Devotional - Forgive him! You must be crazy! When someone hurts us bad it is hard to let it go. People say “Let go and let God”. I am not sure what that means but I do know when someone really hurts me, giving up my right to anger and feeling of revenge is the last thing I want to do. In Geneses 4 we read that Cain was angry at Able. Even after God confronted Cain, he would not let it go. Cain lured Able into a field, away from witnesses and in a fit of rage struck him down. Cain though he had gotten away with it, but he did not and the consequences for Cain were serve. If you are like me you may be saying, “That was murder, I have never murdered anyone.” Well in Matthew 5, Jesus comes along and puts a new spin on murder. It becomes an issue of the heart. Matthew 5 reads: 21 “You have heard that [a]the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be [b]liable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be [c]guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘[d]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be [e]guilty before [f]the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be [g]guilty enough to go into the [h]fiery hell….” In this passage Jesus is talking about people closes to us. The term brother could mean out natural family or our spiritual family. Jesus equates anger with murder making us guilty before a court. We are guilty because of our thoughts. If we turn around and call our brother a “good-for-nothing” we are guilty before the Supreme Court. In other words when our thoughts become actions we are guilty before a higher court. (No appeal at that level). Saying to him and maybe to others about him, “you fool” condemns us for eternity. Thank goodness for the cross that gives us the forgiveness we need. I mentioned before that the consequences for Cain were severe. Back on Genesis 4 we read: 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14 Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 So the LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD [a]appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him. 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and [b]settled in the land of [c] Nod, east of Eden. God confronts Cain and gives him two chances to come clean when he says: “Where is Abel your brother?” and again when God says “What have you done?” Cain’s punishment is total. He can no longer make a living, he is driven from his home and family, he will live in fear continually and, worst of all, and he is driven from fellowship with God. You may have had one of those arm bands that read “What would Jesus Do?” That’s a very important question. Jesus also had issues with his brothers (family). More correctly they had issues with Him. We read in John 7:1-5 that they did not believe in Him. 7 After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret [a]when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him. We read in Mark 3:20-22 where they were encouraging Him to go to Jerusalem and possible get himself killed. 20 And He *came [a]home, and the crowd *gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat [b]a meal. 21 When His own [c]people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by [d] Beelzebub,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” We read in Mark 3:20-22 that they believed He was crazy or possessed by the devil. They wanted to have Him committed and maybe even stoned. 20 And He *came [a]home, and the crowd *gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat [b]a meal. 21 When His own [c]people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by [d] Beelzebub,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” The worst thing they did was be absent at his cruisfiction. So much so that Jesus asked John to take care of Mary. We can read that is John 19:24b -25: But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. What would you do with family like that? You may say it was different for Jesus because he was God. True but Hebrews 2:17-18 says he experienced everything we experience which would include the difficulty of failed relationships. There is an interesting event recorder in I Corinthians 15: 3-7 Paul says. Jesus went out of his way to reconcile with James. The result of that meeting on James was life changing. 3 For I delivered to you [a]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to [b] James, then to all the apostles… Something incredible must have happened to James at that meeting because soon after the meeting we find James is a changed man. He starts hanging out with the disciples. Acts 1:12-14 reads: 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the [a]mount called [b]Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a [c]Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and [d]James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, [e]James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the [f]son of [g]James. 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. In Acts 12:17 we read about Peter reporting to James. The verse reads: 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to [a] James and the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place Soon thereafter from Acts 15 and beyond James led the church in Jerusalem so much so the Paul in Galatians calls him a pillar of the church along with Peter and John, list him first. James eventually write the first book of the New Testament in 68AD calling himself a servant of Jesus his brother. James obviously had a like influence on his brother Jude who in his letter calls himself a servant of Jesus also. How are you handling the person or people who hurt you? Quite a contrast in the meeting between Cain and Abel in the field and James and Jesus after the resurrection. We do not has a description of what was said when they meet but we have an example in John 21 with Jesus reconciled with Peter. Jesus asked Peter do you love me. Then feed my sheep. Jesus repaired Peter’s heart and then Jesus put Peter to work. If you are like me you have some relationships that need attention. We are commanded to fix them even if what happened was not our fault. Remember Matthew 5 about our thoughts, words and actions? The following verses read: 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Allowing a problem to simmer for hours or even years blocks our ability to worship. Like Cain we are banned from the face of the Lord, our prayers are not heard and our service does not prosper. We live in fear or doubt questioning our salvation. So take courage, by faith go to the person and make it right. It may make them a modern day James and keep you from becoming a modern day Cain. Remember the words of James 2: 12 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [e]triumphs over judgment.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 21:54:20 +0000
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