BBD 05.03.16 Forgive! (New)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Since June 8th 1998, this
is the 1730th
Burning Bush Devotional
3 May 2016
Forgive!
Then Peter came to Him and
said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up
to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times,
but up to seventy times seven.” – Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV.
A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all
will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35 NKJV.
Rodney and Randy Gilliam both more
than 40-years-old living in the same house had a little disagreement. Rodney
thought that Randy had taken his pot roast, and became enraged; stabbing Randy
several times in the head with a three-pronged fork. The result was that Randy
had stitches all over his head and a swollen eye. When police arrived they
found blood all over the place and arrested Rodney for aggravated battery. Randy says they had been
drinking and that it was, “A family squabble, I mean, like I said I’m sorry he’s
going to jail for it. I don’t want to see him do that but I guess, you know,
you shouldn’t stab me.” Maybe it is something in the water in
Muncie, Indiana that caused this? Because last summer a family was having a
barbecue and one woman stabbed another in the eye with a fork over a rib. Now,
in her defense, Sabrina says the other woman had a knife. (Fox59 04.30.16;
Fox59 05.27.15)
There is often a common
ingredient in violent family arguments and that common ingredient is alcohol.
While I was a parole officer I had a murderer on parole that had killed his
brother, alcohol was also involved in that violent act of rage.
Jesus says we should
forgive not seven times but “seventy times seven.”
Peter’s suggestion that they should forgive seven times was actually generous
compared to rabbinic thought at that time. According to the Expositor’s Bible Commentary: “In rabbinic discussion, the
consensus was that a person might be forgiven a repeated sin three times.” The parable following of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35) makes it clear that seventy times
seven is not the limit to forgiveness in that we have been forgiven far more
than we can ever forgive others. The vastness of the debt, God forgives through
Jesus, is shown in the great debt of 10,000 talents that the Unforgiving
Servant is forgiven. King David in comparison donated seven thousand talents of
silver and three thousand talents of silver to be used in the construction of
the Temple (1 Chronicles 29:4, 7).
The next time you’re at the family barbecue and someone
takes the last rib, forgive! The next time you think someone has stolen your
pot roast, forgive! Remember you have been forgiven far more than you can ever
forgive anyone else. Forgive!
Copyright © 2016. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather
began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.
Visit the
Burning Bush websites:
The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
18 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.
The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM
The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk
You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.
There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.
Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.
Prayer
Requests:
Please continue to pray for Michelle Abetz, Shane
Hall, Reta (my sister), and Beverly (Jeanie’s sister), and Jeanie.
Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).
You can contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105
If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org
There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.
Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.
You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.
You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.
--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org