A Double Praise to God

Luke 23:33 And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.
Luke 23:34 And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do… (AMP).

Is there anything we can learn from Jesus as He hung, dying, on the cross asking His Father to forgive those who were killing Him (and forgive the rest of us, too)? I pray there is. Have you considered that there are many, many people who cry out for help in this world, not realizing where that help lies? Their methods of crying out for help come in all manner of packages. Those who are defeated, beaten down, and crying out for help in the dark are the easiest to console. Their brokenness and humbleness make helping them a pleasure. But those who slam the door in our faces, race their engines defiantly right next to us, or shove us angrily out of line, are not dealt with so easily.

There are many who do not understand the importance of taking Jesus into their hearts in such a way that He becomes Lord and Savior, taking away all our sins. And, with what the Lord has taught us about judgment, we know He also can take away the sins we see in other people (as we forgive them). Otherwise, we, ourselves, will reek of the sin of judgment which came about because we did not choose to allow Jesus to have authority over our sight. We chose, instead, to see through eyes that look through a glass darkly at sins that appear to prevail completely OUTSIDE us. When we do this, we are denying that WE are in need of Jesus' healing touch.

Hidden sin, or infestation, resides, buried under tons of debris in us, infecting our world. This hidden sin is literally drawing God's children to us to dig, dig, dig into our very souls in such a way that God can get our attention. People become almost like administrators of the Chinese water torture, to our souls. They hold onto us, not letting go for a minute, until we would forgive them. Then, keeping in mind what the Lord stated in Matthew, “What is bound on earth has already been bound in heaven and what is loosed on earth has already been loosed in heaven,” God's gift of healing can be loosed (or released) on the earth, where it was previously bound (or restricted) by our stubborn unwillingness to forgive. Healing is the gift we receive when we focus only upon the kingdom of heaven, as the Lord requested we do at all times. God, recognizing that His amazing grace is being given to someone in need, by us, is pleased to bestow that same amazing grace that was given to all of us by His Son on the cross. Seeing wondrous similarities, God sends His resurrecting life to all hurting individuals involved, eventually healing all.

It's so simple, we often can't see it. God sends people to reflect OUR soul's deepest needs. We may go through our entire life never understanding the importance other people, even strangers, play in our lives. Our lives become melancholic shadows of what life could be as we perceive that others are causing us tremendous injustice. The abundant life Jesus promised us becomes elusive, as the life we live wilts and stagnates, leaving a putrid smell in its wake. We are deceived, living a life of hellish torment, thinking the abundant life only comes as we enter heaven's gates. We can rest assured we won't hear Jesus say, “Well done, my child, well done” if we don't follow His commands to forgive and draw all men unto Him by our willingness to do this. Did He not say, “If you don't forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you”?

There is only one injustice that we should ever be concerned about in this world: The injustice that comes when we don't forgive others as we have been forgiven. This inevitably causes a sad ceasing of the process whereby all men are drawn unto Christ. Did you know that when forgiveness is put on the back burner, so, too, are the people God was going to heal and bring into full awareness of Christ and His power? We, so adamantly sure of our rights, so obstinate in our approach to obtaining our rights in this world, are blind to the fact that it is our rights that must be given up in order that Christ's righteousness will be seen. Christ cannot be seen in this world, ever. Christ can only be seen if something extraordinary happens that jerks our attention away from the world and its “justice.” What could that something be? It is complete and unwarranted forgiveness in a world that demands “justice.” Oh, rest assured that at the end of time, God will administer justice once and for all. But you'd better hope you have forgiven all those who have sinned against you so you won't find yourself on the receiving end of God's eternal justice.

Christ did not show us a desire for justice as the world knows it. From the cross, where He willingly went, He showed us forgiveness. This world will never understand this type of attitude nor will it understand the importance of having it. Satan prevails in a world of deception, lies, and strongholds whereby grievances are nurtured and worldly justice is constantly being made predominant throughout all society. Jesus, not being of this world, lived according to God's rules and He made every effort to both tell us about them as well as demonstrate their value.

It is very difficult for us to understand that the sins we perceive in others are judgments, pure and simple. But it won't take long to perceive they are judgments. We will know they are judgments by the bitter fruit that lies wasting away in our hearts from them, as they ferment and discolor our lives. Judgment does not promote successful distribution of God's fruit of the Spirit, which includes joy, love, and peace. In fact, the opposite of joy, love and peace begin prevailing as our hearts become hardened and life becomes distasteful. Let's move away from judgment, together, you and I. God is doing something in our hearts through forgiveness that includes rewards far better than any temporary reward we would get via our obtaining worldly justice!

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Let's look closely at what is being accomplished by this method of forgiveness. We are asking God to forgive them and we are, in a sense, attorneys for those persecuting us, pleading to God for them, stating that God should consider forgiving them because they are unaware of how forgiveness works in their lives. What compassion this shows! When we do this, meaning it, we can rest assured that in time, God will show us this same compassion! In a natural progression of thought, then, from pleading for their forgiveness, we would say to them, “Let me show you how forgiveness works in my life.” We are stating that we have faith that God knows what He is doing when He places certain people in our lives. Therefore, out of respect to God, we find we can care enough about those who grate on us to forgive them.

Are there any on this earth who we feel are unworthy of God's love? If so, we must take a close look at our own hearts because within them there is a deeply imbedded infestation that needs to be cleared out. Are we willing to have it done? God will send His crew to do it because He cares for us and would not have us linger in anything less than His abundant life, promised in the Word.

With regard to the “…for they know not what they do” part of Jesus' prayer, we could certainly say that people who need our forgiveness most certainly know what they are doing! They are deliberately putting tacks on our chairs, stirring poison into our coffee, or laughing when we fall flat on our faces. “Most certainly they know what they are doing,” you say. No they don't. Let me explain. When they do these irritating things, they are working within the confines of the carnal world's system and cannot see beyond to God's love. They have been mistreated, misjudged, and they can see no way out. To those in the world, God does not present viable options. In fact, God Himself is not a viable option. Love is not considered. Forgiveness has no meaning. Anger festers within them at how cold and uncaring the world is and how mean spirited those who walk in this world are. Things have happened in their lives that paint a very dismal view of people. They believe this is the truth and, consequently, when they found you, they wanted to make you believe exactly what they see of this world. Just like the evangelist wants to share his hopeful view of a world in which God plays a predominant role, so, too, do those bound up in appearances want to share their hopeless world. “This is my world,” they shout. “What do you think of that? Do you see how rotten it is?”

We can prove to them how rotten it is by reacting belligerently to their rudeness and allowing them to add one more notch on their gun belt proving they live in a most vile and ugly place amongst vile and ugly people. We could prove that they are right in their evaluation of the world. But where does that get us? Where is Christ in that? Do we know Him and His promises or not? Is it absolutely necessary to prove the one who did you wrong is correct in his evaluation of the world? Or, through Christ, can you show him mercy and forgiveness? Of what value is it to you to show him mercy and forgiveness? Plenty.

By showing the person who did you wrong, forgiveness and love and mercy, instead of retaliation, you are opening the doors of God's world, not man's. You are showing him a glimpse of what Christ did for us on the cross. You are leading him to Christ, not pushing him further into darkness. Does God know you are doing this? Oh, yes! A thousand times, “Yes!” The bells ring in heaven, and there are shouts of “Hallelujah” echoing throughout the many mansions God has created for us. When we respond in a Godly manner here on earth, it is often gone unnoticed here, but our godly responses are very noticeable in heaven.

Can you see yet that God's potential children need and deserve honor and respect? They have been dishonored all their lives. God honors His children who take Christ into their hearts. He blesses them. He comforts them. He loves them. So when Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” He was telling us something very profound about those who harm us. They have been brainwashed with the world's ways and are incapable of seeing what God did for them through His Son and what God can do for them now. Though they deliberately upset our apple carts, spill the beans, and mess with our minds, they are doing this under the influence of Satan. He would have everyone believe that mean people know exactly what they are doing when they can't stand the sight of us and want to hurt us in some way. But Satan doesn't present knowledge that is very pragmatic. His approach perpetuates his goals, in which he urges us to seek everywhere but within for the answers to our problems. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, says the Lord. The kingdom of God is within, says the Lord. Satan does not want us seeking within. If we've accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit dwells within us and Satan does not want us to connect with the Holy Spirit, lest the truth be revealed and we are healed and free from the worldly view. He wants us to seek outside ourselves and try to change others by our tiny might, or by argument, or by man's laws. This leads us in an ever widening circle of despair in which we are always fixing, fixing, fixing the problems and we can never have any peace.

God's peace can only come one way: Through forgiveness.

“Forgive them for they know not what they do,” recognizes the blindness in others and by our pleading for God's forgiveness for them, we become (through Christ) intermediaries for them, willing to take on their sins and give them up to God. In this way, we are allowing Jesus to have His way and work His will through us. His mercy and love can heal the blindness so prevalent in this world but we are each necessary for this to occur. Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” It is, therefore, our duty to show those who treat us poorly, mercy and love, that they might come to know God's mercy and love. By choosing not to do this, we are saying, “You are unworthy of God's love. I do not have time for your shameful behavior. Go away.” This in itself will cause despair in our hearts because we will then be subject to Matthew 7:2's rule that God will do to us what we do to others. Although it will be untrue, we will begin to feel that we are unworthy of God's love. Why? Because this is what we gave instead, when we refused to give His love.

Let's become God's blessed defense attorneys, as we plead for mercy for all the blind who bump into us through this life. They may be raging at us, accusing us of wild charges, causing us to barely miss another car by their carelessness and recklessness on the road, or merely scowling and giving poor customer service. It doesn't matter how God gives us His assignments. It only matters that we accept them and charge like Christ's light brigade (which we are), giving the love being called for in all situations. Even when the wrong done to us is very great, perhaps even costing the life of a loved one, we must still apply mercy through forgiveness. It is much harder to do, but we must forgive, just the same.

Who gives us our assignments here in this world? Do we work for God or not? Our paychecks may come from where we work and many of us have an earthly boss with whom we must be civil and obedient. But who is our real boss on this earth? Isn't it Jesus? Do we work for the Man? Then make it a high priority to do as He asks. Pride is allowed to show its gleaming teeth through us as we try to “justify” everything and “win” the argument by “proving” we are right. Then, Satan has become our employer. Jesus is the one we will be accountable to when this brief stay on earth is over. On that day, every human who ever lived will bow the knee and plead for mercy and forgiveness. So let's not look so intensely at all the small conditions and circumstances we are subjected to, as others offend. Doing so blinds us to God so that we can't see Him anymore. And He is the only One we want to see, while we reside on this carnal planet.

Never forget that God wants to heal our hidden dark infestations and that He reveals them through other people. Proving that other people are wrong and we are right, promotes our blindness to God's call for His healing love and mercy for both others and ourselves We, then, are no longer interested in God's goals, but only our own. We, then, are no longer interested in God's Amazing Grace, but only in saving face.

Remember, not only do we have the opportunity to spread God's love and mercy to others who are treating us with a mean spirit but, by our willingness to forgive, God has been given the go-ahead to heal our own hidden sins and judgments so they are really healed. This merits a double praise to God, doesn't it?

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