3-Mar-15 – Emily's Snippets

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37Forgive – to pardon for offense or offender, to grant pardon or remission. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to forgive. Pride makes us susceptible to withholding forgiveness from our brother or sister.To extend forgiveness is to extend a love that can only come from God. How deep, how wide is his love? We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. I John 3:16Forgiveness gives us life. Living in the mode being offended, in the current culture, is death. Watching each day just how we can be offended is empty of love-living.God’s gracious gift is life. Adam brought death to many. It is our choice, do we follow after God or after Adam’s way? Through Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone, we live a life of forgiveness and love. This is truly salvation, a freedom from unforgiveness and death. Our inner being is dressed in a robe of righteousness to meet our bridegroom.

But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:15 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:24

Vengeance and the scars of hurt are dead when we live in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and unforgiveness is like smiling versus frowning. Smiling brings overwhelming joy in the Lord our everlasting God.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10