How Seeing Jesus Empowers You to Forgive Those Who Have Hurt You

Transcription

1 How Seeing Jesus Empowers You to Forgive Those Who Have Hurt You Father, we thank You that in Jesus Christ our debt has been paid, full and complete, forever; that we have been so fully forgiven in Jesus that You don t even see our sin anymore because You have reckoned us as righteous and welcomed us into Your presence. It is for this that we sing; it is for this that we give You praise, in Jesus name. Amen and amen. Are you ready for some good news? In your flesh, you may find it difficult to forgive those who have hurt you, but when you see the risen Lord Jesus, Who has so fully forgiven you, you can be empowered to freely forgive others. And when we forgive, we are loosed from heavy shackles, and amazing miracles take place. I DID SOMETHING THIS WEEK and I am horrified even to report it to you. I have never done this before I ve messed up, I ve missed some things, and everybody knows I ve been late to some things but this time, oh it s just awful to announce it, this week I missed a live radio interview. Late in the week I was invited by a station in Iowa to be interviewed about the healing of shame. The program was scheduled for Friday at four o clock, and although I had a meeting at that time, the topic is so important to me that I said I would step out of the meeting to do the interview. The radio manager was very grateful. I m not making an excuse, but the afternoon became very crowded. I was wrapped up in the meeting talking to somebody, and it was five thirty before I thought of the interview. Immediately I had a vision of the program announcer saying, We have with us today pastor and author Alan Wright, who has written a book on this subject, and I m sure Pastor Wright will be calling in any second now Okay, Pastor Wright must be detained right now. Have you ever done something like that? Pastor Alan Wright Part 7 February 26, 2012 Alan D. Wright All rights reserved.

2 When you see the risen Lord Jesus, Who has so fully forgiven you, you can be empowered to freely forgive others. I knew I would have no peace until I could contact that radio station manager and tell him how sorry I was. So the first chance I could get, I called him and said, I m just so sorry, I m flying to Iowa to give you a full hour of interview and then I ll scrub all the toilets in the radio station. He laughed, and he forgave me. But then, of course, at the end of the call he said, You know, we would like to have an hour-long interview with you sometime. Absolutely, anything that you want, I said, wanting to make it right, to make it up to him somehow. W hy do we feel that way? When an offense occurs, something within us demands penance, payment, or punishment. There is an instinctive awareness in the human heart that if there is going to be fairness in this world, the offense and the payback must balance out somehow. We learned it as little kids. When Johnny was mean in some way to Billy, Billy had to be mean in some way to Johnny. A volleying back and forth. We do this in our marriages and in many of our relationships. The offenses build up on an unseen list of sorts, and require a certain number of the right deeds to restore balance. Yet, despite this unseen demand for things to even out, some people consider that life is full of these little injustices and they find ways to deal with them by focusing their minds on something else and moving on. ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES is about a woman who was married for fifty years and had a secret box. She kept the box locked, and although her husband pleaded many times over all those years, she never let him know what was inside of it. One day, just before their fiftieth wedding anniversary, the woman s husband asked her if for their anniversary she would please allow him to look inside her secret box, and she decided it was time. So on the special day, he opened up the mysterious box, and there inside of it were two doilies and a bunch of cash. He said, What does all this mean? And she said, Well sweetie, over the years whenever you did little things that irritated me, I decided that instead of becoming bitter towards you, if I would get away by myself to crochet one of these doilies and cool off a little bit, I would be able to let go of the offense. He looked down into the box again and he said, Wow, fifty years and only two doilies! But what about all this cash? There must be two thousand bucks here. And she said, Oh, that s the money I raised from selling the doilies. It is a good practice to not get all worked up about small offenses, to find some way to cool down and let them go, for if you become preoccupied with the little offenses in any relationship, they ll just build up into something far out of proportion to the offenses themselves. So just crochet a doily! But what if there is a much deeper offense? Life brings some real pain, doesn t it? I had to call Dan last night for him to remind me of his story. I wanted to hear his testimony to be reminded that miracles are possible, and I knew I d be nourished by it. Dan is an elder in our church. He is a dear friend, and all of us here love him. He has twice been healed of cancer, and has just learned that he has another spot that needs to be addressed. He has a love and a zest for life. When Dan was twelve, someone murdered his parents, and he spent his adolescence, as you can imagine, troubled in his soul and seething with resentment. He would fantasize sometimes about what he would do if he ever met that man. If he had a gun, and he was in a position to do it, what would Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 2 February 26, 2012

3 he do? He thought it all through and decided: He d make the man suffer, slowly. Dan had a response to the Gospel when he was in high school. His first couple of years of college he lived rebelliously, but when he was a Junior in college, the Gospel started to really capture Dan s heart. One night he went to a Campus Crusade meeting, and on the platform were two fifteen-foot crosses. Bill Bright was speaking on the Spirit-filled life, about how those who are full of the Spirit are enabled to forgive those who have hurt them, and it was on that night that Dan heard within in his heart the Lord saying, You can forgive him, and I m asking you to. So Dan went up, knelt at one of those crosses, and there received a revelation of the love of Jesus. He forgave the man who killed his parents, and he was never the same. FORGIVENESS A Miracle at the Heart of the Gospel Major religions, cults and pagan practices all in one way or another have attempted to design some system whereby people could level things out so that if they felt bad about what they had done, they could do something, make some sacrifice, to satisfy their gods. And without clarity, we as Christians can be amiss in thinking like other religions of the world, that after we are saved, all of life is about trying to do good things for God, missing that at the heart of the Gospel is an extraordinary miracle called forgiveness. An Exotic from Heaven F.B. Myer said, FORGIVENESS is the exclusive prerogative of Christianity. The schools of ancient morality had four cardinal virtues--justice in human relations; prudence in the direction of affairs; fortitude in bearing trouble or sorrow; temperance or selfrestraint. But they knew nothing of mercy or forgiveness, which is not natural to the human heart. Forgiveness is an exotic, which Christ brought with Him from Heaven. 1 1 F. B. Meyer, Our Daily Walk, May 7 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1951). Accessed at When we forgive, we are loosed from heavy shackles, and amazing miracles take place. Essential to the Christian I have read a lot about forgiveness this week and have found that most Christian authors certainly agree that forgiveness is an essential and important part of being a Christian and a disciple of Jesus Christ, and they often list six or seven good steps that are an important part of the forgiving process. The thoughts that have probably meant the most to me have been those of Leanne Payne, a Christian counselor who has great insights into the healing of the soul, and who goes so far as to say that forgiveness is the healing of memories. 2 Empowered by a Revelation of Jesus But I am interested in how the Gospel of Jesus Christ empowers us to do what is otherwise impossible. What does a revelation of seeing Jesus do to enable us to forgive? For this I can think of no better story than that of Stephen in Acts, chapters six and seven. STEPHEN There are two words in the New Testament for the word crown: The word, diadema, which means a royal crown, from which we get the word diadem; and the word stephanos, which means victor s crown, and transliterated is the name Stephen, who was selected to be one of the first deacons of the Church. yer_-_may.htm. 2 Leanne Payne, Restoring the Christian Soul: Overcoming Barriers to Completion in Christ through Healing Prayer [Paperback] (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, March 1, 1996) 85. Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 3 February 26, 2012

4 To forgive is not to pardon; it is not to reconcile; it is not to excuse; but it is to let go, and to release someone to the blessing of God. A Picture of Fullness Acts Chapter Six 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; 8 Stephen, a man full of God s grace and power. When Stephen is mentioned in these chapters, the description of him is about fullness: full of the Sprit, full of God s wisdom, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, full of God s grace, full of God s power. Whatever was operating in Stephen s life, the emphasis is that it was the fullness of God at work within him that was making all the difference. 8 Now Stephen, a man full of God s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, 10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. Stephen was well-known for the great wonders and miraculous healings which were taking place through him. And he was also so remarkably bold, so wise, and so articulate that he would stand up at the synagogue in the midst of the public debates amongst the Jews, and, according to the report, no one could stand up against the wisdom by which he spoke, or deny his articulation of the gospel given to him by the unction of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, most scholars think there is a high probability that Saul, who was of Tarsus, the principal town of that region, Cilicia, had opportunity to debate Stephen, and even this man, who later became the apostle Paul, couldn t stand up against the wisdom that was coming forth out of Stephen s mouth. A Pseudo-Trial 11 Then they secretly persuaded... The language here is stronger than what is conveyed in the NIV. The language actually means that there was a frame up, a set up; there was a deliberate process by which they orchestrated this.... they secretly persuaded some men to say, We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God. 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us. They were accusing him by using false witnesses, and they were stirring up the people against him to bring him to a pseudo trial. Sounds familiar, doesn t it? This parallels the arrest and pseudo-trial of Jesus. 3 Radiance And interestingly, 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. There was a radiance on Stephen s face that reminds us of the radiance which was on Moses face as he came down from Mount Sinai, radiant with the glory of God. 4 How ironic. They were accusing Stephen of blaspheming against Moses, and there Stephen stood, radiating like Moses. They were accusing him of blaspheming God, and yet the favor of God was so strongly upon him that his face was radiant like an angel. And the more that he 3 Matthew 26:14, 47-67; 27:11-26; Mark 14:43-65; 15:1-15; Luke 22:1-5, 47-53, 63-71; 23:1-23; John 18:1-12, 19-23, 28-40; 19: Exodus 34:29-35 Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 4 February 26, 2012

5 radiated the love and the grace of the Lord Jesus, the more they hated him. Proclamation The big set up continued. Then, in chapter seven, the high priest asked Stephen: 1 Are these charges true? But Stephen did not give a defense of himself. Instead, he proclaimed the Gospel. He began with Abraham, and he recounted the stories of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; of how there was a Pharaoh that didn t know Joseph, and how Moses emerged as the leader for God s people; how God delivered His people miraculously out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. He told this story because it was, and is, the great story of redemption. In telling the story, He was saying, If you want to understand why I am recounting this story, and why these miraculous signs are happening, why people are being healed, and why I m standing so boldly for this story of Good News, it is because I am part of this redemptive story. It s one big story, and it all fits together. He then turned to them and said, 51 You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! He was telling the members of the Sanhedrin that outwardly they were keeping the rules and the rituals, like circumcision, as the sign of the covenant, but that they were missing the true power of the covenant because of their uncircumcised hearts and ears. He was saying, You may do all the things outwardly to identity yourself as the people of God, but you re doing so in a self- righteous way, and you re missing the whole point of the covenant of God s love and redemptive plan for His people. Because of this, you are wrapped up in your own righteousness so that you can lord it over other people. You are wrapped up in your legalism as if life with God is about what you can do for God. I want to remind you of the whole story because it is the story of a God Who called Abraham out of the Ur of the Chaldeans, a God Who made a people where there was no people. It s the story about a people who were slaves, and who had no way of escape except God raised up a deliverer and delivered them through the Red Sea. It the story of what God has done for us. It is the story of God s grace that is being increasingly revealed to us. But if you are lost in your rules, your regulations, your rituals and your own righteousness, you will miss Him. You re missing the move of the Holy Spirit. That s what he was saying, and I believe he was saying this because he was moving towards the crescendo of his proclamation, where he would invite them to look and see Jesus. He continued: 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it. You ve missed the whole point of it all, he was saying. And here is the irony. They become furious that he was saying that they were missing seeing Jesus. They become furious when he said, You betrayed and killed the prophets that announced the coming of Jesus, and yet it s the very thing they were getting ready to do, and it was proved out in what happened in the next moments. A fury arose within them that was an agreement with hell. Hell hates the grace of God and denies His redemptive plan. 54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. Look! If you try to forgive by your own righteousness and self-will, you will find it to be futile. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 Look... There was the invitation, Look! I don t know this for sure, but it is what is impressed on my heart, that Stephen s exclamation was a real invitation, Look, and you too can see Jesus ascended to the right Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 5 February 26, 2012

6 God wants you to have such an intimate revelation of Jesus, Who died for you, Who was raised for you, and Who lives for you, that you would be absolutely assured of life everlasting. hand of the Father! [ I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. ] Their eyes were spiritually veiled; their hearts were blinded; and instead of looking, 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices... The invitation was, Look, and you ll see Jesus, the fulfillment of all the promises of God, the One Who has paid our debt, the Righteous One Who was prophesied for all the centuries, the One Who was pointed to through the shadow of Abraham s life, and Moses life, and Joseph s life. Look! The grace of God triumphed! Look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith! 5 But they covered their ears and they shouted, instead of even glimpsing. Jesus Stood 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. There is much scholarly debate over why Stephen saw Jesus standing. Jesus Himself had announced that He was going to the Father, 6 and that He would sit at the right hand of God. 7 It is also often repeated in Scripture, 8 as it is in our Creed, that He sits at the right hand of God the Father, and there is even much scholarly conjecture about why Jesus sits. Nevertheless, when Stephen saw Jesus, Jesus was standing, and my own impression is that Jesus stood up because what was happening to Stephen was what happened to Jesus. Jesus, too, had been mocked; He, too, had worked signs and miracles 5 Hebrews 12:2 6 John 16:10, 28 7 Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69 8 Psalm 110:1; Mark 16:19; Rom 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 8:1; 1 Peter 3:22 under the unction of the Spirit; no one could stand against the wisdom that came forth from His mouth; and yet, they set Him up, they framed Him, and they took Him outside the city to kill Him, as they were about to do with Stephen. Here was Stephen, one of the most godly men in all of the move of God that was taking place. He was FULL of the Lord, FULL of the Spirit, FULL of grace, but the people were furious with him and lying against him. I cannot help but wonder if Jesus didn t stand up, ready to call forth a legion of angels to rescue Stephen. I wonder about that, but this I do know: Jesus stood up for Stephen as the crowd yelled at the top of their voices. Persecution and Execution... they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. This was no ordinary process of trial and execution. There was a prescribed process for execution by stoning. This was no such due process. In the prescribed manner, the convicted criminal would be put in a ten- to twelve-foot ravine, a large boulder would be rolled off into the ravine, and it would initially cause a blow that would either kill or usually render unconscious the one who was being stoned. Then the witnesses would take off their heavy outer garments and they would throw additional stones. Stoned by an angry mob This was an angry lynch mob, and the Jewish ruling council did nothing to stop it. The mob was stoning Stephen, but not with one sudden blow. Instead, in a slow, furious manner, they began to throw rocks, bruising, crushing, and lacerating Stephen. Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 6 February 26, 2012

7 Witnessed by Saul 58 Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And Saul, a religious Pharisee, stood there, giving the nod of approval as the mob laid their garments in front of him. Here, watch our clothes while we kill this man. No fear And Jesus was standing, maybe ready to dispatch the angels. But instead, 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And Jesus soon answered his prayer. He let him come home. A vision of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ will cure you of the ultimate fear, the fear of death. We are plagued by the fear that is underneath all fears, Will I ultimately be secure? But God wants you to have such an intimate revelation of Jesus, Who died for you, Who was raised for you, and Who lives for you, that you would be absolutely assured of life everlasting. It is astounding, but Stephen did not pray, Destroy them and let me live. He was satisfied with the vision of Jesus. Deep forgiveness 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out literally the text says, he hollered out loud Lord, do not hold this sin against them. When he had said this, he fell asleep. It was just what Jesus prayed from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they don t know what they are doing. 9 When you are being killed, you do not forgive at this depth by simply saying, I ought to be more forgiving. I don t think Stephen looked down at his wristband that said, What would Jesus do? and thought to himself, He forgave the people that killed Him; I ll do the same. I don t think that s what comes out of you when stones are being hurled against you and you have moments left to live. I think it was something that had to do with all that fullness that we keep reading about. The man was full of grace and had a vision of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Only a vision of the resurrected Lord Jesus could enable us to forgive like that. 9 Luke 23:34 We were not made to control others through our unforgiveness or any other means, for the Spirit-filled life has no room for manipulative unforgiving postures, only for the vision of Jesus, Who is the One in control. EMPOWERED TO FORGIVE By Seeing the Risen Jesus As the One Who is in Control The vision of the risen Jesus confirmed to Stephen that Jesus is in control. The temptation to hold onto bitterness or unforgiveness is a temptation to try to keep control, and the spirit of control, the capacity to manipulate, aligns with the power of hell itself. But we were not made to control others through our unforgiveness or any other means, for the Spiritfilled life has no room for manipulative unforgiving postures, only for the vision of Jesus, Who is the One in control. Letting go When you are able to let go of your sense of control in the world, that s when you are able to truly forgive. To forgive is not to pardon; it is not to reconcile; it is not to excuse; but it is to let go, and to release someone to the blessing of God: I m not in charge of that person. You are Lord, and I want them to be blessed. I release them to You. Unshackled Then, when you forgive, you no longer live with the shackles of unforgiveness. You are liberated. By Seeing the Risen Jesus Assurance that mercy, grace and love win Mercy wins The vision of the risen Jesus proves that mercy wins. The certainty that Jesus is alive means that Jesus was right about everything He taught and modeled. While being stoned to death, the vision of Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 7 February 26, 2012

8 When you get a revelation of Jesus on the throne, you believe down deep within yourself that love is much more powerful than whatever people are doing to you right now, and you can say, Forgive them, Lord. the risen Jesus assured Stephen that mercy is on the throne of the cosmos. Grace wins The revelation that John received on the Isle of Patmos was a vision of Jesus, the Lamb of God, on the throne, 10 not on the altar, sacrificed, as you would expect a lamb to be. For the One Who was sacrificed on the cross the symbol of mercy is now on the throne. Grace wins! Love wins When Stephen saw Jesus, he was flooded once again with the assurance that the love of God has triumphed, so he truly was Stephanos, the victor s crown. Beloved, the love of God is as much stronger than the hate of hell, as the light is stronger than darkness. Hate cannot dispel love, but love can dispel hate, and all of hell operates according to bitterness, unforgiveness, and its accompanying hatred. All of Heaven operates by the Lamb Who is on the throne, the One Who was rich in mercy and died for us, pouring out grace upon grace that we did not deserve. That Lamb has triumphed over the grave and proven once and for all that the love of God wins. When you get a revelation of Jesus on the throne, you believe down deep within yourself that love is much more powerful than whatever people are doing to you right now, and you can say, Forgive them, Lord. There is a power in our Gospel that is unsurpassed in its glory, and it is ours through a vision of Jesus. 10 Revelation 5:6 By Seeing the Risen Jesus Assurance that our value is secure The vision of the risen Jesus brings such profound security, such assurance of eternity, that Stephen was not ruled by fear or the anger and retaliation that accompany fear. His heart was free to forgive, knowing that his worth was so sure. By Seeing the Risen Jesus Assurance of our blessedness in the Lord The vision of the risen Jesus assured Stephen of his blessedness in the Lord, of Heavenly reward, so deeply that it transcended the pain of the wrong suffered. The Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit within us guaranteeing our inheritance in the saints, had already revealed to Stephen that which only the Holy Spirit can reveal to each of us: That we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, and if heirs, then co-heirs with Jesus Christ; 11 that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing through Christ Jesus; 12 that through Him, no matter what we face in life, we are already declared to be more than conquerors. 13 When you know yourself blessed with every spiritual blessing, that becomes the rule of your life. The defining mark on Stephen s life was not, I m being wronged; the defining mark upon Stephen s life was the glorious blessedness that was guaranteed to him by the Jesus Whom he saw standing at the right hand of the Father. NEITHER STONES, MOCKERY, TROUBLE NOR TRIBULATION can bring down a person who knows he is only richer for the Heavenly glory that is in front of him, and the person who is rich in every spiritual blessing is too blessed to be eaten up with bitterness. So the vision of Jesus brings such profound security, such assurance of blessedness, that we are no longer ruled by fear and insecurity, and therefore, we can forgive. 11 Romans 8:17 12 Ephesians 1:3 13 Romans 8:37 Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 8 February 26, 2012

9 THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS If you try to forgive by your own righteousness and self-will, you will find it to be futile. But as Stephen saw the risen Lord, standing up in Heaven next to the Father in all of His glory, knowing how blessed he was, and with all the fullness that was within him, he cried out, Forgive them! Don t hold this against them. When you forgive, the power of grace is released and it is beyond our understanding. The illusion of hell is that you ll have more power if you hold bitterness, but the assurance of Heaven is that you will release power when you release people. A cts chapter eight, verse one says, And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. Saul of Tarsus, with his smug, self-righteous, Pharisaical face. Maybe he didn t throw stones, but he watched over the mantles of those who did. They looked to him, their religious leader. He gave his nod of approval. I imagine that he said, or at least thought, You might have debated me; you might have thought that you were something, but where are your signs and your wonders now? Self-righteous Saul of Tarsus. I don t know that this happened, but I think that as Stephen fell to his knees and was nearing his last breath, he looked at Saul when he cried out, Lord, Forgive them! Don t hold this against them When he had said this, he fell asleep. Jesus answered Stephen s first prayer to take his spirit, and Father and Son smiled as they heard Stephen s second prayer. So be it... Two chapters later, Saul of Tarsus, that smug Pharisee, was walking on the road to Damascus when a blinding light came and he encountered the risen Lord Jesus. 14 And he became Paul the apostle, who wrote most of our New Testament, teaching us what the grace of God really is. What if you were to forgive somebody? There s no telling what God s grace would do. And THAT is the Gospel! Amen. 14 Acts 9 God, You are in charge of Your world! The enemy would love for us to be eaten up with bitterness, to nourish our disappointments, and to be confined by our harboring of offenses. He tempts us to try to control others and somehow control life by holding on. But God, You have healing for us today; You have mercy to show us today; and You have love that is powerful for us today. And so I pray that as surely as the Heavens were opened and Stephen saw Jesus, that You would open up in the spirit the heavens, and let us see the Savior again. In Jesus name, Amen. An Invitation The illusion of hell is that you ll have more power if you hold bitterness, but the assurance of Heaven is that you will release power when you release people. To forgive doesn t mean that everything is reconciled or that you re pardoning or excusing what s been done, but it does mean liberty from the shackles, from the strings that tie your soul down; it means worshipping God; it means letting go of any need to control someone else; and it means by the grace of God to turn every Saul over to the magnificent possibilities of God s amazing grace. The invitation is not for you to try harder to forgive. The invitation this morning is, Look! See Jesus. Maybe today is the day in which you are experiencing the amazing forgiving power of God in Jesus Christ. Maybe it is the day for you to take the first step of the most exciting journey imaginable, where you say yes to the love of God, yes to the forgiving cleansing power of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe today is the day for you to accept His mercy. Maybe today is the day in which you are going to let go of some old resentment. Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 9 February 26, 2012

10 What if you were to forgive somebody? There s no telling what God s grace will do. Maybe today is the day in which you are going to discover the flood of liberty, of grace, and of power that is released in your life when you turn your life over to God and His care, and you release unto Him those who have hurt you in order for Him to bless them. Behold His goodness. Open your heart to His love. Receive His grace. Closing Remarks There were a lot of signs and wonders through Stephen s ministry, but no miracle was greater than Stephen s forgiveness prayer that manifested in Saul becoming the Apostle Paul. Nothing greater than that. This is how vivid the picture is in my mind. Hell operates according to bitterness and resentment against the throne of God in a futile attempt that cannot overthrow God, but can only seek to hurt, accuse and condemn those whom God loves. But Heaven operates on precisely the opposite power. Satan, who could not overthrow God, tried. Jesus, Who had a legion of angels at His disposal, did not call them, but took the cross and said, Father, forgive them, to prove to us the power of love always defeats the spirit of control. And so I send you out into the world with a simple invitation: Disagree with hell s process and agree with Heaven s. Then wherever you recognize in your life that hell s process is surfacing, you can say to yourself, I disagree with that, and agree with Heaven. But don t try to do this work of forgiveness by your own efforts or religiosity. This miracle, like them all, comes by seeing Jesus and Him at work in you! May the Lord God bless you and keep you, And be kind and gracious to you, And make His face to smile upon you, And give you His peace, Today and every day, forevermore. Amen. Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 10 February 26, 2012

11 Alan D. Wright All rights reserved. 11 February 26, 2012

12 Sharing the Light Ministries is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that offers healing and hope by sharing the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ. Visit to learn more about pastor and author Alan Wright, his books, audio products, podcasts, national radio broadcasts and conferences. Also discover how you can become a partner in sharing the light of Jesus Christ. Alan D. Wright All rights reserved