Receiving forgiveness for past mistakes and sins, and giving others for
their mistakes and sins, are two of most important factors in emotional
healing.
Forgiveness is a gift given to those who do not deserve it.
God wants to begin our process of forgiving those who hurt us by giving
us the gift of forgiveness first. When we confess our sins to Him, He forgives
us of our sins, puts them away from Him as far as the East is from the West,
and remembers them no more.
When you are tempted to look back, remember the promises of these
scriptures:
If we
[freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and
just (true to His own nature an promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss
our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness
[everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. (1
John 1:9)As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us.
As a father loves and pities his
children, so the Lord
For He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers
and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust. (Psalm 103:12-14)
Whereas
this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that
shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, then to wait
until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.
For by a single offering He has forever completely
cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.
And also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of
this]. For having said, this is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will
set up and conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint
My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their
inmost thoughts and understanding),
He then goes on to say,And their sins and their lawbreaking I will
remember no more.(Hebrews 10:12-17, emphasis mine)
But for us to benefit from God's promised forgiveness, we must receive
it by faith.
Many years ago when I was first developing my relationship with the
Lord, each night I would beg His forgiveness for my past sins. One evening as I
knelt beside my bed, I heard the Lord say to me, "Joyce, I forgave you the
first time you asked,
but you
have not received My gift of forgiveness because you have not forgiven
yourself."Have you received God's gift of forgiveness? If you have and you
are ready to do so, ask the Lord to forgive you for your sins right now. Then
pray this aloud:
I receive Your forgiveness, Lord, for the sin of (name the sin).
It may be difficult to verbalize some of your
mistakes an sins from the past, but speaking them forth helps bring the release
you need.
One time as I was praying, I asked God to forgive me because (as I put
it), "I missed it."
"Missed what?" He
asked.
"Well, You know, Lord," I answered, "You know what
did."
He did,
indeed, know. But for my sake it was made clear to me that I needed to
verbalize my sin. The Lord showed that the tongue is like a dipper reaching
down into a well within us and bringing up and out whatever is down there.
Lord, I receive forgiveness for (name the sin),in Christ Jesus. I
forgive myself and accept Your gift of forgiveness as my own. I believe that
You remove the sin from me completely, putting it at a distance where it can
never be found again-as far as the East is from the West. And I believe, Lord,
that You remember it no more.
You will find that speaking aloud is often helpful to you because by
doing so you are declaring your stand upon God's Word. The devil cannot read
your mind, but he does understand your words. Declare before all the
principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness (see Ephesians 6:12) that Christ
has set you free and that you intend to walk in that freedom. When you speak,
sound as though you mean it!
If the devil tries to bring that sin to your mind
again in the form of guilt and condemnation, repeat your declaration, telling
him: "I was forgiven for that sin!
It has
been taken care of; therefore, I take no care for it." Satan is a
legalist, so if you want to, you can even quote the date on which you asked for
and received God's promised forgiveness.
Do not just sit and listen to the devil's lies and accusations; learn to
talk back to him!
Confess Your Faults To One Another
Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should
pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God].
Is anyone
among you sick? He should call in the church elders (the spiritual guides) .
And they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord's name.
And the prayer [that is] of faith will save him who is sick, and the
Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false
steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may
be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest
(heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available
[dynamic in its working], (jas.5:13-16)
We are to confess our faults to one another. But this does not mean that
every time we sin, we need to confess it to another person. We know that Jesus
is our High Priest. We do not have to go to people to receive forgiveness from
God. That was the case under the old covenant, but not under the new covenant.
What is the practical application of James
5:16? I believe we not only need to know the Word of God, but how to
apply it practically to our daily lives. A person can be bleeding and know that
he has a bandage, but if he does not know how to apply the bandage, he can
bleed to death. Many people have the Word of God, yet they are "bleeding
to death" (living in torment), because they do not know how to apply the
Word in everyday situations.
I believe that James 5:16 should be applied in this manner. First, be
sure you know that man cannot forgive sin-that is God's job. Yet, man can
pronounce and declare God's forgiveness to you. Man can agree with you concerning
your forgiveness. Someone can even pray for you to be forgiven (see 1 John
5:16), just as Jesus did when He was on the cross praying for those who had
persecuted Him to be forgiven.
When do you need to apply this passage? I believe a time to consider
placing James 5:16 into action is when you are being tormented by your past
sins. Being poisoned inwardly keeps you from getting well-physically, mentally,
spiritually, or emotionally.
Once exposed to the light, things hidden in darkness lose their power.
People hide things because of fear. Satan pounds at the mind with thoughts such
as:What will people say if they learn that I was abused? Everyone will think
I'm horrible! I'll be rejected,etc.
In my meetings, numerous people
have come to me
for prayer, confiding in me, "I have never told this to anyone, but
I feel I need to get it out of my system; I was abused." Often they weep
uncontrollably. With this weeping, however, often there comes a release that is
desperately needed. Hurting people feel safe with me because they know that I
was abused also. Now,please understand that I am not saying that everyone needs
to admit to being abused and to ask for prayer for healing. If you are
suffering from the effects of abuse, be led by the Holy Spirit, not only in
deciding whether you need to confess to someone, but also in deciding to whom
you should make your confession. The person must be carefully chosen. I suggest
a mature Christian you know you can trust. If you are married, and your spouse
fits these criteria, consider him or her first.
You should know that often when a spouse finds out about the situation,
he or she will respond with anger toward the abuser. Therefore before you make
your confession you should be sure that your spouse is Spirit-controlled and
willing to follow God's leading and not personal feelings.
Your
spouse may ask you some questions that you can easily misunderstand if you are
not fully prepared for them. For example, when I told my husband about my
father sexually abusing me all those years, he asked me, "Did you ever try
to get him to stop?" and "Why didn't you tell anyone?" Keep in
mind that your spouse may not fully understand your situation and feelings and
may just need some
answers. In my case, as soon as I explained to my husband that I was
controlled by fear, he understood.
The practice of confessing our faults to one another and receiving
prayer is a powerful tool to help break bondages. I had been having trouble
with jealousy in a certain area for some time, and I certainly did not want
anyone to know about it, so I refused to ask for prayer. Instead, I chose to
fight it out alone, and as a result made no progress at all. As God gave me
revelation on James 5:16, "Confess to one another therefore your faults,"
I came to realize that there were a few areas in my life that were maintaining
power over me, simply because I was hiding them and was too proud to bring them
out in the open. Fear can cause us to hide things, but pride can do that too. I
humbled myself and confessed my problem to my husband, and he prayed for me.
After that, I began to experience freedom in that area.
A Word Of Caution
Sometimes people relieve themselves of a problem and, in the process,
give the problem to someone else. After hearing me teach on the importance of
truth, and how hiding things can cause problems, a woman who attended our
meetings came to me to confess that she had always disliked me intensely, and
had even been gossiping about me. Then she asked me to forgive her, which, of
course, I was willing to do. She left excited that she was rid *of her problem,
but I was left fighting off bad thoughts
about her. I wondered what she had been saying about me, to whom she had
been talking, if they had believed her, and how long this had been going on.
Balance, wisdom, and love are key words in the Bible. Operating in these
qualities will accelerate your progress. A person who is filled with wisdom and
love will think a matter through, seek and receive direction from the Lord, and
handle the situation in a balanced way.
No comments:
Post a Comment