MIRACLE MANIFESTATION MARCH - Forgiveness - The Anointing for Healing & Racial Reconciliation
JESUS DEALT WITH SEVERE DEPRESSION & THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE (For every Pastor or Leader Betrayed, Rejected by those they're called to Lead)
Matthew 26:37-45....And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He *said to them, “My soul is DEEPLY GRIEVED TO THE POINT OF DEATH; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”Matt 26:37-39 NASB
THE SIX STEPS OUT OF SUICIDE
1. He confided in three of His disciples....(Peter, James & John)..v.37
2 He confessed to them His thoughts of depression & Suicide....v38
3 He asked them to pray with him....v.39
4 He went and Prayed ALL Night ...v40
5 He forgave those who betrayed and rejected them....Matthew Ch. 27 (Father forgive them)
6 He released healing and deliverance of Mankind on the Cross....Isaiah 53:5
You may be in the midst of an attack with depression and Suicidal thoughts because of the impact your life is supposed to have upon your family, neighborhood, region, nation, humanity. But to accomplish your assignment it may require you persevering through the mental anguish of close loved ones who betray you, unfulfilled expectations, and the offering up of your life on the cross and death of family rejection. But if so, and this is the case, God help us REACH OUT and REACH UP....Reaching out to confidants, counsellors, etc...to confess how you're feeling, and reaching UP to God in extended times of prayer.
TO WATCH THE FACEBOOK LIVE PRAYER TO RECEIVE VICTORY FROM THE SPIRIT OF SUICIDE Click below
to donate
Paypal.me/HopeforColumbusOH
or cashapp $hopeforamerica
CHAPTER 13 From the book...When You Pray, Say
(DAY 5) FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS
–The Anointing of Healing and Reconciliation in Prayer
(Thursday Day 5) - Fast until 6pm and Pray in tongues for 30 minutes and Meditate for 30 minutes on Matthew 6:14, 15; Luke 17:15; and this 5th phrase from the disciple’s prayer; FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS)
TODAY’S MEDITATION: The fifth dimension to entering into encounter prayer is the earthly realm of man’s dimension in prayer. “When you pray, say…Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…This level of prayer deals with the aspect of having a heart of forgiveness so that we may stay relationally connected with the first and second commandments - loving God and loving people - and to keep ourselves free from diseases and sicknesses that come from the root of bitterness and unforgiveness in God ordained relationships.
The Connection of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer with the Disciples Prayer
This phrase of the Disciples Prayer “Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors” connects with the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 at verse 21, which says, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” Our receiving forgiveness from God through Jesus Christ and our forgiving one another because of God’s forgiveness of us by Jesus Christ, brings the answer and fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer for us, that we would be one, as the Father is in Christ and Christ is in the Father and we all are in both the Father and the Son, through the power of the Holy Ghost, all through forgiveness.
Matthew 6:14, 15 tells us if we don’t forgive our brother of his trespasses, our Heavenly father will not forgive us of our trespasses.
Forgiveness is the key to deliverance. Many born-again believers still struggle with iniquitous sin patterns and generational curses that they’re unable to get free from because of unforgiveness. If we don’t send away the sins of those that have trespassed against us, our Father in heaven can’t send away our sins.
My Testimony of Forgiveness and Racial Reconciliation
I remember when God challenged me to forgive, to send away the sins of the perpetrators of my ancestors’ oppression in slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and racial discrimination. Even though I was a Christian I was still struggling with bitter feelings of un-forgiveness against other races for what was done to my ancestors, while at the same time, I was claiming to worship a man who died on the cross for our sins, saying, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This was my experience growing up in my African American Church expression of Christianity and is the experience of many African American Christians.
As an African American growing up in the church, my experience with bitterness and unforgiveness against Caucasians was not as a result of any personal negative experiences with racial discrimination, or prejudice. My bitterness and un-forgiveness against Caucasians was first cultivated within my religious, African American church experience.
My sour racial mindsets stemmed from the fact that within our church upbringing there was a culture bred of disdain and bitterness towards what was done to my ancestors, which was a part of our church culture. Even though we preached about forgiveness, we fostered a climate that empowered us to hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness on cultural level in society.
We were always talking about what Caucasians had done to us in the past, or what they were doing presently, to hold us back.
Consequently, in our church setting we had no desire to associate or interact with other races, even though in society the races had been desegregated for over 40 years. Growing up in the 1980’s from 14-23, I really cannot identify one single personal experience with racism that I could point to and say, “They’re against me, or they’re trying to hold me back.” While I may have been naive and oblivious of the world around me, I can't remember one single instance in society where I directly encountered racism or someone that was trying to hold me down from my civil liberties. We were in the post Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. era, where society was implementing the desegregation laws, the busing laws, affirmative action, and on and on, to attempt to reverse the years of injustice that we had experience under the Jim Crow Era, the failed reconstruction era, and Slavery.
So while I was being introduced to new white relationships in society through busing and the desegregation of our schools, the feelings, and the underlying bitterness towards white people were still being developed by those that went before me in my African American Church setting that had experience negative racial experiences that they had never released to Christ, for His justice and healing.
It wasn’t until later in my life in the 1990’s and into the 2000’s that I began having my own negative racial experiences from incidences and tragic societal, racial backlashes, with the Rodney King police beatings, and riots in L.A. in 1992, the racial divide that came from the O.J. Simpson trial in 1994.
Then in the 2000’s, beginning in 2011 with the Trayvon Martin killing by another race, because of racial profiling, and then a series of unarmed young Black men and women, being shot at the hands of white police officers.
But by the time these racially unjust incidents began to explode on the scene in the 1990's, my racial psychological perceptions and preconceived racial stereotypes of white people had already been formed by my African-American Church upbringing, and those episodes in society just reinforced the negative racial strongholds that were imposed upon my soul by the past generations’ negative racial experiences that had not been surrendered to Christ's love and forgiveness.
That’s not to say that our African-American communities didn't have valid reasons to hold on to bitterness. I'm no way implying that the system wasn’t always stacked against me, before I started seeing these episodes in society and recognizing a disproportion in race relations. However, there were no personal experiences that I had or had seen as young person growing up, that would cause me to harbor bitter or unforgiving thought patterns towards Caucasians.
And even though many in my family down through the years had experienced atrocious and tragic experiences at the hands of racially discriminating acts of persecution in Slavery, Jim Crow era, and Civil rights, I seemed to be aware that their experiences had paved the way for my generation, to continue the fight for a new era of justice and liberty for all. However, in our churches and communities we were still segregated, and we wanted to keep it that way.
With our church leaders not wanting us to go outside of our comfort zone to foster relationships with people of another ethnicity, I built my racial worldview exclusively on my association with preachers and teachers in our church denomination and culture who were still bitter, offended and distrustful from their experiences, or their parents and grandparents experiences with Caucasian people. So, I grew up dealing with these bitter, distrustful and prejudicial thought patterns towards Caucasians because I had never been outside of my racial culture to experience any positive inner-racial relationships. While I didn’t have my own negative experiences with discrimination growing up in church, I did not have any positive experiences either. Our church bred in us an “us against them” mentality, in how we lived, how we worshiped, preached, prayed, and how we voted politically.
This Is Where I’m Sending You
This all began to change when my father started his own church in 1987 when I was 21 years old. I remember the first time I was challenged to come out of my familiar cultural surroundings. I was in my second year of ministry and desiring to go to Bible College. I had been praying about where God wanted me to go. One day I went to the mailbox to get the mail at my parents’ house, and retrieved a magazine sent to my baby sister, who was 12 years old. The magazine was from a ministry on the outskirts of town that I had never heard of. On the front of the magazine it had the pastor, a white man, in a preaching pose, and 7 characteristics of the church of the 90’s.
It was 1990, and the magazine intrigued me because I had just finished a message on the church of the 1990s and the coming glory of this decade. Everything that God had given me to preach was in the magazine article. On the back it had 10 reasons why you should come to this church’s Bible institute. I heard the spirit of God speak up in my spirit and say, “THIS IS WHERE I’M SENDING YOU TO BIBLE COLLEGE.” Immediately I began to make excuses for why I could not go to this Bible College. It was not an accredited institution, and I was almost finished with College courses at an accredited State College in my City. Our church did not believe the same way concerning baptism, which was a major stronghold in the denomination I had grown up in. We were Oneness Apostolic. We worshipped one way and they worshipped another way. Our church was small and theirs a mega church. But what I was afraid of most of all, was that our church was African American and theirs was Caucasian-Anglo-Saxon, and I had never been outside of my race for any type of church or religious experience.
Obeying the Leading of the Lord
I thought that I had a way out of going to this school. My father was my pastor, and I thought that he would never let me go to that church bible Institute because of the differing beliefs. Doctrinally, we were staunchly against Trinitarianism, (which we thought was the teaching of the belief in three gods), and against anyone that didn’t baptize in Jesus name.
We didn’t fellowship with anyone who didn’t believe the same as us in these areas. So, when I went to my father and told him what God was speaking to me, I thought he would say, “We don’t believe the same, so I would advise against it.” Instead he said, “If God is dealing with you about going to school out there, you need to obey the leading of the Lord.” Well, to say the least I was very nervous about this step out of my comfort zone, but I obeyed the Lord and enrolled in this Bible College. I was one of about 10 African Americans in the student body of about 500 students. However, through the spirit of God I began to feel increasingly comfortable in this new setting and surrounding I was placed in. I began to develop friendships with those of other races, denominations, and cultures. I soon realized that I was missing a proper understanding of other cultures, teachings and ethnic expressions of worship. My heart began to be knitted to the Lord’s heart concerning other nations, races and other aspects of Christ’s nature.
I began to know the Lord in a way I had never known him before. My relationship with the Lord increased what seemed like 10-fold. I began receiving revelation from the Lord concerning His mission and calling for the nations of the world. I began to desire to pray and seek His face as I never had before. As a result of seeking the Lord in this manner, I began to realize that every ethnicity, people group, and denomination is a unique part of Christ. I came to understand that we won’t see the body of Christ functioning fully, until we come together in unity. I also learned that each ethnicity, denomination, and culture is a piece of the puzzle and a key that unlocks our own individual and corporate destinies in Christ. We were created to need one another to fulfill what God has called us to do and to be.
Consequently, I was delivered from fear, bitterness, and prejudice, just by being in the midst of another ethnic expression and developing heart relationships with people outside of my own ethnicity. I learned what the Love of God is and what it is for, as I saw John 3:16 through the lens of the whole world, not just my little part of the world. John 3:16 says, “God, so Loved, the world…” (Polar opposites, God and the world, brought together by love) ... “That He gave His only begotten Son.” I learned and saw firsthand in this multi-ethnic setting that the love of God is for OPPOSITES. It’s a sacrificial giving of self for someone that is not like you. It is for someone that has not treated you the way you might have wanted to be treated. It is for those that don’t look, act, think or live like you. When you learn to love those, who are different from you and even those who mistreat you, you are walking in the love of God. When this happens, not only do you get out of you what’s in you from God, but you get what God has for you from them. You become a new man, enabling you to accomplish more for God, more for others, and more for yourself.
As I came into a diverse community of believers in that Bible College over twenty years ago, I began to receive a new heart, and when I did, I became a new man. I soon realized, as God began to open my understanding about His end-time purpose for the nations coming together in His house of prayer that I was sent by God into this ministry as a first fruits offering of the coming together of God’s body in His house of prayer for all Nations. I was called to help prepare this church in my city to enter into reconciliation and the fullness of its calling. As I was given opportunities to grow in this ministry through serving, loving and speaking in this church’s Bible College, I began to see my place in this community of believers. Over a period of ten years, spanning from the end of the twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century, the racial landscape of this international mega-church in Columbus Ohio went from 5% African American to 55% African American.
Consequently, I came on staff at this church as its first African American pulpit staff minister. The Caucasians and African Americans within this ministry were completely integrated, thus positioning them to be reconciled to one another. This ministry became one of the foremost Christian ministries on the earth during that period. The scope of this ministry’s reach went from a local outreach influence, to a national and international reach, influencing this nation and the nations of the world. I watched this ministry’s influence and affect in the world increase seemingly a hundredfold, as it embraced the nations and ethnic groups of the world. I believe I was sent into this ministry as a forerunner of the ministry of reconciliation to be a part of the establishing of the coming together of God’s house of prayer for All Nations (Ethnicities). I was sent to help prepare this ministry to be the prototype of what was coming in the twenty-first century; preparing His people for the coming of the Lord.
In this Christian setting, I was able to forgive, out of a revelation of the Love of God, the love God has for me, and the love God has for the world. Forgiveness is a combination of two words; “Fore” which means forward, or to go before or ahead of, and “Give” which means to offer up or send away. From this etymological word breakdown of forgiveness, we can see what forgiveness actually means; to give ahead of the offence.
Forgiveness precedes Reconciliation
Forgiveness means; to give or offer reconciliation in the Love of God, before the offense, to cover the offense. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8.
One reason we’re unable to get free from patterns, cycles and generational curses of sin is because we don’t really understand forgiveness. We don’t truly understand what it means to be forgiven. And we don’t understand what forgiveness does for us, nor how it works. We think our forgiveness is based on something we do, like confession of every one of the sins we commit in order to be forgiven. However, forgiveness is not based on something we do, nor anything we can do. It’s based on what Jesus did on the cross two thousand years ago.
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Paul tells us that we have been forgiven of ALL of our sins. That’s not just the sins you committed in your past before you came to Christ. That’s all of your past sins, present sins you may be in right now, and all of the future sins you may commit in your future. YOU ARE FORGIVEN! You are not going to be forgiven of your sins, you ARE forgiven of your sins.
Many misunderstand forgiveness and confession, and as a result we spend our Christian lives trying to do inventory of sins that we’ve committed, trying to chase down everything we’ve ever done to assure that our lives are sinless and that the sins we’ve committed are forgiven. This is the wrong theological concept of forgiveness. Confession is not something you do for all the sins that you commit; confession is something you do for all the things that Christ says is sin. Confession is agreeing with Christ that those things that you do that are called sin by Him, are called sin by you, not your problem, your issue, or struggle. No! it’s not just your struggle, it’s your sin.
Confession is agreeing with what God says about sin. Whatever you call sin, in agreement with what God calls sin, you’ve been forgiven of it. If it’s sin, you’ve been forgiven of it. If He calls it sin and you don’t, you can’t be forgiven of it. You can’t be forgiven of sin you are unwilling to acknowledge is sin, once He reveals it clearly to you as sin.
1Jn_1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Whatever we confess as sin, is forgiven. When the prayer says, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, it’s talking about more than our present sins, it’s talking about all the sins of our generations, our generational sins that have added up, piled up and have raised a wall and put stumbling blocks between us and our purpose, between us and our original person, or callings, or between us and our wilderness journey, transference and transition from the Egypt of the sinful world we live in, through the wilderness of our transformation, to the destination of our promised land. The Holy Spirit for the believer is comparable to the cloud by day, and fire by night for the children of Israel in the wilderness. As God led them through the wilderness through all their enemies, both within and without, a revelation of forgiveness confronts the enemies of fear, lust, sexual perversion, lack or the like, that may be standing between you and your promised land. As you Pray and Say, “Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors,” we overcome every one of our enemies from our past, present or future, assuring we won’t ever go back to Egypt, but complete our journey to our promised land in the kingdom of God.
How Do We Forgive
The nature of God as a God of Love is wrapped up in the meaning of forgiveness. It means to suffer wrong, to make right. Love is giving at the expense of self. Lust is taking at the expense of another.
Forgiveness is a by-product of the Love of God, without which there can be no forgiveness. To walk in forgiveness, you not only must walk in Love, but you must walk in faith. Faith works by love.
Faith and Forgiveness go Hand in Hand
Luke 17:3-6 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."5. The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6. And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you.
To walk in Faith, to forgive ahead of the offense, we must put the word of Faith in our hearts, ahead of the offense. We must sow faith for forgiveness through the foresight of verse 1 of Luke 17 that says; 1. Then said he unto the disciples, it is impossible but that offenses will come. With the knowledge that we're going to encounter offenses in relationships, we must build ourselves up on our most holy faith so that our faith is capable of seeing people as God sees them and forgive them because God has forgiven both them and you. We must learn to forgive not looking for an apology or reparations from those who offended us. This is what Jesus did for us on Calvary. Before we even knew we were sinners He forgave us of our sins, not looking to be repaid for what was done to him. This is how we are to forgive. We are to forgive before anyone ever apologizes for an offence, not to warrant an apology but because we don’t need an apology.
Like Joseph to His Brothers, Africans/African Americans in Christ Should need no Apology to Forgive
When we actually know what God was doing in us and for us, as well as what God wanted to take us to, through all of the oppression, slavery and discrimination, we will no longer need or want anyone to apologize to us for their actions, or their ancestors’ actions. One day when we understand what our plight was all about and why we went through what we went through, we will have the response of Joseph when his brothers wanted to apologize to him for selling him into slavery in Egypt in the book of Genesis 50:15-20. The account goes like this;
- And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. 16. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy Father did command before he died, saying,
- So shall you say unto Joseph, FORGIVE, I PRAY THEE NOW, THE TRESPASS OF THY BRETHREN, AND THEIR SIN; FOR THEY DID UNTO THEE EVIL: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him. 18. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
- AND JOSEPH SAID UNTO THEM, FEAR NOT: FOR AM I IN THE PLACE OF GOD? (Am I not where God wanted me?) 20. BUT AS FOR YOU, YOU THOUGHT EVIL AGAINST ME; BUT GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, TO BRING TO PASS, AS IT IS THIS DAY, TO SAVE MUCH PEOPLE ALIVE.
- Now therefore fear not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spoke kindly unto them.
Joseph’s brothers felt that Joseph would treat them wrongly after their father died, for what they had done in selling him into slavery. So, Joseph’s brothers sent messengers to Joseph, saying our father commanded before he died, saying; FORGIVE THE TRESPASS OF THY BRETHREN AND THEIR SIN; I believe this represents to the African Diaspora world-wide as well as to all those that have ever been offended by their brethren from other races, how God expects us to respond to interracial offence. Our Father, (which art in Heaven) said, to pray like this before he sent His Son to die; Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. This is what Jesus taught his disciples to pray before He died. Joseph’s response is how the African Diaspora will one day respond, both to our African brothers who sold us into slavery and to our former oppressors who enslaved us. When we see what God was doing in us and for us, through our being sold into slavery by our brothers, we will respond different to the experience. He said to his brothers, AM I NOT IN THE PLACE GOD WANTED ME?
God’s Plan for the nations through the African Slave Trade
God was trying to get some of us out of Africa, into the nations of the world to bring reconciliation, deliverance and fullness and redeem and restore, both Africa, America and Europe to the blessing and prosperity of God and man. We will one day be able to say as Joseph; YOU THOUGHT EVIL AGAINST ME; BUT GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, TO BRING TO PASS, AS IT IS THIS DAY TO SAVE MUCH PEOPLE ALIVE.
When we understand that our slavery was a positioning for us to be deliverers both to our brothers (our race) and to other nations (races), we will no longer need or want to accept apologies for what we’ve been through. God was doing more through our slavery and oppression, like Joseph, than we could see. He was positioning us in the nations of the world for reconciliation and the saving of the nations. Psa. 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a slave: 18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Just like Joseph was sent through slavery into Africa (Egypt) to redeem his brothers that came to him from Canaan during the famine, Africans were later sent by God, through slavery into the America’s, Caribbean’s and Europe, to save a generation at the end of the age, during the coming time of great tribulation, as we transition from the kingdoms of this world to the Kingdom of God. And just Like Joseph, Jesus doesn’t want, nor will He accept our apologies for our sins nailing him to the cross. Jesus wants our reconciliation to God and to one another. The cross was how the enemy of this life, Satan, would be defeated, and our sins would be eradicated, setting us free from sins’ payday of destruction and death. This is what Jesus did for us on Calvary. So, ought we to do likewise to our fellowman. Jesus further teaches us how to forgive in Luke 17:4, 5; When the disciples were distraught about how they were to forgive as many times as your brother needs it, Peter said, Lord Increase our Faith.
How Do We Build Up Ourselves in The Faith?
How do we build up ourselves in the faith to forgive, not yet seeing the purpose of our affliction or oppression in past generations? We do so by meditating on the word of Faith and by praying in the Holy Ghost (tongues). Faith comes by hearing the Word (Rom. 10:17) So, faith for forgiveness comes by hearing the word of forgiveness. Also, by praying in tongues. Praying in tongues builds our faith up to stay in Love and release forgiveness when people offend us. Jude says, in Jude 20. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21. keeping yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Forgiveness Is Given by Faith
Sowing the seed of the Word of God on forgiveness puts faith for forgiveness in your heart. Prayer in the Holy Ghost builds up your faith. Faith in your heart that is growing by the Spirit is what produces the fruit of the spirit to forgive when someone offends you. But you can't wait until someone offends you to put the faith for forgiveness in your heart. You must put it there before the storm of offense comes, in order to have the faith to forgive when the offenses come. Again, Luke 17:1 says, it’s impossible, that being relationships, that offences will not come…. They will come. This is why we need a regular day to pray this phrase and meditate on "Forgive us our Debts as we Forgive our Debtors," because if you're not regularly praying meditating and confessing your need to forgive you could be blindsided when the offense comes, and you don't have forgiveness in your heart to forgive. If you are living by your feelings and not by faith in God's word when the offense comes your relationships will suffer fatalities that you may never recover from. And the root of bitterness that comes from the offense could end up working its way up one day from the surface into your flesh, resulting in incurable diseases, and sexually immoral practices that end in divorce of your marriage, or the cutting off of a covenant relationship, that could spell the destruction of your life and destiny. The root cause of most diseases are bitterness and offense that have not been dealt with at the heart, root level. This causes us to live controlled by our carnal, selfish, sinful nature. And a carnal man living controlled by his feelings will never be able to forgive, because his feelings will always get in the way of what God’s word is saying. And this carnality ends in death.
Scriptural Meditations for Resolving Conflicts and Making Godly Appeals
Jesus prayed earnestly in John 17 that His people would walk in unity through forgiveness. This reveals how much He values it. He also gave us how to resolve conflicts and make Godly appeals.
Below are some verses to help you as you meditate today on: FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS
Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.
Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
That they all may be one…23 that they may be made perfect in one… (Jn. 17:21-23)
Restoring Wounded Relationships
The spirit of a relationship can be wounded (without the people themselves being wounded). In other words, when former trust and communication are injured, then the relationship is wounded. A relationship can be wounded long before it is broken. A broken relationship requires much more skill and attention to heal. If we address the relational wounds or infection at the early stages, then we can avoid divisiveness in the body and “gangrene” that kills the relationship. As a spiritual family, we seek to repair slightly wounded relationships before they become broken relationships. It is better to be proactive—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It is difficult to win an offended brother back to an open spirit (an easy flowing relationship).
The purpose of a fortified city is to keep certain people out of it.
19 A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city… (Prov. 18:19)
19 An offended brother is more unyielding [unresponsive] than a fortified city… (Prov. 18:19 NIV)
The primary cause of a wounded relationship is the sense of not being wanted (feeling rejected). The signs of a wounded relationship include a sense of not being wanted, a guarded heart (less receptive and more cautious), and strained communication (a defensive tone).
18 There is no fear [of rejection] in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment [fear of being judged]. He who fears has not been made perfect in love (1 Jn. 4:18).
Making A Godly Appeal
When any feel mistreated in our ministry infrastructures, they should make an appeal first to the Lord, then to the brother who mistreated them, and then to the leaders who have authority to help with the solution. To share an offense with a friend who is not a part of the solution is slander.
15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone…
16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more… (Mt. 18:15-16)
Tell him his fault: Some appeals to a brother can start in an email or phone call, but most will require a face-to-face meeting. When we meet face to face, we feel differently. Often the Spirit will intervene, and we will feel more affection and mercy than when talking about him to others. Many do not meet with their brother to save time. (It usually costs much more time by not meeting). We are changed by the process of gaining courage and clarity in appealing to our brother. We often discover much about our heart and weakness in the process of preparing to appeal to our brother. If we skip this step, we lose opportunity for growth and for our brother to respond to us.
1 If a man is overtaken in any trespass…restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens… (Gal. 6:1-2)
The leaders are required to be strictly confidential (unless bringing in leaders over them to help).
A talebearer reveals secrets...he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. (Prov. 11:13)
Making the Appeal
Our appeal starts with asking questions, requesting help, and sharing feelings first to the Lord and then to the brother. If needed, we then go to a leader in a position to help with the solution.
First, we appeal to the Lord.
- Ask questions of the Lord: Before meeting, we ask the Lord what He thinks about them and the conflict. We ask Him to speak into our deficiencies in the conflict and how we lacked sensitivity in the relationship. We use this to humble ourselves before our brother.
- Request help from the Lord: Ask Him to prepare the heart of the brother (spouse, child, etc.) before your meeting. The Lord may give a prophetic dream or speak to their heart.
- Share your feelings with the Lord: about the brother, the conflict, and relationship. This helps us to get in touch with our positive and negative feelings that are pent up inside us.
Second, we begin our appeal to the brother by asking questions, making requests, and sharing. This gives us opportunity to gain insight into blind spots in our heart and to understand his heart better. It is not effective to start the meeting with accusations or seeking to win an argument.
- Ask questions of the brother: instead of starting the meeting with statements against the brother. For example, “What were you thinking when you told me…?”
- Request help from the brother: Ask him for help to understand his heart. For example, “Help me process or understand what I heard or was feeling when you told me…”
- Share your feeling with the brother: We share how we feel or what we heard him say, instead of making accusations. For example, “I felt rejected when you said…” or “I heard you saying that you wanted me off the team when you said…”
We must confess our faults to our brother. Do not say, “I am sorry, if I have offended you,” but say, “I repent of sinning against you,” (by coming up short in love). When we say that we are sorry if they were offended, we are actually saying that they are easily offended, and we are not really saying sorry at all.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed (Jas. 5:16).
We Must Judge with the Right Spirit
Jesus commanded us to rebuke a brother who sins against us and to use righteous judgments. Scripture commands the Church to bring righteous judgment to those with destructive doctrines and behavior (Mt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5:1-11; 2 Cor. 11:12-15; Eph. 5:11; 1 Thess. 5:14, 21; 2 Thess. 3:6-14; 1 Tim. 5:19-20; 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:10-13; 2:15; 3:10-11; 1 Jn. 4:1; Rev. 2:2, 14-15, 20).
3 If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. (Lk. 17:3)
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. (Jn. 7:24)
Many misinterpret this verse to mean we must never say that someone is wrong. The word judge means to analyze or evaluate, to approve or condemn, with the intention of making wrong things right. We must do it in the right process for the right purpose and with the right spirit. This requires a “vigorous spirituality” to invest the time and humility to discern all the real issues.
1 Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you...5 First remove the plank from your eye, and you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Mt. 7:1-5)
Gently: We approach them tenderly without harshness as we hope for the best in the process. We look for their sincere intention to obey Jesus, and we confess some of our struggles to them.
1 If a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Gal. 6:1)
1 A soft answer turns away wrath [anger], but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Prov. 15:1)
Humbly: We are to examine ourselves because the knowledge of our own failures humbles us. We are to approach others with a sense of our personal failure and take responsibility for our faults. We should seek to repent quickly, with a teachable spirit that is able to “hear,” without being defensive.
5 First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Mt. 7:5)
Accurately: We take time and effort to get all the available information. Those content with partial information have already made up their minds against another. We do not know all the complex details in the circumstances of another’s life.
13 He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him…17 The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor…examines him. (Prov. 18:13-17)
19 Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. (Jas. 1:19)
Patiently: We give people time to understand the gravity of their sin, and time to repent, without quickly concluding that they refuse to repent. We must not rush through the process too quickly.
21 I gave her (Jezebel) time to repent of her sexual immorality… (Rev. 2:21)
Confidentiality: We only make the information known to those with authority to help in the restoration process. We do not reveal the past sins of anyone who repents.
13 A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. (Prov. 11:13)
8 Above all things have fervent love…for love will cover a multitude of sins. (1 Pet. 4:8)
9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends. (Prov. 17:9)
Mercy is more successful than judgment. We seek to show mercy by not requiring that they appeal with 100% accuracy in their facts against us. If only 5% is accurate, then focus on that 5% and ask their forgiveness for it. Try to hear their pain and to understand how we contributed to it.
13 Mercy triumphs over judgment. (Jas. 2:13)
The Spirit is the guardian of the culture of the Body of Christ. He requires that we dwell together in a culture of honor. Blessing comes from honor. Honor heals and dishonor divides. We seek to see their budding virtues that we may bless them. To be of the same mind requires that we seek to be agreeable instead of resistant. We seek to “get on their team.” Do not be wise in your opinion; in other words, do not presume to understand all that God sees in them and the conflict.
10 In honor giving preference to one another…14 bless and do not curse…16 Be of the same mind toward one another…Do not be wise in your own opinion…18 as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men… (Rom. 12:10-18)
TODAY’S INDIVDUAL PRAYER DECLARATION I declare today that I am forgiven by the blood of Jesus. My sins and transgressions have been nailed to the cross. I am forgiven of all of my sins, past, present and future in Jesus name. Nothing can separate me from the love of god which is in Christ Jesus. Not tribulation, or distress, not persecution, or famine, not nakedness, peril, or sword. Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ. Because I am forgiven, and because his blood has cleansed me from all of my sins, I forgive all those who have sinned against me. I release all those that have offended me. I forgive and release my spouse, my parents, my children, and close friends. I release all bitterness. I release all unforgiveness. And I pray for those that have persecuted me and bless those that have tried to curse me. My forgiveness of all my iniquities releases salvation, healing, debt free living and prosperity into my life in Jesus name. My forgiveness of all my iniquities breaks every generational curse of sickness, disease, malady or malfunction over my life. My forgiveness of all my iniquities releases worship and the love for god and man into my life in Jesus’ name.
(Thursday Day 5) - Fast until 6pm and Pray in tongues for 30 minutes and Meditate for 30 minutes on Matt 10:6; Luke 17:15; and this 5th phrase from the disciple’s prayer; FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS)
Scriptural Mediation for Forgive Us Debts as we Forgive Our Debtors
Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Luk 17:1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! 2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
TODAY’S CORPORATE PRAYER DECLARATION: We declare today that we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Our sins and transgressions have been nailed to the cross. We are forgiven of all of our sins, past, present and future in Jesus name. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Not tribulation, or distress, not persecution, or famine, not nakedness, peril, or sword. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Because we are forgiven, and because his blood has cleansed us from all of our sins, we forgive all those who have sinned against us. We release all those that have offended us. We forgive and release spouses, parents, children, close friends. We release all bitterness. We release all unforgiveness. And we pray for those that have persecuted us and bless those that have tried to curse us. Our forgiveness of all our iniquities releases salvation, healing, debt free living and prosperity into our lives, in Jesus name. Our forgiveness of all our iniquities breaks every generational curse of sickness, disease, malady or malfunction off our lives. Our forgiveness of all our iniquities releases worship and the love for god and man into our lives in Jesus name.
