February 16, 2010 The Journey 53

"Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the Kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."

Good Afternoon. my dear brothers and sisters. We missed the most of the snow, just got dusted a tad. Thanks for your prayers for Dolores and Matthew. Matthew's struggle is ongoing and we have handed him to the Lord for His care. I have done the same for Dolores, who was a very, very sick lady yesterday, but seems to be improving today. She is in room 850 at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill Pa. It is Schools Day on the line and our schools need so much prayer.

The Journey 53: Matthew 6:9 - "Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. 10 Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the Kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." (KJV)

Today I want to take a good, a really good look at this line in the prayer... As we forgive our Debtors. Let's start by taking a short review of yesterday where we looked at the first part of Matthew 6:9, And forgive us our debts. Folks, now let's put them together...

Matthew 6:9 - And forgive us our debts (sins, trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who sin against us or trespass against us). So you want God to forgive all of your sins? Or just one of them, or two of them? Where are you at on this one?

Folks, have you ever had someone hurt you, maybe by taking a job you wanted because they were a, well a, ok, here it goes. Because there were a "brown nose." Come on, you have all heard that term, and let me tell you most bosses do not like those folks, but there are some who do. So you are lined up for that promotion and this person gets the job and you are really upset with the boss and the other person. I mean you have had this cross burning for a long time... GET RID OF IT. Forgive them and move on, that is if you want God to forgive you. Sorry, folks, that is what the Bible tells us and that is just what I am telling you. You are praying, Lord, forgive me just like I am forgiving that one who took my job. Folks, the truth is we have all in our life time offended others, not to mention God. We have hurt people along the way, maybe not in getting a job, but for other reasons. Maybe we have done a little gossip about them, maybe even made up a big fat lie.

Now, folks, I am not talking about when you were a child. I am talking lately. I mean I remember trying to blame things I did on my brother, and to this day I don't know why I did that. If I would have owned up to what I did, I would have been punished by my mamma or my daddy but I blamed it on my brother and he kicked my... well, anyway, it got kicked real good. Then he made me tell my parents the truth and then that part of my dear body got smacked good. Now, my brother and I had it all worked out long before he went to be with Jesus, but so many family members do not do that.

Brothers and sisters, before you let your head hit the pillow another time, try your best to work out any problems you have with others. And the same goes if you owe someone money. Folks, in life, we, or most of us, have bitten off more than we can chew up and sometimes we need to go to others and try and work things out. Let God in on it, for after all He does already know and again don't we want God to work with us on our problems or our sins?

Our Lord Jesus bled and died for us on a cross so that we might be free of sins, but it goes deeper than that. Some pastors might tell you to just say. "Forgive me, Lord, and I believe in you," and you will be saved. Hold on a minute, let us not make this price Jesus paid for our debts be so cheap. Unless you are on your dying bed and going to God for the first time, I think there is a whole lot more to it than just going to the altar in the church or coming for that call one time and then saying you are forgiven for life. Oh, I believe that once we are in His arms He will not let us go, I believe that, but first we must get into His arms and have Him in our hearts. And one of the big steps we are looking at today, and we have looked at repenting, but today we are looking at us forgiving others.

Two things on this... First, the easy one, if someone has sinned against you, forgive them, if they ask you to forgive them, by all means tell them it is a done thing. The hard one, if you have sinned against another, you need to make it right. Let me tell you on this one you need to be very careful that you do not hurt others as you ask them to forgive you. Sometimes a very, very quiet "I am sorry" in passing might be the best you should do. Do not bring up past wounds and throw salt into them as you try and straighten out the past. Pray and let God lead you on this one. But the bottom line is we are forgiven as we forgive and we are praying just that way. How do you think God would like it if you said in your prayers, "Lord, forgive me of my sins, and forgive me for punching Joe in the nose, but he earned it"? I think I have labored this enough... Let's go to God for help on it...

Dear Father in Heaven, I want to really walk with You and I want to do it daily. Forgive me of my debts, and Lord, point out to me, bring it to light where I need to work on forgiving others. Lord, help me repent of my sins and walk solid with You each day. Lord, I don't just want to walk near You, I want to walk in step with You. Open Your word more and more to us each day, Lord, help us to understand it better and better. Lord, show us the good news and where You want us to take it. Lord, thanks in advance for Healing those on our list today. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

Now go forth sharing those blessings, and again, thanks for all your prayers for my family and for this line. Thanks for being a part of Carry The Light Ministries, who by the way will be singing tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17th at 2.00 PM at The Bridges (yes we are at home). We will be without our piano so we will have canned tracks to work from... Thanks again... I love all of you. Pastor Dan.

Carry The Light Ministries
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050
Phones Home 717 691 8200 Cell 717 991 0754
icarrythelight4God@msn.com