Thursday March 10, 2011

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Enemy Love

Weekend Music links on iTunes: All to You - Lincoln Brewster, Happy Day - Tim Hughes, Hosanna - Hillsong, Attention - Know Hope Collective

Think: I’m no physicist but I do know about a little concept known as Newton’s Third Law. It states that for every action there is an equal and opposed reaction. It is true in the science of physics as well as in the science of relationships. If person A hurts person B, then person B either ingests the pain for wreaking havoc on the inside, or he gives the pain back with equal force wreaking havoc on the outside- kind of an “explosion vs. implosion” scenario. Person A’s action causes a reaction somehow, somewhere, to be sure.

Once all this ping-pong pain gets started, it’s hard to stop. The imploders respond to hurt with turning inward, being silent, numbing and passive aggression. The exploders respond to hurt with outbursts, debate, arguments and outward expression of emotion. Either which way, too much reaction has the affect of keeping the pain going and going and going. But there is a way to put a cap on the explosions/implosion affect and that is through forgiveness.

A poem by Sandra Wilson speaks to this:

Release the Prisoner

“Release the Prisoner!  Release or he will die!”

Release the Prisoner? “Where’s the justice?” my reply.

“Release the Prisoner!”  I heard again the cry.

Release the Prisoner? At last I said, “I’ll try.”

Release the Prisoner, with grace my sole supply,

I released the Prisoner, and say that, “it was I”.

Jesus  said, “Don’t judge others, and you will not be judged. Don’t accuse others of being guilty, and you will not be accused of being guilty. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive. You will be given much. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.”

Jesus’ plan of forgiveness is as much about making you free and healed as it is about making your offender free and healed. God sincerely cares about the pain and offense you have suffered from another’s sin, and He truly desires for you to be healed and set free from it as well. Tomorrow, we’ll talk more about the necessary steps of forgiveness.

Pray: Jesus, you know the pain I’ve been caused, and you know the unhealthy ways I’ve reacted to it. Nothing is hidden from you. Help me to see forgiveness as a possible and necessary step in healing and healthy spiritual living.

Do: Commit to yourself that forgiveness will be a way of life for you.

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.