Author: charlieking60

The question is How can we be angry and not sin?

I think the answer has largely to do with where we direct our anger. Is it at a person, or people? Is our anger directed at a government or society? Or is our anger directed towards the spirit that is at work in the world? The prince and power of the air that is at work within the sons of disobedience.

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Ephesians 4:26 NASB

This scripture tells me that we can be angry and not sin, but also that our anger can cause us to sin. If we get angry at someone or something, that we cannot forgive, this is when we allow our anger to become sin. When we cannot forgive, to some extent we become judge and jury.

Something that we have to remember is this, God has already forgiven every sin that is in the world. Every sin that has been done and also every sin that has yet to be done. He did this two thousand years ago on the cross. A concept that we can sometimes find difficult to grasp onto with our carnal minds. Even though we know that we have been forgiven.

If we see or experience something that is really bad, a murder, social injustice, or something else, it can become difficult to control anger that rises within us. But God has already forgiven that sin. Such is the grace of God, then there is the heart of God for those people that they should receive forgiveness. That is the forgiveness that He has provided through Jesus, and also forgiveness from His people.

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14 NASB

There is more to this next verse that needs study, it seems to say that we have the power to forgives sins, just as Jesus did. I think this is for us to realise that God has already forgiven sins, and we are to relate this to people. Not just to people that sin against us but to anybody we encounter. We are just passing on the Good News from God. Don’t forget that even the religious leaders of Jesus day questioned His authority to forgive sins.

If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” John 20:23 NASB

There are to choices here forgiveness, or not. If you choose not to let a person know that they are forgiven they will not receive their forgiveness. Not until someone comes and relays forgiveness to that person. Or they come directly to Christ to receive forgiveness. The heart of God is that all come to the knowledge of the love and grace of God.

Being angry is an emotion that is built into us, but we should not become angry at people in any way, we should forgive people. Being angry and not sinning is being angry at what the prince and the power of the air is causing people to do. Be angry at the enemy, who is not a human being. Not letting the sun go down on this anger means, to keep the sun shining on this anger at the enemy. Continue to always to have a righteous anger against what the enemy is doing in our world in the people that God created in His own image.

To become angry at people is walking according to the flesh, and can cause us to have relationship problems. Problems that can be spiritual, physical, and emotional. It is a choice to forgive or not. To walk according to the flesh or walk according to the Spirit.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5 NASB

God has removed all sin from us as far as the east is from the west. That is ALL sin, our sin, who have received Jesus as saviour, and those of the whole world. The world just need to recognise this and receive.

Just Ask

 The picture is the beginning of a great piece of scripture, something so simple yet has been made complicated by Christian doctrine. To many and I had though only this for many years. the scripture relays that we should not go to sleep angy at someone.

If we have caused anger we should ask forgiveness, if the other person we should forgive them. I do not dispute this interpretaion. There is always more than one way to interpret the Word. (that will get me into high water with some)

But the Holy Spirit was given to lead us into all truth. To tell us things direct from the Father and to bring to our rememberance the things that Jesus said. Lead us into all truth to me says that there is hidden truth within the Word of God. I know that almost everyone has read the Bible and it has spoken to the very situation that they are experiencing. That same scipture can speak again to the same person something slightly different in a different situation. This is what I am talking about.

We just need to ask. We ask for understanding, for wisdom. Many times that comes dirrect from the word, other times it can come direct through the Holy Spirit to ours. James tells us to ask for wisdom, and there is no important time to ask for the wisdom of God than when we begin to feel anger rising up from within. Where do we direct that anger?

The Word of God says ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened. Just ask! And our heavenly Father will give what is good to us. He will not give to us what is bad, only good. Just ask!

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:7-8,10-11

In Luke’s Gospel it actually say that God will give to us the Holy Spirit if we ask. It is God’s will to give to us what is good. You better believe that the Holy Spirit is good. Once we have the Holy Spirit, are baptised in the Holy Spirit, the possibilities for our lives become far greater than we could ever imagined.

Did you know that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a part of our salvation. That Jesus actually expects every believer to be baptised in the Spirit. Look at this from John the Baptist, what he said about Jesus.

I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ John 1:33 NASB

Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever. He baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until He sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is good for us. It is something that we need. We can live without it yes, but why would anyone want to. It is a gift from God to help us to live victorious abundant lives.

God’s plan is for us to live in victory not defeat. The Holy Spirit has a purpose in our lives if we allow; to teach and guide us, remind us of the Word of God, to lead us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is not to be feared, He is our friend. God wants to give Him, the Holy Spirit to every one of us. Jesus has told us to ask for Him.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:13

In John 14, 15, 16, it tells us what the role of the Holy Spirit is for us in our lives. Peter proclaimed in the book of Acts that the promise of the Holy Spirit is for you, your children, and all who are far off, as many as the Lord will call to Himself. For You and your children!!

The Holy Spirit in our lives is that which will help us to direct our anger towards the right place. towards our enemy the devil. We cannot sin when we direct our anger in the right place. The old saying is that we should hate the sin and not the sinner. This is an example of what I am saying.

Charlie

     For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

     What does that actually mean, we are made righteous? This is a good question, yet one that is clouded with uncertain interpretations. A bit like the phrase that we are no longer sinners. When that is said ears prick up, and questions get asked. Usually the wrong questions, like that is such pride to be able to say that. Where is the humility? Do you think you are perfect? And scriptures get quoted like Romans 3:23

     for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

     Yes, Yes We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, that is so true. There is nothing that we could do because we were born into sin. We were born as sinners. If God would just go to judgement we would all burn in Hell forever. That is not God’s plan for any human, that is why He sent Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for us. Paying the debt that was ours as born sinners.

     We had all sinned and fallen short of the glory that God had planned for every man. BUT! A big but gets in the way of our sin. When we were born again, when we accepted God’s forgiveness through Christ, we changed from being sinners, to being sinless. God wiped away all memory of our sin, past present and future.

     If He remembered our sin then He would have to condemn us. We could not come into His presence if He remembered our sin, not even to confess our sin. There would be no hope for us, except through a blind faith as of that of Abraham. We were excluded from the promises until Jesus came. Now through faith in what Jesus has done on our behalf, got to say that again. Through FAITH in what Jesus has done on our behalf, we are made right with God

     All have sinned, There is no one righteous, no one who does what is right. The smallest thing against the law that we do makes our righteousness as filthy rags. As the word says, if we break the least of the laws , we have broken the whole law. Even the rich young ruler, who said that he had kept all of the law; when Jesus said go sell everything and give to the poor, when he walk away sad at that saying from the mouth of the Lord; Right there and then he broke the law. At least the first of the Ten Commandments.

     Our righteousness as filthy rags! That is what the prophet Isaiah said. I like the way that the Amplified Bible puts it below, ‘No one meets God’s standard.’ But praise His Holy Name, He does not need us to try and meet His standard. He already knows that we cannot. So He had to do something about it. He set the standard so high that the only people that could make it had to get there by faith.

     as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10

  As it is written and forever remains written, “There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one. Romans 3:10 AMP

It is by faith that we are forgiven. It is by faith that we are made righteous. It is by faith that we have peace with God. God justified us so that we can have peace with God through Jesus. God wants peace with us. To be friends with the world and the wisdom of the world, is hostility towards God.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5:1

     We are justified by God, not by anything that we do, or can do. It is a faith issue. Do we believe God’s word? God has made us righteous, not us. We cannot do anything to help, except submit to God, then He will exult us. Praise His name.

Charlie

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NASB1995

We have authority over everything to do with our lives, God gave us that authority from the beginning. God did not make as autosomes, people that did what He wanted without the ability to make choices, He gave to us free will, the choice to do what we want or carry out God’s plan for our lives. In the beginning Eve and then Adam handed over authority for their lives and of the world to Satan. Satan has control and manipulation over the whole world, except for those who are in Christ.

Look at the verse above. It does not tell us to get into an argument with the devil, or even have chat with him. It says resist, and he will flee. The verse does not say get ready for a fierce battle. It says resist, not fight resist. Push him away do not receive the things that he is trying to do to us. Resist.

If we just resist it says the devil will flee. One definition of flee, which is the one that I will have in mind every time this scripture comes to mind is this; ‘To run away in fear.’ The devil is scared of us when we resist. When we stand, in the name of Jesus.

That is a statement of fact. Trouble is a lot of believers do not understand the authority that they now have over the spirit of this world. They believe that satan is so powerful, that we cannot guarantee victory over him in this life. This is not what the Word of God says. Jesus defeated the enemy, He took back the authority from the devil.

When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:15 NASB

Right here it says the He, Jesus, disarmed the rulers and authorities. Disarm means taken away their weapons. They have no power or authority over us. The rulers and authorities are the devil and his demons and also those humans in power that rule over us. This whole verse is about the way that the Romans made a show of defeated enemies. They disarmed them, striped them naked and paraded them bound in chains through the streets. Let us take a look at it in the Amplified Bible

When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross. Colossians 2:15 AMP

The armour of God is the ultimate protection for us What does Paul say three times? It must be important if He felt the need to say it three times. The second time Pauls say so you can resist. He says for us to STAND! Not just to stand, but to stand and pray in the Spirit at all times.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth , and having put on the breastplate of righteousness , Ephesians 6:11,13-14

We put on the armour of God to enable us to resist and Stand in the word of God. I am reminded by this, that we are never immune to the attacks of the evil one. Also that we are in a spiritual battle not a physical battle. The enemy may enlist the help of physical people, he has to, to effectively fight.

A question that comes to mind, if the devil has been disarmed, how can he attack us, surely he uses a weapon? The only weapon that can be used against us is our minds. Think about it the only weapon he had in the beginning was suggestion, through a question. “Did God say.” Really all he did was to drawn Eve into a conversation. If Eve had said, “that’s a bit weird, a talking serpent,” picked up a stick and shooed him off we would not be in the state of sin that we ended up in.

Sometimes he does try to infiltrate our minds, (fiery darts) drawing us into a conversation with him. When that does not work he will use other people, to throw the fiery darts. This is much more an effective strategy, because we want to fight back. We see a physical battle, we fight against people we can see. But, and a big but!! It is a spiritual battle. Always, it is so easy to forget this fact. We forget what the Word of God has to say about our struggles.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

That looks like a mighty army arrayed against us. Rulers, powers, world forces, spiritual forces. So much against us. The word of God tells us simply to resist. Do not fight, just resist and the devil will flee. Resist, stand your ground and the devil will flee. We do not and should not be warring according to the flesh. It is a spiritual battle. Resist means do not get into a conversation with him.

The battle begins in our minds, and that is where we begin to resist. Resisting can destroy strongholds. These are strongholds that the enemy tries to establish in our minds, in our way of thinking. He does that by engaging us in conversation. The devil does not need to use a serpent any more, he has people who are willing to be a mouthpiece for him. They may not even know or understand this is happening.

It is a play for our minds, our thoughts. If he an get us to think his way he thinks he can win. A war is usually comprised of smaller battles. These are battles to some way have a control within our minds, it does not matter how big or small, once he get a foothold he can use it to generate rebellious thoughts, that throw us off track.

Paul tells us in Romans. Do not be conformed to this world, the way that this world thinks with its influence from the principalities and powers. Do not allow the thinking and rules of behaviour of this world to dominate our minds. Stand and they will flee. They are all under the influence of the devil. Resist him them and they will flee.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NASB1995

The battle is spiritual, and it is and always has been for them mind, the battles are fought in the mind. The biggest losers of these battle will normally be people with mental health problems. Understand this that many physical health problems can be traced to the mind also.

I have not had a health problem with sickness of any sort in nine years at least. I did have a spiritual attack that made me feel ill in 2021. Actually I felt as if I was very drunk on alcohol, even to the point of vomiting.

This lasted about twenty-four hours before I gained victory over it. Sometime during the Sunday church meeting, before I got up to teach/preach. It is a spiritual battle for our minds. I could have given in and accepted that I was sick. It made me lay down in bed, I lost a few hours work. I battled in the Spirit for a few hours and then slept soundly. This thing tried to control me Sunday morning as I got but I resisted it in my mind. I no long felt drunk but was not steady on my feet. Three hour later when I got to teach, I had a testimony of victory. The enemy knows that if he can control our minds he can control us.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

The battle can seem like it is in the flesh, as mine did, but it is a spiritual battle that takes place in our minds. Once we know this it becomes easier to stand, easier to resist. That is why we are told to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That resisting the enemy’s thoughts and taking on Christ’s thoughts. Paul says that “We have the mind of Christ.”

Look at the verse above we are not just resisting, defending ourselves, We are DESTROYING fortresses and speculations and every lofty thing that is against the truth, against the knowledge of God. Not just our individual knowledge, Every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.

There is much more to write on this subject, suffice to say that we have been given authority over our lives, our thoughts, our circumstances, our choices. We have authority over spirits, and the things we allow to have control us, things like worldly wisdom. The only things we do not have authority over are other people and their thoughts and actions, an of course our Lord God.

Blessings

Charlie

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Matthew 5:13

You are the Salt of the earth. Who is Jesus talking to? I have heard a few good sermons on this verse, using it directed at us as Christians. But Who was Jesus actually talking to? We will get to the point of how it relates to Christians shortly; but Jesus was talking to Jews. He was talking to members of the chosen race. God’s chosen people, Israel. You are the salt of the earth.

A broken people in many ways, oppressed by the tyranny of Rome, corrupted by false teaching of many of its religious leaders, everywhere Jesus went there were many sick people, oppressed by the devil. Under the curse of the law. Yet Jesus said You are THE salt of the earth. God’s chosen people. A people that had for the most lost their way; in a wilderness waiting, hoping that the Messiah would come to set them free.

Here He was the One they had been waiting for, telling them that “You are the salt of the earth.” Amazing, yet there is a warning in the words of Jesus. Maybe it was just a  statement. As they were a nation that were being trampled underfoot by men, by the Roman empire, and the religious leaders. Still Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.” Still even today the world looks toward Israel to see what is going on there. It is like they do not know but there is something significant about what goes on in and around Israel.

Salt, if it becomes tasteless how will it become salty again? Could this be a camel through the eye of a needle question where the answer is, ‘with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible! One thing I know that Jesus was saying, is that there were groups of people, that had lost their saltiness, and that they could not in themselves, be made salty again. There was nothing that they could do to bring the taste back, through doing, or trying to be righteous. Salt cannot make itself salty again.

Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Mark 9:50

Jesus tells the people to have salt in themselves. What does that mean? It is to do with making the choice to be in fellowship, to have a relationship with God. If we are in relationship with God then we have salt, we are tasty. Here Jesus talks about having salt in regard to our relationship with each other, that we be at peace with each other.

I see that  Jesus is telling us here that we are to be careful not to become unsalty. We have to decide to make sacrifices out of love for God to enable us to remain salty. Again it is not about actually doing something to make us righteous, salty, it is more about deciding to allow God to work in us and through us. To be led by the Spirit, and not satisfy the yearnings of the flesh. We have the salt, we are salt, but the world around us can dilute that saltiness. They the Israelite were and we are the salt of the earth.

A chosen people that are supposed to be the salt of the earth, to season the earth with the truth of the love and grace of God. The only way that they could regain their flavour is through the grace of God. that is kind of what happened on the day of Pentecost. God giving restoring the saltiness. You are The Salt of the Earth! You are the Light of the world!

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; Matthew 5:14

but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? Matthew 5:13

There are some great truths hidden in these scriptures that the Spirit of God would want to reveal. So we can see how they can relate to us in our walk with the Lord. If the salt is not made salty again, it is good for nothing. So how can tasteless salt be made salty again? The answer is not anything too difficult, it does not take hours, days, weeks of begging of the Lord to help. To the people of Jesus time it was simply to believe in Him and His words.

I Think that it is still that simple, despite all of our religious traditions. Jesus never turned people away. He did rebuke some for lack of faith, and darkened minds to the truth. Even if a religious leader would have been brave enough to step out and follow the Lord, he would have been made tasty salt again. We are the ones who make all of these things difficult. To be made salty again is just a matter of coming back into fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Along with this is the fellowship with other believers. As simple as, one man’s faith can rub off onto another, or many.

We are the salt of the earth and we do have influence over the world around us. Our Faith is what overcomes the world in our lives, and that faith can affect and infect people around us; Those in the Church as well as those in the world. That is why Jesus told us to teach the world the things that He said. Affecting and infecting the world for Jesus requires that we are salty. Have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; Then we will heal the sick and cast out demons. We will do what Jesus did, and heal those who are oppressed by the devil.

Charlie King

and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

There are many scriptures that tell us to be careful about what we listen to, what we allow to come into us. Nearly all of them refer to the things that the world has to offer. We are told in the Bible to have faith in God, trust God, Trust His word, stand against the wisdom of the world. Stand against the wiles of the devil. Know that there are principalities and powers that we are to resist. Resist the devil and he will flee.

The Bible tells us that these things will try to infiltrate the Christians life, the life of the Church. God warns us so much against these thing, under the new covenant, I am just wondering why? I have for many years understood some of the things that were bad that happened to God’s people; was not so much God doing these things, but God removing His protection. Whenever God removed His protection, it allowed the devil/satan to come in and bring those bad thing upon the people, or the nation.

Now we are in the new covenant God wants us to be aware that our enemy the devil is still out there, ‘prowling about as a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour.’ We have God’s protection, but we can open ourselves up to the attacks of the devil. How do we do this?

We listen to the wisdom of the world, is one basic answer. We trust the wisdom of the world rather than the wisdom of God. We may be born again, Spirit filled Christians, but we would rather see a psychologist than find the answers with God. We would rather trust the government than trust God. We would follow the worlds way through education first than seek God first.

Paul talking in the verses at the top of this page, can be seen as defending himself, saying I did not preach in a way of bring just a wisdom. The Corinthians were used to listening to the wisdom of men. They would stand in prominent places in the city proclaiming their wisdoms. Paul say I came  in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Why did he do this? Maybe because he knew that is would take more than just another type of wisdom to get through to these people, even if it was the wisdom of God.

Demonstration of the Spirit and power so that their faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Not the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Had to write that twice. God did not want these people who love to go find new kinds of wisdom, just to add to their knowledge, to do that. God wanted them to know that there is Power in the name of Jesus. The phrase Knowledge is power, is the kind of philosophy that the Corinthians had back then.

It was not just the Corinthians, it was a part of the culture of the whole Roman/Greek culture, which is where much of Paul’s work was done. Look here at what Paul wrote to the Church at Colossae about philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 NASB

See to it means MAKE SURE. Through philosophy I found this under a question some examples of philosophy:- Philosophy is a set of ideals, standards or beliefs used to describe behavior and thought. An example of philosophy is Buddhism. … Mental balance or composure thought of as resulting from the study of philosophy. Philosophy is wisdom that is not from God. It is a principle of the world.

More tomorrow

Charlie

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8

This is a verse of scripture that many times I have glossed over, just read and continued without giving much thought to it. Sometimes I have thought about it a little, and thought that I knew what it is talking about. Still not having any deeper thoughts about it. There is something about this verse that has a great significance upon the way we think and do things. There is a deep truth within this verse.

It talks about philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men. It talks about philosophy and deception according to the elementary principals of the world. What are these? There is some explanation in the rest of the chapter of Colossians 2. Indeed this verse 8 is the tone setting verse for the book of Colossians. So let us look a bit deeper into what is being said.

What is philosophy to begin with? There are a few slightly different definitions. Here are a couple that will help us to understand What Paul is saying to the Colossians.

1. Philosophy is the study or creation of theories about basic things such as the nature of existence, knowledge, and thought, or about how people should live.

2. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved.

From these two definitions we can see that philosophy is about the creation of ideas and theories that come from within the minds of men. It is mans study into things apart from God. It brings in man’s ideas about how things are and should be, and how to work things out, apart from God. These things are then attached, or imported, incorporated into Christian thinking alongside the word of God. Paul was warning against this.

Making man’s reasonings as important or equal to the Word of God. This needed to be warned against, and still needs to be warned against in this day and age of the twenty-first century. So much so because the influences of the world of man’s thinking has been accepted into the teaching of Christendom for a couple of thousand years. More so in the last few hundred years. These  things are so subtle that we are almost unable to differentiate between truth and philosophy.

We have been taught a combination of things, and we just accept that they are right. The reason for this is that we do not question things as we ought to. The world does, especially about religion. The World sees that there are inconsistencies in what we teach, and how we live. They see that there is hypocrisy in that what is taught and lived is not truth.

These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. Colossians 2:23

We as the Church in general cannot see the wood for the trees, so to speak. It is a sort of case of that is how we have been taught it must be right because we trust our teachers. The thing is that our teachers may have been taught wrong. It is not there fault. In the last few years I have understood many things that have been taught wrong, and have come across many people who will reject what is right. Maybe because they do not want to accept that they have been taught wrong.

Some are so committed to their church and the doctrines associated with their  church, they dare not question the doctrines. That to their minds would be heresy. The truth is we all have bibles, some translations are better than others, but we can all read the truth. Though we do not all have the ability or inclination to search out the real truths that are contained.

The early Church did not have bibles they just had the teaching as it came from the teachers and preachers. I have seen it, something new, a different way to see things comes along and it is incorporated into the way of understanding the truth. A philosophy according to man, that has come from some world view. Most world views of things actually come from the influence of our enemy the devil.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 NASB1995

The wisdom of the world is the philosophy that Paul is talking about, empty deception according to the tradition of man. Look at that word, ‘Tradition’ we in the church live and are controlled by so many traditions of man. Without the Holy Spirit and the Word we would not be able to determine the difference between tradition and truth. In Colossians 3 Paul tells us to keep seeking the things above, where Chris is seated. Keep seeking first the  Kingdom of God, meditate on the word day and night.

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:18-21

Wisdom of the wise, worldly wisdom is apposed to Godly wisdom. The trouble that we have is that many Christians have adopted the wisdom of the world, and incorporated it into The Faith. It is not quite as simple as blaming people for receiving these things. In the last hundred years there are areas of philosophy, and psychology that have seen that some of the ideas they were promoting are to be found within the teaching of the Bible. They have then applied biblical principles to the things they are teaching about the mind and how it works.

Then in turn Christians see these Christian principles within psychology and philosophy and think mistakenly that is a part of Christian teaching. This is why relying upon these things instead of the pure word of God is dangerous. Psychology is a type of philosophy. There are many Christian that trust in psychology to solve their problems rather than the Word of God; instead of trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The wisdom of God or the wisdom of the world; which one should I trust?

Blessings in the Lord

Charlie

Do Not Count The Cost

Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Elsewhere he said let the dead bury the dead, just follow me. In other words do not count the cost just follow me. It does not matter what may be going on in your life, we have to look at our lives as of no worth compared to following Christ. When I came to the Lord I saw my life until then was a let-down. Somehow I knew it would be better with Jesus.

Despite the  heartaches and pains, (which everyone has to go through) With Jesus my prospective of those things kept me from falling into depression. I always knew that what was to come would be better for my life. Bad things happen to us all, sometimes things happen to us because we belong to Christ sometimes the bad things are those that may well have happened anyway. With Jesus we have the emotional strength, ability, and faith to be able to come out of all situations in a positive frame of mind, victorious.

Right here in Luke Jesus tells us what attitude we are to have towards our closest relationships compared to making the choice to follow the Lord. He is talking about making Jesus a priority in our lives. Even when those closest to us try to draw us away from that commitment.

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26-27

Take up your cross means not counting the cost. The cross is heavy, it will hold us back, make you weary, but you are going carry it anyway. The cross is pain and suffering, but you are not going to abandon it. To take up the cross means life as we know it is left behind. Jesus is not actually saying that we have to hate our closest relatives in order to follow Him. He is saying that in comparison against the desire to follow Him, it is or needs to be as if we hated those closest to us.

Our top priority, the first priority should be following Jesus no matter what. Do not stop to count the cost, it is too much. Then again there is a counter to this, a promise from the mouth of the Lord. It is recorded twice, once in Matthew. And here, I am not sure that I like the persecutions bit though.

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

‘And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:29-30

The Promise is that if we have left any of these relationships behind for the sake of Christ, we will receive hundred times more in return, by way of friendships and people to watch out for us. Father and mother figures, brothers, and sisters in Christ. In this world as well as the next; in this life as well as the next. That is marvellous, a great promise. A promise to bring us hope, not despair.

Elsewhere it was told to Jesus that his brothers and mother were outside His house waiting to get in and see Him. His reply was a little startling, but in no way a put down of His family members. He  said who are My brothers and mother, but those who do the will of God. He pointed to those that he classed as His mother and brothers. That goes for us too. Jesus said it, The Word of God said this.

While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:46-50

Jesus said something significant to a rich young ruler sell all that you have and give to the poor and follow Me. It says that the man was sad at that saying because he was very rich. He counted the cost, and the cost was too high. He did not even listen properly to what Jesus said. Jesus did not say give all that you have to the poor. If the rich man had acquired wealth through obeying the Word, the law, then surely he would have become even richer by following the word, Jesus.

Counting the cost before following Jesus is dangerous. We might gain our life and lose our soul. More seemingly harsh words from Jesus to some disciples that placed other things a priority over just following Him. Do the will of God, proclaim the gospel, and don’t look back. Jesus spoke these words to people who I think must have been on the fence. People who were already starting to count the cost. Jesus cut through all of their reasonings.

And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-62

The last part of this scripture can be, and has been used in relation, or comparable to Lot’s wife. There was salvation of offer to lot and his family, from what God was about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding areas. The angels had to lead them by the hand out of the city, because they were counting the cost of leaving everything behind. The Angels said go leave, go forward, do not look back. Move froward to your salvation, do not look back. Go forward into all that God has for you, do not look back. They all would have been free and happy, but lots wife looked back. Instantly she turn into a pillar of salt. If you like turned into ma lump of rock, sort of frozen in time. Petrified!

Counting the cost makes us stop and look back at what  we have got and how hard we worked to get it, for how many years. Some become petrified of losing everything not realising that what is to come is better for us. What is to come will be more, greater than all that we had before. As Jesus said  a hundred fold. That is a hundred times more. This is the promise. No it is not like the promise of sewing and reaping of thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold. It is straight to the top times one hundred. I have seen it and experienced it. You lose one friend you gain a hundred friends better than the one that was lost.

It is not worth counting the cost, because the cost will always seem so much greater than the benefit that cannot be seen yet. Taking us into the Hebrews definition of faith.

Now faith is the assurance of thing hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

If we could see in advance what are the benefits of following Christ it might be worth counting the cost soe we can measure the risk, though there is no real risk, except that we might die because of our belief. There would not be any need for faith. The Bible says that we are called to faith. It takes faith to take up our cross and follow Jesus. If we look back while carrying the cross we will stumble. We stumble in our thoughts and actions. We lose sight of where we are supposed to be going, and freeze.

Blessings to you who read this

Charlie

But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mark 8:33 NASB1995

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Matthew 16:23

There is a difference between God’s interests and man’s interests. This is a thing that we all know, but do not think about it too much; or too deeply. This remark to Peter from Jesus came after Jesus telling the Disciples quite plainly what was going to happen to Him. It is recorded in Matthew and Mark, with exactly the same words. One interesting thing is that this remark to Peter came Shortly after Peter had declared that Jesus was The Christ The Messiah. Jesus had in return commended Peter, as shown in Matthew’s Gospel.

‘And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:17

I want to study what Jesus said about man’s interests against God’s interests. Yes this was a response to a specific incident, but what does it mean in a broader sense. I think that we can get in the flesh and have our minds on man’s interests rather than Gods, in many areas of our lives. For instance, pride will say but what are those people going to think of me for this thing? selfish interests. So let us take a look at this. The bigger picture of what happened is:-

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”Mark 8:31-38

So it seems that in this instance, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me satan.” Hmmm Talking to Peter, “Get behind me satan.” Now obviously Perter was not satan, but the thoughts that came out in words were not of God’s interests. Peter rebuke Jesus, can you imagine! The words of Peter may well have seemed well meaning, but they were complete opposite to the plan of God for the sacrifice of Jesus. Those words from Peter were from a world point of view, like this. “You cant die, you are the Christ; the Messiah come to save us from the Romans.” “Get behind me satan.”

Satan is described as the ruler of this world, the prince and power of the air. I think that we all get thoughts and ideas occasionally that are not of God’s interests. Thought that come out of the world that we grew up in, educated into, Man’s interests. Look at this verse from Ephesians.

in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 2:2 NASB1995

Without Christ in our life we are walking according to the course of this world. How can we relate this to Peter, who had Jesus right there. He was with Jesus I would guess every day. Peter was a disciple of Jesus, being taught, trained in the truth. He was not yet a redeemed human. He was not a born again Christian. He did not understand most of what Jesus said rejected some of the things just as he did in this episode. Simon Peter later to become the leader of the disciples, even denied knowing Jesus.

Peter was still walking according to the course of this world even as he walked with Jesus. What is the course of this world then? It is the influence of satan in every area of our lives before we come to Jesus. He is still the ruler of this world, even though he was defeated by Jesus on our behalf. Jesus defeated him but did not cast him away. That is saved for a future date. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire with all his demons, for ever. Until then he is still working in the sons of disobedience.

Peter, still walking according to the course of this world had opened himself up to the influence of the world way of thinking about things. Satan influences the worlds way of thinking. He will until he gets locked up. That is what Jesus means when He said, “Get behind me satan.” Jesus was talking to the words and thoughts that were coming from Peter, not Peter himself.

Man’s interests are according to the course of this world. Man’s interests are influenced by the spirit and power of the air, the ruler of this world. I had some interesting thoughts. Things that I had vaguely heard of before. It is about the mark of the beast. In revelation when it talks about the mark of the beast, it says that it the number of man, 666. Maybe from this we can see why Jesus said man’s interests.

“Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mark 8:33, Matt 16:23

Mark of the beast is a number, it is the number of a man 666. This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam handed authority over this world to Satan. The hand over, the legal exchange of authority was so complete, it included control over man’s way of thinking. As well as tainting all of our spirits with the sin. When we look at satan’s rights as ruler of this world, yes I said rights, we can see that man’s interests are controlled for the most by the influence of satan.

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:18 NASB1995

Satan has rights, that is the authority that Adam signed over to him. Jesus took that authority away from satan and gave it back to us is through His death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God. He still has some control and authority over those who choose not to accept Jesus as Lord. Jesus had not completed this work at the time when He had to say to Peter, “Get behind me satan.”

Jesus had been preparing the disciples, letting them know what was going to happen to Him. It seems that as much as they knew the law and the prophets, they did not have an understanding of the truth. This has a lot to do with what they had been taught by firstly their parent, who were being taught by the religious leaders. And also what they had been taught themselves by the religious leaders. About the Messiah restoring the kingdom, not connecting the prophesies about His death.

Peter was operating from them point of view that he knew. A religious prospective, under the influence of satan; a worldly, man’s view. Peter your interests are of satans influence, because he has had so long to influence the way that the whole of mankind thinks.  Man’s interests, and not God’s interests.

God’s blessings

Charlie

Do not count the cost

I read this a few days ago, and realised that through the stories that Jesus told before this verse, talk about what happens if we count the cost and then go ahead despite the cost being too high. So I logged this thought in my mind.

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Luke 14:33

I do not need to count the cost before following Jesus, because if I counted the cost I might find that it is too much for me to be able to handle. Right now if the cost of following Jesus is keep wife or lose wife. It hurts, but there is no competition, I would give up my marriage to follow Christ. As a friend said, my marriage should not become my idol!

That would not mean that I would not do what I could to save My marriage, but faced with the ultimatum I would choose to follow Christ. That has always been my thought process for over 40 years. That is even before I first became married.

And so the stories that come before this verse. Who would start building a new tower without counting the cost first. Why? Because he would not want to look a fool for staring and not being able finish because it is too expensive. (my paraphrase) This is what Jesus said. He counts the cost to make sure he can complete the building, before he starts.

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’   Luke 14:28-30

Here is the truth, I we could not afford the cost we would not start the project. That is why we would count the cost first. Lets put it another way. If we sat down and counted the cost of following Jesus, we might think that there is too much to give up. We might think that it is to hard, the price to pay is too high. We want to save our old way of life rather than follow Jesus.

I think that if every Christian was made to sit down and calculate what the cost was going to be, before they made the decision for Christ. there would be very few Christians. Think about it, would there have been 3000 added to the church on the day of Pentecost, if Peter had got up and preached, “Repent, be baptised, receive the Holy Spirit, then you will be persecuted for your faith, some of you will be tortured and killed. Things will get so bad that you are going to be run out of your homes; you will have to flee all over the world to protect your lives.

That would have been Peter laying out the cost of following Jesus to all before they made the decision to repent. Counting the cost. If I had been told before I accepted Jesus as Lord, that I was going to be thrown out on my home by my parents, and that I was  going to be threatened that I would be murdered. Then later, because of my faith, my wife and mother of my children were going to leave me, and take our children away form me. I could have thought really, that cost is too high. I might have said as many have, if that is what it takes to follow Jesus, it is too much, I will not. That is because I had placed a high value upon those relationships. On the life that I wanted to build for myself.

Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Elsewhere he said let the dead bury the dead, just follow me. In other words do not count the cost just follow me. It dos not matter what may be going on in your life, we have to look at our lives as of no worth compared to following Christ.

More to come

Charlie

To answer this question we need to go to God and look at God’s forgiveness. John 3:16 says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only son.’ This is because God loves us so much that He wanted to forgive us. He gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sin. God used His Son Jesus to pay the debt for everybody’s sin. Even for those who choose not to believe in Jesus, or accept the forgiveness. God forgave the sin of the whole world.

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 NASB1995

Yes, this does say that the sins of the whole world have been paid for. All it takes is for people to accept that forgiveness. Here is a question, If God has forgiven the sin of the whole world, who are we to hold any sin against someone, anyone? If God has forgiven all sin then we are obligated to do the same.

So Because God loves every one of us humans, God sent His son to pay the penalty for all of the sins that were ever committed, even those that are yet to be committed. If that were not true there would be no forgiveness for us, as Christ paid for the sins about 2000 years ago before we ever had a chance to sin.

This is the depth of God’s love and grace towards us. That Christ died and paid the price for our sins before we ever got around to sinning. God forgave our sin before we ever got around to sinning.

This is how conclusively we have been forgiven. God does not take our sin into account. He has cast them into the sea of forgetfulness. He no longer remembers them.

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalms 103:12 NASB1995

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven , And whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” Romans 4:7-8

Way back before even Jesus was born into a human body to Mary, God says this about us. That God will not even be angry or rebuke us. There are many religious Christians that would like to tell us that God gets angry at us and will rebuke and chastise us, but this scripture says different. 700 years before Jesus came.

“For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the Lord who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:9-10

If God has forgiven all of our sin, past present and future, why will He rebuke us or become angry with us? He says that He will not! Now we have to be careful here, as we do not have license to continue to sin just because we know that we are already forgiven. God calls us to live holy lives, loving and serving one another.

Sin has consequences to our bodies that are not yet saved. Yes, our bodies still have to die, but the real life is in our spirits. The sin of our bodies cannot corrupt or harm our spirits, but can bring sickness and pain to our bodies. As the word of God is life and health to all of our body, we need to abide in the word of God.

Our bodies are the temple of God. He lives in us by His Spirit that seals our spirit. He cannot do that or come to live in us until we have accepted His forgiveness, accepted Him making us right with Him. God lives in us. He wants to live in us forever, But our bodies have been corrupted by sin. His word is able to make us live for longer not only that make us live in a healthy state for longer. This is so that He can live in us for longer.

God loves us so much that He cannot see any sin in us. He forgave us, He forgot our sin. Not only that He removed our sin from us. He no longer remembers that we had sinned. That is true forgiveness. That is what God has done for us because of the great love with which He loved us.

Some make excuses and say that God forgives because it is His nature. He has to forgive because that is what He promised. He cannot break His promise. That is how He is, forgiveness is what He does. Then some say that God has not really forgotten our sin. He is up in heaven waiting with a thunderbolt to strike us with some sort of punishment if we step out of line. Our natural man does not want to forgive. We want to hold onto hurts and wrong doings against us. (just in case) God is not like that.

God is God and is all powerful and is able to forgive everything, but we are just  mere human, mortal. Surely He does not expect us to be able to forgive everything. How can we forgive and forget? Here in these next verses there is an insight to how God loves. It is telling us how we should love, or how our love should mirror God’s love.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails1 Corinthians 13:4-9

See 1 Corinthians 13:5 love real love, the love of God that should flow through us takes no account of a wrong suffered. That is God’s type of forgiveness. God commands us to forgive as He forgave us. Forget any wrong suffered against us. Do not even be angry, or hold things against someone. This is hard, I know that I try but fail many times. I am good at forgiving and forgetting like God does, but not being drawn into an argument is hard. Arguments just bring us into dissension, and contention, this is when we can easily start judging and condemning, rather than have attitudes of forgiveness.

So many times I have let myself be drawn into a war of words. That is what an argument or heated discussion is. A war of words, that can easily degrade into a despising, deriding of the other person. So quickly we deteriorate into a condescending way of talking, losing most of any reasoning ability.

The word of God tells us of a different way to go about things. Below are just a few scriptures that talk about the way that we should be towards each other. It is not just about forgiving, but much more than that. It has a lot to do with living in and creating a peace between each other, even when it is hard to do. These are scriptures that are big within the New Testament, yet people reject them or make excuses against them with other scripture to counter them, usually from the Old Testament. But let us have a look at them.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32

But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 2 Corinthians 2:10-11

If we do not forgive, satan can take advantage of us!

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:12-17

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:15-26

Powerful words, another verse that I love and have tried to apply to my life in a very real and living way says, ‘ As far as it depends upon you be at peace with everyone.’ That is in Romans 14. As far as it depends upon you, be at peace with everyone.

The verse from Galatians above begins, ‘But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.’ Then it ends with, ‘Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.’ In between it tells us what are the deeds of the flesh, against the fruit of the Spirit.

During a heated discussion with my wife, these words actually came out of my mouth, as a reply to something my wife said about my love for her. I do not think that it was appreciated at the time. But as I look back at this statement, it is bold and quite profound.

Love is the ability to forgive no matter what the circumstances.

There is no excuse for unforgiveness.

God bless you

Charlie