Residence

Prior to Saturday night, 01/17/09, I noticed something different in my walk. I asked the Lord that night, “What happened?” I felt He told me, “I do not dwell in unforgiveness.”

The Hebrew definition of the word bitter is “the headwaters of a river are only a trickle and have stagnant pools causing the water to be bitter.”

Paul say in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 to not extinguish or quench the Spirit. Reading 1 Thessalonians and chapter 5 give indications of how this can occur. To me, putting law on oneself or another is similar to extinguishing a fire.

The word says the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth. Jesus said He is the truth. Ephesians says, “The truth is in Jesus.”

If Jesus died on the cross as an act of forgiving my sins then unforgiveness is not truth. Unforgiveness for whatever reason, according to His will, is non-existent at the cross in His flesh. Love does not keep any record of wrong. It cannot do so. It is not truth. Unforgiveness is not intrinsic with Love and Truth. Otherwise, Christ died in vain, but He did not. He died for my sins to redeem me. He resurrected to give me newness of life and to be a new creature of righteousness by grace in Him.

One might read this so far and say, “Well, I need to forgive. I must.” In ourselves, we cannot forgive ourselves much less anyone else. Jesus did not try to forgive us or exercise His forgiveness half-heartedly. He forgave because of His will. He came to do and did the will of the Father. Col. 3:13 says, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

I can only give someone something that I have or something that has been given to me from someone else. Christ has given Himself. In the gift of Himself and everything He has done He has given absolute forgiveness.

At my salvation, I am dead on arrival into Him. Who I was is dead. Unforgiveness has no power over a dead person. At my salvation, I was spiritually immersed into Christ and received by revelation through grace and faith His divine, priceless, free gift of forgiveness.

I forgive because I have received and understand by faith the revelation of Christ in me. In this revelation, there is infinite fullness according to His nature. Part of this fullness is His forgiveness rooted in Love. This forgiveness, truth, love and grace continually changes me and grows in me.