I finally got around to sorting my pictures from Bangladesh. I've taken two international trips and each time I used a different camera. Either both cameras were sorry products or there was an operator error. :-/ I am determined to invest in a quality camera (AND photography lessons) for the next trip.
I laughed, I cried, and I prayed as I sorted through the photos. So many great memories. I will NEVER forget these precious Bangladeshi people! I hope you enjoy the slideshow.
I don't know about you but I tend to pick out a song that best describes a situation or season in my life. Or I will hear a song and decide I want it to become a reality. Either way, it becomes a theme song for whatever God is doing in my life at that particular time.
In this case, the song was "Lead Me to the Cross" by Hillsong. When I heard it for the first time in Bangladesh, I immediately claimed it as my personal prayer. "Lord, lead me to You and Your Cross. There's too much of 'me' still in control. Rid me of myself. Remove anything and everything I hold dear. Let me count it all as loss in order to gain Your heart. Lead me to the cross where Your love poured out. I want to be more like You. I want to love like You love."
The next thing I knew, I found myself in an intense battle struggling to forgive. Not just one person or a single incident, but a lifetime of people and incidences. I sat there in a state of complete shock, surrounded by the broken pieces of my life, too numb to move or speak. When I finally got the strength and bravery to pick up the broken pieces and hand them over to God, He began to show me some powerful lessons regarding forgiveness. I am still in the learning process, but I'd like to share with you some things I've uncovered so far.
The entire chapter of Matthew 18 in the Bible is about forgiveness. In this chapter, Jesus tells a parable about a servant who owed the king a huge amount of debt. Even though it was absolutely impossible for him to repay it, he asked the king for an extension of time so he could pay all. The king was merciful, and instead of granting an extension, he completely forgave the debt. This same servant went to another servant who owed him a small amount of debt and demanded payment. When the king heard this, he placed the first servant's original debt upon him and put him in prison where he was tormented. When Jesus saved us, he removed the debt of sin from our lives. When we refuse to forgive another person, the original debt of sin is placed back upon us; we are imprisoned and tormented.
Do you have a situation where forgiveness seems impossible? Perhaps you are thinking, "I cannot forgive this person for what they did. The pain is too great and the wound is too deep." I do not deny the hurt and the pain you may feel. But, we all must ask ourselves, "Is my choice to forgive or not forgive based upon the magnitude of the offense? Or is it based upon the magnitude of God's mercy?" When we forgive, we are extending God's mercy to that person.
This matter of forgiveness is the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us, we need to understand how He forgave us. Too often we believe God has forgiven us purely out of His love and kindness. It was not His LOVE alone, but His PAIN at Calvary's cross that forgave our sins. It was His LOVE that made Him choose the PAIN of Calvary. Calvary was a choice. Forgiveness is a choice. Calvary was hard. Forgiveness is hard. Calvary was costly. Forgiveness is costly. Is forgiveness impossible? No, because Jesus' actions at Calvary is our example. Forgiveness is the most Christlike act we can perform for another human being. It demonstrates the love of God like no other act can do.
God not only desires forgiveness, He also wants reconciliation. II Corinthians 5:18-20 says that God reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Our main goal for our offenders should be their reconciliation, first and foremost with God and then, if possible, with us. How do we accomplish this? By doing the unthinkable: blessing our offenders. This is NOT something we can do in our own strength. It requires God moving supernaturally through us. Do we want to fully experience the freedom of forgiveness? Ask God to show us the real need of our offenders. Then ask God how He might want to use us to meet that need. Pray God's blessing upon the offenders. When we do this, we become instruments of His redemptive work - conduits of His mercy and grace - in the lives of those we bless. Every opportunity we encounter to practice forgiveness is an opportunity to be part of something eternal.
When I claimed the song, "Lead Me to the Cross" as my personal prayer, I had no clue God was going to lead me to the cross through the painful path of forgiveness. Oh, but I am so glad He did! It has helped me to get rid of 'me' as I focused upon Jesus' example at Calvary. It has given me an entire new appreciation for the agony and sacrifice it cost Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins. It has given me a greater understanding of His Love towards ALL mankind. How could I NOT forgive?
