Like a Cancer
Greetings in the festive and blessed truth of what this time is presenting to us!
We are going into the, “holiday season,” and we are getting, day-by-day, deeper into THE Great Awakening, which for me is reason to anticipate an increase in joy, peace, and expectation among the authentic people of God… psssst… that is YOU!
One of my favorite parts about this particular season is the rise in general awareness of, “God-things.” Many people recognize Christmas as a celebration of Christ in one dynamic or another. The entire month is filled with Christmas carols (many of them being of scriptural roots), the encouragement to adopt attitudes like joy, peace, generosity, and famil,” and the pinnacle of the season culminates around the hopeful transition from one year to the next. I totally understand that I just did a bunch of generic assertions, and maybe even fluffed it up a bit, yet there is still the reality that even the, “Grinch-y-est,” of peeps likely has a crack in their stony hearts and may be open for conversations and divine opportunities while their guard is slightly lowered. Statistically, it is also a season of high depression due to the display of brokenness that many people have to come face-to-face with. Families torn apart or damaged inextricably, loneliness or isolation that many times is self-inflicted, or socially-fortified financial pressures from a mentality of, “keeping up with the Jones,’” and then the general awareness of, “things and stuff,” in a person’s life just really not being right… and good… and healthy… and the way it ought to be.
Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
We do not celebrate holidays, so-to-say, in the Kingdom… we celebrate Jesus… everyday, in every way!
I am highlighting these things because we have unprecedented opportunities this holiday season in ways and areas unlike any other before. I am fully persuaded that the overall, general attitude of people around us is being drawn passionately in favor of the unadulterated and sincere truth. We have gone through an onslaught of tyranny, oppression, open lies, dark revelations of our world, and seen the destruction and even death of our family members, neighbors, even our beloved country and its innocent citizens and children. I believe that the collapsing of the world’s systems and lies will shake people enough that they will ask questions and look for authentic hope… and here we are Beloved! For such a time as this!
One of the powerful ways that we can make ourselves available to our King for these divine moments and opportunities that we are being gifted with is to have our hearts expanded in love for those folks that may be a tad (or monumentally) difficult to love. The actual working-out of this centers on us all making certain we deal with, or have successfully dealt with, unforgiveness and offense.
My personal opinion is that these two poisons from hell are responsible for more death than gunpowder and/or sharpened steel combined could ever be. I know you may think I am exaggerating because, as a preacher, I have to overaccentuate something to give it legitimacy… but, I believed this before I was ever in a pulpit. I have watched, over and over, the systematic and excruciating destruction of life after life… heart after heart… family after family… because of these two vile evils.
Matthew 13:57 ESV
And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
I am certain y’all know that I could preach, teach, expound for countless hours on each of these two expansive subjects, so I am just going to drop a couple truths that would be good for all of us to meditate on together. In the above verse, there are two points I want to draw out:
- They “took” offense. Offense is a choice. Pure and simple. A decision to take it or reject it determines whether we bring that demon-enemy into our heart. The opportunity to be offended, or the temptation for offense, comes to all of us equally. It came to Jesus as well in likely greater ways than you and I will ever understand. But, the simplicity (y’all know how simple I am…) of the truth is that every temptation for offense can be accepted or rejected by YOU, personally, singularly. Knowing this should make us all impervious to the enemy’s tactics.
- This offense caused them to reject Jesus and His supernatural opportunity in their lives. This is a big one. Offense is not just a little something that makes a person have lemon-sucking attitudes towards someone… it is much more sinister. When a person is in offense (the Greek word for offense is “a trap-stick”), they are literally ensnared by the dark kingdom and imprisoned (abused and tortured) away from the liberty of our Savior and his truth. The purpose of the temptation for offense is to kill, steal, and/or destroy an area of your life and heart. A leg ensnared in a bear-trap needs to be amputated in order for the one captured to escape… otherwise they die a slow painful death. Like some Christians who sit every Sunday with their best church face on while they are bleeding to death.
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This is a biggie, and I can only just barely dip a big toe into this vast subject matter. When Christians read verses like this, they immediately go to a, “heaven or hell,” context because that is how religion has trained us. But, that is NOT what the Master was teaching.
Unforgiveness, like many other spiritual forces, does not operate in a two-dimensional, horizontal way. In other words, when a person is operating in unforgiveness towards a single person, entity, or situation, that supernatural force of forgiveness is rendered moot in all directions at the same time. When I reject operating in forgiveness towards my carnal and ignorant co-worker, the spiritual reality is that I have severed the flow of forgiveness from heaven at the same time. So, it causes me to live in a cesspool of condemnation, judgement, anger, and accusation towards almost everyone (eventually, including God). Like a malignant cancer, it grows and metastasizes, eventually taking over healthy organs and processes in our heart until it cuts off the very life functions bringing a gruesome, tumorous death. I have watched it… too many times… it kills children in divorces… it brings in physical sickness and diseases… it produces suicide and murder… some seek addictions for pain relief… or think some psychosomatic remedy will help… and it can happen to any of us at any moment because we sadly tend to justify our reasons and position of unforgiveness.
This is anti-Christ at its core. Jesus forgave us for everything and anything without reserve and without our payment when we were purposeful enemies, when we deserved wrath… in perfect love, through unimaginable selflessness, just so we could have the CHANCE to be in unhindered relationship with the Father… knowing MANY, MANY of those He was dying for would completely and with great public vile reject that bloody, gracious gift (and still do by the billions). And we think we are justified in our unforgiveness because, “you don’t know what they did to me!” I will just say, “then it is obvious you don’t know what Jesus really did FOR you…” (Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. – Luke 7:47)
I have to quit because I do not want this so long that people ignore it, but I do not want to stop. I pray and desire, above all things, for us all to be living in a divine type of prosperity and God’s divine health. This will be WAY more tangible for those who do not have log-jams of offense and unforgiveness in their souls. That is such a big deal… My precious, dear Beloved family, please let this note encourage you to bring your authentic, transparent heart to your Father in deep humility and submission. I PROMISE you that He will only do loving and good things with it… you can fully trust Him.
I love you greatly!
Steve
