Forgiveness

Drunk & Naked

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Genesis 6:9-10, 9:20-25

9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. 10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 

20 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 21 One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.

24 When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. 25 Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham:

“May Canaan be cursed!
 May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”

IMG_1850It didn’t take long for blameless Noah to screw up after the flood. Whether he intentionally planned to become intoxicated or failed to realize the potency of his homemade wine is unclear. Nonetheless, he was drunk- and naked.

Had the story stopped there, his sin of gluttony would have stayed between him and God. But he, like many of us, had children that would be affected by his actions. Ham saw his father naked. Instead of dealing with the embarrassing exposure, he ran and tattled to his brothers. How often do we see a family member in embarrassing situations because of their choices, yet we say nothing to them…but choose instead to blab it to other relatives? Sham and Japheth, feeling sorry for their father’s predicament, backed into the tent and covered him with a robe. How often do we cover up our family members shame because we’re afraid to look at the sin and rightly deal with it before God?

Although Sham and Japheth were blessed by Noah for honoring and showing him respect, their actions would impact Noah’s family for generations, as would Ham’s. Because of his judgment and desire to point out his father’s fault to others, his son, Canaan was cursed.

God’s Word is clear about the impact of sin upon families:

Exodus 20:5

….I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

And the same applies to His favored children today:

My drunkenness will affect our children.

My nakedness (lack of modesty/sexual sin) will affect our children.

My judgment will affect our children.

My pride will affect our children.

My rebellion will affect our children.

My curses will affect our children.

BUT, let us not forget the Good News!!!! The Lord also promises He will

Exodus 20:6

lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

AND…

1 John 1:9

if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Sure, there can still be consequences for our actions, but our God is also the One who redeems and restores!!! I’ve seen Him take my sins and remember them no more. I’ve heard Him speak blessings in place of curses over our family. I’ve felt His freedom released in my soul. I’ve watched Him protect our children from the traps of the enemy. ALL things are possible in Him. All He asks is that we willingly surrender our drunk & naked sins to Him…and confess them to one another, so that we may be healed.

James 5:16

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

IF…..

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2 Chronicles 7:12-16

12 Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said,

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. 13 At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. 14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 15 My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. 16 For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

Some time after Solomon dedicated the Temple to God, the Lord revealed a contingent promise to him: IF God’s people humbled themselves, prayed, sought His face, and turned from sin, He WOULD hear them, forgive them and restore them.

After Jesus’s death and resurrection, God echoed the same contingency to His people:

Romans 10:9

9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

IF we confess Jesus as Lord & believe God raised Him from the grave, He WILL save us from eternal punishment. But we don’t have to offer sacrifices of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats as Solomon did for the dedication of the Temple. Jesus, the Lamb of God, willingly spilled His blood for our sin.

How then, should we respond to such a magnificent, selfless, sacrifice?

We are to dedicate our temple to Him so that His name will be honored forever.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

How do we do that? (verse 14) IMG_1850

We humble ourselves, every morning.

We pray, every morning.

We seek His face, every morning.

We repent for our sins, every morning.

We accept His forgiveness, every morning.

We praise Him, every morning, for being faithful to restore the areas of our soul that the enemy sought to steal, kill and destroy.

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
 for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;
 great is your faithfulness

And then…He gives us another promise (verse 16):

He will watch over us, for we are dear to His heart. Did you get that? WE are dear to HIS heart!

What a loving, giving, sacrificial God He is….

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is Stupid

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Proverbs 12:1

To learn, you must love discipline;
 it is stupid to hate correction.

During my journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ I haven’t always loved discipline. Alright…let’s be honest: at times, I’ve actually hated correction because I’ve trusted that what I was thinking, feeling, believing and doing was absolutely “right.” To make matters worse, I’ve even cited Gods blessings in my life as tangible evidence that I must be practically perfect in every way- and completely beyond reproach!!!

Enter pride: stage “right.”

IMG_4461Each time the Lord brings correction through His Word, prayer or others, my ego takes a huge slap to the face. If I choose to react to the pain and become angry and blame others (as Adam & Eve did in the garden), shame will consume me like a heavy cloak…. and I will remain a fool. But if I am able to lay down my offense and ask the Lord to penetrate the darkness with His light to reveal the Truth, I will see that I have once again rebelled against Him. And in His mercy, He will once again give me the opportunity to confess, repent, be forgiven & clothed in His righteousness.

It is stupid for me to hate correction, for I know the Father’s discipline is always, ALWAYS motivated by love. Even if a rebuke is delivered through someone who doesn’t articulate it with the most gentle, thoughtful and kind words, I can still receive it in love, because I know it comes from the One whom delights in me!

Proverbs 3:12

For the Lord corrects those he loves,
 just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

If you want to know God, you must learn about Him.

If you want to learn about Him, you must love discipline.

If you want to love discipline, you must accept correction.

If you want to accept correction, you must be wise.

If you want to be wise, you must be willing to listen to others.

Proverbs 12:15

Fools think their own way is right,
 but the wise listen to others.

Proverbs 12:15

Fools think their own way is right,
 but the wise listen to others.

Power Outage

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Luke 24:44-49

44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

During the wee hours this morning as I laid in bed, wrestling with insomnia, the ceiling fan in our bedroom abruptly turned off. When I sat up and looked down the hallway I noticed that the small table lamp wasn’t on either…and the house was completely silent.

Power outage.

I grabbed my cell phone and turned the flashlight app on to find my way to the front window. I peered out to see if it was a neighborhood outage or just our house (which would have made me wonder if the bill payment got lost in the mail!).

Since I was wide awake, I decided to report the subdivision outage online. After entering our street address, a message popped up, informing me that crews were already working to remove a fallen tree from a power line in our city.

Back to bed.

When the temperature in our room began to rise and beads of sweat began accumulating on my forehead, my body refused to go back to sleep. As I tossed and turned in the dark, I began thinking about how much I take our power for granted…. and how dependent I am on it- for everything.

In the same way, I sometimes take the power of the Holy Spirit for granted…. and fail to know that I can depend on Him – for everything. As a result, occasional power outages occur in my life.

Yet, when I am still in the silence and ask the Lord (or a fellow believer brings revelation through a rebuke) the Holy Spirit shines His flashlight app on the dark areas of my soul. Then- and only then, am I able to see the sin that’s been hiding in the shadows.

Thankfully, His mercy is available every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) and every morning we can choose to plug in to the Truth found in His Word and communicate with Him: “Lord, am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with You? Am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with my husband? Am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with our children? Am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with others in the body of Christ?”

IMG_0652Once He reveals the rotten fruit and how the tree has fallen on the power line, we can engage our will by surrendering, confessing and repenting. And immediately, His forgiveness flips the breaker back on so that we can live our day to the full… with the power of His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Galatians 5:19-23

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Cleared of Guilt

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Psalm 32

1 Oh, what joy for those
 whose disobedience is forgiven,
 whose sin is put out of sight!

2 Yes, what joy for those
 whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

3 When I refused to confess my sin,
 my body wasted away,
 and I groaned all day long.

4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
 My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. 

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
 and stopped trying to hide my guilt. 
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
 And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
 that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. 

7 For you are my hiding place;
 you protect me from trouble.
 You surround me with songs of victory.

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
 I will advise you and watch over you.

9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
 that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
 but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
 Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

During a recent road trip adventure, our family checked into a hotel, unloaded the luggage & left our precious pooch, Maggie in the room while we went to dinner. On the previous nights hotel stay, she had been content to take a nap while we were gone….but not this time.

Upon our return, we were unable to fully open the door to the suite. After our youngest daughter squeezed in to find out why she gasped, “oh, Maggie…what have you done?!”IMG_5511

We all stood there stunned- as we gazed upon the carpet and padding that had been ripped to shreds at the threshold.

Anger welled up in my heart as I considered the additional cost we’d be charged for the destruction.

Regret for not kenneling her flooded my mind.

And then compassion crept in as I realized she must have been suffering from severe separation anxiety.

One look from Doug and Maggie knew she was in trouble. One loud “bad” from me, followed by a pop on the nose sent her crawling under the table to hide.

She was guilty.

IMG_4003Some time later, after the general manager assessed the damage, Doug and I took a moment to process the event. Immediately after I went back over to our adopted dog and stood, staring into her beautiful brown eyes. She looked at me, and then looked away. This exchanged happened a handful of times before she eventually laid down and rolled over, begging me to love her, which I willingly did.

I sat there on my knees, stroking & kissing her furry head, overwhelmed by emotion as I realized our interaction mirrored my relationship with my Savior. The Holy Spirit confirmed my thoughts as Doug whispered, “what a picture of the Father’s love for us….”

The two of us then decided to take her for a walk around the surrounding area, so we laced up our tennis shoes and clipped her leash to the harness.

Her tail wagged.

No more hiding.

She was forgiven.

She was cleared of guilt.

She was free to trot along the pathway with us, enjoying our company.

As we walked, I wondered…

How many times have I suffered from separation anxiety when I’ve walked away from the Father?

How many times have I felt heavy from His hand of discipline?

How many times have I destroyed the carpet instead of submitting my fear to Him?

How many times have I looked away from His gaze, choosing instead to hide my shame under the table? 

How many times have I refused to be honest with Him (& others) by confessing and repenting for my sin?

How many times have I been that senseless horse or mule (or dog) who sometimes needs a bit and bridle (or kennel) to keep me under control?

Way too many to count.

But oh, what joy this adopted daughter has when I finally sit down before my Master, roll over and beg Him to forgive me! What love floods my soul as I am cleared of my guilt. What gratefulness I express when I know that my sins are put out of sight! What freedom I experience in walking with Him along the best pathway, knowing that He will advise and watch over me- always. For I believe that He is my hiding place and He will protect me from trouble, when I come to Him.

Dress Yourself in Humility

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1 Peter 5:5-11

5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for

“God opposes the proud
 but gives grace to the humble.”[a]

6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers[b] all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11 All power to him forever! Amen.

When Doug and I finally gave God all our worries and cares, the Holy Spirit began His work to restore, support and strengthen us individually- and together.

Believers, all over the world have, and will go through the same kind of suffering in their marriage that we did. As with most couples, our story involved two broken people who finally surrendered to the Father. But it didn’t happen simultaneously. Doug was the first to humble himself.

After years of trying to conquer sexual sin in his own strength, in 2001 my groom was faced with the prospect of loosing his wife, children and career. Everything that he held dear was being stripped away in the span of only a few hours. Fortunately, for him- and his family, he cried out to God for help….and in His kindness, God reminded him of his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.

My surrender came several months later. Like a roaring lion, I was looking to devour my husband and make him pay for all the scars & pain he inflicted on me during our years together. I was angry, bitter, judgmental and completely blind to my own sexual sin- and stubborn pride. Until one day…while I was cursing my husband, the Holy Spirit interjected (literally in mid sentence): “I died for him too. He is forgiven. You must forgive.”

The restoring of our marriage began with both of us confessing and repenting to the Father. Had we stopped there, we would have stayed together with a firm foundation, but our relationship would not have been rebuilt the way God designed. In order to continue the construction process, Doug and I once again had to humble ourselves by confessing our sins to each other and repenting for the pain we inflicted in one another’s souls. We had to be willing to give and receive forgiveness. We also needed to allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the deep, dark, hidden places in the basement of our past so that we could see where the enemy had stolen, killed and destroyed areas of our lives- and marriage. Once we knew the Truth, we were set free by confessing, repenting and forgiving.

078As with any remodel, the project towards oneness has been long….and sometimes extremely hard. And it still isn’t finished! But I can tell you from experience: the blessings of obedience far outweigh the cost of humbling ourselves under the mighty power of God.

If you are in the midst of a marriage renovation, dress yourself in humility towards God and your spouse. The Lord promises that at just the right time He will lift you up in honor. So trust Him! Don’t rush the reno. A firm foundation and well built home takes time.

Psalm 37:7

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
 and wait patiently for him to act.

Completely Trustworthy

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Psalm 119:137-144

137 O Lord, you are righteous,
 and your regulations are fair.

138 Your laws are perfect
 and completely trustworthy.

139 I am overwhelmed with indignation,
 for my enemies have disregarded your words.

140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested;
    that is why I love them so much.

141 I am insignificant and despised,
 but I don’t forget your commandments.

142 Your justice is eternal,
 and your instructions are perfectly true.

143 As pressure and stress bear down on me,
 I find joy in your commands.

144 Your laws are always right;
 help me to understand them so I may live.

As we approach the 5th week of our kitchen renovation, the pressure and stress of completing the project continues to bear down on me. As a result, I continue to desperately need the Holy Spirit to help me with my anger!

IMG_5124Living in a home with no stove to cook healthy meals for our family of 6 has been inconvenient. Washing dishes in the master bathroom sink has been annoying. Cleaning up construction debris left by others has been a nuisance. Yet, despite all the rearranging of our every day life the thing that has affected me the most are the promises that have been delivered and subsequently broken….over and over and over again.

Construction projects are notorious for running behind schedule. It’s completely understandable that plans don’t always go the way we anticipate on the job site. The Lord has given me bucket loads of grace to make concessions for ideas that didn’t work and a great deal of patience in waiting to get our kitchen- and entire house back in order! Yet, almost daily I’ve had to continually deal with the anger that has risen up in my soul towards the vendors & craftsmen who have proven to be completely untrustworthy.

Anger is an emotion given to us by God. There’s nothing wrong with feeling angry. And there’s nothing sacrilegious about expressing why we feel upset to our Heavenly Father. Where it crosses the line into sin is when we scream, cuss, rant, rave, call others every name in the book, throw things or pitch a huge hissy fit.

Ephesians 4:26

26 Be angry, and yet do not sin…

Sadly, I’ve been guilty of all of the above. I’ve been that “b” word, that OCD control freak, that vengeful woman named Jezebel whose story is told in 1 Kings. But miraculously, none of my former alter egos have shown their ugly face during this remodel project. Praise the Lord! For God has been helping me submit my feelings to Him and express my emotions in a healthy and productive way.

Let’s be honest: men and women are not always trustworthy. I sure haven’t been. Still, that doesn’t mean I abandon every person who has ever disappointed me and go live alone in a cave on some private island for the rest of my life. So, what can I do?

I can:

  • Be still and know that God is always completely trustworthy. He will never break His promises to me.
  • Express my anger to God (without sinning) about others who have been untrustworthy.
  • Seek God’s perspective on whether I am to confront the person (in love) or let it go (meaning = allow God to be my avenger)
  • Seek God’s perspective on whether or not the relationship should continue.
  • Forgive the person who has failed to meet my expectations.

If you were to ask me if I ever want to live through another kitchen renovation I would probably tell you “HECK NO!” But, I don’t want to deny the Lord any opportunity He chooses to help me understand His ways amidst the moments of life when I am overwhelmed by anger. Because, through the power of His Spirit, I am finally beginning to understand that He uses all things together for my good.

Romans 8:28

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.