Date: 1/15/2008
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Does this apply to you?
<br><br>I hope this bulletin finds you and your family doing well wherever you are.  Let me first say that this article probably will not apply to most who will read it, so I apologize for the inconvenience to those of you who waste your time doing so.  By the time you reach the bottom of this page, you will know which group you are in.  <br><br>Do you think God is ever appalled at our actions?  You think he ever gets sick to his stomach when from on high he watches his “so-called” children doing the exact opposite from what they are preaching and claim to believe?  I think it is a strong possibility that God’s face gets beet-red when our works, or “non-works” for that matter, are counter-productive to the cause that his only Son came and died for.  And you know what....I don’t blame him one bit.  Let me share a thought or two with you from the Maker of the universe straight from His inspired Word.  By the way, every passage will be quoted from the tried and true King James Version.  I don’t want anyone to think that I am referencing some 21st century, modern version of the Bible that’s as near the truth as I am near being Michael Jordan.  <br><br>Matt. 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  Matt. 6:14 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”  Matt. 6:15 “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. 18:21 “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”  Matt. 18:22 “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”  Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven”  Luke 11:4  “And forgive us our sins; as we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.  Do you happen to see a trend here?  There are certainly many more passages in the Bible that teach forgiveness....these are just a few of them.  If you will notice, there are not any big, multi-syllable, compound words in the verses above.  Suffice it to say that they should not be that difficult to interpret.  Ruby is about to be four years old and I bet even she can figure them out.  Shame on those of us who are far older than Ruby, who treat those words as if they were a difficult nuclear equation.<br><br>Do you ever wonder what will keep the most people out of Heaven?  There are a number of different sins listed in the Bible, that if un-repented of, will lock us outside of the pearly gates tighter than Fort Knox.  In my opinion, though, judgmentalism and un-forgiveness might send more souls to Hell than many different sins combined.  Another opinion here....a bunch of those souls will be of the “religious, expecting to go to Heaven flavor”....read Matt. 25:31-46....Jesus can explain it far better than I can. The shame of it is, most forgiveness opportunities occur between people who are supposed to love each other anyway....husband/wife, parents/children, brothers/sisters and so on.  By this time, you know if this article applies to you or not.  Of course, some of you will justify why you feel the way you do....the same way you have justified it in the last few days or in the last several years.  I wish I could soften your heart.  I wish I could take away the hurt that stands in your way.  I wish I could remove the disappointment that you have in someone who knew to do better and still didn’t do it.  Please listen to reason....is the stumbling block in the way between you and that person, whoever it is and whatever it is, worth spending an eternity in torment for?  You know the things I said I wished I could do?  Even if you asked me to do those things, I would respond, “I think you’re asking the wrong person”.<br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin