No buts, JUST FORGIVE!

Psalm 103

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 103

A song of David.

1 O my soul, come, praise the Eternal
    with all that is in me—body, emotions, mind, and will—every part of who I am—
    praise His holy name.
2 O my soul, come, praise the Eternal;
    sing a song from a grateful heart;
    sing and never forget all the good He has done.
3 Despite all your many offenses, He forgives and releases you.
    More than any doctor, He heals your diseases.
4 He reaches deep into the pit to deliver you from death.
    He crowns you with unfailing love and compassion like a king.
5 When your soul is famished and withering,
    He fills you with good and beautifulthings, satisfying you as long as you live.
    He makes you strong like an eagle, restoring your youth.

6 When people are crushed, wronged, enslaved, raped, murdered,
    the Eternal is just;
    He makes the wrongs right.
7 He showed Moses His ways;
    He allowed His people Israel to see His wonders and acts of power.
8 The Eternal is compassionate and merciful.
    When we cross all the lines, He is patient with us.
    When we struggle against Him, He lovingly stays with us—changing, convicting, prodding;
9 He will not constantly criticize,
    nor will He hold a grudge forever.
10 Thankfully, God does not punish us for our sins and depravity as we deserve.
    In His mercy, He tempers justice with peace.
11 Measure how high heaven is above the earth;
    God’s wide, loving, kind heart is greater for those who revere Him.
12 You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them.
    As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us.
13 An earthly father expresses love for his children;
    it is no different with our heavenly Father;
The Eternal shows His love for those who revere Him.
14 For He knows what we are made of;
    He knows our frame is frail, and He remembers we came from dust.

15 The children of Adam are like grass;
    their days are few;
    they flourish for a time like flowers in a meadow.
16 As the wind blows over the field and the bloom is gone,
    it doesn’t take much to blow us out of the memory of that place.
17 But the unfailing love of the Eternal is always and eternal
    for those who reverently run after Him.
    He extends His justice on and on to future generations,
18 To those who will keep His bond of love
    and remember to walk in the guidance of His commands.

19 The Eternal has established His throne up in the heavens.
    He rules over every seen and unseen realm and creature.
20 Adore Him! Give Him praise, you heavenly messengers,
    you powerful creatures who listen to
    and act on His every word.
21 Give praise to the Eternal, all armiesof heaven—
    you servants who stand ready to do His will.
22 Give praise to the Eternal, all that He has made
    in all corners of His creation.
O my soul, come, praise the Eternal!

Forgiveness, why do I find it hard to forgive a person who has really done a good job in messing me up, why do I find it hard to forgive them? To be honest, pride comes on me, pride comes on me and whispers a pretty good and convincing lie into my ear, one that I buy into. You don't have to forgive that person! Look at ALL they have done to you, don't you remember everything they put you through? Isn't the pain still fresh and festering within you? Nope don't forgive them! Put up those walls. Block them off. Do whatever you need to do that will allow you to harbor a grudge and never give them another chance, because you know what, they really really really really REALLY messed up, and they really hurt you, and you ARE ENTITLED to harbor unforgiveness. Well that's absolutely wrong and unbiblical, but it is true, many times. I can get caught up in the hurt that someone has done to me and feel as if I am entitled to hold a grudge, AS IF I ever did anything to earn forgiveness and salvation. 

So this is the sobering moment. I have to dwell on this passage and have it wash over me over and over and over and over again. I have to put my pride and crusty heart on the altar and allow God to deal with me. I must make the choice to forgive. I must choose to love. I must choose to be obedient to God despite my feelings. How dare I hold unforgiveness when Christ went through what he went through so that I may receive forgiveness for all of my sin and have eternal life because of him.

David gets it in this passage and he can't praise God enough. He's like WHOA God you are so GOOD, let every part of my entire being praise you! You hold back what I deserve (judgement and death) and instead you would give me what I don't deserve (forgiveness) and I never had to earn it, you just did it because you loved me. 

You loved me so much that you would send your only Son to this earth to be poured out as a sacrifice for all of my sin. You sent him onto this earth. He knew what he would have to go through. He knew the pain he would experience. He felt every blow to his body. He felt every insult and endured all the mockery. And he died even for the very people who would nail him to the cross. He went to the cross despite his feelings in obedience to you God. He would take on all the sins of the world and all the darkness, so that his light would be transferred to us. And he went knowing that we would mess up, knowing how many times we would break his heart, knowing our rap sheet, knowing how many times we would run from him, knowing the darkest parts of us, and yet he went to the cross, because he loved us. So Lord HELP ME TO PRAISE YOU WITH ALL THAT I AM! May I NEVER forget all that you have done for me. May I never forget where I came from. May I never forget all that you have forgiven. May I never forget that you loved me enough to call me. May I never forget all that you have done for me, and may I no longer hold grudges or unforgiveness because you didn't choose to do that for me. I am not entitled to hold unforgiveness. Grant me a heart of humility, help me to be slow to anger and quick to forgive, and quick to love. In Jesus name I pray Amen

Be quick to forgive, no BUT you don't even know what they did to me's. God doesn't question when you ask for forgiveness. He just does. So follow suit. Experience the freedom and joy that comes with it. And watch God take you farther than ever before. 

Psalm 27:6

6 God lifts me high above those with thoughts
    of death and deceit that call for my life.
I will enter His presence, offering sacrifices and praise.
    In His house, I am overcome with joy
As I sing, yes, and play music for the Eternal alone.

It's a good read even if you don't believe in my Jesus GRACE is ______.

Grace
I once believed that grace was something that I had to earn
If I do everything on this checklist of grace, I'll obtain it by days end
I'll work my whole life trying to pay back, that which was already freely given
I'll collect all my good deeds in a savings account and try to pay off a debt unpayable
Like here!!! Take it all, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, a thousand forgive me's and confessions trying to earn that grace back, when I was forgiven at the very first forgive me.
GRACE
I once believed that GRACE was something I HAD to earn.....
Then I realized how insulting it was to try to pay off something that was freely given
I mean how would you feel if you LOVED someone so much that you would give them what you knew, YOU KNEW to be the greatest gift to give and they REFUSED it!?
Like what? YOU BETTER TAKE THIS GIFT!
Pretty insulting, huh?
I once thought that sinning willy nilly would be the epitome of CHEAPENING grace until this light sparked in my heart and I got it!!! I got it!!! GRACE!!!!
To refuse to accept GRACE is to cheapen GRACE!
IT'S LIKE you're saying, HEY JESUS!!!! Your death on the cross, wasn't enough!
Yeah, yeah, you gave up your life for me when I might have been one of the very people who nailed you to that cross.
Yeah YEAH, you LOVED even those who wanted to HUNT you down and have you crucified as soon as possible, that you would tell them over and over and over and over, believe in me, and you will have ETERNAL life.
Even if you KNEW full well that all they wanted was for you to die.......................
You still loved them, and DIED for them.....
BUT still JESUS, that can't possibly enough.....Here let me do all these things to earn this GRACE!
Dude, you can't earn a gift, you don't do anything to deserve a gift, it is just given to you.
HE GAVE IT ALL UP FOR YOU!
One of the last words Jesus said before he died was it is FINISHED!!!
It is FINISHED... That means HE DIED FOR ALL OF YOUR SIN!
From a little small white lie, to murder.
Sin is SIN in God's eyes....And Jesus DIED for all of it.
Why? Because you ever did anything to deserve it? NOPE.
Because HE LOVED YOU SO MUCH!!! That He would die for you, so that you would have life and have it abundantly, not just for the years on this planet that you will walk, but for all of ETERNITY!
Stop getting so stuck and caught up in this rule game and this sin thing....
Instead GET YOUR EYES STUCK ON JESUS and JUST how much HE absolutely LOVES you.
Get stuck on his indescribable GRACE.
The more you're stuck on Jesus, the more you'll fall in love with Him. The more you fall in LOVE with Jesus, the less you will find yourself sinning.
Know why? Well for one, HIS LOVE WILL TRANSFORM you, and well second, who CHEATS on someone they absolutely without a doubt are head over heals and madly in love with?
No one ever?
Good.
You're right, no one.
Grace isn't just a principle.. Grace isn't just a noun....Grace is a person....Grace is Jesus.

(What I've been getting from the book Jesus is ____. All credit goes to the Pastor of this book..)
I just paraphrased his words or wrote down what I've been getting from the book.