Keep It!

Intro

Recap of the last weeks

No Strings Attached, What Strings Are We/Have we cutting/cut?

The Power of Forgiveness What is it for/in the life of the believer?

The Power of Forgiveness is the ability to break the need for consequences once an offense has taken place. (Matt 18:21,22) Explain that it does not encompass the person in its entirety, it only covers the offense. Meaning you must forgive them 70x7 for the one infraction.

The Power of Forgiveness is a weapon that breaks the bondage of oppression off of you and others with its power. (Isa 1:18) sins are also known as offenses.

The Power of Forgiveness was created as a symbol of God’s righteousness placed back onto the life of the believer as a sign to those not saved. When Christ came back it was not for His own glory, but to FORGIVE THE SINS OF THIS WORLD! (1 Cor 9:19-23) . Paul in writing this to Corinth had this very notion what it meant of experiencing the Power of Forgiveness through example. He took on the responsibility of being a drawing mechanism back to the heart of the father and showing them,” Hey you may have done this, but this doesn’t have to be your end.”

The Power of Forgiveness should bring clarity of how much you mean to God! God forgave us so that we could KEEP IT, not just have it for the MOMENT! He is not a MOMENTARY GOD! You might be temperamental right now, but after tonight this life you now will have it will be one free living in the power of God’s forgiveness. (YOU DON’T GET TO GIVE UP GOD’S FORGIVENESS!) (He said liberally when giving it to us,” HERE DAUGHTER/SON, KEEP IT!!!!” (1 John 1:9)

How do we use the Power of Forgiveness (Col 3:13). Watch your approach to the offender. Why? Because something free doesn’t come with a grudge, nor is it angry. You ever seen God forgive you mad? So the same goes for us.

The Power of Forgiveness belongs to us also, it’s not just for others denying the power of Forgiveness is denying the power of our Christian Heritage through relationship with God. Forgiveness is what brought us to Him, that we would not perish but have everlasting and eternal life.

The Gift of Forgiveness

Why do we deny this?

Why do we reject others from having it?

When was the first time you gave a gift to somebody?

When was the last time you needed this gift?

2. Forgiveness Doesn’t Come with Contingencies

Why hold it over your/their heads? Explain

You don’t deserve to not be forgiven. You did it, now get up!

You don’t deserve to not forgive others. God won’t forgive you.

3. When you DO NOT give away the power of forgiveness:

You give the enemy power to draw space between you and God. Remember he doesn’t have this gift, so don’t avoid forgiving, not even the dead. That’s right we have to forgive them to. You thought forgiveness is only for the living? NOT AT ALL! You can’t take it back that is not how it works either. We must make it our business to be amongst the 490 Club.

Every offense should create a strong defining guideline of your relationship. Meaning it isn’t always a dealbreaker of the relationship. I know that society is telling you to cancel people, but as Christians again, we don’t cancel we COMIT THEM TO GOD! When we sin God educates us on what needs to happen moving forward. He has many lessons that He teaches us for each one that defines our relationship. Always remember that.

4. Commit to Forgiving Yourself/Others Quickly. You don’t get to keep people bound because of your inability to to forgive yourself, so that means you need to heal and accept forgiveness for yourself so that you can move on with your life. They can move on with theirs.

If talking about it brings up fresh feelings, it was never dead to begin with. Forgiveness is not something that is connected to feelings, forgiveness is a principle, not just an act of necessary service to all of creation. Learn how to talk it through and get through it until their is resolve. Many times we say I forgive you without a conference, but the reality of the matter there should be a conversation about the infraction so that this doesn’t happen again. Find out why it happened, what made it happen, etc.

5. Forgiving ourselves is self care and it is caring for others. Many times we are mean and sharp with people because we have yet to forgive others or ourselves of something that has become deeply rooted and now the moment has become a lifestyle. We have to stop letting these moments define us and misrepresent our relationship with God.

6. Use language that makes you feel uncomfortable,” I am sorry/Forgiving me/you/us.” When we fail to forgive we are feeding pride a heaping portion to grow it larger than life itself. Remember sin grows overtly faster than the good stuff. Fast food will definitely kill you in this instance. The absence of forgiveness is the absence of God’s love.

Destroy the ability to remember and become ensnared again by the events that captured you. You have the power to be free from that and everything that was attached to it. (Gal 5:1) Slavery is only to God’s love and service. Nobody has the power to keep you THERE! Tell Hell they can KEEP IT!!! I am now KEEPING a LIFE OF FORGIVENESS!!!!

What they did was not to keep you there remember this that there is no temptation that is common to man that God is not able to save us form. Living in un-forgiveness is a true sickness it is like cancer slowly eating at everything that matters and means anything to your existence and to your purpose.

There are many triggers that cause us to think that we have not forgiven, but they are just indicators that there is a deeper root that needs to be handled. A person that is always looking at situations upside down are individuals that only look at what they can see, versus how did this get here? A person that is apt to having hair triggers is one that suffers from childhood trauma. Why?

Because they are SUPER SENSITIVE TO OFFENSES, everything sets them off. Instead of them going off on everybody they should look inside of them and ask why am I such a loose canon and everything seems to set me off?

“Who have I not forgiven and why am I still fighting this place without God. GOD KEEP IT, take this place inside of me that has caused me to allow my environment to become toxic and unproductive.”

We have come to a place where we feel like we can do it ourselves. When the Bible tells us Matt 11:29-30 Life with me is so MUCH BETTER!!! This is the PLACE WHERE YOU TELL GOD HERE, KEEP IT!!!!

God has told us from the day that we accepted Him,” this forgiveness for the rest of your days, KEEP IT!!! You will need this along the way and while you are at it make sure as you are KEEPING the Forgiveness that I have given you for you, that you are forgiving others and showing them how to keep a piece of Me also. FORGIVENESS IS FROM GOD FOR US ALL TO KEEP!

There is a power for the life of the unbeliever when you forgive them and show them the true love of God through forgiveness. When you come across people that believe in Karma and energy and fate and an eye for an eye (which they take that scripture so literal that they forget the context of that scripture). It was actually referring to the exact opposite and extended to the offender grace. The very next verse of that scripture it tells us to RESIST EVIL!!!! Not GO GET’EM!

You have the ability to live in a new norm now that you are garnering a new insight of forgiveness. Tonight we are going to walk away KEEPING ALL OF THE POWER AND THE GIFTS OF FORGIVENESS!

Then there are these situation of relationships that you have not forgiven yourself from. We have dealt with childhood trauma that is one dynamic, but then there are the Matters of the Heart.

Where you were in a relationship in high school and you gave up your purity for one night with your high school crush only for him to leave you for another girl, or even worse treat you like the experience never happened.

Where you had a baby and things didn’t work out between you and the woman (oh because it only happens to women, yes it is common for parents to be predominantly women, but I know some dope single fathers because that was just the way the situation played out. But we can deal with the majority concensus because women out number us men. Instead of rebounding you become embittered and look to get every man back possible.

Where you may have had a divorce and you are anti-divorce and everything you do seems to point you back to God wanting to eternally punishing you from ever having a real happy marriage again. Instead you run the streets and string along every man or woman that you see with all of the amazing attributes that you possess as a potential spouse but never make the commitment or even intention to marrying them.

All of these places speak of fear of of the gift of forgiveness. Remember each of these count only as ONE! Why are we allowing one instance to become our residence. Last week we declared we would no longer live on the island of the condemned. Why, it was one time? The reason being is because we have allowed the opinions of others to weigh in our one time decisions maybe even 10 time decision, but guess what it is still under the 490..... look at that?

Now I am not saying go out here and see if you can do something 490 times, because just like in the judicial system you can be a one time offender and be put to death because of it. The way God gauges is simple, your knowledge and heart concerning a matter. People go out here and allow suggestions, rumors, thoughts, and decisions to become full blown lifestyles that God never intended for you to live in.

At what point to you tell them to KEEP IT?

Keep Your Opinions

Keep Your Judgements

Keep Your Perverse Religious Ways

Just Flat Out KEEP IT!!!

What I expect you to keep from here on out:

Keep His Love for you

Keep Those Strings that you CUT, CUT!

Keep God’s Forgiveness from Others FOR YOU

Keep Forgiving Others

Keep The Joy of the Lord in your Weak Moments, Because it IS YOUR STRENGTH!