Wisdom Of Life

" In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink."    [John 7:37 ] Patience had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast he pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year he pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering of the Saviour in bearing with some of us year after year, notwithstanding our provocations, rebellions, and resistance of his Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders that we are still in the land of mercy!  Pity expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus cried, which implies not only the loudness of his voice, but the tenderness of his tones. He entreats us to be reconciled. “We pray you,” says the Apostle, “as though God did beseech you by us [read 2 Corinthians 5:20] .” What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep must be the love which makes the Lord weep over sinners, and like a mother woo his chil

" Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.  [Ecclesiastes 7:8]  Look at David’s Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief [read Isaiah 53:3]. Would you see the end? He sits at his Father’s right hand, expecting until his enemies be made his footstool [ read Psalm 110:1] . “As he is, so are we also in this world [read 1 John 4:17] .” You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."  [Philippians 1:20] We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It’s as if Paul were saying, “My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest—my best for His glory.” To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point—He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep

"Saying, What do you think about the Christ?  whose Son is He?  They said to Him, The Son of David."    [Matthew 22:42 ] The great test of your soul’s health is, What do you think about Christ? Is he to you “fairer than the children of men [read Psalm 45:2] ”—“the chief among ten thousand”—the “altogether lovely [see Song of Solomon 5:10,16] ”? Wherever Christ is thus esteemed, all the faculties of the spiritual man exercise themselves with energy. I will judge of your piety by this barometer: does Christ stand high or low with you? If you have thought little of Christ, if you have been content to live without his presence, if you have cared little for his honour, if you have been neglectful of his laws, then I know that your soul is sick—God grant that it may not be sick unto death! But if the first thought of your spirit has been, how can I honour Jesus? If the daily desire of your soul has been, “O that I knew where I might find him! [see Job 23:3] ” I tell you tha

"Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."   [1 Samuel 7:12] The word “ hitherto ” seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet, “ hitherto the Lord hath helped! ” Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honour, in dishonour, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation, “hitherto hath the Lord helped us!” We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves; even so look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys. Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely there must be many, an

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."    [Galatians 2:20] When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he first of all said, “Live;” and this he did first, because life is one of the absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it be bestowed we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now the life which grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace which perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its firstfruit. It is the neck which joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head.  “Oh Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord, is not this office thin

The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is no substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every wind just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason the rush is not broken by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived; perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself whether I be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in water, and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root; let the mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness is absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case? Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion is profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received from his hands? If so I am a base hypocrite, and like the withering rush, I shal

"Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.    [Matthew 28:20] The Lord Jesus is in the midst of his church; he walkes among the golden candlesticks; His promise is, “Remember, I am with you always.” He is as surely with us now as He was with the disciples at the lake, when they saw coals of fire, and fish laid on it and bread. Not carnally, but still in real truth, Jesus is with us. And a blessed truth it is, for where Jesus is, love becomes inflamed. Of all the things in the world that can set the heart burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus! A glimpse of him so overcomes us, that we are ready to say, “Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” Even the smell of the aloes, and the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop from his perfumed garments, causes the sick and the faint to grow strong. Let there be but a moment’s leaning of the head upon that gracious boso

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."   [Isaiah 7:14] Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given [ see Isaiah 9:6]. ” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, “The seed of the woman [ see Genesis 3:15], ” not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to his

The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious, and exalted; but “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor , that you through His poverty might become rich [2 Corinthians 8:9] .”   As the rich saint cannot be true in his communion with his poor brethren unless of his substance he ministers to their necessities, so (the same rule holding with the head as between the members), it is impossible that our Divine Lord could have had fellowship with us unless he had imparted to us of his own abounding wealth, and had become poor to make us rich. Had he remained upon his throne of glory, and had we continued in the ruins of the fall without receiving his salvation, communion would have been impossible on both sides. Our position by the fall, apart from the covenant of grace, made it as impossible for fallen man to communicate with God as it is for Belial to be in concord with Christ [ see 2 Corinthians 6:15 ]. In order,

"The day is Yours, the night also is Yours ; You have prepared the light and the sun."  [Psalms 74:16] Yes, Lord, You do not abdicate Your throne when the sun goes down, nor do You leave the world all through these long wintry nights to be the prey of evil; His eyes watch us as the stars, and His arms surround us as the zodiac belts the sky. The dews of kindly sleep and all the influences of the moon are in Your hand, and the alarms and solemnities of night are equally with You. This is very sweet to me when watching through the midnight hours, or tossing to and fro in anguish. There are precious fruits put forth by the moon as well as by the sun: may my Lord make me to be a favoured partaker in them. The night of affliction is as much under the arrangement and control of the Lord of Love as the bright summer days when all is bliss. Jesus is in the tempest. His love wraps the night about itself as a mantle, but to the eye of faith the sable robe is scarce a disguis

"But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ' Friend, go up higher .' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you."    [Luke 14:10]  When first the life of grace begins in our soul, we do indeed draw near to God, but it is with great fear and trembling, the soul conscious of guilt, and humbled thereby, is overawed with the solemnity of its position; by a sense of the grandeur of Jehovah, in whose presence it stands with unfeigned bashfulness it takes the lowest room. But, in after life, as the Christian grows in grace, although he will never forget the solemnity of his position, and will never lose that holy awe which must encompass a gracious man when he is in the presence of the God who can create or can destroy; yet his fear has all its terror taken out of it; it becomes a holy reverence, and no more an overshadowing dread. He is called up higher,

"They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children, Because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation."    [Deuteronomy 32:5]  What is the secret spot which infallibly betokens the child of God? It were vain presumption to decide this upon our own judgment; but God’s word reveals it to us, and we may tread surely where we have revelation to be our guide. Now, we are told concerning our Lord, “to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed on his name.” Then, if I have received Christ Jesus into my heart, I am a child of God. That reception is described in the same verse as believing on the name of Jesus Christ. If, then, I believe on Jesus Christ’s name—that is, simply from my heart trust myself with the crucified, but now exalted, Redeemer, I am a member of the family of the Most High. Whatever else I may not have, if I have this, I have the privilege to become a child of God. Our Lord Jesus pu

" Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."    [Isaiah 41:10] God has a strong reserve with which to discharge this engagement; for He is able to do all things, till we can drain dry the ocean of omnipotence, till we can break into pieces the towering mountains of almighty strength, we never need to fear. Do not think that the strength of man shall ever be able to overcome the power of God, would the earth’s huge pillars stand (1 Samuel v2:8), we have enough reason to abide firm in our faith. The same God who directs the earth in its orbit, who feeds the burning furnace of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, has promised to supply us with daily strength. While He is able to uphold the universe, dream not that He will prove unable to fulfil His own promises. Remember what He did in the days of old, in the former generations. Remember how He spoken and

"Although my house is not so with God, Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?"   [2 Samuel 23:5 ] This covenant is divine in its origin. “He has made with me an everlasting covenant.” God, the everlasting Father, has positively made a covenant with us; God who spoke the world into existence by a word; he, stooping from his majesty, takes hold of HIS hand and makes a covenant with us. Is it not a deed, the stupendous condescension of which might ravish our hearts forever if we could really understand it? “HE has made with me a covenant.” A king has not made a covenant with me—that were somewhat; but the Prince of the kings of the earth, Shaddai, the Lord All-sufficient, the Jehovah of ages, the everlasting Elohim, “He has made with me an everlasting covenant.” But notice, it is particular in its application. “Yet He has made with me an everlasting

"I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk."   [Ezekiel 16:10] See with what matchless generosity the Lord provides for his people’s apparel. They are so arrayed that the divine skill is seen producing an unrivalled broidered work, in which every attribute takes its part and every divine beauty is revealed. No art like the art displayed in our salvation, no cunning workmanship like that behold in the righteousness of the saints. Justification has engrossed learned pens in all ages of the church, and will be the theme of admiration in eternity. God has indeed “curiously wrought it.” With all this elaboration there is mingled utility and durability, comparable to our being sandals with badgers’ skins. The righteousness which is of God by faith endures forever, and he who is sandals with this divine preparation will tread the desert safely, and may even set his foot upon the lion and the

Christmas isn’t primarily about compassion. It’s about generosity. First and foremost it’s about God’s generosity toward us that was demonstrated when he gave his one and only Son so that we could have new life. Because of this truth, as we are in the Christmas season, there’s no better attitude we can develop than generosity, but being generous isn’t about how much you give. (the amount is irrelevant). It’s all about our attitude! The Bible says, “ For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.    [2 Corinthians 8:12] . Generosity isn’t talking about our  wealth ; it’s about our  willingness  — to help others, to show love to other people, and to honor God. In 2 Corinthians 9:7,  “ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver , ” God gives us three specific characteristics of an attitude of authentic generosity: 

"So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."   [1 Peter 4:19] Remember what photography was like before everything went digital? When you took a picture, the first thing you’d get was a negative. Then you had to develop the negative into a positive by going into a darkroom and shining a light through it onto photographic paper. This turned the negative into a positive full-color photograph. That’s what God wants to do with the injustices in our lives. We all have them. People have mistreated us. They’ve passed over us. They’ve taken advantage of us. God wants to take all the negatives, shine the light of Jesus through them, and turn them into positives — a full-color picture of the life we were made to live. The Bible says,  "So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."   [1 Peter 4:19]   The most

"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."    [John 10:9] Jesus, is the great "I AM", which is the entrance into the true church, and the way of access to God himself, He gives to the man who comes to God by him four choice privileges: 1. He shall b e saved . The fugitive manslayer passed the gate of the city of refuge, and was safe. Noah entered the door of the ark, and was secure. None can be lost who take Jesus as the door of faith to their souls. Entrance through Jesus into peace is the guarantee of entrance by the same door into heaven. Jesus is the only door, an open door, a wide door, a safe door; and blessed is he who rests all his hope of admission to glory upon the crucified Redeemer. 2. He shall go in. He shall be privileged to go in among the divine family, sharing the children's bread, and participating in all their honours and enjoyments. He shall go in to the chambers of commun

"Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: "I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown."   [Jeremiah 2:2] Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returns often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so does the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity "His delights were with the sons of men;" his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world; he vie?wed them in the mirror of his foreknowledge. The Bible's says in Psalm 139:16, " in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them". 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44 NIV) Unfairness is part of the human condition, we can’t live on this earth for long without feeling like someone has treated us unfairly, or maybe it’s a parent who put us through a miserable childhood, or maybe it’s an employer who treats you differently than your co-workers, or maybe you feel like that you were treated unfairly by the legal process. You can choose to respond to the people who hurt you by hurting them back, and that’s the easiest decision to make, and no doubt about it. But God gives us another option in Matthew 5:43-44:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” . When people hurt you and treats you unfairly, they expect you to retaliate, and to seek revenge, but God wants you to do the exact

"Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called a transgressor from the womb.    [Isaiah 48:8] It is painful to remember that, in a certain degree, this accusation may be laid at the door of believers, who too often are in a measure spiritually insensible. We may well bewail ourselves that we do not hear the voice of God as we ought, “ we did not hear ”  There are gentle motions of the Holy Spirit in the soul which are unheeded by us: there are whisperings of divine command and of heavenly love which are alike unobserved by our leaden intellects. Alas! we have been carelessly ignorant— “we did not know” There are matters within which we ought to have seen, corruptions which have made headway unnoticed; sweet affections which are being blighted like flowers in the frost, untended by us; glimpses of the divine face which might be perceived if we did not wall up t

" If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.   If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."    [1 Corinthians 13:1-3] God calls us to love one another, which requires living in a way that is for one another because love puts others first. Throughout the Bible, we are called to put others first and live in a way that blesses other people. For example, God calls us: => To be devoted to and honor one another ( Romans 12:10 );  => To live in harmony with one another ( Romans 12:16 );  => To love one another ( Romans 13:8 ;  1 John 4:11 ;  John 13:34-35 );  => To accept one another ( Romans 15:14 );  => To care for one another

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  [Ephesians 4:31-32 ] Too many of us don’t really understand what forgiveness is. We struggle through all kinds of misconceptions about what it means to forgive others. I mentioned a few of these specific misconceptions in yesterday’s devotional. I’m convinced that if more people knew what real forgiveness looked like, they’d be much more willing to forgive instead of holding onto past hurts at an unhealthy level.  The Bible clearly calls us to forgive others. Galatians 6:1 says,  “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently”    So if God expects us to forgive others, what does healthy, biblical forgiveness look like? Here’s a process that we should walk through as we’re dealing with pain brought upon by others. =&

"They go from strength to strength , till each appears before God in Zion."    [Psalm 84:7] They go from strength to strength. There are various renderings of these words, but all of them contain the idea of progress.  Our own good translation of the authorized version is enough for us,  "They go from strength to strength." That is, they grow stronger and stronger. Usually, if we are walking, we go from strength to weakness; we start fresh and in good order for our journey, but by-and-by the road is rough, and the sun is hot, we sit down by the wayside, and then again painfully pursue our weary way. But the Christian pilgrim having obtained fresh supplies of grace, is as vigorous after years of toilsome travel and struggle as when he first set out. He may not be quite so elate and buoyant, nor perhaps quite so hot and hasty in his zeal as he once was, but he is much stronger in all that constitutes real power, and travels, if more slowly, far more surely. Some

" up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit. "    [Ezra 7:22] The bible says: that salt was used in every offering made by fire unto the Lord, and from its preserving and purifying properties it was the grateful emblem of divine grace in the soul. It is worthy of our attentive regard that, when Artaxerxes gave salt to Ezra the priest, he set no limit to the quantity, and we may be quite certain that when the King of kings distributes grace among his royal priesthood, the supply is not cut short by him. Often are we straitened in ourselves, but never in the Lord. He who chooses to gather much manna will find that he may have as much as he desires. There is no such famine in Jerusalem that the citizens should eat their bread by weight and drink their water by measure. Some things in the economy of grace are measured; for instance our vinegar and gall are given us with such exac

"They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage."   [Hosea 5:7] Here is a sorrowful truth!  That we are the beloved of the Lord, redeemed by His blood, called by grace, preserved in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, on our way to heaven, and yet, “we have dealt unfaithful to the Lord, or with our best friend; treacherously with Jesus, whose we are; treacherously with the Holy Spirit, by whom we have been quickened unto life eternal! How treacherous we have been in the matter of vows and promises.  Do we remember the love of our espousals, that happy time—the springtime of our spiritual life? Oh, how closely did we cling to our Master then! saying, “He shall never charge me with indifference; my feet shall never grow slow in the way of his service; I will not suffer my heart to wander after other loves; in him is every store of sweetness ineffable. I give all up for my Lord Jesu

"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."   [1 Thessalonians 5:24] Heaven is a place where we would never sin; a place where we stop our guard constantly against an indefatigable enemy, because there is no tempter to ensnare our feet. There, the bad guys stop making a scene, and the weary to rest. Heaven is "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you," [1 Peter 1: 4]; That's perfectly holy land, and therefore, completely safe ground. But not on the earth saints will sometimes feel a sense of joy that encouraging? Scripture teaches, whoever is united with the sheep that survived; that they all were really going fast to run; that all who gave his soul to the maintenance of Christ will find him as a protector of the faithful and unchanging.  Sustained by this beautiful truth doctrine, we were able to enjoy a sense of security even in the earth; though not the security magnificent and noble tha

"Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."    [Colossians 2:7] In Matthew 13:3-6, Jesus told this parable:  "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root."  One point Jesus makes in this parable is that  people without deep roots in God will fall away from faith whenever persecution or trials come on account of the word (see Matthew 13:20-21).  Similarly, Jesus encourages his followers to build their house (i.e. their life) on "the rock" (see Matthew 7:24-27). Even though the wind and storms beat against that house, it did not crumble because it was founded on the rock. If you have deep roots in God,

"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."  [1 Thessalonians 4:17] One time we saw him, and we are excited with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but a little time passes and we do not see Him, because our Beloved withdraws him from us; like a gazelle or a young deer jumping over the mountains dividing, he had gone to the plains of spices, and no longer tending sheep in the midst of the lilies [Song of Songs 2:16].  "If today he refused to bless us, with a sense of forgiveness of sins, and maybe tomorrow He might be stifling us, and makes us feel the plague on the inside.". Oh, how sweet hope in the future when we no longer see him from a distance, but to see him face to face: when he is no longer as travelers who stay overnight, but in eternity wrap us in the lap of his glory. We will not see him for a few seasons, but "Milli

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"   [Isaiah 30:18] God often delays in answering prayer, and we have several instances of this in sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the dawn of day--he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of Syrophoenicia was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord three times that "the thorn in the flesh" might be taken from him, and he received no assurance that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a promise that God's grace should be sufficient for him. If you has been knocking at the gate of mercy, and has received no answer, shall I tell you why the mighty Maker has not opened the door and let you in? Our Father has reasons peculiar to himself for thus keeping us waiting, sometimes it is to show his power and his sovereignty, that

We will all be hurt in this life. Many times we’ll be hurt intentionally by what people say about us or what people do to us. In fact, any time we read the word “forgiveness” we instantly call to mind certain heartaches, hurts, and problems from our past. The memories are still fresh because we’ve been hurt very deeply, it’s hard to consider forgiving the perpetrators. But the Bible says in Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. Ponder how much God has forgiven you, and it’ll cause you to be more forgiving of those who have hurt you.  The converse is also true. If you don’t feel forgiven, you’ll have a hard time forgiving others. If you typically have a tough time forgiving others, you may not truly feel forgiven yourself. =>   Think of it like this: God has completely wiped your sin slate clean because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. All of the things you deserve to be paid back for have be