Deeper Still by phil mccallum

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Scripture
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:47

Observation
Forgiveness comes not just through a sorry prayer, but through a lasting lifestyle of love that moves in the opposite direction. Jesus said that the woman was forgiven because she had loved him so much. There is no record of her asking for forgiveness. All we are shown is the picture of her caressing the feet of Jesus. That was enough for the Lord to forgive her.

The picture of a former prostitute kissing the feet of Jesus is not exactly what we would expect as a model for a sinner’s prayer. Jesus’ friend Simon was offended by it. It would be no surprise if we were too. But Jesus was not. He interpreted her caresses in another fashion. This woman was a prostitute. Seduction was an art form for her. But what she plied on the feet of Jesus was mingled with tears and perfume. She was not seducing, she was repenting in the only language that she knew. Critics saw her actions, but Jesus saw her heart and translated her movements as supreme love.

Application
It is good to be smacked with extreme images like this, for they force me to ask questions. Am I just asking forgiveness or am I acting forgiven? It is not enough for me to say sorry but to be sorry in loving deeds done in the opposite direction. It would seem from this story, that at the end of time, when the video replay of my life is screened in heaven, that the only thing that will matter will be what I’ve done out of pure love.

Prayer
Father, too much of my life is detached from love. Simon entertained Jesus, but he didn’t love him. There are many, many times that I am like Simon, busy but not loving. The prostitute offends us all and I take it to heart. Today I’m meeting with many people and making many decisions. Help me to be motivated today by pure love. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to Rebecca St. James sing “Forgive Me”.

Scripture
But the king gave this order: “Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my presence.” 2 Samuel 14:24

Observation
Just as lightning will search for a ground to discharge its energy, so too every brewing storm of personal relationship searches for resolution. The pent up static electricity of human conflict will eventually discharge. Our choice is not if it will but where it will. Will there be a lightning strike with loss of life and property or will there be a lightning rod to safely divert the energy to a safe grounding?

King David learned to live with unresolved relationship conflict. As a result, the brewing clouds built up their charge of ions. When his son raped his sister, David did nothing. When another brother murdered the guilty one, David did nothing. When Absalom worked the crowding in the waiting room, David did nothing. David lost his throne, his wives and his son because he tried to be comfortable with uncomfortable relationships.

Closure in relationships is the choice to sit face to face with people who make us feel uncomfortable and to fix issues. There may be reconciliation or there may not be. What we can be certain of, the electrical charge of conflict will safely discharge. But left unaddressed, relationship conflict will only build into something destructive.

Application
It is easier to look the other way than to look eye to eye and to bring closure. But the choice to have healthy families and organizations is the decision to close one season so we can move on into the next one.

Prayer
Father, help me today not to avoid that which needs to close. Help me to deal with the intray of relationships. Amen.

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Song: Audio Adrenaline Ocean Floor

Scripture
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” Mark 14:30

Observation
How would you treat a friend if you knew in advance that he would soon deeply offend you? Would you snatch the welcome mat from your front door? Would you let caller ID protect you from his phone calls? Jesus experienced this problem with Peter, for the Lord knew in advance of Peter’s soon coming triple denial. Though he knew the worst about Peter, nevertheless, Jesus prayed the best for his life.

It is amazing not just that the Lord accepts us in spite of our past; it is also astounding that he loves us knowing our future. He accepts us knowing full well we will offend him again. That is true love.

There are two similar but different words at work here. The first is to “forgive”. Forgiveness has to do with releasing the hurtful actions of the past. The second is to “forbear”. Forbearance is another dimension of forgiveness because it looks into the future. When we have come to know one another well, sometimes too well, we can have a sense of a person’s vulnerabilities and a hunch of how they will offend us again. Forbearance is the choice to forgive in advance. It is the decision to make allowances for the weaknesses of others.

At its core, forbearance is the choice to know others not by their weaknesses, but by their strengths. Jesus did that for Peter. He said elsewhere that he ahd prayed for Peter and when he was restored he was to restore his brothers too. Even though Christ knew Peter’s fatal flaw he still chose to know Peter as a rock of strength for others.

Application
If we are forbear with others, we must start with a wide-eyed acceptance of their weaknesses and finish with a premeditated choice to forgive. In fact, it should take us even further to pray preemptive prayers to help guard them from their own sins and to pray the best for their future. Love is not just releasing the past but bracing another for the future. Forbearance is the choice to scuttle immature views of forgiveness that suggest we will never be offended again. Instead, we need a buoyancy to process the future offenses of those we love; that is the step beyond forgiveness into forbearance.

Prayer
Father, sometimes I find myself in conversations where I am critiquing the performance of others rather than praying for them. You have not given me discernment to judge others but to pray better for them. Help me to pray prayers that protect others from their own actions. Amen.

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Observation
God gave Joseph overwhelming privileges. He was on the top floor of the pyramids, so to speak. How he used the power God gave him tells us everything about the stages of his heart.

Forgiving family who had sold him to slave traders was not a snap decision. In some way it is comforting to read Joseph’s struggle to forgive because it gives us elbow room to work through our own forgiveness challenges.

Joseph went through three stages until he was ready to reconcile.

First, Joseph used the platform of success to become a bully.

Genesis 42:8-9 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

Under the Egyptian headdress and makeup he was still just Joey, but he would never let his brothers know that vulnerable information. He stared them down with steely resentment. He would make them do jail time just like he did. At the Bully Stage we can use the grace of God to get back at others who have harmed us. Of course we will not be forgiven if we do not forgive, but thankfully the Lord does not rush but gives us time to come to a better frame of mind.

Second, Joseph became a police man.

Genesis 42:17-18 So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live.

Evidently God had spoken to Joseph over the three days and touched his heart. His words were not prickling with revenge now. There was a softness about him. But still he was not ready to reconcile with his brothers. That would take more time. At the Policeman Stage, we may not want to harm people, but we do want to teach them a lesson. Instead of entrusting God to deal with our enemies we speed things up a little.

Finally, Joseph became a counselor.

Genesis 45:1-5 selected Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive? Please, come closer,” he said to them. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.

Instead of confronting his brothers, he consoled them. What a dramatic change from the bully just a few months before. Joseph was now comforting those who had harmed him.

Application
It is easy to relate to the stages of Bully and Policeman, but to think that we could one day console those who had harmed us may be too much to contemplate. But such is the grace of Jesus. If I am to be a Christ follower, then I must be prepared for unusual changes God will bring to my heart. Such is the miracle of forgiveness. I will pass through stages of forgiveness, but I am not to remain paralyzed in any of them.

Prayer
Father, there are times I find it comfortable to be a bully and a policeman, but I open my heart to be surprised to find myself one day being a counselor to console those who have harmed me. Amen.

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All I can say about this video is, WOW.

Scripture
“The Fear of Isaac….” Genesis 32:42

Observation
Twice in this chapter, Jacob calls God by an odd name: The Fear of Isaac. If he used the name twice, then it must have been a name for the Lord that Jacob had heard at home. The man whose name meant “laughter” called God by the name “Fear”.

I wonder if that came from Isaac’s experience as a boy with his father Abraham on the mountain. Isaac was bound like a sacrificial animal on the altar and the knife of his father was ready to slit his throat. Then God stepped in and saved his life. A boy would remember that moment; and a man would never forget it either.

I don’t think the fear that Isaac felt was a fear of harm God could do to him as much as it was a respect of the God who saved him. Abraham, by putting his children on the altar, gave his son a front row seat view of God the nature of God. As a result Isaac knew the Lord personally enough to give him a special name.

Application
Do I fear God enough? This is not a fear of what God could do to harm me, but of what the Lord can do to save me. My life should be toast, but God rescued me from the toaster. That is reason enough to reverence the Lord who can save me. If he saved me then, he will save me now.

Prayer
Father, today I need your salvation and I fear you Lord, for you are the one who can save. With you is forgiveness, therefore, you are to be greatly feared. I fear you today, and that causes me to trust you and to love you more. Amen.

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Scripture

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:21-23

Observation

I find these few last words of Jesus hard to take in. As the crowning investment of 3 years of intensive commitment to 12 men, Jesus gives to these leaders the burden of forgiveness. They are given the joy of choosing whom to set free and whom not to set free from guilt.

This mandate is so profound because forgiveness will either shut or open the door to a relationship with God, weigh the heart with guilt or set it free with forgiveness, and the difference between heaven and hell itself. That is quite a responsibility.

The disciples used the forgiveness burden wisely. On the day of Pentecost, Peter set 3,000 people free from the guilt of crucifying the Messiah. A few pages later, however, he spoke words to a swindling couple who had lied to the Holy Spirit, and they dropped dead on the spot. It was a tough call it it preserved the integrity of the church. Paul peppered the world with churches, but he spoke words that struck the conniving Elmyus blind. Again a tough call that brought about much good.

What is puzzling about these last words of Jesus is that they were evidently intended for all of us who believe on him. We have been entrusted with the power to forgive or even not to forgive.

Application

Whenever a power is given for good it is possible to do great harm with it as well. The power to forgive or not to forgive can either set people at liberty or needlessly lock them in dungeons of torture. If we are believers we are more than just forgiven people, we are also people entrusted with the keys of heaven. We can open the door or lock it. So we must use the keys wisely.

Prayer

Father, sometimes what I think is a justified attitude of unforgiveness is really a misuse of the power you have given to me. Teach me today the responsibility of forgiveness.

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Our awesome friends last Christmas in Hawaii. We miss you!

Scripture
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.” When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! Job 42:7, 8, 10

Observation
Job was much like us for he was disappointed by friends. When he needed them most to leave, Job’s friends were still there. When all he needed was silence, they kept on talking. We’ve all had friends like that in life.

There are extreme times when God seems passive and aloof that we wrongly expect friends to give what only the Lord can. In those times some friends imagine that they can fill in God’s empty speech bubble and speak for him. As a result, not only does God seem distant but friends can even distort him by their words. We all can relate to that.

Most painful for Job was not just that his friends spoke for God, but they even judged for him as well. They thought they had x-ray vision into Job’s soul and could probe the motives of his heart. We’ve all had friends like that. Those who are closest to us can hurt us most deeply. Job knew that all too well.

But Job was a great friend not just on the upside of friendship but also on the downside. After God had soundly spanked the three, Job did as God asked and prayed for those who had hurt him. We have pages of Job’s speeches written down for us in the Bible, but not one word of this prayer is transcribed for us to read. Yet what Job did in that prayer of blessing proved his greatness more than all of the self-defending words he had ever spoken. Forgiveness is phenomenal because it is such an unhuman action; when we forgive we are acting like God.

Look carefully at what happened next for Job. His reward was doubled. A magnanimous heart toward those who have hurt us opens us to contain more of the blessing of God. Job’s prayer stretched his spirit like shaking out a plastic bag so God could stuff him full with his goodness.

Application
Like Job, I want to continue to remember to pray for those who have disappointed me. Resentment shrivels the heart so that there is no way God can be kind toward me because I don’t have room for his blessing. Forgiveness will open me up to receive what he has planned for me.

Prayer
Father, forgive. Amen.

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