Judge Them Oh Lord!

As my readers know, I am a sunny sky, rainbows-after-rain, kind-of-writer, but it seems irreverent to not acknowledge the dark clouds that blew in when New York lawmakers legalized abortion until birth. My heart ached when I saw the “celebration” and the gleeful faces of those lawmakers in my newsfeed.

My heart cries out “Judge them, oh Lord!” What was Jesus thinking when He said, in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies! Bless them that curse you! Do good to them that hate you! Pray for them who spitefully use you, and persecute you!” Quite frankly, I’d like to request that hail, fire, and brimstone be unleashed on those cray crays. Lord, have mercy!

Now that I’ve had my venting moment, I must repent and remember Christ’s teachings to love in spite of the evil in our world, but we shouldn’t ignore what we can do besides praying and raise our voices in proclaiming “LIFE MATTERS!”

In Psalm 69 David cries out to God about his enemies, “Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them." Whew! Don’t those words make us want to team up with David and say “Hit ‘em with your best shot, Lord?”

Can't we pray the way David did? Can't we ask for God to pour out his wrath upon evildoers? Jesus showed up and flipped all that on its heels when He said: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." That whole “loving our enemies” doesn’t make sense in this world, but, oh, lest I forget, it’s a command from another world – an entirely different kingdom than this one. It’s the “Kingdom of Heaven” world which is rooted in God’s own love for HIS enemies.

Here’s what that world looks like: Christ loved His enemies by feeding them, teaching them, and having compassion on them even when He knew they would later kill Him. The world – this world -- which is full of corrupt, evil people who continually refuse to follow Him is the very same world Christ was sent to reconcile and redeem. Christ came to earth to be a servant for the sake of His enemies so that they might know Him and come to love Him.

With his dying breath, Jesus prayed for those who put Him to death. “And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. He showed His great compassion and love for the world even while they hated Him. God’s eyes are not closed to the evil of this world. He will judge all one day. Father, for those whose hearts are cold, may You open their eyes and plant in their hearts a love for the treasure of life and the strength to protect it. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, have mercy on us all.

How Can I Forgive and Forget?

How Can I Forgive and Forget?
A friend emailed me yesterday about “forgiving” and “forgetting”. It blessed me. How often do we get hurt by someone, or even, we’re the someone who hurt someone? We keep beating ourselves up about our mistakes, do our best to forgive ourselves and others, but still those mistakes we made or others made, just continue to linger with us. The past still plays havoc with our minds and we tend to carry the weight of those mistakes for way longer than we need to.

My friend attached this song to her email and I played it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVjKrmvYYQ
I sensed the sweet presence of God as the words filled the room. I knew I needed to make this my post for today.

Our "Life Story" book is being written daily. The words on the pages may be words like: “You failed again. You lied again. You messed up again. You spoke those hateful words again. You’re a failure. You’re hopeless. You’ll never get over those mistakes.” But, then we go to God and admit our failures, we express our sorrow for the times we messed up. We ask for forgiveness. And the next thing we know…..we pick up our "Life Story" book and open the pages……and, incredibly, those pages are all blank. And, we realize God has wiped the slate clean – the pages in our book are blank. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone. The new is here.”

The TV screen in our minds is filled with words like “He hurt you again. She lied about you. He broke your heart. Never speak to her again. They’re no good. He is a loser. She doesn’t deserve your friendship.” But, then we go to God and ask Him to love through us. We ask for His heart to forgive in spite of whether or not they deserve forgiveness. We ask God to heal our minds from the hurt they caused. The next thing we know…..the TV screen is blank. Then we realize God has freed us from the pain that others caused us and we come to know that forgiveness is possible because of the price God’s Son paid on Calvary. He was our example as he prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25)

Listen to this song -- and where forgiveness is needed to today -- either for yourself or someone else -- know God's arms are open wide to forgive AND forget. The lyrics go like this:

"The past is playing with my head and failure knocks me down again.
I’m reminded of the wrong, that I have said and done,
And that devil just won't let me forget in this life.
I know what I’ve been, but I'm here in Your arms,
I know what I am -- I’m forgiven. I’m forgiven.
And I don’t have to carry the weight of who I’ve been
'Cause I’m forgiven.

My mistakes are running through my mind,
And I’ll relive my days in the middle of the night.
When I struggle with my pain, wrestle with my pride.
Sometimes I feel alone and I cry.
And in this life I know what I’ve been.
But here in your arms I know what I am
Well, I’m forgiven. I’m forgiven
And I don’t have to carry the weight of who I’ve been
'Cause I’m forgiven."