Wednesday 27 January 2016

Ruling a Kingdom

Exodus 15:11
"Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? 
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,"

Who is like you? 
Incomparable
Undescribable
Unreachable
In a different class, standing

Majestic in holiness 
Majestic- Royal, distinguished, set apart, above
Holiness- Purity, divinity, devotion, apartness, sacredness

So, to sum up, 'majestic in holiness' is to be; set apart, distinguished and ruling in purity and divinity through love.

Imagine being in charge, knowing the good and right things, ruling a kingdom, in a loving way, that's a challenge.

Those you rule are not aware of your concepts of what is good and right, or if they are, they find it difficult living up to those standards. 
As a ruler, you'd think it fair to punish those who step out of line right? They do nothing to promote your kingdom. In fact they tarnish it. So, they should be punished until behaviour changes, or kicked out if they clearly do not want to live by the standards of your kingdom. As a ruler, you'd probably make rules, and then you'd have to think about what happens when they are broken. It would be your prerogative, it's your kingdom. However, would that be a loving way to rule?

God has that exact dilemma. He has built His kingdom, and invited us into it. 
He is perfectly good, He knows what is good and right, yet He wants all of us in His kingdom. 
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty certain that I'm not perfect, so how do I fit into a kingdom built by one who is?
God is perfect, He is holy. 
For me this seems unachievable. I cannot live up to the standard of perfection that God demonstrates. I end up breaking the rules. 
So what happens about that?
What I have found, is that God doesn't show me all at once how terrible I am. He doesn't keep a list of all of my indiscretions, He doesn't mount up all my sins, or even call me to punishment or kick me out of His kingdom. 

Do you know what He does?

He forgives me! 

When I recognise and apologise for my errors and ask forgiveness, that is what I get. As I believe that Jesus is the son of God who lived in Earth a perfect life, and took upon the punishment for me. He was the one that took my punishment, so that I don't get kicked out of the kingdom.

God is holy. He is also love.

His kingdom is open for everyone. We are allowed to live in the same space as someone who is the perfect ruler, but they don't rub it in our faces and make us feel bad. 

This is unlike any leader I have ever known. This is because God is; set apart, distinguished and ruling in purity and divinity through love 'majestic in holiness,'.

Friday 15 January 2016

Forgiveness

I find it hard to forgive.

Most of the time, I don't 'feel like it'. 

Which probably means that I have already built up some hardness of heart, sadness and perhaps a little resentment. 

The problem is though, I don't like feeling these things either; resentment, hard heartedness, sadness, none of them make me feel any good. But on the other hand, I find it hard to forgive because there's a sense of being wronged that I'm not always ready to move away from. It seems like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place!

I don't like carrying any of these feelings around, but there's something inside me that seems like I'm justified to feel that way. To truly forgive, these things would have to break. I'd have to 'let go' and move on. But letting go is hard work, it's a constant state of remembrance that I'm not going to live under a certain action, set of words or injustices. 

Forgiveness is hard work!

I recognise that it does me no good for me to live with unforgiveness because of the feelings it builds up, yet it's a battle to forgive because I've got to get past my own sense of being valued and being right.

My offence may be justified, the other; person, organisation or thing may not deserve to be forgiven, but what good does it do me not to forgive? 

I do not feel like forgiving, I feel wronged. But do I want to end up living with the weight of unforgiveness? 
I don't want to carry that. It can breed mistrust, fear and a loss of hope. Without forgiveness I end up burdened by resentment, bitterness, and even grief.
That is not good for me, it's not good for any of us. 

I have discovered that by not forgiving, I don't end up hurting those that have offended me, I end up hurting myself. I don't end up feeling good inside, I don't feel happy in fact I usually feel pretty lousy and grumpy with the world.


So, what am I going to do about it? Well, I've been thinking. If not forgiving things makes me grumpy, unhappy, resentful, fearful and hopeless, then what's the point? I don't know about you, but life can seem pretty hard sometimes, so why make it harder for myself? 
Choosing not to forgive can seem to pile up unpleasantness around us and I want to enjoy the life I've got while I've got it.

So, it's a new year, maybe I can make a new decision to become more forgiving. 

That's something else I've realised. Forgiveness is a choice. A hard one at times, but forgiveness is not really a feeling. It's an action, a decision.

It's not an easy process, and I do have to remind myself that I have forgiven certain things, it's like I have to keep telling myself to let something go, or to stop thinking about it because negative emotions can creep in. 

If you are living life with unforgiveness, I'd like to let you know that It doesn't hurt the offender to not forgive them, it hurts you. 

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” 
― Oscar Wilde

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” 
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” 
― C.S. Lewis
"Love prospers when a fault is forgiven,
    but dwelling on it separates close friends."
- Proverbs 17:9