I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:14.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Quick to forgive. I would like to look at this in two aspects in giving you today’s Life Lesson on what to do when Satan attacks. Mine first and then yours. If, however, you understand Mine, yours will come much more easily. And when you understand Mine the devil will lose most of the hold he had on you in the arena of worry, which blocks you from receiving anything from Me. Not because I don’t want to help you but because you can only receive from Me by faith and if you are worried you do not have faith. You are not letting Me work but are trying to work it out yourself without Me. If you have an item that needs fixing and you will not let it out of your hand for the expert to work on it who can fix it, it simply won’t get fixed. And it is not the expert’s fault.
When David sinned against Me with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah, at first he did not seem to realize the enormity of what he had done in My eyes and was not repentant. But what I want to do with all of you, and you will see it in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, is take all your sins away from you and forgive you. It is My DESIRE above all else that ALL people be saved and come to know the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4. And the truth is to know that I not only want to save you but that I also long to answer your prayers and take care of all your needs according to My riches. But Jesus wept because most do not understand how to receive so they do not have their needs met as I long to do for them IN ABUNDANCE.
But let Me start here with forgiveness and then go on. I am QUICK TO FORGIVE. I long to forgive you and get you right with Me. But in order for Me to do this, you must repent and receive My forgiveness. You see this in the actions of the father in the parable of the prodigal son. Although the father had already forgiven the son, he had to wait until the son’s heart repented and turned back to the father. Then the father RAN to the son and could not even wait for the son to get home before he was embracing him and loading him with benefits. But at that time the son was ready to receive with a thankful, open, repentant heart. If you do not acknowledge what you have done, you will not acknowledge that you have any need to receive forgiveness and reject it as you continue in your hardness of heart. You are not letting Me in to help you. But Jesus stands at the door and keeps knocking and if you hear His voice and open the door He will come in and dine with you and you with Him. Revelation 3:20. And He will lead you to Me. Just like He did with Zacchaeus the day he opened his door and let Jesus in, Salvation (Yeshuah) came to his house. Luke 19:9.
But back to David. I sent Nathan the prophet to him to guide him back to Me. I knew David’s heart, but he was not listening to his heart but to another voice, that of the tempter. I kept sending Elijah to Ahab but Ahab would not truly repent. David, however, was quick to repent when he saw what he had done in My eyes.
Nathan first reminded him of all the great works I had done for David, and told him I would have given him far more, but he had gone and taken something that he did not need to take when I had given him and would give him so much more, and Nathan added, “Why have you despised the Word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight?” 2 Samuel 9:7-10. Then David, the man who loved My Word and found it better than life, saw he had despised the very Word he called better than a heap of gold and sweeter than honey dripping from the comb, and that to Me, it was like, instead of seeking My face, Psalm 27:8, he had slapped Me in the face, and he said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” 2 Samuel 12:13.
I am QUICK to forgive. I am waiting to forgive you, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, if you will just turn your heart to Me. I just needed David to open to forgiveness and he had it already. And remember the crippled man that his friends lowered down through the roof to Jesus? Jesus told him immediately that his sins were forgiven. Jesus knew a repentant heart when he saw it, but he also saw that the man’s guilt and shame would block him from being able to receive his healing.
“For I delivered to you as of FIRST importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3.
And I tell you that I have forgiven everyone already. “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for ALL.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6. And “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14. I tell you to forgive, as I HAVE ALREADY FORGIVEN YOU IN CHRIST. Ephesians 4:32. Jesus is My gift to the world. John 3:16. But you must understand this is not automatic, it must be believed and received.
I have forgiven you and everyone else but you cannot receive it if you do not repent and acknowledge your sins. Otherwise you make it for no purpose that Christ had to go through such a severe judgment and death to save you from your sins. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10.
And it is the same with you and others that have done wrong to you. You can forgive them immediately but they cannot receive your forgiveness until they acknowledge within themselves at least that they did something wrong. And even if they know they did wrong, they have to be able to receive the forgiveness. Joseph, Jacob’s son, had forgiven his brothers long before they came before him in Egypt in the time of the famine, but they never received it because they could not believe anyone could be that kind. They were still living under guilt even though he showered them with blessings in abundance. They still kept begging for his forgiveness, to the point of throwing themselves face down before him asking him to at least take them as his slaves when Jacob died. That was just like the prodigal son when he came home. He never understood the goodness of the father. He offered to be his hired hand.
There are three paths you can follow when you sin, and the devil is always on your case to make you take the first, and if he cannot get you to take the first, then the second, but NEVER the third, he will fight that by every available voice. Be aware of this if you want to overcome.
1. Deny you did wrong. This is a proud heart who sees himself as perfect and if he sins it is another’s fault and not his. This was the path Adam and Eve took. Adam did not repent but blamed Me and Eve. Eve did not repent but blamed the devil, though she could have been his master. I resist the proud but give grace to the humble. I would have given them forgiveness by sacrificing My Son, I had him ready since before the foundation of the world, but they would not repent and that was it. Adam refused to take responsibility for his actions and repent.
2. You acknowledge the sin but cannot receive the forgiveness. This is the path of Judas Iscariot. He repented of his sin but he could not believe I could forgive what he had done. He was under self-condemnation, which is from the devil. But the very next day Jesus died so he was forgiven. But his repentance only saw as far as his sin and not beyond to the blood of the lamb who takes away the sins of the world, though he had heard His teachings for three years as one of the twelve who were the closest to His heart. But he never knew Him. “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10. It was the same with Joseph’s brothers, they were always under the fear that Joseph would retaliate for their sins, but that was not even in Joseph’s mind. He just wanted their salvation. And it grieves Me that many believers today do not believe in My total forgiveness but keep going over and over again their sin again and begging Me to forgive them for sins of which they already repented that I remember no more.
3. Repent, receive My forgiveness, and rejoice over it as you continue on with Me to do the great works I prepared for you in advance. You put your hand to the plow and do not look back. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14. This what Peter did after he denied Jesus three times. He received My forgiveness and had joy unspeakable filled with glory about it and continued on to preach My Word of repentance, work miracles, and fulfill all I had assigned him to do. My apostle Paul did the same, going so far as to proclaim his conscience was entirely clear.
With joy you shall draw water at the springs of Salvation. “Then you will say on that day,
“I will give thanks to You, O LORD, for although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” Isaiah 12:1-3.
I desire to forgive you and make it between us as if sin had never been, won’t you give Me that pleasure?
I do not condemn you. That is what Jesus told the woman caught in adultery who repented at his feet. But He told her to go and sin no more. And I tell you the same. And if you let Me, I will help you with that too.
Be quick to forgive others and, once you have repented and brought it to Me, yourself. Do not give the devil an opportunity to make your life miserable. Imitate Me, I am quick to forgive and it is My joy. “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25.
It is appropriate here to finish with a passage from John’s first letter. He had a heart totally for Me. He wrote this to believers, not unbelievers.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His Word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:1-17.
This passage is so rich and deep that I would like you to read it slowly and go over it more than once. In it, among so many other things, you see the stages of spiritual growth. The little children are the new born again believers who have had their sins forgiven for My Name’s sake, not on their own merits, and they are rejoicing in this in first love and are eager for the pure milk of the Word. Then the young adult is the one who by abiding in My Word, the meat of the Word, becomes strong thereby and overcomes he evil one and the more he overcomes the stronger and more skilled he becomes until he reaches the state of the father, who knows the One who has been from the beginning—in the beginning was the Word. The understand all that is theirs in Christ and know Me the One true God and the One I sent, Jesus Christ. They have entered My rest and Satan has no part in them. They can teach the coming generations. And this growth is for men and women there is not difference her- from baby, to young adult, to parent/teacher/guide.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food (meat). For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food (meat) is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14.
And just one more point for today, you read in the passage from the first letter of John, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17. I should think you would be interested in doing My Will. Most people are but find it a mystery that is hard to discern, but actually it is quite clear: I desire you all be saved and come to know the truth, which means you must continue and abide in My Word by reading it, mediating on it, speaking it, and doing it, Joshua 1:8, that no one perish but all come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9, and that once you believe, for this is My Will for you in Christ Jesus, that you rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give constant thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Also I have commanded you not to worry, for that is one of the devil’s primary weapons against you. But that is a teaching for the next life lesson. And in that lesson I will tell you why Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus.
I love you. Know I am QUICK TO FORGIVE. So you must be QUICK TO REPENT and then know I have forgiven. And I mean from your heart with a sincere hatred for sin that so easily ensnares you. And I expect you to do the same for others, that is, forgive them as I have already forgiven you and them in Christ—by the Blood, and quickly. Never let the sun go down on your anger. REMEMBER, as you to do others, so I must do to you and the standard you use to judge others I must use on you. Be careful about not forgiving, it means you are saying the blood was not enough for you, and if that is the case, I cannot let it be enough, in your case, for Me. Know how forgiven you are and have a humble, grateful heart. Then you can receive everything and can forgive anything just as you want Me to do for you. And that is My desire, to forgive you from before the foundation of the world, receive that and live HOLY. You can by My grace. If you are not, it means you have forgotten that I forgave you. 2 Peter 1:9 (“For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”)
“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.” Mark 11:25-26.