 7 smile as 7 say =Hi, 3addy its Wendy!!!!? =9hhhh! ;y, my! This my daughter>!!!!? he says in his rough 2hiladelphia accented oice) 7 always thought he sounded li!e Bill "osby) =Geah! How are you dad, missed you? That was what 7 remember, with a little creati e embellishment, of my first con ersation with my father in ten years) To me it could ha e been $% years, because 7 was $A and realiCing that 7 was missing my fathers influence in my life) 7 was also beginning to realiCe that 7 didn8t posses the ability to pay the emotional dept that his lea ing caused) 7 had reached a point were 7 truly felt that 7 was damaged goods) His lea ing was not an issue years before in my younger years, because he left when 7 was three years old, 7 didn8t ha e the longing for a relationship that 7 ne er had in the first place) To

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be honest 7 am grateful for that, because 7 didn8t ha e the torment of that longing at such a young age and for other reasons, as well) Because of the absence there was <uite anger 7 carried for most of my childhood, teen years and on into my adult life) ;y call that fall day in $%%% was in response to the confusion 7 e,perienced in the beginnings of my young adult life) 7 wanted to be married and my inability to open up to others, 7n particular men 7 had an interest in and who may ha e felt the same for me, was hindering me from e,ploring healthy dating relationships) ;y inability to relate to any man Ie,cept for family membersJ without feeling aw!ward or say no to unwanted attention and re<uests scared me) 7n addition, by this time 7 was a single mother of a young boy, who, 7 didn8t want to grow up fatherless) ;y call to my father was my attempted at healing me) 7 had not gained the !nowledge from God that 7 could not heal myself) That was his Bob) 7 !new consciously he could heal, but my ice grip on the cultures answers in the form of psychology as the answer was hiding the answer from me)

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"H(2T6+ $ My view of forgiveness 7n spite of all of my issues 7 was always enamored with 2sychology) This started to be so, in the early F%8s, during the 3onahue era) Topics li!e child abuse and (lCheimer were fascinating to me) :ater when 9prah too! o er as the <ueen of tal! 7 was introduced to the concept of forgi eness) Then guest tal! show psychologists would tal! of the importance of being angry) To my young mind it was the gospel) Though, 7 went to church each .unday, Wednesday *ight, and .aturday, and 7 !new that the :ord commanded us to forgi e) 7 felt, because 7 had been introduced to modern popular psychology at such a young age, somehow it had the answers to deep emotional issues the Bible could not address) The Prevailing view on forgiveness 7 grew up in the F%8s) Ges, 7 was part of the 9prah, 2hil 3onahue generation) Being a part of that generation, 7 learned about the silence of se,ual abuse, coming out closets, how to forgi e, and if forgi eness was e en necessary, what was clear was the response to a wrong had to be forgi eness as self preser ation, if at all) ;eaning it was not necessary to forgi e, but if it facilitated ones feeling of =wholeness?, which was emotional health, that it could and should be done, but was not necessary) 7 obser ed guest psychologist who e en made it clear that anger was necessary for healing emotionally) That one must first e,perience the anger then they will be free to forgi e the wrong) Forgi eness 7 ha e learned is a language that means different things to those who do not come from my cultural world iew) 7

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am a "hristian, so, 7 am a cultural outsider, but as a child 7 didn8t !now this) 7 was indoctrinated and naturaliCed into the secular culture) When 7 came to "hrist to surrender my life to him, my language changed) .o, when 7 write about forgi eness 7 will not and do not spea! the language of the secular world, but of the !ingdom of God) 7t is interesting that it too! me this long to begin to learn that my language is not the same) 7t is an acceptance of this language and its8 culture that caused me to forgi e and mo e on from the hurt, pain, torment, depression and anger, of unE forgi eness) .o my definition of forgi eness may seem unorthodo, to you, if you are not of my culture, but hold on, there is good stuff up ahead that will change your life if you are willing to !eep an open mind and heart)

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"H(2T6+ ' The Word is our example 3id you !now that all the things that happened in the Word of God IBibleJ ha e been gi en to us for an e,ample> The Bible offers many things: the sal ation message, historical record, strength, insight into the future and into oursel es IHeb) K:&$J and much more, but the biggest thing that 7 ha e found is that it gi es us understanding of how to o ercome obstacles8 in life I$ Tim) ':&AL $ 2et) &:'J) $ Tim) ':&A /01 says:
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(ll scripture is gi en by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: $ 2et) &:' says:
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(ccording as his di ine power hath gi en unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the !nowledge of him that hath called us to glory and irtue: The most epic tale of o ercoming obstacles8, to me, in the Bible, is the story of the "hildren of 7srael8s e,it from 6gypt and theyMre Bourney to the 2romised :andEE "anaan) 7n order to come out they needed to ma!e a decision to obey God) *ot only so, but they needed to recogniCe that God was

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able to do it! These people spent K%% years in 6gypt) Generation, after generation, they wor!ed, was mistreated, abused, ta!en ad antage of by their tas! masters) (fter ne er !nowing any of the initial generation that came to 6gypt, they had no idea what freedom loo!ed li!e for them) They didn8t understand nor couldn8t e en grasp the concept of truly being free of a culture that was not their own) They left 6gypt but they didn8t ta!e their minds with themL their world iew was tainted by 6gypt) We too, ha e been in the land of unEforgi eness for so many years: months, wee!s, maybe e en decades and we are tired! We ha e cried out hoping that a change would come) ;ore than li!ely we ha e used the cultures methods of remedying difficulties and long standing emotional issues, but ha e found its methods ineffecti e) +unning away from the captor of unE forgi eness didn8t wor!, because unEforgi eness would always come with its chariots and find us! 0ust li!e the "hildren of 7srael, you, Bust as 7 was, are desperate!!! 9r else, why did you pic! up this boo!> We ha e initially made the decision to come out of 6gypt, with our confession of sin, but now our faith in him needs built up, so he8s sent an e,ample to you of someone who has learned the formula to be free after a lifetime of bondage under the 2haraoh of -nEforgi enessL someone who has not arri ed, but understands the formula and uses it as a tool to combat it in her own life) 7 am confident, !nowing how God wor!s, that this is not the first nudge that he is gi en you to feel safe trusting him, but the methods of the culture loo! so promising) Gou8 e been promised that you will be better and will not suffer the torment of past pain that was inflicted on you) 7t promises to be your =go to?, default method that wor!s: you Bust ha e to spend

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years in therapy, reading boo!s, burning letters, tal!ing to chairs to get it!!! 0ust as God sent the plagues to not only show the 6gyptian all around that he is *9TH7*G T9 2:(G W7TH! He also sent these miracles to show the 7sraelites8, who only heard stories of God passed down from generation to generation, that he was more than an a childhood story character, but he was real! That he was capable of (*GTH7*G! This is why he would get so angry in the wilderness at them when they didn8t trust him but re erted to complaining that the other way was better! What miracles has he done for you> Gou may thin! that, that stellar Bob you ha e, sal ations in your family, healings you8 e encountered, life changing e ents that you8 e e,perienced, that only God could ha e gi en to you, was to show people the God you ser e is awesome, B-T his purpose was much more than you realiCe) .ome of it was to show G9-, that you could trust him with the things you hold close) He wants you to !now, by doing those miracles in your life, that he could do so much moreL so, he8s building your trust)

The List :et me tell you, periodically o er the course of years 7 ha e gone through e,treme financial problems) Being a single mother, at times 7 would find myself in challenging situations financially) The :ord led me to write a list of all the good things that he has done for me, when 7 was really feeling low) Guess what>

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7t wor!ed! Felt a hec! of a lot better and decided to teach my son to do it when he was little) We still do the list sometimes) -sually when one of them are feeling unhappy, depressed, or is Bust had a bad day at school) 7 do it too, because 7 am not immune to a down day) Ta!ing in entory of the past miracles of our li es needs to be done fre<uently, because you Bust may find that your faith is boosted by meditating on those thingsI2hilippians K:FJ) 7f you are than!ful it is absolutely impossible to be depressed! The de il is not going to try to hang around when you are than!ing the :ord) That ruins his party) 7f you don8t thin! that you ha e had enough past to put together a miracle I7 say this to younger readersJ, thin! about the fact that you were born and you are ali e and you belong and can belong to God! Hec!, the fact that you are here 7. a miracle! 7f you don8t feel li!e you ha e a lot to than! the :ord for, than! him for that) 3id you !now that your life is a precious thing> How many people die e ery day and are not ready or are lea ing prematurely) 3o you want to !now the miracles that the :ord has done that ha e gi en me the ability to trust him> 7 am a single mom! Ges, 7 am) 7Mm sure you are shoc!ed) 3on8t be, it is part of a greater Bourney that God has brought me through) 7Nm a child of di orce, single parent TW7"6!!! 7 can recogniCe the hand of God through miracle after miracle occurring in my life: 7 was rescued from death, !ept from suicidal ideas, o ercame depression with his help, the lo ed ones in my life, are lo ing, intelligent, imperfect but God fearing children, am clothed, fed, and ha e a roof o er my headEEGod is good! How can 7 not

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trust him> But 7 didn8t trust him in the area of forgi eness) .o, 7 trusted what 7 !new to help me be free of my torment) 7 !new 2hil 3onahue as a tiny ti!e and 9prah into my adulthood) They told me that counseling, burning letters, tal!ing to chairs, forgi ing as an act of my will was how to be completely free from unEforgi eness) /eep in mind that my list is not in any way e,hausti e! Gou !now what 7 found> That at the end of listening to the culture, 7 ended up in Bust as much, if not more bondage then when 7 first was offended) But !now 7 had a new oppressorEE confusion! "onfusion came to assist in my mental torture, because 7 thought all those methods would wor!! Gou may thin! torment and torture are strong words, unless you ha e actually are gone through it) -ltimately, fear resulted when the :ord re ealed to me that 7 needed to forgi e or 7 would not go to hea en) *ow 7 !now that some of you are about to put this boo! down because 7 said that, but 7 will boldly say that the Bible doesn8t mince words about where you will stand with God if you don8t forgi e) :ets8 loo! at the words of 0esus "hrist:

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Then came 2eter to him, and said, :ord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and 7 forgi e him> till se en times> $$ 0esus saith unto him, 7 say not unto thee, -ntil se en times: but, -ntil se enty times se en) $' Therefore is the !ingdom of hea en li!ened unto a certain !ing, which would ta!e account of his ser ants) $K (nd when he had begun to rec!on, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents) $5 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made) $A The ser ant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, :ord, ha e patience with me, and 7 will

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pay thee all) $D Then the lord of that ser ant was mo ed with compassion, and loosed him, and forga e him the debt) $F But the same ser ant went out, and found one of his fellowser ants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and too! him by the throat, saying, 2ay me that thou owest) $H (nd his fellowser ant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Ha e patience with me, and 7 will pay thee all) '% (nd he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt) '& .o when his fellowser ants saw what was done, they were ery sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done) '$ Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, 9 thou wic!ed ser ant, 7 forga e thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: '' .houldest not thou also ha e had compassion on thy fellowser ant, e en as 7 had pity on thee> 'K (nd his lord was wroth, and deli ered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him) '5 .o li!ewise shall my hea enly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgi e not e ery one his brother their trespasses I;att) &F:$&E'5J)

Hell is a literal place in which one is separated for eternity from the lord) We don8t want to be wrong on this) 3espite my lo e for God 7 had tremendous unEforgi eness and !nowing the scriptures 7 was ery aware that 7 needed to forgi e! That is when the fear of God gripped me) 2ro ) &A:A says:
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By mercy and truth ini<uity is purged: and by the fear of the :ord men depart from e il) The fear of the :ord led me into desperation and e en a little anger, because how to forgi e, to me, was confusing! 7 felt as though 7 was careening down a hill without brea!s! 7

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was aware that my eternal mortality was at sta!e) ;at) A:&KE&5 says: &K For if ye forgi e men their trespasses, your hea enly Father will also forgi e you: &5 But if ye forgi e not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgi e your trespasses) This is the position that the :ord had to get me to, because it was then that 7 cried out to him li!e the children of 7srael! :i!e the 7sraelites8 in 6,) &K:&%E&$, when they were being chased by 2haraoh, 7 said =why am 7 going through this, you want me to forgi e Icome out of 6gyptJ, but 7 don8t !now how Ithe 6gyptians are after meJ and 78m going to end up in hell and it8s *9T F(7+!!!? That is how 7 felt, because 7 could not rip those feeling out of my heart! 7, also, !new that my days were numbered and 7 didn8t want death to catch me li!e that) The reason why my mortality and my heart condition concerned me, is because the Holy .pirit made it so and 7 was taught to always be ready I;att) $K:KKL :u!e &$:K%JL 7 ta!e that seriously! 7 was o ercome with frustration and 7 was willing to do anything to get an answer, my prayer time would consist of a &% minutes pray when 7 could remember, 7 !new that 7 needed to pull out all the stops, so 7 went on a consecration) The :ord e entually ga e me an answer, that changed my entire life!

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"H(2T6+ K Nearing the destination The 7sraelites near their destination: after seeing se en miraculous feats of God, recei ing untold riches for the later construction and furnishings of the tabernacle from frightened former abusi e captures who felt it was their duty to ensla e them, being led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, fed by manna each morning directly from hea en, and recei ing the law by God8s personal hand, they sent all the heads of the tribes into the land to chec! it out and bring bac! a report) *um) &':&E$& says: &' (nd the :ord spa!e unto ;oses, saying, $ .end thou men, that they may search the land of "anaan, which 7 gi e unto the children of 7srael: of e ery tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, e ery one a ruler among them) ' (nd ;oses by the commandment of the :ord sent them from the wilderness of 2aran: all those men were heads of the children of 7srael) K (nd these were their names: of the tribe of +euben, .hammua the son of Oaccur) 5 9f the tribe of .imeon, .haphat the son of Hori) A 9f the tribe of 0udah, "aleb the son of 0ephunneh) D 9f the tribe of 7ssachar, 7gal the son of 0oseph) F 9f the tribe of 6phraim, 9shea the son of *un) H 9f the tribe of BenBamin, 2alti the son of +aphu) &% 9f the tribe of Oebulun, Gaddiel the son of .odi) && 9f the tribe of 0oseph, namely, of the tribe of ;anasseh, Gaddi the son of .usi) &$ 9f the tribe of 3an, (mmiel the son of Gemalli) &' 9f the tribe of (sher, .ethur the son of ;ichael) &K 9f the tribe of *aphtali, *ahbi the son of 1ophsi) &5 9f the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of ;achi) &A These are the names of the men which ;oses sent to spy out the land) (nd ;oses called 9shea the son of *un 0ehoshua) &D (nd ;oses sent

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them to spy out the land of "anaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: &F (nd see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or wea!, few or manyL &H (nd what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or badL and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holdsL $% (nd what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not) (nd be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land) *ow the time was the time of the firstripe grapes) $& .o they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Oin unto +ehob, as men come to Hamath) These men returned with an awesome report of the :and, its beauty and abundance) They made the 7sraelites amaCed at their reports of the siCe of the fruits, e en bringing an e,ample of grapes that were so large they had to be transported from their desired land to the their camp site by using poles) They brought the grapes bac! because ;oses directed them, along with pomegranates and figs I*um) &':$'J, that appeared to not con ince them that this was, indeed Gods plan, because the ne,t thing out of their mouth ma!es their iew of the situation in "anaan clear) The walls were bigL the people strong and worse of all there were giants! *um) &':$AE'' says:
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(nd they went and came to ;oses, and to (aron, and to all the congregation of the children of 7srael, unto the wilderness of 2aran, to /adeshL and brought bac! word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land) $D (nd they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with mil! and honeyL and this is the fruit of it) $F *e ertheless the people be

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strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and ery great: and moreo er we saw the children of (na! there) $H The (male!ites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the 0ebusites, and the (morites, dwell in the mountains: and the "anaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of 0ordan) '% (nd "aleb stilled the people before ;oses, and said, :et us go up at once, and possess itL for we are well able to o ercome it) '& But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the peopleL for they are stronger than we) '$ (nd they brought up an e il report of the land which they had searched unto the children of 7srael, saying, The land, through which we ha e gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereofL and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature) '' (nd there we saw the giants, the sons of (na!, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight) For them, that was a deal brea!er, e en though God showed them o er and o er by e,ample that he had power and giants were less than ants to him! Their walls were, but paper ;ache, and the people were no match for his strength) 7n short, they were more than con<uerors I+om) F:'DJ because, this God who drowned 2haraoh and 6gypt8s military host by parting the +ed .ea and closing them up in it, was on their side! God does big things .o, what are they tal!ing about> They had a military might of A%',55% men I*um) &:KAJ! They had plenty of practice in the wilderness) 2lus, God ga e them the land and caused them to become a great army that all the tribes around were afraid of I3eut) $:KL $F:&%J!

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They saw all of that, but yet, they doubted that he did big things) 7f he was able to do all of that, you would thin! that they would ha e begun, to see a pattern) God does big things: He ma!es uni erses, he ma!es planets, he ma!es natural systems that scientists go to school for years to understand and let8s not tal! about the human body! .cripture says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made> .tudents who want to become doctors go to four year institutions after preparing in high schools, then medical programs for another number of years and when they are finished they ha e to contend with residency) (fter all of that they gain more e,perience and when they are at the pinnacle of their career they open up a practice) The key word is P !"T#"$% 6 en then none will tell you they !now e erything, they will tell you, howe er, that they are still learning about the human body) 9ur bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made! How arrogant to belie e that a human can ha e more answers than the one who made them, but we belie e that) That mindset will !eep us in bondage! (s it is in medicine, it is in 2sychiatry, accept a psychiatrist must go to school of psychiatry (FT6+ thy toil in medical school) How long do you need to educate yourself before you !now it all: ten years, twenty years, fiftyEfi e years> The medical community says there are things that they, still, don8t !now about the human brain and body) Why> Because,

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they !now that the human system is complicated and they ha en8t, e en, scratched the surface, of understanding it) &aith The Hebrews were Gods chosen, B-T the first generation who !new only 6gypt and its world iew was destroyed in the wilderness, due to lac! of Faith I0ude &:5J) Their lac! of trust in God to bring them out of the situation after seeing all of those feats, put them in opposition to the :ord) 0ust to be clear, 0ames $:&KE$A says Pfaith without wor!s is deadP 0ames ma!es it clear, that Faith is incomplete when we put no action behind it) .o God directs us, through his word, to mo e in it) 7sa) 55:&& says:
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.o shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me oid, but it shall accomplish that which 7 please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto 7 sent it) Heb) &&:A says: A But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must belie e that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently see! him) Heb) &&:& says: && *ow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the e idence of things not seen) We can8t please him without faith IHeb) &&:AJ) We ;-.T understand what faith is so that we can be clear) Faith

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defined, is the substance of things hoped for and the e idence of things not scene IHeb) &&:&J) .o we hope that the substance is there that8s not seen with our human eyes and that same hope is the e idence that its material) That is what faith is! Faith is not a natural way of thin!ing for us, but it wouldn8t be, because it8s a supernatural! We are hoping for the things that we don8t see, that same hope is supernaturally inspired and if it is supernaturally inspired by God that means that it is something he truly wants to materialiCe in our li es for his glory) 2s) 'D:KE5 says:
K

3elight thyself also in the :ord: and he shall gi e thee the desires of thine heart)5 "ommit thy way unto the :ordL trust also in himL and he shall bring it to pass) "an we thin! of how we felt when we initially came to the :ord> We were happy and we too! delight in him and he put desires in our heart and directed our way) He directed us, as he continues to do, to complete wholeness) We may ha e had an issue with smo!ing, and then he ga e us the desire to put it away, after we re<uested his assistance, he deli ered us) We may ha e partied uncontrollably and when we turned our li es o er to him, or during the course of our wal!, he inspired a desire for us not to do it anymore, so we may ha e as!ed him to assist us in resisting the urge and Bust stopping and he did it! We might ha e had a dirty mouthL then we came to "hrist, that all changed, when we as!ed him to help us not curse anymore) These were desires that we had

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and he inspired, so he could do more in us) 7f we belong to the lord and desire to please him, there will be desires that he will inspire in our hearts) 7t is those desires that he wants to bring to pass in our li es, but we can tie his hands when we don8t trust him, by not totally committing e erything to him, especially our unEforgi eness to him) (, not so simple, e,ample of faith is our initial introduction into a personal relationship with 0esus "hrist) 7f 7 belie e that God can change my life and ma!e me new, it will not happen until 7 ta!e the, initial, step, in faith, and confess with my mouth and belie e in my heart that he has raised 0esus from the dead! We first ha e to humbly ta!e this step and then we can be sa ed) +om) &%:H says:
H

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the :ord 0esus, and shalt belie e in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be sa ed) .al ation only happens in the li es of those who ta!e the initial step) 0ust as we did, when we first belie ed on him he wants us to do now, but we can8t please him or see anything from him without faith in action to see it come to past) Heb) &&:A says:
A

But without faith it is impossible to please Him) For he that cometh to God must belie e that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently see! Him) .ee, the reason that we are not seeing an authentic bra!e

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through in this area, is because, Bust li!e the children of 7srael we don8t truly belie e he is able to bring us all the way out and into the :and that he has promised) 7f we want to get to the promise we must be Bust as "aleb the son of 0ephunneh, who was of the original generation that made it into the land of "anaan, because, as the God of the -ni erse said, he had another spirit) (ll those who doubted that they could not ta!e the :and ended up dying in the wilderness! We ne er see authentic forgi eness in its truest form, because we are ignorant of Gods methods or don8t belie e that he 7. able, to bring us out and into the land promised) "aleb belie ed that 0esus was the God who brought him through the red sea so he was, in his estimation, able to gi e them the land! *um) &K:$DE'D says:
$D

How long shall 7 bear with this e il congregation, which murmur against me> 7 ha e heard the murmurings of the children of 7srael, which they murmur against me) $F .ay unto them, (s truly as 7 li e, saith the :ord, as ye ha e spo!en in mine ears, so will 7 do to you: $H Gour carcases shall fall in this wildernessL and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which ha e murmured against me) '% 3oubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which 7 sware to ma!e you dwell therein, sa e "aleb the son of 0ephunneh, and 0oshua the son of *un) '& But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will 7 bring in, and they shall !now the land which ye ha e despised) '$ But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness) '' (nd your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness) 'K (fter the number of the days in which ye searched the land, e en forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your ini<uities, e en forty years, and ye

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shall !now my breach of promise) '5 7 the :ord ha e said, 7 will surely do it unto all this e il congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die) 'A (nd the men, which ;oses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 'D 6 en those men that did bring up the e il report upon the land, died by the plague before the :ord) We become Bust as those who were of the original generation, who ended up ne er seeing a land that God promised with his words to them and ne er ended up dwelling in a land without being capti e or !nowing what it is, to e,perience an e,istence that was not connected to the past)

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"H(2T6+ 5 The many lessons of 'acob 0acob8s life rendered rich stories of forgi eness, and in each one there were many lessons) 'acob(s uncle) Laban 0acob came to !now him as boss and the man who would present him with a raw deal) 0acob would come to !now what it felt li!e to be on the recei ing end of offense, because :aban ended up ta!ing 0acob through the wringer) .o, 0acob mo ed to his uncle8s house, after helping his mother, who, by the way, happened to be the sister of :aban and tric!ed 6sau, 0acob8s twin brother, out of his blessing! When 0acob gets to his destination he meets +achel, :aban8s youngest daughter, and falls head o er heels in lo e with her) 0acob and :aban enter into an agreement, in which 0acob wor!s for :aban for a period of se en years and then would be rewarded with +achel) 0acob fulfills his end of the contract only to ha e :aban, perform a =bait and switch?) For those who don8t !now what a =bait and switch? is, 7 will e,plain) 7t8s when a business ad ertises a certain product for a great sales price, only to ha e an inferior or higher priced product in stoc! for purchase on the actual day of sale) They may ha e ery few ad ertised products, so that they can sale their other,

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more e,pensi e, or inferior products when the ad ertised product <uic!ly runs out on the day of sale or not ha e the product in stoc!, at all! .o, :aban would promise +achel, only to gi e him :eah, the older less attracti e sister) Which hear!ens bac! to when 0acob preformed a bait and switch, with the help of his mom on his father 7saac, for 6sau8s blessing IGenesis $D:&E''J) 0acob grew to be <uite upset when he wo!e up to see :eah, the other, not so, attracti e sister, lying ne,t to him! 0acob didn8t particularly li!e being on the recei ing end of a bad deal! He burned with fury, as :aban told him, matter of factly, that it was not customary to gi e the youngest daughter in marriage before the oldest) .o, 0acob ser ed for another se en years and another si, years for his cattle, in the mean time he increased with material) 0acob left with all he belie ed was his and :aban came after him and they e entually came to a resolution, but the real story lye in 0acob8s reconciliation with his brother, of whom he stole the birthright and blessing of the elder child) The most important lesson he learned, while at :aban8s, was how to treat others) The Bible ma!es clear how we must treat people) We ought to treat people the way we would want to be treated) We can learn how *9T to treat other, by the maltreatment we recei e! :u!e A:$DE'F says:
$D

But 7 say unto you which hear, :o e your enemies, do good to them which hate you, $F Bless them that curse you, and pray for

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them which despitefully use you) $H (nd unto him that smiteth thee on the one chee! offer also the otherL and him that ta!eth away thy cloa! forbid not to ta!e thy coat also) '% Gi e to e ery man that as!eth of theeL and of him that ta!eth away thy goods as! them not again) '& (nd as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them li!ewise) '$ For if ye lo e them which lo e you, what than! ha e ye> for sinners also lo e those that lo e them) '' (nd if ye do good to them which do good to you, what than! ha e ye> for sinners also do e en the same) 'K (nd if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to recei e, what than! ha e ye> for sinners also lend to sinners, to recei e as much again) '5 But lo e ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing againL and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is !ind unto the unthan!ful and to the e il) 'A Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful) 'D 0udge not, and ye shall not be Budged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgi e, and ye shall be forgi en: 'F Gi e, and it shall be gi en unto youL good measure, pressed down, and sha!en together, and running o er, shall men gi e into your bosom) For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again)

& "or) &' says: &' Though 7 spea! with the tongues of men and of angels, and ha e not charity, 7 am become as sounding brass, or a tin!ling cymbal) $ (nd though 7 ha e the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all !nowledgeL and though 7 ha e all faith, so that 7 could remo e mountains, and ha e not charity, 7 am nothing) ' (nd though 7 bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though 7 gi e my body to be burned, and ha e not charity, it profiteth me nothing) K "harity suffereth long, and is !indL charity en ieth notL charity aunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 3oth not beha e itself unseemly, see!eth not her own, is not easily pro o!ed, thin!eth no e ilL

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+eBoiceth not in ini<uity, but reBoiceth in the truthL D Beareth all things, belie eth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things) F "harity ne er faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall failL whether there be tongues, they shall ceaseL whether there be !nowledge, it shall anish away) H For we !now in part, and we prophesy in part) &% But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away) && When 7 was a child, 7 spa!e as a child, 7 understood as a child, 7 thought as a child: but when 7 became a man, 7 put away childish things) &$ For now we see through a glass, dar!lyL but then face to face: now 7 !now in partL but then shall 7 !now e en as also 7 am !nown) &' (nd now abideth faith, hope, charity, these threeL but the greatest of these is charity) 0acob learn this lesson well, because by the time he went home, he understood what he8d done) 7n full repentance of the past, he returned baring gifts, being afraid that his brother would !ill him) 7nstead of bloodshed, God orchestrated reconciliation) Gou may ha e gone through some things, <uite similar to this and wonder if there is a point> God wants to bring your relationships full circle, Bust as 0acob learned dependence on God for protection and guidanceEEhe wants to teach you how to relate with those who ha e wronged you) He wants to heal those relationships) Before this 0acob seemed to ha e no clue to the confusion he produced by his antics) 6 en though, we, as readers, tend to see it as Gods hand, and 7 agree, we need to recogniCe, the :ord does not delight in tric!s, he intended to wor! some things out of 0acob, because God ordained him to be in the position he ended in) God !nows the end from the beginning)

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God didn8t want us to go through those thingsL though, there was a goal) (s 0oseph, 0acob8s son, told his brothers:
$%

But as for you, ye thought e il against meL but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to sa e much people ali e IGen) 5% :$%J) God8s plan is big, huge, and powerful) He draws upon all of the things we go through, for the purpose of other people we ha e ne er met) (ll of the things 6sau and 0acob went through brought about a purpose that8s helped many who read their story) *ur walk is relational God is all about relationships) He wants us to ha e healthy thri ing connections based on his lo e and purity) 7t8s important to note in this story the power of reaping and sowing and how it ties into our personal spiritual growth) *ow, 0oseph did all of those things and he reaped the conse<uences) There are people who may read this boo! and ha e reaped some things they8 e sewn) 3on8t li e in denial, be honest with yourself! There8s no one here to Budge you) 7t8s Bust you, God, and this boo!) .o, as! the :ord to show you and be honest with yourself) 3on8t hide! 2eople ha e blind spots) 0acob possessed them) 7f you happen to be one of those people, the :ord, in his so ereign mercy, want you to be aware of it, as you go through the process of forgi eness) 7t8s easy to not understand the depth of our blind spots, but as 7 mentioned before, this can be why offensi e situations ha e come about in some of our li es) Gal) A:DEH says:

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Be not decei edL God is not moc!ed: for whatsoe er a man soweth, that shall he also reap) F For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruptionL but he that soweth to the .pirit shall of the .pirit reap life e erlasting) H (nd let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not) 9nce we ha e been made aware of our blind spots we will want to begin to mend those relationships with the guidance of the Holy .pirit) They might be an old relationship with a friend, which went sour, because of our coldness to their feelings, or it may be a number of thingsEEGod !nows) 7f you don8t !now as! him!

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"H(2T6+ A The story of 'oseph (nother notable story of forgi eness is the story of 0osephL 0acob8s fa ored son) 0oseph was betrayed by his brothers) Their anger and Bealousy against 0oseph for his fa ored position dro e them to hurt 0oseph and their father deeply) 0oseph was a teenager, who happened to be the son of +achel, who was the fa orite wife of 0acob, his father) The history of these relationships in conte,t of his mother8s ri alries with his older brothers8 mothers e,tends way before the birth of 0oseph and all of his brothers, but were <uite significant) Gen) $H:'%E'5 /01 says:
'%

(nd he went in also unto +achel, and he lo ed also +achel more than :eah, and ser ed with him yet se en other years) '& (nd when the :ord saw that :eah was hated, he opened her womb: but +achel was barren) '$ (nd :eah concei ed, and bare a son, and she called his name +euben: for she said, .urely the :ord hath loo!ed upon my afflictionL now therefore my husband will lo e me) '' (nd she concei ed again, and bare a sonL and said, Because the :ord hath heard 7 was hated, he hath therefore gi en me this son also: and she called his name .imeon) 'K (nd she concei ed again, and bare a sonL and said, *ow this time will my husband be Boined unto me, because 7 ha e born him three sons: therefore was his name called :e i) '5 (nd she concei ed again, and bare a son: and she said, *ow will 7 praise the :ord: therefore she called his name 0udahL and left bearing)

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Gen) '%:&E$5 says: '% (nd when +achel saw that she bare 0acob no children, +achel en ied her sisterL and said unto 0acob, Gi e me children, or else 7 die) $ (nd 0acobMs anger was !indled against +achel: and he said, (m 7 in GodMs stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb> ' (nd she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto herL and she shall bear upon my !nees, that 7 may also ha e children by her) K (nd she ga e him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and 0acob went in unto her) 5 (nd Bilhah concei ed, and bare 0acob a son) A (nd +achel said, God hath Budged me, and hath also heard my oice, and hath gi en me a son: therefore called she his name 3an) D (nd Bilhah +achelMs maid concei ed again, and bare 0acob a second son) F (nd +achel said, With great wrestlings ha e 7 wrestled with my sister, and 7 ha e pre ailed: and she called his name *aphtali) H When :eah saw that she had left bearing, she too! Oilpah her maid, and ga e her 0acob to wife) &% (nd Oilpah :eahMs maid bare 0acob a son) && (nd :eah said, ( troop cometh: and she called his name Gad) &$ (nd Oilpah :eahMs maid bare 0acob a second son) &' (nd :eah said, Happy am 7, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name (sher) &K (nd +euben went in the days of wheat har est, and found mandra!es in the field, and brought them unto his mother :eah) Then +achel said to :eah, Gi e me, 7 pray thee, of thy sonMs mandra!es) &5 (nd she said unto her, 7s it a small matter that thou hast ta!en my husband> and wouldest thou ta!e away my sonMs mandra!es also> (nd +achel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy sonMs mandra!es) &A (nd 0acob came out of the field in the e ening, and :eah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto meL for surely 7 ha e hired thee with my sonMs mandra!es) (nd he lay with her that night) &D (nd God hear!ened unto :eah, and she concei ed, and bare 0acob the fifth son) &F (nd :eah said, God hath gi en me my hire, because

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7 ha e gi en my maiden to my husband: and she called his name 7ssachar) &H (nd :eah concei ed again, and bare 0acob the si,th son) $% (nd :eah said, God hath endued me with a good dowryL now will my husband dwell with me, because 7 ha e born him si, sons: and she called his name Oebulun) $& (nd afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name 3inah) $$ (nd God remembered +achel, and God hear!ened to her, and opened her womb) $' (nd she concei ed, and bare a sonL and said, God hath ta!en away my reproach: $K (nd she called his name 0osephL and said, The :ord shall add to me another son) $5 (nd it came to pass, when +achel had born 0oseph, that 0acob said unto :aban, .end me away, that 7 may go unto mine own place, and to my country) These relationships had to ha e tainted 0oseph8s older brothers8 iew of him) Their resentment was made worse, because 0oseph was also their father8s fa orite) .o, he was not Bust the fa ored son, but the son of +achel whom, :eah, didn8t li!e IGen '%:&KE&5J) "hildren can pic! up our attitudes toward people) Face it they li e with us, so they see it all) We may not spea! about a person, positi e or negati e, but our children will pic! up our attitudes) 7t is, also, important to note that we must loo! at the beha ior of the person who hurt us in light of their history) That doesn8t mean that they aren8t responsible for their action, but it helps when we !now the dynamics at wor! in their actions) When we pray for them, the :ord can, truly generate a deep compassion for them in us) .o many people are unaware of their condition and why they are the way that they are) Whether it is due to childhood abuse, life e,periences, demonic oppression, or Bust plain possessions of the enemy, many people go through life without a clue how they turned out the way they did)

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Gou see this in the unsa ed populations often) But as professing "hristians, our Bob is to pray for them and lo e them) We can only do that, by following the guidelines set forth in the Word of God) Let(s venture back to the story of 'oseph 9ne day 0oseph8s brothers conspired among themsel es to !ill him, but +euben, the oldest, stopped them) 7 belie e by the leading of God, whether he !new it or not) He persuaded them not to !ill 0oseph, so instead they sold 0oseph to a pac! of 7shmeelite IGen) 'D:$%E$$L Gen) 'D:$5E$DJ 0oseph could ha e let that stop him, but his continued in the things that God had for him to do) 78m confident that, that e,perience was, not only, hurtful, but <uite confusing to him) He may ha e felt anger about the situation, but he didn8t hold onto it) Though, 0oseph was a ictim he ended up growing from the e,perience) 7n the end he gained respect for the alue of his trip IGen) 5%:$%J) 0ust as "hrist learned obedience through the things he suffered IHeb) 5:FJ: 0oseph learned to be obedient to the :ord, he learned to trust God, he learned to act on Gods8 oice, he humbly learned to forgi e) The actual offense was not great, compared to the strength he gained as a result of his Bourney) He was able to endure more and more and see the alue in his e,periences) The :ord wrought much strength through those e,periences! *o, 78m not saying it was fair, nor do 7 want to diminish the pain of your offense, but it can become easier to forgi e him, her or them if you understand the fruit of the offense has brought

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much strength) Gou want to !eep in mindL the depth of your pain dictates how great the gain of strength will be in the end) To put it in clearer termsL the depth of pain determines the depth of the anointing that will be generated in the end) Gou8ll need to understand, some people do not glean anything from their e,periences) 7 guess they may not be ready, but, e en, they will come to the place where they are tired of the tapes and will step bac! and reflect on the gift God has presented them) The opportunity to forgi e and grow is a tremendous opportunity! We easily miss it, when we are in agony o er maltreatment, but if we can remember God hasn8t forgotten about us and will use the pain for his glory I$ "or) K:&DJ, ta!ing us to another le el of maturity in him and strength, we can go through it and submit to his call to pray for them and whate er he calls us to do to be completely free) $ "or) K:&D says:
&D

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, wor!eth for us a far more e,ceeding and eternal weight of gloryL $ "or) ':&F says:
&F

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the :ord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, e en as by the .pirit of the :ord) 7 !now there are many of you, who may not want hear this) But you will get sic! of the "3 player in your head, which rehearses the misdeeds) We don8t want to be capti e to unEforgi eness) Thin! of it this wayL while you are consumed by their treatment of you, they

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are, completely, unconsumed with it) These are things that the Holy .pirit let me !now) These people need prayer because despite their state and how ungodly it may be, God does not want them to see hell) & Tim) $: 'EK says:
' K

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our .a iourL Who will ha e all men to be sa ed, and to come unto the !nowledge of the truth) $ 2et) ':H says:
H

The :ord is not slac! concerning his promise, as some men count slac!nessL but is longsuffering to usEward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance) .o, we must be obedient to God on how to deal with them, on a spiritual le el) The most effecti e starting point will always be prayer) 7 remember, last year 7 listened to a radio show, while coo!ing a meal) The host in ited a guest) 7 do belie e this was on a "hristian tal! show, but cannot remember that) What 7 do remember, is the subBect and some of the things the guest said) The topic was, clearly, meant to mislead people, regarding something that could bring great harm to the area and has to other parts of the country) He mentioned some facts that 7 !new weren8t true, because 7 was abreast of the subBect) 7 said to myself, =that man is Ngonna ha e a special place in hell? and immediately, the :ord said =7 39 *9T W(*T (*G9*6 T9 G9 T9 H6::!? 7 repented right their! That was scary)

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7 say that, to further dri e home this point, G93 396. *9T W(*T G9-+ 26+26T+(T9+ T9 G9 T9 H6::! We must pray for these people! 7f you do not come away with anything from this boo!, 7 want you to !now that God has called us to compassion and not engeance! +e enge is his Bob) +om) &$:&H says:
&H

3early belo ed, a enge not yoursel es, but rather gi e place unto wrath: for it is written, 1engeance is mineL 7 will repay, saith the :ord) He will ta!e care of that, but he wants our position to reflect himL that can only happen through the wor! of the Holy Ghost) He can generate that lo e and compassion in us) We Bust don8t want to be caught in the sin of condemning people to hell when that is not what the sa ior of our e il souls has called us to do) +om) ':$'E$A
$' $K

For all ha e sinned, and come short of the glory of GodL Being Bustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in "hrist 0esus: $5 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of GodL $A To declare, 7 say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be Bust, and the Bustifier of him which belie eth in 0esus) (ll of us ha e sinned and come short of his glory of God, but than!s to God8s grace and mercy, we are washed by the blood of 0esus and aren8t going to hell! (fter he reprimanded me 7

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began to thin! that with a Budgment li!e mine 7 could ha e went myself! 7f God could change 2aul, who too! part in unspea!able (cts against the body of "hrist, and all those imperfect people in the Word of GodL he can, certainly, sa e and turn around the li es of the most egregious sinners) Hitler would not ha e been a hard case for The ;aster, if he submitted to him! The issue is not what they do with the :ords correction and leading, because our stance, as belie ing, /ingdom citiCens, must be to pray for them) The :ord wants us to stay in perfect peace and we can8t do that if we don8t !eep focused on him) 9ut of all of the steps that 7 will share with you about freedom from unEforgi eness in these pages, prayer is the =ground Cero? of forgi eness, period) 7sa) $A:' says:
'

Thou wilt !eep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee) We cannot be in peace thin!ing of their punishment and our engeance) God will handle it, !eep praying) 2ray until something happens: 2)-).)H)

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"H(2T6+ D &irst offenders+ !dam and $ve :et8s loo! at the first instance of forgi eness, which presents itself in Gen) &:$A, when the God of (:: "reation creates man out of the dust) By the end of Genesis "hapter $ God has gi en the earth to man to subdue it) God then sees the goodness of what he has done and is satisfied) He creates man in his own li!eness, and then gi es man a ocation and a beautiful wife) By chapter ' man is effecti ely fooled out his blessing by the de il: ' *ow the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the :ord God had made) (nd he said unto the woman, Gea, hath God said, Ge shall not eat of e ery tree of the garden> $ (nd the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: ' But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ge shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die) K (nd the serpent said unto the woman, Ge shall not surely die: 5 For God doth !now that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, !nowing good and e il) A (nd when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to ma!e one wise, she too! of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and ga e also unto her husband with herL and he did eat) D (nd the eyes of them both were opened, and they !new that they were na!edL and they sewed fig lea es together, and made themsel es aprons) F (nd they heard the oice of the :ord God wal!ing in the garden in the cool of the day: and (dam and his wife hid themsel es from the presence of the :ord God amongst the trees of the garden) H (nd the :ord God called unto (dam, and said unto him, Where art thou> &% (nd he said, 7 heard thy oice in the garden, and 7 was afraid, because 7 was na!edL and 7 hid myself) && (nd he said, Who told thee that thou wast na!ed> Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof 7 commanded thee

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that thou shouldest not eat> &$ (nd the man said, The woman whom thou ga est to be with me, she ga e me of the tree, and 7 did eat) &' (nd the :ord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done> (nd the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and 7 did eat) &K (nd the :ord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed abo e all cattle, and abo e e ery beast of the fieldL upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: &5 (nd 7 will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seedL it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel) &A -nto the woman he said, 7 will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conceptionL in sorrow thou shalt bring forth childrenL and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule o er thee) &D (nd unto (dam he said, Because thou hast hear!ened unto the oice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which 7 commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sa!eL in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy lifeL &F Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to theeL and thou shalt eat the herb of the fieldL &H 7n the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the groundL for out of it wast thou ta!en: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return) $% (nd (dam called his wifeMs name 6 eL because she was the mother of all li ing) $& -nto (dam also and to his wife did the :ord God ma!e coats of s!ins, and clothed them) $$ (nd the :ord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to !now good and e il: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and ta!e also of the tree of life, and eat, and li e for e er: $' Therefore the :ord God sent him forth from the garden of 6den, to till the ground from whence he was ta!en) $K .o he dro e out the manL and he placed at the east of the garden of 6den "herubims, and a flaming sword which turned e ery way, to !eep the way of the tree of life IGen) ':&E$K /01J) 2oor (damL !ic!ed out the garden and has to till the ground where before he didn8t) He had it good: a wonderful wife, no ground to till, no worries about how to feed the screaming !ids,

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and no troubles with the boss) -nfortunately, for him, that all changed, because of disobedience and eating from a certain tree that was forbidden) 6 e8s choice causes women to ha e painful childbearing and other woes) ,engeful God stereotype vs &orgiving God reality 7t8s important to highlight, that despite the bad rap the :ord has gotten, because of the things that went on in the 9ld Testament, as the engeful God, the truth is he didn8t stri!e (dam and his wife dead and start all o er) He still ga e (dam a chance I:u!e A:'5J) 9 er and o er again, he ga e man a chance! He still does, loo! at the times we deser ed annihilation) :u!e A:'5 says:
'5

But lo e ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing againL and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is !ind unto the unthan!ful and to the e il) *um) &K:&F says: &F The :ord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgi ing ini<uity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, isiting the ini<uity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation) 7f you8 e read the story, then you will !now he had to ma!e sure that they were out the garden for safety reasons, not because he was being engeful! He specifically says that if man ta!es the tree of life after eating of the tree of good and e il, then from the tree of life, e il man, in all his rebellion, would li e fore er IGen) ':$$J! What a mess that would ha e been! .o the :ord put a stop to that by remo ing them from the tree of life8s icinity)

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The :ord still too! care of (dam and his wife, he didn8t cut them off) He made them clothes and they were permitted to lea e without harm) He forga e them, though there were repercussions to their disobedience IGen) ':&KE&HJ) The Bible says He is slow to anger and of great mercy I*um) &K:&FJ) 6,od) 'K:A says:
A

(nd the :ord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The :ord, The :ord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, We see in the *ew Testament in ;at) &F:$&E$', where 0esus states that when we are offended we must forgi e se en times se en) The thing is the :ord has led us by e,ampleL he ne er, anywhere in the Word of God, ga e a direction and not followed it himself) He forga e o er and o er and o er again) 7t too! hundreds of years before he would destroy a town, city, etc) 7 thin! of the e,amples of the father that 7 had and he was the opposite of who God is, and li!e a lot of people we mista!enly put these e,amples on God) 3on8t you !now that our earthly fathers are only e,amples of or Hea enly father> God is consistent, unli!e the e,amples we ha e !nown, whether your father was there or not, your earthly father did the best he could with the humanity he possessed, he was bound to get it wrong sometime e en if he was the picture of what a father should ha e been, but we must be aware that God lo es us and ta!es offense after offense from us, and so he is the perfect e,ample to follow when it comes to forgi eness) .o 7 belie e and !now, from e,perience, that in order to effecti ely forgi e we must loo! at Gods e,ample e ery time, because his response to our offenses toward him is an effecti e formula to understanding, practically, how to forgi e others)

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Gou must !now that 7 am not writing this boo! for the sa!e of writing a boo! about forgi eness, but because of the e olution of thin!ing that 7 ha e e,perienced o er a number of years) 7 told you how my e olution began, but didn8t tell you what it was) Well, what 7 am about to share with you, out of the Word of God, is so re olutionary, that it has not been ta!en seriously by many "hristians, who see it as a high ideal and not an effecti e method) When 7 put this formula to use, 7 immediate saw results after years of entrenched unEforgi eness, that effected e ery facet of my life) *ow, 7 cannot promise you that you will be instantly free of this thing within the full second of putting it to wor!L but then, 7 can8t say that, it won8t happen either! 7 began to see a difference within moments of doing it! 7 will say, though, that you will see a change in a small span of time and healing begins immediately, if you will trust Gods Word) 7 can promise you that! What is this re olutionary thing that 7 did that made the change> (pplying the Word of God! (pplying :u!e A:'5 and ;at) 5:KK) :u!e A:'5 says:
'5

But lo e ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing againL and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is !ind unto the unthan!ful and to the e il) ;at) 5:KK says:
KK

But 7 say unto you, :o e your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which

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despitefully use you, and persecute youL These two scriptures, by themsel es, are so re olutionary and so powerful, that most of us don8t regard them, but, as something in the Word of God that we wish and pray we could li e up to) 7 thin! our mindset must change in regarding the Word of God) 7t is, indeed, a manual for life) 7t is *9T a high ideal! We as a body of belie ers say that it8s a manual for life or use other names to indicate how important it is, a lot) -o we really believe what is in there. 78m a Bible scholar) 7 lo e the Word, but there ha e been things 7 would study and would thin! that 7 belie ed, but didn8t ha e enough trust in my spirit to put them to practice 7* F(7TH) Ges, faith!!!! Faith is the !ey, because until 7 said :ord nothing has wor!ed and it has been years since 7 ha e learned that 7 was wal!ing in this bondage to unEforgi eness, what is up, :ord, and loo!ed in the Word as a child see!ing answers) *ot an adult who !nows it all, as 7 would do at time, did 7 see freedom)

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"H(2T6+ F &irst) humble yourself The Bible says in ;ar! &%:&K let the children come to me and don8t stop them because such is the !ingdom of God I;ar! &%:&KL :u!e &F:&AL ;att) &H:&K J) 7 had to humbly loo! at the Word in another light as the ultimate answer to my issue and not one of a few or many answers) 2sychology was an option for me) The :ord let me fall on my face with that, and then he gently nudged me toward His Word) 7t Bust was my choice to humbly trust that what he said was absolutely, without a doubt, the answer 7 needed and then implement it by faith) ;ar! &%:&'E&5 says:
&'

(nd they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebu!ed those that brought them) &K But when 0esus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, .uffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the !ingdom of God) &5 1erily 7 say unto you, Whosoe er shall not recei e the !ingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein) :u!e &F:&5E&D says:
&5

(nd they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebu!ed them) &A But 0esus called them unto him, and said, .uffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the !ingdom of God) &D 1erily 7 say unto you, Whosoe er shall not recei e the !ingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein) ;at) &H:&'E&K says:

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Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebu!ed them) &K But 0esus said, .uffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the !ingdom of hea en) "hildren are un<uestioning) They don8t ha e doubt about the things you tell them if you are a parent, you !now this) The trust they ha e is incredibly sweet) 7 told my daughter) =;ommy is <uitting her Bob and writing a boo!)? Gou !now what she did!!!! .he said, =o!ay)? .he was not critical) .he didn8t say you can8t do that, in doubt) 9r, God didn8t tell you to do that! .he thought it was cool and that was that! .he was happy, because we could spend time together) Her ne,t <uestion was what to ha e for a snac!) God is loo!ing to ta!e us there, actually he wants us to go there and be there when we are in his Word, because, we can8t e en get into the gate of the /ingdom without a child8s mentality) What is the /ingdom. (ccording to +om)&K:&D it is righteousness, peace and Boy in the Holy Ghost!!! +om) &K:&D says:
&D

For the !ingdom of God is not meat and drin!L but righteousness, and peace, and Boy in the Holy Ghost) Gou can8t put a price on peace and BoyL the rich !now this) There are billionaires that could ha e anything they desired, but they do not ha e peace) How do 7 !now this> The Bible spea!s of this) 2s) 'D:&A say:
&A

( little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wic!ed)

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7 Tim) A:A says:

A

But godliness with contentment is great gain)

We can ac<uire more money, !nowledge about how to be happy and learn how to be at peace with oursel es in boo!s, wrap oursel es in religion, and get tons of education, anything we can name that the world says will ma!e us happy, but according to the Word of God if you don8t come to the :ord as a child you will not ha e peace) We can use cultural remedies, but they are not effecti e and you can see them not wor!ing, in your daily li ing, thought patterns, relationships, emotional issues if you are honest and self e,amine) .elf e,amination is a good thing) $ "or) &':5 says to e,amine oursel es to see if we be in the faith) (lso, humbly approaching the Word of God and e,amining oursel es, when we get into the Word, is so important) When you do, there may be something within you that resists doing it! This is because there is power in that boo!! ( man or woman of God who is free is a dangerous thing to the enemy! He is trying to ta!e us down as <uic!ly as he can, because he !nows his time is short) He will do anything to !eep you from being a threat to his !ingdom!

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"H(2T6+ H 0econd) looking at the Word as a manual 7n school, 7 learned to loo! at instructions as pieces instead of a whole) That ser ed me well in college) 7t ser ed me well enough to get through it) 7 was not a perfect student) (fter being sic! and tired of playing the H3 ideo in my head of the offenses of people and feeling the usual ictim, angry, defeated, frustrated and pretty close to doing something drastic, 7 decided to loo! closer in the Word of God and tried a different approach) 7 !now that decision was moti ated by the Holy Ghost, because, as 7 said before, the :ord inspires our desires) 7t was not li!e 7 was not in the Word of God at all in the past) 7 was, but 7 wanted an answer in the Word of God that fit my understanding, made sense to me, an easy solution that didn8t re<uire humility to wal! out) 7 wanted to see what 7 wanted to see in the Word instead of Bust ta!ing it for what it said) The answer 7 got the day 7 pic! up the Bible in $%%H was something that 7 had scene and read since childhood) .ince when 7 first began to learn to read, then read it for myself) 7t was so simple to me that 7 didn8t gi e it credibility, because it seemed so elementary! This was something 7 learned about as a child, but when 7 thought about it, 7 realiCed that 7 hadn8t really implemented it) .ome, of it was so out there, that 7 didn8t W(*T to implement it) 7 thought 7 would be stepped on and reE ictimiCed, but really my pride almost stopped me from ha ing a life changing e,perience! ;y pride had gotten in the way in the past and was about to get in the way once more, but 7 decided to humble myself and loo!) *o fire wor!s or big ball of light, but what awaited me was a life changing e,perience that caused me to enter a new le el of freedom that 7 had ne er !nown in this regard) *ot only so, but

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what 7 am relaying to you in this boo! is a tool to help you o ercome offenses that W7:: "9;6! ;att) &F:D says:
D

Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences comeL but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! :u!e &D:& says: &D Then said he unto the disciples, 7t is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! Then, ;att) $K:&%E&$ says in regard to the time we li e in now:
&%

(nd then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another) && (nd many false prophets shall rise, and shall decei e many) &$ (nd because ini<uity shall abound, the lo e of many shall wa, cold) The Bible says that offenses will come, but we must be adept at forgi eness) 9ne of the reasons this boo! is, e en, being written is that most of us do not !now how to fully forgi e) 7t creates a feeling of helplessness for most of us, but as the Word of God says, the :ord ga e all that was written in it for instructionEEamong other things I$ Tim) ':&DJ) Why not follow the guidelines set forth within its pages and find true freedom that is emotion deep, not Bust empty actions that do not lead to a heart change from the :ord> 7n school, when you were faced with an assignment you loo!ed at the instructions) For e,ample, in the first grade your instructions for a math assignment were written on the top of the sheet) 7t may ha e said =+ead the word problem and answer the <uestions then show your wor!? .o, you first read, then answered, and showed your wor!, by wor!ing out the

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problem on the actual sheet) 7f you didn8t !now what =show your wor!? meant you would as! the teacher to e,plain, what she or he meant by that) The teacher would e,plain) .o, we had <uestions that we needed to systematically brea! up into smaller parts so that we could be successful at the assignment and if we had a <uestion we as!ed) That is the same way that we must iew the Word of God) We must loo! at it in terms of a manual) 7 am, certainly, not ta!ing away from its importance in saying that) (bsolutely not, we must be respectful of it, but we must loo! at it, when we study as a manual gi en to us from God for li ing) We must loo! at it as the manual that it is! $ Tim) ':&AE&D says:
&A

(ll scripture is gi en by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: &D That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good wor!s) +om) &5:K says:
K

For whatsoe er things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might ha e hope) & 2et) $:$& says:
$&

For e en hereunto were ye called: because "hrist also suffered for us, lea ing us an e,ample, that ye should follow his steps: 7f we had any <uestions about the instructions, we would as! the teacher) "on ersely, as belie ers we ha e the Holy Ghost and he is our teacher, so we must as! him when we do not understand something in the manual)

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0ohn &K:$A says:

$A

But the "omforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoe er 7 ha e said unto you) & 0ohn $:$D says:
$D

But the anointing which ye ha e recei ed of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and e en as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him) The Holy Ghost, who is God, is there to answer <uestions, so we need to as! away! This is what the :ord wants us to do) 7nstead of getting other people interpretation of the manual we must as! the Holy .pirit, because he is ultimately the one who wrote it)

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"H(2T6+ &% Third) the instruction (fter years of unsuccessful attempts at forgi ing as an act of my will power, 7 decided to forgi e with 0esus8s power instead) 7 decided that 7 would do best, loo!ing closer at :u!e A: '5 and ;att) 5:KK in conte,t) :u!e A:$FE'5 says:
$F

Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you) $H (nd unto him that smiteth thee on the one chee! offer also the otherL and him that ta!eth away thy cloa! forbid not to ta!e thy coat also) '% Gi e to e ery man that as!eth of theeL and of him that ta!eth away thy goods as! them not again) '& (nd as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them li!ewise) '$ For if ye lo e them which lo e you, what than! ha e ye> for sinners also lo e those that lo e them) '' (nd if ye do good to them which do good to you, what than! ha e ye> for sinners also do e en the same) 'K (nd if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to recei e, what than! ha e ye> for sinners also lend to sinners, to recei e as much again) '5 But lo e ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing againL and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is !ind unto the unthan!ful and to the e il) ;att) 5:'FEKA says:
'F

Ge ha e heard that it hath been said, (n eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 'H But 7 say unto you, That ye resist not e il: but whosoe er shall smite thee on thy right chee!, turn to him the other also) K% (nd if any man will sue thee at the law, and ta!e away thy coat, let him ha e thy cloa! also) K& (nd whosoe er shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain)

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Gi e to him that as!eth thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away) K' Ge ha e heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt lo e thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy) KK But 7 say unto you, :o e your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute youL K5 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in hea en: for he ma!eth his sun to rise on the e il and on the good, and sendeth rain on the Bust and on the unBust) KA For if ye lo e them which lo e you, what reward ha e ye> do not e en the publicans the same> Love your enemies) do good to them which hate you When 7 became conscious of my feeling toward people in light of the Word of God, 7 had to reclassify the people who 7 held grudges against) The people who did things that were, in my mind, unforgi able: were not ac<uaintances, were not classified as enemies, and yet they would do things that friends wouldn8t do! Things were done that people who had my best interest in mind would not do) 7 had to be honest about my relationships! 7 say that not to bash anyone, but there is a greater purpose in being honest about our relationships with people) 7f a person is constantly mistreating you, not obser ing important boundaries, Bust has no <ualms about offending you in anyway, doesn8t respect you as a human being, mistreats you and causes offense after offense, we must recogniCe their beha ior, as the beha ior of that of an enemy) 7f their beha ior meets the criteria of an enemy, we must admit that they, indeed, are not our friends! They may be related to us by blood, are friends of the family, or people we ha e recogniCed as friends for years, but in all honesty, they are not our friends) That is a ery difficult truth to accept, because in many cases

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this will end in feelings of loss) 7 will agree with something that 7 learned in psychology that we are constantly running from pain) We will do anything we can, not to e,perience pain and loss, but at the point that we can admit that our friend or family member ha e not had our best interest at heart when they did what they did and were not our friend when they did it, is when we can mo e on to the ne,t step) The nature of hate ( much used slang term to describe those who ha e been Bealous of us, disli!e us or ha e not treated us well is =hater?, but, in truth, that is what anyone who mistreats a person without regard is) They are haters) *ow, let8s not get confused, there are people who offend us and do not intend to) 7 will tal! about that later, but my focus is offense that is generated, by Bust abBect disregard to the amount of harm that would be done by the treatment of us) These are hateful acts, that were not always done with intent to hurt us, but the actor didn8t care if it hurt us, either! These actions were born out of a disdain they had for us) Ha e you e er heard people say they didn8t li!e a person, who may ha e been family, but they lo ed them> The human emotion is so comple, this can be possible) 7 mention this, because it is fre<uently those who are closest to us who hurt us the most) .omeone may not li!e you, but they may lo e you) These people can be classified as family member, family friends, or friends, belie e it or not! *o, their actions do not the display lo e, but if you were to die or if something tragic was to happen they would be the ones trying to throw themsel es in your cas!et! *ow, 7 !now you ha e seen this before and if you ha e not seen this beha ior, !eep li ing) We are not being honest when we e<uate the treatment we recei e from them, with whether or

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not they lo e us) How many abusers of wi es and children are in Bail, who says they lo e their family> They are operating under a misconception of what proper lo ing treatment and regard is) .omewhere there ersion of lo e was distorted and from that point we can begin to see a space, between all of the issues to apply a bit of grace to them) 7n most cases we ha e, but our iew of the maltreatment has also been distorted and that is why this e,ercise in being honest with oursel es through self e,amination and e,amining our relationships, for most of us, is so important) Ges, the treatment that you8 e e,perience by them was hateful and hopefully you ha e come out of the dar!ness and applied light to the relationship through the Word of God and the assistance of the Holy .pirit and are now willing to admit, that they are *9T your friends) .o, what do you do with that> 7f you ha e been paying attention you already guessed what8s ne,t) :o e! Ges, we are going to lo e them, because this is the plan of "hrist, that we reflect him) He says that he has called us to wal! e en the way that he wal!s and that is in lo e I& 0ohn $:AJ) When we are wal!ing in lo e we are in an upright, holy position with the :ord and then we are usable) 7 !now that you are saying to yourself) =What is she tal!ing about> ;y emotions are so strung out o er this and 7 feel so bound to this situation that 78 e e,perienced, that 7 can8t lo e them! That was the whole point of pic!ing up this boo!!? & 0ohn $:KE&& says:
K

He that saith, 7 !now him, and !eepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him) 5 But whoso !eepeth his word, in him erily is the lo e of God perfected: hereby !now we that we are in him) A He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to wal!, e en as he wal!ed) D Brethren, 7 write no new commandment unto you,

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but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning) The old commandment is the word which ye ha e heard from the beginning) F (gain, a new commandment 7 write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the dar!ness is past, and the true light now shineth) H He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in dar!ness e en until now) &% He that lo eth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him) && But he that hateth his brother is in dar!ness, and wal!eth in dar!ness, and !noweth not whither he goeth, because that dar!ness hath blinded his eyes) 0ohn &5:DE&$ says:
D

7f ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall as! what ye will, and it shall be done unto you) F Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruitL so shall ye be my disciples) H (s the Father hath lo ed me, so ha e 7 lo ed you: continue ye in my lo e) &% 7f ye !eep my commandments, ye shall abide in my lo eL e en as 7 ha e !ept my FatherMs commandments, and abide in his lo e) && These things ha e 7 spo!en unto you, that my Boy might remain in you, and that your Boy might be full) &$ This is my commandment, That ye lo e one another, as 7 ha e lo ed you) 7f you don8t lo e sister and brother you are li ing in dar!ness, but wal!ing in lo e by starting with forgi eness is how to turn on the lights! Let(s look at some of the benefits of loving them% 3id you !now that by wal!ing in lo e, the lord !eeps you from stumbling I& 0ohn $:&%J> .o, if anyone of you are struggling with an unstable "hristian wal!, lo e will stabiliCe you! (lso, by lo ing we are fulfilling all of the commandments were wal!ing in the fullness of the 0oy of the :ord, we begin to bear

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fruit or mature normally, and the :ord will not hide his face when you call on him: He will answer you! The passage that comes to mind is 7sa) 5F) 7sa) 5F says: 5F "ry aloud, spare not, lift up thy oice li!e a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of 0acob their sins) $ Get they see! me daily, and delight to !now my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsoo! not the ordinance of their God: they as! of me the ordinances of BusticeL they ta!e delight in approaching to God) ' Wherefore ha e we fasted, say they, and thou seest not> wherefore ha e we afflicted our soul, and thou ta!est no !nowledge> Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and e,act all your labours) K Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wic!edness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to ma!e your oice to be heard on high) 5 7s it such a fast that 7 ha e chosen> a day for a man to afflict his soul> is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sac!cloth and ashes under him> wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the :ord> A 7s not this the fast that 7 ha e chosen> to loose the bands of wic!edness, to undo the hea y burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye brea! e ery yo!e> D 7s it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house> when thou seest the na!ed, that thou co er himL and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh> F Then shall thy light brea! forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before theeL the glory of the :ord shall be thy reward) H Then shalt thou call, and the :ord shall answerL thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here 7 am) 7f thou ta!e away from the midst of thee the yo!e, the putting forth of the finger, and spea!ing anityL &% (nd if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soulL then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy dar!ness be as the noon day: && (nd the :ord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and ma!e fat thy bones: and thou shalt be li!e a watered garden,

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and li!e a spring of water, whose waters fail not) &$ (nd they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generationsL and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in) &' 7f thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy dayL and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the :ord, honourableL and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor spea!ing thine own words: &K Then shalt thou delight thyself in the :ordL and 7 will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of 0acob thy father: for the mouth of the :ord hath spo!en it) Gou must !now that the people that 7saiah wrote to were see!ing Gods hand and not his heart! The reason they were not seeing change in their li es is that, their lo e stores were empty! 7 am here to tell you that God can fill them and he has laid out a plan through his Word for that to happen) .imply put, forgi eness begets the lo e for others that touches the heart of the :ord) That is what we really want, don8t we> We want to spea! to him and hear him answer, !nowing that he spea!s in many ways) .ome of us are e,periencing an 7ron hea en, meaning that when we pray we don8t feel li!e he e en hears, well maybe, it has to do with lo e) Forgi eness is why you pic!ed up this boo!, but forgi eness will do more for you than you will e er !now! Forgi eness is the !ey to Boy, abundant life, peace, a deeper more abiding wal! in "hrist, and his lo eEEbearing with our brothers and sisters in "hrist8s in lo e, which can only be done by lo e! &orgiveness is a lifestyle tool Gour issue is how to forgi e and that is what 7 am here to tell you! This is what you8re going to want to do, not Bust for those instances of built up, hardened, unbearable at time, unE

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forgi eness that you are reading this boo! to remedy, but e ery time you e,perience hate that generates unEforgi eness, because forgi eness is a lifestyle, but 7 am getting ahead of myself) Gou will want to do good to them) *ow, 7 !now for most of you that is going to be something that is considered unthin!able, because you don8t wish these people well, but 7 want to tell you a story about what happened to me when 7 put this formula to wor!, but before 7 do 7 want you to !now that, because we e,perience different types of offense, we will be applying different remedies to the unEforgi eness) ( good way of loo!ing at the Word of God is as a medicine cabinet) Gou will use different remedies for different illnesses) 7 will e,plain) .o, a close person did something to me that 7 felt was unforgi able a few years ago) 7t had to do with boundaries that they insisted didn8t e,ist, but in the course of them nonchalantly crossing them they did something that caused much confusion in my home) 7 cried to the :ord about it, complaining, as 7 do when 7 am frustrated and he led me to loo! at :u!e A:$FE'5) By this time, he had well ersed me on how <uic!ly he could get rid of the emotional stings associated with unEforgi eness and restore my compassion for this person, so 7 was doing what 7 normally did in instances of unEforgi eness, since he re ealed to me how to forgi e, figuring it was a one siCe fits all solution, when in reality that was far from the truth) 7 began to thin! that 7 !new it all about how to forgi e <uic!ly when he re ealed that 7 did not) When 7 would pray for this person the days began to go by and 7 still had those feelings, it was then that 7 realiCed 7 needed to loo! at the passage again to gain a clearer understanding of how to apply the Word) .o, !eep in mind each section of this can apply to different situations, the results will depend on how it is applied) 7 had to, first, assess what 7 was dealing with and then got to my trusty /ing 0ames) 7 loo!ed at it much deeper) 9!ay it said to lo e my enemies) Then, do good to them) That was all 7

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needed, because 7 !new that he had Bust deli ered me from years of unEforgi eness and some of it was aimed at this person) .o, 7 began to thin! of things that 7 could do to bless them) *o, 7 didn8t F66: li!e doing it) 7 was going strictly on faith) 7 was doing this in response to the Word and not my feelings) Feelings will mess us up if we go with them) ( lot of us mista!e our feeling with the leading of the :ord and that is really con enient to say that =7 am not led to do? whate er when we ha e a con enient feeling that is telling us not to) The enemy of our souls wor!s in and with feelings, so when 7 am feeling repulsion from following the will of God there is a little imp around whispering that it8s not God) Who wants to follow a direction that is from the :ord if it is opposite of what we want to do> 7t8s more con enient to belie e a lie and this is the case with many of us at times) When we are sic! of the beat downs we ta!e from the enemy in this area, we will submit! 7 was sic! and tired of being sic! and tired of the ictories that the enemy seemed to win o er me, so when God ga e me the pre ious ictory in this area anything he led me to do to get free of that, once more, 7 was going to do! .o, 7 thought and thought, and thought about it some more) 7 didn8t ha e a Bob, so 7 was pretty much a bro!e single mom, but 7 did ha e some cards that 7 couponed for on an e,treme couponing e,cursion) 7 !new that whate er 7 did, had to be a sacrifice of lo e from my heart, in doing good) .o 7 wrote a letter, in which, 7 praised the person for being the blessing that they were to me down through the years) 7 wrote how grateful to God 7 was for their care) 6 en though 7 didn8t feel all of those words, 7 meant them) 7 wal!ed to the mail bo, as soon as 7 could, because 7 was sic! of that familiar sic! feeling 7 would get when 7 was battling negati e feeling against someone) ( feeling that, at the point of the, offense, 7 had all but said good riddance toL 7 was free, but that old familiar feeling was bac! again and 7 had to rid myself of it! 7 was moti ated by desperation when 7 raced down to that mail bo, that day) The moment 7 pulled the handle to the door of the mailbo, and

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sat that en elope on it and it went into the bo,, 7 W(. F+66! 7 W(. F+66! Ges, that feeling was G9*6!!!! Gritting my teeth while 7 wrote that not so heartfelt, but true letter, had wor!ed! The :ord saw my faith in his Word and he mo ed that disgusting feeling of anger and helplessness out of my heart and replaced it with lo e and compassion and a !nowledge that whate er damage the enemy meant to do the :ord would get in the center of and fi,) 7f you are applying the Word in this way, what you do may not amount to a card) 7t may be ta!ing someone out to dinner, or sending them a present with a card attached, whate er the Holy .pirit leads you to do, but do something !ind and watch the :ord gi e you that lo e in your heart for that hater) What you will find is that you will <uic!ly de elop a grace, compassion, concern, and lo e for this person that you ha e ne er !now before) Gou will no longer ha e the memory playing in your head, the emotional memory of it or worry if you end up at the family reunion that they may be there) 7t won8t stop you from li ing) Pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you 1Matthew 2+334 ;any of us ha e been hurt tremendously by those who ha e been close to us, but the :ord !nows your pain) He was despitefully used and persecuted too) Hebrews K:&5 says that 0esus was tempted Bust as we yet without sin) He !nows your pain and this is the reason why he had me write this boo!) 7t is a lo e letter to you with serious directions that will ta!e you to freedom in him so that you will be able to wal! e en as he wal!ed, in lo e) 7t is tough to pray, or do good for anyone who has mistreated us or reBected us, but if we !eep in mind that when we put our personal feelings aside, God can not only deli er us swiftly from unEforgi eness, but he can also begin to destroy the wor!s of

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the 3e il that is so prominent in the li es of those who hurt us, miss used us and he can bring deli erance to them e entually as well, !eeping in mind that he wishes that all humanity come to repentance, that includes an uncle who may ha e molested you for years, an aunt, mother or father who tortured you as a child) 7t comes down to faith) Faith that as 7 bow my head or !nee in !noc! =down drag out?, as my mother calls it, prayer for someone as though 7 were praying for myself, that God will do the healing in me) 7f you commit to praying for this person and do not <uite, the :ord will swiftly do a wor! in you) ( few years ago 7 spo!e to a prison reEentry program in regards to the things the lord showed me in my own e,perience and later the director spo!e with me) He told me that it was really interesting that 7 brought up praying for actors of offenses for swift forgi eness, because this is what he learned in *arcotics (nonymous) He said they were taught that praying for people that ha e hurt them was the <uic!est way to forgi e) God is powerful! -on(t be a victim The :ord wants us to wal! in ictory and allowing our feeling to get in the way of really praying for someone is a tric! of the enemy to !eep you bound and missing the purpose and plan the :ord has for your life) Gou may operate in those things, but not in the fullness that the :ord ordained from the foundations of the world! 7f 7 !new what 7 !now now, 7 would be light years away from where 7 am, but the :ord had to ta!e me this way for others who ha e been gi en wrong information Iincluding myselfJ about how to forgi e authentically) 7 mean &%%,%%%,%%% percent forgi eness, which ne er comes bac!!!! That8s what 7 am tal!ing about!

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Too many methods are not one hundred percent and that includes the psychology laced ad ice that is gi en o er most pulpits today and this is why it behoo es us to be careful what oices we listen too, many will lead us down the wrong road) The only place our will is in ol ed is when we willfully submit to the Word of God and the Holy .pirits leading) That is it! *o empty chairs, burning letters, beha ioral changes, will wor! only obeying the leading of the :ord and heading the Word of God that has already been written for our understanding of what he has for us to do) We don8t ha e to loo! any further, for the ultimate e,ample of forgi eness) 0esus was beaten, tortured, spat at, slapped, abused by church people, reBected, abandoned by his friends, made fun of, and moc!ed, he was awfully treated and what did he pray> =Father forgi e them for they !now not what they do?, he prayed for themL though, 78m sure his humanity screamed no, but he was obedient to the cross) He died that his enemies, the ones that beat tortured, spat at, slapped, abused, reBected, abandoned, made fun, and moc!ed him might li e! :et8s loo! at 2hil) $:$E&&
$

Fulfil ye my Boy, that ye be li!eminded, ha ing the same lo e, being of one accord, of one mind) ' :et nothing be done through strife or aingloryL but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themsel es) K :oo! not e ery man on his own things, but e ery man also on the things of others) 5 :et this mind be in you, which was also in "hrist 0esus: A Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be e<ual with God: D But made himself of no reputation, and too! upon him the form of a ser ant, and was made in the li!eness of men: F (nd being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, e en the death of the cross)

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Wherefore God also hath highly e,alted him, and gi en him a name which is abo e e ery name: &% That at the name of 0esus e ery !nee should bow, of things in hea en, and things in earth, and things under the earthL && (nd that e ery tongue should confess that 0esus "hrist is :ord, to the glory of God the Father) .o, if Wendy +enee Barge, wants to say to herself =7 refuse to pray for this person or 7 don8t feel led to pray because 7 don8t feel it??: 7 ha e a lot of ner e! Though they were wic!ed foul and hurt 0esus deeply, as we do with our sin, he was willing to get on that cross and die for them! He was willing to pray for them and still does when he intercedes for us continually and we mess up big time and often! 0ust as he died we must now die to oursel es and forgi e) Forgi e what they did and let it go! 78m telling you what that 6lder told me years ago on that .unday morning during worship! :et it go! :et go of your pride and your selfish desire to hold on to the anger and pain! Ges, you are rightfully angry, but if you hang onto it willfully !nowing what you !now now you are operating in sin) We can8t hold that, we don8t ha e time! Gou won8t be fit to do e,ploits in his name until you do! Time is running out) 0esus will be coming and what he is saying is will he find faith in the earth I:u!e &F:FJ> Will you wal! in trust in him or hold on to the past and the pain and hurt that these e ent generated, when you could be li ing

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in peace without a care in the world emotionally, with that Boy unspea!able and full of glory that the Word of God spea!s of> 7f we don8t let it go and wal! in the tradition of "hrist, we will, not e,perience that power and anointing as a body that the Word of God says the last days church should be operating in this time Igreater wor!sJ) 0ohn &K:&$ says:
&$

1erily, erily, 7 say unto you, He that belie eth on me, the wor!s that 7 do shall he do alsoL and greater wor!s than these shall he doL because 7 go unto my Father) This thing can and has effected e erything about you and is the reason why a lot of our other relationships are so messed up, but the :ord can fi, that today Bust begin praying for these people and if it applies ta!e the other steps listed after e aluating what type of situation you are dealing with) 7f it has to do with a friend or lo ed one persecuting you or despitefully using you, then pray for them according to :u!e A:$FE'5 and ;att) 5:KK) 7f it is actions of hate by someone, then you do good to them according to :u!e A:'5 and ;att) 5:KK, if you ha e been cursed by or are being persecuted by someone, bless them and remember the e,ample of "hrist when he was on the cross he didn8t ha e the time, energy or the physical ability to stay up at night in prayer for those people he Bust simply prayed =father, forgi e them for they !now not what they do) I:u!e $':'KJ? God has placed these things in his Word to help us through life! He does not get some per erse Boy out of our pain, he lo es us and 7 will reiterate the reason for this boo! is to let you !now that there is a way out! Gou are not trapped in that emotional prison, the :ord wants to bring you out! The :ord has had me to pray 7saiah 5F:A o er you and 7 want you to pray it o er yourself and all those that you belie e are going through what

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you are) *ot only, but the ones who ha e hurt you, pray this o er them) 7sa) 5F:A says:
A

7s not this the fast that 7 ha e chosen> to loose the bands of wic!edness, to undo the hea y burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye brea! e ery yo!e> The :ord wants to loose your bands of wic!edness, undo those hea y burdens, let you go free of oppression and brea! e ery single, solitary and connected yo!e in your li es!

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"H(2T6+ && &orth) P5650575 The acronym 2)-).)H) means pray until something happens) There ha e been many prayer groups started with that title) These groups !now that in order to see results they ha e to get on their !nees until something happened! This is what 7 am telling you to do! 7f you want to see a response in any area of your life you ha e to pray! Gou e er see a bulldog get a hold of something> They will get their powerful Baws on whate er it is and loc! them! They are not animals to mess with when they get determined! 9h, no!!! That is how the :ord has called us to be! We must go into forgi eness with bull dog faith, 2raying until the forgi eness ta!es place! Heb) &&:A says:
A

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must belie e that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligentl see! him) There is a diligence in ol ed in this) We are going to be wal!ing in faith as we pray and be obedient to his manual, which is his Word, but when we diligently see! him for whate er it is using the manual, we will see that which is in the supernatural come into the natural realm! 0ames $: $A says:
$A

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without wor!s is dead also) Faith doesn8t wor! without our wor!s! We, also, want to recogniCe that Bust doing wor!s without faith will not wor!)

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Wor!ing the Word without faith doesn8t wor!) Faith needs to be there and that is where the e,pectation that Heb) &&:A spea!s about comes in) When we belie e that he is, we are in miracle, deli erance, and healing territory! We ha e to belie e that the God, that8s G97*G to deli er you, is the same God that parted the red sea, brought 7srael out of 6gypt with signs and wonders following, deli ered 3aniel out of the mouth of lions, accompanied .hadrach ;eshach and (bednego into the fiery furnace, wal!ed on water, fed two loa es and fi e fishes to the 5,%%%, died and rose again on the third day and sits on the right hand of the father e er ma!ing intercession for you and me! Gou want to go into this, ready to wor! the Word until it wor!s! Gou want to ha e some e,pectation that this has to wor!, e en if it Bust to see if it wor!s at all, but there must be, somewhere in your heart, a desire to see his power demonstrated! 7f what 7 ha e said to you so far has not caused you to ha e an appetite for what is to come in your life, 78m not sure what would, because with faith there is always a le el of e,pectation e en if it is really tiny, it is there! ;y e,pectation le els, originally, was half hearted, but guess what> The :ord too! that little mustard seed of faith and within a wee! 7 was free of years worth of unEforgi enessL 78m tal!ing from childhood stuff! Gou can8t tell me, my God is not bad! 7 was so o erwhelmed that 7 didn8t !now what to do ne,t, so 7 told e eryone 7 could about how to forgi e) ;ost didn8t listen, some said yeah that in the Bible we !now that, now 7 am writing about it and telling you about a method, that if you put it to practice it will wor! one hundred thousand percent, one

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hundred thousand percent of the time! *ot trying to sound li!e a late night infomercial, but it is true! God has in ested too much in us, to see us in ruins spiritually, emotionally and ne er healed, so 2)-).)H)! 2)-).)H) through all of the doubting thoughts, !nowing that your faith is not a feeling, it is complete in action! (braham !new this when he too! his only son, who was promised to him by the :ord, up to the mountain for sacrifice) He had so much faith and he was so bent on obeying the Word of the :ord that an angel from hea en had to tell him not to !ill his son who the :ord promised to him IGen) $$:&E&$L 0ames $:$&E$'J! (nother instance of faith we can loo! to, is a ruler by the name of *amaan he was a leper who was told by 6lisha to dip in the 0ordan +i er se en times) He almost missed his blessing, because he bal!ed at the idea of doing that) He dipped in it se en times and was made whole) $ /ings 5: &K says that his s!in was as the s!in of a little child) Gou see, *amaan was li!e some of us, who are thin!ing =are you !idding me, pray for my enemies, bless them and do good>? 7t8s only a re olutionary idea to us, because we are not operating at that le el or else more of us would be free, and there would be more lo e in our relationships) What it ta!es is faith in his Word! ( passage about faith, that ma!es me want to run around my house Heb) &&) Heb) && says: && *ow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the e idence of things not seen) $ For by it the elders obtained a good

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report) ' Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear) K By faith (bel offered unto God a more e,cellent sacrifice than "ain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet spea!eth) 5 By faith 6noch was translated that he should not see deathL and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God) A But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must belie e that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently see! him) D By faith *oah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, mo ed with fear, prepared an ar! to the sa ing of his houseL by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith) F By faith (braham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after recei e for an inheritance, obeyedL and he went out, not !nowing whither he went) H By faith he soBourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with 7saac and 0acob, the heirs with him of the same promise: &% For he loo!ed for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and ma!er is God) && Through faith also .ara herself recei ed strength to concei e seed, and was deli ered of a child when she was past age, because she Budged him faithful who had promised) &$ Therefore sprang there e en of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the s!y in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable) &' These all died in faith, not ha ing recei ed the promises, but ha ing seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth) &K For they that say such things declare plainly that they see! a country) &5 (nd truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might ha e had opportunity to ha e returned) &A But now they desire a better country, that is, an hea enly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city) &D By faith (braham, when he

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was tried, offered up 7saac: and he that had recei ed the promises offered up his only begotten son, &F 9f whom it was said, That in 7saac shall thy seed be called: &H (ccounting that God was able to raise him up, e en from the deadL from whence also he recei ed him in a figure) $% By faith 7saac blessed 0acob and 6sau concerning things to come) $& By faith 0acob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of 0osephL and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff) $$ By faith 0oseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of 7sraelL and ga e commandment concerning his bones) $' By faith ;oses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper childL and they were not afraid of the !ingMs commandment) $K By faith ;oses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of 2haraohMs daughterL $5 "hoosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enBoy the pleasures of sin for a seasonL $A 6steeming the reproach of "hrist greater riches than the treasures in 6gypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward) $D By faith he forsoo! 6gypt, not fearing the wrath of the !ing: for he endured, as seeing him who is in isible) $F Through faith he !ept the passo er, and the sprin!ling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them) $H By faith they passed through the +ed sea as by dry land: which the 6gyptians assaying to do were drowned) '% By faith the walls of 0ericho fell down, after they were compassed about se en days) '& By faith the harlot +ahab perished not with them that belie ed not, when she had recei ed the spies with peace) '$ (nd what shall 7 more say> for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Bara!, and of .amson, and of 0ephthaeL of 3a id also, and .amuel, and of the prophets: '' Who through faith subdued !ingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions) 'K Quenched the iolence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of wea!ness were made strong, wa,ed aliant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens) '5 Women recei ed their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deli eranceL that they might obtain a

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better resurrection: 'A (nd others had trial of cruel moc!ings and scourgings, yea, moreo er of bonds and imprisonment: 'D They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheeps!ins and goats!insL being destitute, afflicted, tormentedL 'F I9f whom the world was not worthy:J they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and ca es of the earth) 'H (nd these all, ha ing obtained a good report through faith, recei ed not the promise: K% God ha ing pro ided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect) (nd, they didn8t recei e the promise, but we ha e! We must pray: diligently, until something happens, do good to them until something happens, bless them until something happens and lo e them until something happens!

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"H(2T6+ &$ &orgiveness is a lifestyle Forgi eness must be a lifestyle for indi iduals who are "hrist followers, who belong to a /ingdom culture! 7f 7 am going to say that 7 am li ing in /ingdom culture and am a /ingdom citiCen, what 7 possess should not be the indication, the amount of lo e should! 7n the true /ingdom it does) (s belie ers we should be the sweetest people we !now, the longer we are following "hrist, it should not be the opposite! & "or) &' says: &' Though 7 spea! with the tongues of men and of angels, and ha e not charity, 7 am become as sounding brass, or a tin!ling cymbal) $ (nd though 7 ha e the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all !nowledgeL and though 7 ha e all faith, so that 7 could remo e mountains, and ha e not charity, 7 am nothing) ' (nd though 7 bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though 7 gi e my body to be burned, and ha e not charity, it profiteth me nothing) K "harity suffereth long, and is !indL charity en ieth notL charity aunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 3oth not beha e itself unseemly, see!eth not her own, is not easily pro o!ed, thin!eth no e ilL A +eBoiceth not in ini<uity, but reBoiceth in the truthL D Beareth all things, belie eth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things) F "harity ne er faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall failL whether there be tongues, they shall ceaseL whether there be !nowledge, it shall anish away) H For we !now in part, and we prophesy in part) &% But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away) && When 7 was a child, 7 spa!e as a child, 7 understood as a child, 7 thought as a child: but when 7 became a man, 7 put away childish things) &$ For now we see through a glass, dar!lyL but then face to face: now 7 !now in partL but

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then shall 7 !now e en as also 7 am !nown) &' (nd now abideth faith, hope, charity, these threeL but the greatest of these is charity) When we came to "hrist we were a new creation I$ "or) 5:&DJ and the :ord too! time with us, as he does now) (s we continued to li e for him he systematically ta!es things away, but one of things that is created, as we allow him to change us, is a sweet attitude and an authentic lo e) That only happens when we submit to his leading to let go of offenses of others and forgi e consistently) The lifestyle # am talking about will begets love The lord would li!e us to wal! in lo e) The more we endure hardship as a good soldier I$ Tim) $:'J and pray for those who hurt us etc) we see a significant change in our character o er the years, as we submit to the :ords direction) We may not see a change) but believe me) others will 2eople will be able to feel comfortable coming to you with things, because they will feel the safety of !nowing that you are real and not there to hurt them) We will not only e,press compassion and lo e with our lips, but we will actually F66: 7T with our hearts! This cannot happen when you are mired in bitterness) We as belie ers are to be there for each other, but many times we do not feel safe spea!ing to each other about anything, because of fear of Budgments, worry about it getting all o er town, or Bust fear that any information that is shared will be used in some way against us and not for prayer and assistance) 7f you loo! at the (cts church it says that e erything they possessed belonged to one another other) (cts K:'&E'5 says:

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'&

(nd when they had prayed, the place was sha!en where they were assembled togetherL and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spa!e the word of God with boldness) '$ (nd the multitude of them that belie ed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his ownL but they had all things common) '' (nd with great power ga e the apostles witness of the resurrection of the :ord 0esus: and great grace was upon them all) 'K *either was there any among them that lac!ed: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, '5 (nd laid them down at the apostlesM feet: and distribution was made unto e ery man according as he had need) They were a family that were not connected by natural blood, but were still a family connected by the blood of 0esus) They !new that they were of the bloodline of "hrist, so they treated each other, as such! They cared for each other and that is what the :ord wants the church to reflect today) This is the picture of a bride without spot or wrin!le, as spo!en of in 6ph) 5:$D that the :ord is coming bac! for) 6ph) 5:$D says:
$D

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not ha ing spot, or wrin!le, or any such thingL but that it should be holy and without blemish) The root of their beha ior was lo e! When you are filled with the .pirit of God the first thing you will feel, as the (cts church did, was lo e! The filling of the spirit is important as a belie er because without it, it will be harder to wal! in lo e) 0esus spo!e of the coming helperEEthe Holy Ghost as a para!le tos &, which means ad ocate, counselor and comforter)
& James Strong , Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. ( S.T.D., LL.D.,

1890.), e-Sword 10.1.0.

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+om) 5:'E5 says:

'

(nd not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: !nowing that tribulation wor!eth patienceL K (nd patience, e,perienceL and e,perience, hope: 5 (nd hope ma!eth not ashamedL because the lo e of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is gi en unto us) (cts $:K says:
K

(nd they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to spea! with other tongues, as the .pirit ga e them utterance) (ccording to .trong8s "oncordance$, the word tongues is glossa meaning language, so the acts church spo!e in another language) When 2entecost was fully come the inhabitance that heard them and were amaCed saying don8t these men spea! Galilean but they are spea!ing our nati e languages) (cts $:5E&$ says:
5

(nd there were dwelling at 0erusalem 0ews, de out men, out of e ery nation under hea en) A *ow when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that e ery man heard them spea! in his own language) D (nd they were all amaCed and mar elled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which spea! Galilaeans> F (nd how hear we e ery man in our own tongue, wherein we were born> H 2arthians, and ;edes, and 6lamites, and the dwellers in ;esopotamia, and in 0udaea, and "appadocia, in 2ontus, and (sia, &% 2hrygia, and 2amphylia, in 6gypt, and in the parts of :ibya about "yrene, and strangers of +ome, 0ews and proselytes, && "retes and (rabians, we do hear them spea!
$ James Strong , Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. ( S.T.D., LL.D.,

1890.), e-Sword 10.1.0.

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in our tongues the wonderful wor!s of God) &$ (nd they were all amaCed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this> 7t is clear that the :ord orchestrated the de out men8s presence, that day, who were from e ery nation, so there would be no doubt that these people were spea!ing in other languages) (cts &:F says:
F

But ye shall recei e power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in 0erusalem, and in all 0udaea, and in .amaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth) (s you Bourney toward wholeness in this area, the .pirit of God wants to help you wal! in ictory) 0ust as sal ation was and is a free gift the Holy .pirit is as wellL Bust as! him to fill you) 0esus said in :u!e &&:&':
&'

7f ye then, being e il, !now how to gi e good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your hea enly Father gi e the Holy .pirit to them that as! him> 7f you as! he will fill you) 0ohn D:'DE'H:
'D

7n the last day, that great day of the feast, 0esus stood and cried, saying, 7f any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drin!) 'F He that belie eth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow ri ers of li ing water) 'H IBut this spa!e he of the .pirit, which they that belie e on him should recei e: for the Holy Ghost was not yet gi enL because that 0esus was not yet glorified)

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When you open your mouth as an act of faith the words will flow out! *o flashing light, burning, or seeing angles, Bust open your mouth by faith and you will spea!) 7 say this, because that what happened to me! 7t was Bust me and my "ousin "amille in her mother radio station at fourteen! *o one else) .he said =thin! about 2entecost and praise and than! God? and that8s what 7 did) 7t too! all of 'E5 minutes and 7 began to feel this energy and e,citement and the words came! 7 was ne er the same after that! 7 fell away in my late teens due to lac! of fellowship, but things were different) 6 en when 7 bac!slid as a teenager 7 could not do what 7 wanted and 7 was Bust different) 7 still had that confidence, because the :ord is married to the bac!slider) :et me tell you if at &K, a little !nowEnothing snot nosed teenager, could recei e the spirit of God you can too! 9ne thing 7 will say about that encounter before 7 end my diatribe is my cousin was the same age and she and her younger brother had recei ed it a few months prior to my summer isit to her city) .he was telling me e erything she remembered when she8d recei ed the fullness of the Holy .pirit) .he first told me before we began, and 7 left this critical piece of information outEEEto re!ent of all of " sins) 7f there is anything 7 could thin! of, to repent for it! 6 en though 7 was sa ed, she said, you still need to do it, because the Holy Ghost is not going to inhabit a dirty temple) .o, that is what 7 will tell you, if you are sa ed, it is important to first get into repentance mode as you see!) The Bible tells us to repent o er and o er and that is not unsa ed, but sa ed people) There is a reason why & 0ohn &:H says if you confess your sins he is faithful and Bust to forgi e you of them and cleans you from all unrighteousness) 7t is clear by this passage and many more li!e it, that as belie ers we mess up! We all sin

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and it behoo es us to repent whene er we do) ;any ha e not been filled due to unErepented of sin) There are things that we ha e not committed to gi e up) +epentance is a turning away not Bust words) When we say we are sorry to the lord we need to mean it with our actions) That does not mean you might fall bac! in it, but that you repent, by ma!ing a commitment not to do whate er it is again) When we repent or say sorry with our lips and not our hearts, meaning ma!ing up our mind, God sees that) He can see e erything! *othing is hid from him! He !nows that you said that but plan to go right bac! to it tomorrow! .ometimes you ha e to as! the :ord gi e you the strength not to do those things again and that is why he wants you to be filled, but initially you must ma!e sure you ha e repented in your heart first) +epentance is not a feeling! 0ust as faith is not a feeling repentance is not either) 7t is a commitment to do things Gods way when you must! That is what it means) Tears are great if it is accompanied with a commitment!

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"H(2T6+ &'

Love) love) and more love (s belie ers we ha e a responsibility to lo e each other) 0esus said =wal! e en as 7 wal!? I& 0ohn $:AJ and that is to lo e and by forgi ing 7 lo e my neighbor as myself) 7f my neighbor is li ing and breathing, they deser e to be forgi en! 7sn8t that a re olutionary thought>! .o often, in our cultures, we feel that we are doing people a fa or when we forgi e, especially when they ha e hurt us tremendously> (s belie ers, we sacrifice our desire to hold on to the anger and in obedience, gi e our anger and mistreatment o er to 0esus) &orgiveness is an act of obedience We ha e to do it! We ha e done many things in this life that deser e long term, eternal punishment and we must !now that in order lo e them as we lo e oursel es we must show the same grace and fa or that 0esus showed us on the cross) He ga e his life for the undeser ing, which we are, so that we could ha e eternal life, if we belie ed in him) 2ro ) $&:$ says:
$

6 ery way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the :ord pondereth the hearts)

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2ro ) &A:$ says:

$

(ll the ways of a man are clean in his own eyesL but the :ord weigheth the spirits) We tend to loo! fa orably on our own beha iors, e en when we may be wrong) 7n the same spirit of 0esus we must forgi e our neighbors and gi e them what He ga e usL his life to undeser ing, ungrateful, unlo ing, and e il man) By bending the !nee as a true act or faith, and praying for them, whether we feel the urge or not, we are lo ing them) 0esus also said owe no man but to lo e, we can8t do that without the wor! of the Holy Ghost in our hearts) +om) 5:5 says:
5

(nd hope ma!eth not ashamedL because the lo e of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is gi en unto us)

When 7 ma!e that decision that 7 am going to pray e en if 7 don8t li!e or loath a person, he begins shedding the heart of God into me for that person) He does! 7t8s true!

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We then, begin to feel compassion and wal! the way 0esus wal!ed! How many times was 0esus mo ed by compassion> He didn8t ha e to, but he wal!ed in lo e, and lo e was and is who he is, he was mo ed with compassion) (nd what happened ne,t> He healed them all) ;iracles followed! 7saiah 5F says that he would heal our land if we come to him with our whole heart) (s 7 type this it is clear this is a reason for an absence of the healing power of the :ord in so many of our li es) We don8t see miracles and 7 mean true parting the red sea, raising the dead, blind man seeing miracles, because we ha e decided that it is more important to lo e our li es than lose it for "hrist) (s we deny oursel es the comfort of our pain and forgi e, we will see a complete change in our li es, our wal! with "hrist, and our relationships, but we must start the process with humility)

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Bibliography

;eyers, +ic!) e8sword) $%%&E$%&$) .ept) $%&' Rhttp:SSwww)eE sword)netT) .trong, 0ames) .trongMs 6,hausti e "oncordance) .)T)3), ::)3), &FH%)

#end $arge has a passion to see people free from bondage and oppression) Her concern for people caused her to obtain degrees in both, Human .er ices and .ocial Wor!) (lso, she has ser ed in part time ministry for a number of years, teaching the Word of God whene er the door is open for her to do so) .he and her children reside in 2ittsburgh, 2ennsyl ania) Wendy currently writes for her own website http:SSwendybarge)blogspot)comS) .he can be contacted at wendybargeministriesUyahoo)com)