A good friend and brother in Christ asked me the other day how he could know if he had genuinely forgiven people who had hurt him. I believe that if we can recall the incident or the individual without it producing anger, depression etc. then we have forgiven. Pray for God to destroy the ability of those memories to cause further harm.
Healing is another subject that has my attention. Many Christians believe that God no longer heals (miraculously) in the way that Jesus and the apostles did, so for them there is no issue. Many others will pray, but their prime reliance is on modern medicine. Typically they don't really expect healing. A few who claim to have a gift of healing prostitute it for money. Others, like myself, believe that God can and does heal but have prayed constantly for people with little results. Yet I continue to hear reports from other countries, and occasionally in this country of healing. Perhaps people receive healing, but for whatever reason, don't say anything about it. If this is the case I encourage you to say something. I am asking God for insight.
My friend Rob & his wife have an amazing ministry to outlaw bikers and are seeing genuine fruit. He told me a testimony of a former international vice president of a gang who could call and in an hour or two have twenty guys come willing to shoot holes in people yet didn't have a single friend. Rob became that friend, built trust and relationship, and was instrumental in the man's conversion to Christ. I now have the privilege of responding to his earnest Scriptural questions. This is only one of many testimonies that Rob has shared.
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In the subject of forgiveness, I have applied the priciple of hitting the "stop" button when bad thoughts or feelings arise toward another brother's ill dealings. Otherwise the whole situation is played over and over again, resulting in a "root of bitters which defiles many". God forgives! But because He is omniscient, He cannot forget. He covers the incident with the blood of His Son Jesus. Another method I employ is that of praying for the offending brother, praying that God would bless him in his walk with the Lord. We must always remember that however deep a person may have crossed us, we, including me, have crossed the Father in much greater ways. Yet the father forgives.
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