How to Freely Forgive

"...Freely you have received, Freely give" -Matthew 10:8

Many times, as Christians, we are hurt by associates, people in churches, or sometimes loved ones who we feel should have been more loving or less spiteful to us. Lack of forgiveness is very present among Christians because hurt hurts no matter how holy you are! It's never easy to let go of pain, especially when that pain is still hurting you. However, in life I've learned an easy step by step home remedy that serves as an instant cure to the pain of un-forgiveness and I would love to share it with you:

Think about every wrong thing you've ever done. Consider the sins you have committed, your inadequacies and the many times you have fallen short of the glory of God. The bible says even our righteous acts are seen as filthy rags to God. That's understandable because, if we're honest with ourselves we'd admit, there our times when even our good deeds are tainted with bits of ulterior motives, unwillingness or false humility.

Jesus did not die because he was killed by the religious people who didn't believe He was the Messiah. He died because you killed Him! Those religious men did not have the power or the authority to beat, abuse, spit on, degrade and kill the King of kings. Jesus said it perfectly when He said "No one takes my life, I lay my life down". The fact is, the King of kings laid His life down because of your inability to be righteous!

Factually speaking, there were things that your unrighteousness made you entitled to. Sickness is a punishment of your unrighteousness. Poverty is a punishment of your sins. Lack of peace and all these negative things is what you deserved as a person who constantly fails and falls short of perfection. 

When God saw that you were failing Him and (being the just God that He is) knew that you deserved pain, lack of peace and death as your punishment, His heart could not allow for that to be your portion. The bible says that in sending Jesus to the earth, He was PEIRCED for the transgressions that were YOURS, He was CRUSHED for YOUR INIQUITIES; the punishment that brought YOU peace was upon HIM (meaning He took the punishment you deserved), and by His wounds you are healed.

When, I really became honest with myself and thought about how much of a failure I was... always making mistakes and never able to be perfect in pleasing God, even though I genuinely tried... and then when I learned the true extent to which God doesn't care how imperfect I am because the price for my unrighteousness was taken care of by Him, I couldn't understand why He thought I deserved that type of treatment. Nevertheless, I was grateful for His love because I knew had it not been for his undeserved mercifulness and unconditional faithfulness to me, I would have been dead and in an eternal punishment of torment a long time ago.

When you really understand that all that you have in life is undeserved; when you really come to learn that had it not been for the grace of God (which you and I don't even deserve to be entitled to) you would not even be alive, you would realize that your imperfect brothers and sisters are equally entitled to that unconditional love. Technically, none of us deserve it. You might not have committed the same wrong that person who hurt you committed, but in the eyes of God all sin is equally unrighteous. There is not one person who is more or less deserving of forgiveness because ALL OFFENSES ARE OFFENSIVE!

I've reached the point where (sometimes) when people hurt me, I see the glory of God in it. I examine a person's mistakes and it takes me back to the fact that if I forgive that person, I am giving them forgiveness they do NOT deserve. That mere thought reminds me that without Jesus, I am nothing but an imperfect, undeserving sinner on my way to punishment and death. I see myself in other people's short-comings and am reminded of the scripture verse quoted above: Freely I have received so freely I can give. Out of the abundance of forgiveness I've received from God I can freely give forgiveness to others. You will know when you are truly conscious of how much God's love for you is unconditional when you are able to freely give forgiveness to others the way He freely gave it to you so you can live and have the right to live happily.

Related Blog Posts: Why Worship At the Feet of Jesus

All Things Work Together for Good

One of my favorite promises in the bible is Romans 8:28 where Paul says to the Romans:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

This is a line that is quoted in churches all the time, but I always think it's important to look at memory scriptures, like this one, in context with the chapter it is found in to find out its intended meaning. So let's do that with this verse.

In Romans 8, Paul is talking to the Romans about being led by the Spirit and not walking after the flesh. He is not talking to a group of people who he is trying to convince to stop walking after the flesh. He is talking to a group who already walk in the Spirit. We know this because of verses like verse 9 where he says to the people, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit". Or because of verses like verse 23 where he says to the people, "we... also have the first fruits of the Spirit".  In this chapter, Paul constantly is referring to the Romans as people who already have the Spirit of God. If you read the entire chapter (up until Romans 8:28, our reference text) you will see that even when Paul is talking about people who walk after the flesh, he refers to them in the third person; inferring that those types of people were not numbered among those he was speaking to.

Paul even goes on to say in verse 26-27

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now [God] who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because [the Spirit] makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Here, Paul is talking about the Holy Spirit's ability to pray the perfect will of God for the lives of those who walk in the Spirit (when they pray in the Spirit/speak in tongues). 

So it is clear that Paul is exclusively talking to a group of people who have received and ALSO are led by the Spirit of God.

______________________________________

Then AFTER Paul points out the Holy Spirit's ability to pray the perfect will of God for our lives, He THEN says our reference text; verse 28:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

We can conclude in this context, (and through reading the whole chapter,) that Paul is referring to those who are led by the Holy Spirit as the ones who "love God and who are called according to His purpose".

Paul is trying to inform the Romans that because they seek after and have the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will always lead them to the right places at the right time, put the right people in their life, take the wrong people out, open the right doors, close the wrong ones etc. Since the Holy Spirit's role is to be our advisor and advocate to be led by the Holy Spirit means you are operating in the perfect will of God. So even when seemingly bad things are happening, a person led by the Holy Spirit can rest assured that even that bad thing will work together with God's plan for their good.

Paul wraps up this concept so perfectly by letting the people know that no matter what bad is going on around them, because they are in the will of God (by having the Holy Spirit) all things will work together in their favor. In verses 31-39 he says this:

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ... ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? ... ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ³⁷ ... we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are the promises to those who love God and are called according to His purpose, to those who are no longer walking in the flesh, but are led by the infinite wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will always lead you to where you need to be. So remember, seek first the kingdom of God (which is described in the bible as righteousness and peace of the Holy Spirit) and all your needs will be added to you! All things work together for your good when you are led by this Spirit.

Amen.

How Does A Person Receive the Holy Spirit?

Christian Meditation (Pt 1)

Meditation can be a taboo thing in Christianity for the fact that when we think of "meditation" we automatically think of nature soundtracks, positive affirmations, hypnosis, and other worldly things. Nevertheless, meditation is actually a concept the world has taken from the bible and made their own! Now we find that Christians rarely ever meditate because they don't want to be like the "world". However, it was a practice that started in the bible!

Sometimes in the Old Testament, when the word "meditate" appears, it was literally meant to mean, "tune out" or be unaware of your surroundings. In Isaiah 33:18, the scripture reads “Your heart will meditate on terror”. In the literal translation of this scripture the term “soliloquize” is used in place of the word “meditate”. Soliloquize means to utter in a soliloquy. By definition, a soliloquy is an utterance by a person who is talking to himself or herself and is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present.

We get the idea that to be disregardful of one's surroundings means a person is in an intense state of meditation or concentration. The way the word meditate (or soliloquize) was meant to be used here shows a deep level of being consumed by one's thoughts: to "meditate on terror".

In comparison to the way the term meditate was used in some other parts of the bible, to soliloquize means to be in a deeper state of concentration. For example, David says in Psalms 145:5, “I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty”. Here David is implying he will think about or reflect on something. This use of the word shows less intensity than being consumed by thoughts of terror as seen in the above scripture, Isaiah 33:18.

Interestingly enough, the intense version of the word “meditate” is also seen in one of the most popular Old Testament scriptures where the word is used. Joshua 1:8 reads:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous”

In this scripture the word “meditate” was, once again, literally translated from Hebrew to the word “soliloquize”. Unlike common belief, this scripture does not simply mean to read the word or reflect on the word every day and night. It literally means to utter repetitively to oneself, with such a level of concentration that the person becomes disregardful or oblivious to his or her surroundings. This scripture was actually a suggestion for Joshua to engage in actual meditation in order for the book of the law to be a subconscious lifestyle for him. Doing this is what was suggested to Joshua as the way for him to make himself successful and prosperous.

Meditation has become a practice that is almost barely used in Christianity. In fact the world has taken meditation and trivialized it to become a worldly concept with an almost evil connotation. However, just because the world has trivialized meditation this does not mean it is something that should be removed from Christianity. (The world has also trivialized music, but as we know, music is something that was created in heaven!)

Nevertheless, believe it or not, meditation is actually used in Christian churches more than we realize. Every time a congregation is directed by a leader to repeat a certain phrase, especially when the people are asked to repeat the phrase over and over again, this is a form of meditation. When a preacher says the same phrase or idea to a congregation in more than one different ways, this is a form of getting the people to meditate on what they are being told. Meditation literally is the act of concentrating on and rehashing a concept or thought in order to reach a heightened level of awareness (almost at a subconscious level) so that the concept can automatically come back to your remembrance whenever necessary (in times when you're not "meditating"). 

Click Here to Read on to Part 2 of Christian Meditation

Click Here to Contact Me via Email

The Benefit of Having God on Your Side

Studying the life of David, I became curious when I read that King Saul's ashes were buried under a Tamarisk Tree after He died. So, I did research to figure out what the significance of a tamarisk tree is when used in the bible and found it's a beautiful thing to those who are numbered among God's people.

Firstly, the tamarisk tree is only mentioned four times in the bible.

1. Genesis 21:33 
2. 1 Samuel 22:6 
3. 1 Samuel 31:13 
4. 1 Chronicles 10:12 

Now before I even mention the tamarisk tree's significance in the bible, let me explain the nature of the tamarisk. The tamarisk tree can  pretty much be described as a "selfish tree". With extremely deep roots, a tamarisk takes in about 1000 liters of water a day! This makes it hard to care for a tamarisk tree in the sense that it depletes the water supply for those in the region surrounding the tamarisk. Not only that, the leaves and branches of the tree cause for the ground surrounding it to be covered with a salty residue that disables other plants from growing around it! As if that weren't bad enough, this salt increases the risk of fire in the area where the tamarisk grows. However, the tamarisk not only survives such fires, but it also causes them to multiply being that hundreds of seeds PER TAMARISK TREE are now able to grow in a nitrogen/salt filled environment; suited for the growth of tamarisk trees. The only considerate thing that tamarisk's provide for non-tamarisk's is shade and nesting places for some species of birds.

So you see, when I say the tamarisk is a "selfish tree" what I'm saying is that it is hard for people or other plants to dwell in an area where tamarisk's are planted/growing. Yet, the same things that make it hard for others to dwell in that area are beneficial for the growth of tamarisks. This is interesting in the sense that the first reference of the tamarisk was in Genesis 21 when Abraham planted one. This comes after Abraham had lied to Abimelech and told him that his wife was his sister. The bible says Abimelech "took" Abraham's wife and God came to him in a dream and said "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

Abimelech had no idea that Sarah was Abraham's wife and it was because of Abraham's dishonesty that Abimelech had taken Sarah in the first place! Nevertheless, you see God selfishly preparing an environment for His own people to dwell seemingly having no real remorse for the lives of the people around them. 

God then says to Abimelech in the dream:

 “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.  Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

Fearing his life, Abimelech follows God's orders and goes down to meet Abraham. Now 2 things should be noted here:

1. Abimelech was a king in that region; THE king of that region
2. And Abraham had come into HIS TERRITORY; not the other way around

Nevertheless, when Abimelech went down to Abraham (following God's orders), Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech and then planted the tamarisk tree. This signifies that this region is now on God's side and Abimelech (and his people) are now, by association, a part of the favored clique that is God's people. This is similar to the way the tamarisk tree provides a safe dwelling environment only for other tamarisk's and some species of selected animals. It is way better to be on the side of the tamarisks than it is to be consumed by their very presence!

On the flip side, in the last three instances where the tamarisk tree is mentioned, this is when King Saul was trying to kill future King David. First Saul is sitting under a tamarisk right before murdering all of God's priests. Then, when Saul finally dies in war His ashes are buried under a tamarisk tree (the three scriptures where this takes place are the last three scriptures listed above). As we know, Saul wasn't exactly favored by God in either of these instances. This signifies the negative aspects of being around a tamarisk tree while not being one of the tamarisks. It is not beneficial.

Saul was trying to kill David the first time he is mentioned to be under a tamarisk. The mere mentioning of the tamarisk was a symbol of the fact that Saul was not going to prevail against God's favored servant. Since Saul was no longer numbered as one of God's people, being under a tamarisk only means that damage was inevitable for him. As suspected, Saul dies in war without ever harming David. Metaphorically, he is then burned and his ashes are buried under a tamarisk! Eerie...

So the mentioning of the tamarisk tree in the bible, shows God's loyalty and unmerited favor towards his people and those who his people are at peace with. Remember, the bible says that no weapon formed against you will ever prosper and every tongue that rises up against you will be condemned. You can rest assured that the battle is not yours; the battle is THE LORD'S and if the King of kings is on your side, victory is assured!

The Holy Spirit Blog-Series has now been turned into an E-Book that you can read online or download for FREE!

Please Visit & Like my brand new Facebook Page!

E-Book: The Holy Spirit Series

It's finally here! The ARevelationRevolution Holy Spirit Blog Series has officially been turned into an E-Book! It's called The Holy Spirit Series and is available for you to download for free or read online for free. Please share this with others! Thank you for your continued support.

Open publication        

Download The Holy Spirit Series

(For more announcements like this one, please visit and "Like" my brand new Facebook page. Thank you and God Bless!

What the Bible Says Your Purpose Is

You and I have never seen dinosaurs, right? Well, the reason why can possibly be explained by Genesis 1. The bible says in the beginning when the heavens and earth were created, the earth was without form, void and darkness was on the face of the deep. The word void here is not a noun and therefore cannot be defined by the noun's definition of the word; empty. It is an adjective. So we can apply the adj. definition of the word "void" to the way it was used in Genesis 1; useless, ineffectual or in vain. Meaning the earth had no purpose.

To further illustrate this let's look at the Hebrew Interlinear Bible. We know the old testament was originally written in Hebrew and was later translated into english. The literal translation of this line (from Hebrew to English) is as follows:

and·the·earth she-became chaos and·vacancy and·darkness over surfaces-of abyss  

Here, the verse says the earth became chaos. The earth was not made to have chaos. The literal Hebrew Bible says it became chaos. Now, how could there have been chaos on earth if nothing was on it? We know one thing: whatever was on the earth was not fulfilling the will and purpose of God because we saw Him give the earth a makeover so whatever He did purpose for the earth would come into fruition.

_______________________________________________

Now, when God created man, He gave Him 4 assignments.

• Be fruitful and multiply
• Fill the Earth
• Subdue the Earth
• Have Dominion over Every Living Thing 

Actually, the literal translation of the verse where God commands Adam of these things (Genesis 1:28), says be fruitful and increase, fill and subdue the earth and sway the animals. Now we automatically assume that God was telling Adam to have lots of children, but actually the word "increase" is not limited to expanding in kin. God was telling man to operate in abundance. Not just in family, but in prosperity and success. God didn't just want Adam to exist. He wanted Him to to add to the earth. He was telling man to fill and subdue the earth. Subdue means to overcome and bring under control. God did not want for chaos to abound the way it was before He created Adam. 

Now God could have done this task Himself, but He created man in His own image and likeness with the ability to add to the earth and to overcome and take dominion over it. It is your and my assignment for the will and glory of God. Satan Himself is the prince of this world (John 13:40). Nevertheless, God has given you the assignment to use your God-given authority to subdue (overcome and bring under control) the work's of darkness and the things of this world. This is your purpose. You have an assignment. Don't just exist for existing's sake lest you become useless for the will of God. Walk in Your God-given purpose!

The Holy Spirit Blog-Series has now been turned into an E-Book that you can read online or download for FREE!

Please Visit & Like my brand new Facebook Page!

Is it a Sin for Christians to Drink Alcohol?

Is it a Sin for Christians to Drink Alcohol? This one is easy. My answer to that question, according to the bible, is a big "No". It is not a sin and here's why:

• Jesus's first miracle was turning water into wine
• Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23 to stop only drinking water and to drink some wine because of his stomach condition
• In 1 Timothy 3 while Paul explains that a Bishop must be "not given to wine", he makes the distinction that a person in church with a lesser office (a deacon) must be "not given to much wine"
• In Genesis 27:28 the blessing Isaac gives to his son Jacob is that God will give him the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth and plenty grain and wine
• Wine is promised as a blessing/gift from God many, many times throughout the book of Deuteronomy

Throughout the Bible, the only time drinking is mentioned as a sin is when a person is being referred to as drunk with wine. But is the actual act of drinking (without getting drunk) a sin? According to the bible, no.

The Holy Spirit Blog-Series has now been turned into an E-Book that you can read online or download for FREE!

Please Visit & Like my brand new Facebook Page!