24 November 2019
Two-Minute Features | 01 December 2019 | 17 November 2019

Disrupting Our Fellowship with God (TMF:1270)

Friday, November 29, 2019
Peace to Live By: Disrupting Our Fellowship with God (TMF:1270) - Daniel Litton
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       However, it is also true in a ‘small’ picture view that in order to maintain fellowship with God, we need to have a clear conscience. We should have everything laid out before him, having confessed all of our known sins and have nothing against anyone in our hearts. Now, I know, that seems like a tall order. I can remember a long time ago when I was a younger Christian and I had this question. And I recall that Pastor Jim Custer taught me the answer to this question. He went to Matthew chapter 18, to the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. Now, we’re not going to read this parable in full, but I recommend you do that on your own time, but jump down to verse 32, and let’s pick up there. We read: “Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until 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” (32-35, ESV).

Has God Forgiven Us All Our Sins? (TMF:1269)

Thursday, November 28, 2019
Peace to Live By: Has God Forgiven Us All Our Sins? (TMF:1269) - Daniel Litton
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       Jump down in Matthew chapter 6 to verse 14. We’ve already read this, but let’s read it again. Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Now, there are probably many out there who are saying right now, “But I thought that Jesus forgave all of my offenses against God at the cross?” And, of course, the correct answer to that is, “Yes, he did.” Then you might say, “Then how is it that God will not forgive my offenses if he’s forgiven them already?” Well, first, we have to understand this concept of daily confessing our sin to God and being forgiven of it. It is true, in a big picture view, that all of us who accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior have been forgiven of all of our offenses against God, which obviously would include those offenses against others, since these also are really offenses against God. However, it is also true in a ‘small’ picture view that in order to maintain fellowship with God, we need to have a clear conscience.

The Reasons We Should Forgive (TMF:1268)

Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Peace to Live By: The Reasons We Should Forgive (TMF:1268) - Daniel Litton
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       What the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to understand, though, is that it is very necessary for us to forgive other people who have done us wrong when we go to prayer with God—as we put the Lord’s prayer into practice in our daily lives. It’s important for multiple reasons. Number one, it’s beneficial because it allows us to express to God what has happened, if we haven’t already, and then to forgive the person and move on. It’s good for our psyches, our brains. It’s also good because it allows us to stop thinking about the personal offense. We lay it out before God, perhaps needing to give it him if it was a larger offense and still bothering us, and then we move on. Number three, and most significant, by forgiving others their offenses against us, it allows God to forgive us our offenses. Yes, you have that right. Jesus tells us that we must forgive others first if we want to be forgiven by God of our offenses. Now, this is pretty humbling and mind-blowing at the same time.

Have We Forgiven Our Debtors? (TMF:1267)

Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Peace to Live By: Have We Forgiven Our Debtors? (TMF:1267) - Daniel Litton
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       Okay, so let’s start at verse 12, which says, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Since we discussed the first part of this section of the prayer last time, again, we are going to start at the second part of it. Have we forgiven our debtors, those people who have sinned against us, whether in our current day or in the past somewhere? Indeed, this question is very important for us to answer correctly. All of us, at different points in our lives, have and will experience deep rejection from certain individuals. It’s just a statement of fact. It’s the way life works, unfortunately, in our fallen world. And, then, of course, there are the smaller offenses that occur, the minuscule things that people have done against us. Maybe it was a small insult at work, or perhaps someone said they would help you with something, and then they backed out of helping you. Perhaps someone lied to you, and you caught them in the lie. Whatever it is, offenses are bound to happen to each and everyone of us. Just as we all will offend others at various times in various ways, so will others offend us.

Know that You Have Eternal Life (TMF:1266)

Monday, November 25, 2019
Peace to Live By: Know that You Have Eternal Life (TMF:1266) - Daniel Litton
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       I am here to tell you that you can have eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God opens his plan of salvation to anyone who would believe in him. God will forgive you of any and all sins that you may be carrying with you today. If you would like to know that you have eternal life, and you would like to be set free from the overpowering feeling of sin, from the weight that the burden of sin has put on your life—if you want to be set free, there is hope for you today. If you would like that for yourself, all you have to do is pray a simple prayer, something like this: God, I am separated from you today. I have followed my own ways, and not your ways of doing things. But I believe that Jesus came to the earth as a man in human flesh, and that he died on the cross for my sins, to pay my sin debt. I believe that he rose on the third day from the grave, and that he now is with you in Heaven. I do want to count him as Lord over my life. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.