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I woke this morning around 5:30 and the very first thing to greet me was the Lord sharing this Scripture with me:

” …the joy of the LORD is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

I thought about that as I went down to let me dog out. Then, another Scripture came to mind:

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Wow! What a way to wake up! With God it is ALL about joy and delight.

Scripture tells us:

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11 NASB)

Later that day as I shared this with my wife I was reminded of yet another pertinent Scripture:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

I’m beginning to sense a theme.

It is interesting reading through the context of these Scriptures. In Nehemiah, Israel had recently come back to the the land after Babylonian captivity and this new generation was getting reacquainted with the law (Moses writings) at a great assembly.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.” Nehemiah 8:9-11

How about that verse from the Psalms? What are the desires of your heart? Delight yourself in the Lord and you will have them!

I wanted to close with one last Scripture which is one of the few if not only places in Scripture where it specifically says “This is the will of God for you”:

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thesselonians 5:16-18 (

Always joyful, ever prayerful, and thankful in ALL circumstances. Got it!

Have you ever watched a movie and then asked the question, “Can I please have my soul back?” That was my experience the other night.

It was sickening to watch what the makers of this movie deem as entertaining. How can watching hundreds of people having their heads exploded when a microchip was activated be entertaining? Or people shot through the head again and again and again, or thousands of people slaughtering one another because of mind control manipulation.

And the most troubling question: Why did I have a hard time looking away? Why was it hard for me to walk into the other room? Why didn’t I turn it off???

I had passed up renting the movie on a previous occasion when I saw that this movie was rated R, but I wasn’t having the best day and wanted to just ‘veg out’ and watch a good movie. But this could never qualify as such.

It was, however, a spy movie. I like some spy movies. I have had good experiences watching spy movies before (Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt is one of my faves!) so I thought I would give this movie a chance.

After I rented it I later heard God speak to my heart saying, “don’t watch it”. I ignored the warning. I watched it anyway. After I watched it I heard him say, “This movie has nothing to do with me”. I was left to ponder why I would invest my time, my life, in something that has nothing to do with God? Why actively participate in growing hell and entertaining demons?

So, if you have watched this film I am SO sorry. If you haven’t watched it, then you are welcome. Save the purity of your soul and don’t watch this or anything like it. Pretend you care for your soul like it was your own beloved child. Shelter it.

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23

The makers of this movie show their contempt for Christians by having their villain test out his psychopathic murderous mind control weapon on a church. It was a racist southern church that was was spewing it’s hatred about every moral issue that you can imagine irritates the “Christian” today. It shows it graphic gruesome slow motion detail the entire church and a spy turning on one another and slaughtering each other.

Incidentally I was reading a book by Philip Yancey a couple of days ago. He grew up in one of those bigoted racist southern churches so he can understand perfectly why the world would hate them. It took him awhile to recover and reclaim his faith after that experience. Now he purposely meets with people who share different beliefs and disdain for Christians to gain their perspective on these questions:

How does the world see Christians? And what can be done about it?

Is there anything attractive about what Christians are doing or offering the world? Who is ruining the churches image and how can we change that? Who is making Jesus look bad? Is it me? Is it you? Is it even important to play this blame game, or just find ways we can change?

How can we start to let the world see that Jesus really is all about love, forgiveness, mercy and grace? How can we convince the world that their only hope of salvation doesn’t approve of the attitudes and actions of the racist, judgmental, or bigoted? That those who hate and slander aren’t his representatives? How can we show the world that Jesus is love?

Jesus said that the world will know you are truly his followers if we love one another.

Cuz… there just might not be… a tomorrow that is.

Our NEW Song “Forgive”:
Please Read Our Previous Post Introducing the Song Forgive HERE

Yesterday I watched this talk by Hector Black about forgiving the man who had brought such great pain to him and his family after he murdered his adopted daughter. It was a powerful talk and not to be missed! Please watch it:

Wow right? Can you believe how that story ended? That was amazing! How could that even be possible?!?

I don’t pretend to suggest that forgiveness is ever easy. Our wounds may run very deep. But God’s love and grace can run deeper still and by his grace we can experience a “peace that passes all understanding”.

Forgiveness frees us from being tortured by the wounds others have inflicted upon us. And then by extending this forgiveness to those who have wounded us, we have the power to release the offender from the hell of their dark prison cell and into the redemptive comforting light of Christ. Yes, there is truly no one beyond the reach of his redemption.

Are you or I prepared to annul Christ’s sacrifice for any lost and wretched soul?

I am planning in future blog posts to talk about all those lost and wretched souls in Scripture who had found forgiveness with God and became trophies of God’s grace. It never was about us anyway, but about displaying the profound mercy and grace of our loving heavenly Papa.

Manasseh is one of the most profound examples that shows us the extent of God’s forgiveness. He had murdered hundreds of innocent people and terrorized Israel as its most wicked king for fifty some years. He even sacrificed his own children in sacrifice to demons and was lured into the power and seduction of sorcery. He finally reached out to God from a prison cell and God forgave him! Not only that but God restored him as king! With his last few remaining years as king, Manasseh encouraged everyone to worship God. But, the nation of Israel still had to suffer the consequences of his past choices. Yes, sin still may have some unavoidable consequences. We all know this.

Paul the apostle who was essentially the ISIS of his day hunting down and murdering Christians was shown mercy and then made the spokesperson for the Christian faith to all the Gentiles.

King David had one of his best and most loyal friends killed so he could have his wife! Yet he was shown mercy and God said of him that he was a man after God’s own heart.

The list goes on and on.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVENESS

So, how important is forgiveness? According to Jesus it is absolutely vital to healthy spirituality both for this life and for eternity. Jesus said,

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15 NLT

This has a positive and negative side. Have you ever considered the positive side? If you do forgive others, you can be assured that your sins are forgiven as well! Breathe a sigh of relief all you forgiving people reading this right now! You are forgiven!

The negative side and sober warning here is that if you stubbornly hold a grudge and refuse to forgive others then you will not be forgiven your sins. (Have you never read Matthew 18:21-35?) And if you die in this condition? I shudder to think what that would mean for you.

This is why it is Christ and the angels top priority to work forgiveness in your heart while we are still alive. He is on the job! Our job is to cooperate. Be the pliable clay in the hands of the Potter.

Who do you need to forgive from your heart today? Talk with Jesus about it and work it out, You’ll be grateful you did!

Psalm 103:4 says, “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” (ESV)

Need more inspiration about this issue of forgiveness? Read our previous blog on the topic! It has a list at the end of more blogs I’ve written on forgiveness.