The person who resents, suffers more than the person who is resented......you do not have to feel forgiveness; you have to will forgiveness, it's a decision. And regarding Jesus, he was a man who took a vow very seriously; in Matthew 16:18 He vowed that He would build His Church. Shortly after that, (Matthew 18:15-17) He gave detailed instructions about how His friends, who were both to build and to be stones in that Church, were to be in continual unity as they walked in forgiveness and reconciliation.
If we deny forgiveness and healing to others, God's love cannot flow into us. It's all part of the great commandment. There is a direct relationship between our willingness to love others and the healing ministry in our own lives, in our families and in our nation. "Storge love" is a nationalistic love....but the type of love we need is the love of God(Agape) to flow out of us to others....that will bring change and hope and most importantly God's intervention.
Gary Musgrove....from my book "Finding Mercy in the Shadows".
ARTICLES by ANNE
Struck by the news of the day, the word “importunity” came to mind and how importunity can be an opportunity for good or for evil. It can be guided by the Holy Spirit or by the adversary and powers of darkness. The ongoing protests show some of the results of importunity that have good and bad results.
Webster defines Importunity as: an urgent request; application for a claim
or favor which is urged with troublesome frequency, pressing
solicitation persistence especially to the point of annoyance.
Opportunity is defined as a set of circumstances that
makes it possible to do something.
The Bible has great examples of importunity. In the book of Luke, chapter 11, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer; a prayer pleasing to God the Father. Right after giving the example of prayer, Jesus tells of a man who had company in the middle of the night. The man banged on his neighbor’s door and asked for bread (let’s say cold cuts and bread to make the point) to feed his guests. The neighbor was tucked in bed and did not want to respond to the request. Because the man was insistent, persistent, annoying or, shall we say importune, the neighbor finally got up and gave the man food to give to his company. The food wasn’t given because the man was gracious and wanting to please his neighbor. He gave it so he could get some sleep!
