What we learned in church today. This is really good if you really think about it and let it really sink in.


The Ultimate Bailout - Mathew 18:21-25


Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.  When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents;  and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, `Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.  And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.  But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, `Pay what you owe.'  So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'  He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt.  When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken  place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me;  and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'  And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt.  So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."


I. The Blueprints Of Forgiveness

- An unforgiving heart lives in prison
- God wants to release us from the prison of unforgiveness


II. The Foundation Of Forgiveness

- Take pity on the person who has wronged you.

- Cancel the debt
We try to make them pay down the debt. We're cold to them, we try to hurt them, we slander them, which only pulls us further down into our self-imposed prison of unforgiveness.

- We need to cancel their debt - pray for them, root for them, speak only good of them even if we think it will kill us! Keep praying and asking for God's help. We act this way because we feel (deep down) that we are better than them. We need to humble ourselves. If we act better than them we won't be able to forgive.

- Let them Go -
If you have truly forgiven them you will not think about it (the hurt they did). You will not bring it up to the person. You will not talk about it to others.
Do we really think our hurt is or was worse than what the Lord has paid for by dying for us on the cross? How can we not forgive others when the Lord has forgiven so much in us? In comparison to what the Lord Jesus has forgiven us, our hurt is small. We act like that person's sin against us is worse than our sin that the Lord has forgiven us. That cheapens the gospel. Are we better than the Lord Jesus, Himself? Who is able to forgive us all our dirty, secret sins? That we cannot then turn around and forgive our brother? Is his sin really any worse? We don't have the right to bear the name Christian until we can forgive.


III. The Structure Of Forgiveness

- Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling

- Pay debt before you feel like paying the debt
(your feelings will come after your actions)

C.S. Lewis said in his book "Mere Christianity" to act as if you love your neighbor and you will begin to love your neighbor.

- Forgiveness is not excusing another's actions
- Forgiveness brings freedom
- Forgiveness does not mean that the relationship has to be restored, necessarily. We don't have to be friends with the person we forgive

IV. The Open Door Of Forgiveness

Our sin is not excused - it was paid for 2,000 years ago. We had the ultimate $700 billion bailout of all the sin and junk in our hearts. (Yes, it's a play on words because everyone's thoughts are on the bailout right now. But think about it, we had the ultimate bailout 2,000 years ago when we had our sins forgiven, just as our government is paying for the mistakes and sins others made, Christ paid for our mistakes and sins. Make sense?)

Choose the pain that leads to forgiveness
Choose to forgive

Psalm 103
Psalm 32
Isaiah 1:18

This one is for you, PrettyKitty!
Well, maybe me too! :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehB4KpqGEdw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xVYW-_0jVU

I got this from someone's post on a forum I don't usually visit. I went and looked at the video and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. I know this video may be biased. I understand that. I know that people are using it to find something against Obama. But what struck me most about the video was not whether or not Obama really did rule against this BAIPA (Born Alive Infant Protection Act) or not. What struck me the most was when I went and did some investigation and looked up nurse Jill Stanek and listened to what she had to say. The more I listened, the more horrified I became. I didn't realize how many botched abortions produce infants born alive. And not only that but that they are discarded like unwanted trash. This is murder! How can we not see this? I've always hated abortion but I never realized how many were born alive. This nurse described how babies at her hospital (ironically called Christ hospital. I'm sure Christ wouldn't appreciate that) that were born alive were issued a birth certificate and then a death certificate. There was nothing done to try and save these babies that were born alive. They were left in a room to die. She said she had seen babies live as long as minutes to up to 8 hours! One nurse was carrying a baby back to the utility room to leave and didn't have time to hold it. The parents didn't want to hold it. This nurse, Jill Stanek said she didn't want this child to die alone or suffer so she held him for 45 minutes while he struggled to breathe. He was about 20 to 21 weeks. He was so small that he didn't move much. He was using all his energy to try and breathe. He was trying with all his little might to live! What right did we have to take that life? What right do we have to take any life? Why is it ok to discard these babies in the trash. Is not every life precious? We treat puppies better than this!

Oh, I know I'll get a lot of heated arguments on here about why abortion is ok. I just don't see it. I think we've become blinded to this. We've shut our eyes to the atrocities and horror of this. We don't want to see. We don't want to think about it. I know some will say abortion should be ok for this and that reason. You know what? I believe that most abortions is pure selfishness. It's a form of birth control. We don't want a baby that might not be perfect. Or the timing is wrong. Then we should be more careful to not get pregnant and use birth control!

I'm not trying to be judgmental to anyone who may have had an abortion. I don't hate them. My heart breaks for them just as much as it does for all these innocent lives, because I think they've been lied to by the medical community and society in general! We've been told this is just a piece of tissue. It can't feel anything. Ever seen "The Silent Scream"? You tell ME these babies don't feel pain. Their heart is beating at about 10 days after conception. They suck their thumbs and act just like a baby in the womb.

When I became pregnant with my first, I wasn't married. We were planning on getting married, just not that soon. We didn't have much money. I was young and a little scared. My husband to be even tentatively mentioned abortion and I firmly said no. We were not actively seeking God at that time. We were partying a lot, drinking, etc., but I still knew it would be wrong to take this life. This was MY child! That child is now 20 years old and the pride of my life. He's smart, good looking and funny. He's in college now. What would my life be without him?

I knew a girl in college who had three abortions! I thought that was disgusting! Did she not learn anything from the first one? So, yes, I think too many people are choosing it for selfish reasons. Why should that poor baby be the one to suffer because of poor choices we may have made? Because they have no voice, that's why!

And for the ones who were told by doctors that they must have an abortion for the sake of their lives of the baby, how do you know that doctor couldn't be wrong? It's happened before. I've heard it time and time again.

Let me tell you something. I wouldn't be here today if my mom had listened to the doctors. She had two very difficult pregnancies. Her health wasn't that great. The doctors warned her to never have another child. It would endanger her life and the life of that child. Then she got pregnant with me. She had doctors try to talk her into aborting me! She refused. She was called foolish. She carried me for 7 months until I went into fetal distress. They had to quickly get me out. I was without oxygen for awhile after birth. I was in an incubator for awhile. I had hyland membrame disease. My heart would stop and a nurse would come by and slap my feet to get me to start breathing again. They didn't think I'd make it. They wanted my mom to hurry up and name me, they were so sure I wouldn't make it. Then they told her that if I did live, I would be brain damaged, that I probably would never walk and certainly would never finish high school. Well, I have news for those doctors! I am here today because GOD decided whether I should live or not. And I am walking just fine, although I did have to have physical therapy for years when I was little, and wore leg braces for awhile. And I most certainly graduated from high school and business school (with honors) and have taken several college classes with high marks. So no, I don't always listen to what the doctors say.

When I was pregnant with my first I took a test that said I had a high probability of having a Down's Syndrome baby. After crying my eyes out I said it didn't matter, I'd have him anyway and love him. Thankfully, he was ok. This happened again with my third pregnancy. I was older so they were watching me more. This time I told them I would not take the test. I would take and love whatever God gave me. I knew this child had a special meaning. He was born exactly one year to the day that we buried my grandmother, whom I loved more than life itself. Was that a coincidence? I don't think so.

I can't get these images out of my mind of this nurse cradling this gasping baby. My God, I can't get that out of my mind. Something has got to be done to protect these innocent lives but I don't know what can be done. Certainly bombing abortion clinics and shooting abortion doctors is not the answer. I don't believe in using violence to ever get your way on anything. But something must be done to protect these innocent lives. Women must be educated better on birth control and helped more if they do become pregnant. Abortion should not be so easy. If they ever saw an ultrasound with that little baby moving around in there and sucking it's thumb, I don't think they could do it. We've closed our eyes to this for so long. What can we do? My heart breaks for these precious, innocent babies that suffer because of us. And it breaks for the mothers who don't know what else to do and are not counseled enough. I've heard between 3,000 and 4,000 babies are aborted each day in America! That's almost 40,000,000 since Roe vs Wade. When will enough be enough? What can be done?
I can't get these images out my mind. I made the mistake of seeing pictures of aborted babies too. They look just like real babies! That's because they are real! Real babies and thrown into the trash as if they mean nothing. My God, my God. What have we done.

I love this song. We sang this in church on Sunday. I hope it will bless someone on here. No matter what you're going through, God can and will see you through it. He never lets go of us.


You Never Let Go Lyrics

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back
I know you are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

(Chorus:)
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We'll live to know You here on the earth

(Chorus)

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You




No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Cor. 10:13