Encouragement

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FATHER FORGIVE THEM (Luke 23:32-35)

"Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him, along with the criminals - one on His right, the other on His left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up His clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

This week people around the world focus on the crucifixion and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the innocent passover lamb, who laid down His life that we might live. While today's passage of Scripture may be a familiar one to most believers, the Lord would have us see it afresh today and hear through it His heart for humanity.

The Lord Jesus had been through hours of torment and pain - mental, spiritual and physical. He could have called on legions of angels to come to His help, but He faced alone the "punishment that brought us peace" (Isaiah 53:5). He was weak as He hung on the cross, cruel iron nails tearing through the flesh of His hands and feet each time He took another painful breath. His body burned as though on fire, as the open wounds from thirty nine whip lashes upon His back pressed against the jagged, hard, wooden cross. A sense of desolation and loss tore through Him as He experienced in His Spirit a separation from the Father. The torment of all humanity was upon Him, the weight of sickness, the heaviness and bondage of sin. As He agonized, He felt every temptation, every defeat that you and I have known. Every part of His body knew every symptom of every disease, mental and physical, which any person has ever had. The decay and desolation, the hatred and rebellion, the wounds of abuse, addictions, demonic oppression - He experienced it all. And all the while, the ones who hung Him there, the ones who denied and rejected Him as Messiah stood before His cross, ridiculing and reviling Him, hating with bitter hatred the One who loved them so. They haggled for his clothes, and cast lots for them before His eyes.... "He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him." (John 1:11). They had no perception of the fact that Jesus was the manifestation of God's eternal love for His creation. "Greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends" (John 15:13).

As Jesus experienced such undiluted suffering in every part of His being, as He hung there and heard the cruel laughter and the mocking of those that hated Him, His heart overflowed with compassion. He never cried out to the Father to take away His pain; He did not pray for justice or punishment on those who punished Him. He looked at the world, so filled with hatred and pain, and His heart cried out to the Father in compassion - He said "Father forgive them"! It does not stand up to logic or reasoning; it cannot be understood. But this is the love of God for the world - so great that "He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16). The Father's heart beats for His creation to experience His forgiveness and know the bliss of oneness with Him. Jesus was the precious, sinless Prince of Heaven, but He laid His glory aside, and took on the mantle of humanity. He stepped into the dirt and the lostness of earthly life, and experienced the abandonment and rejection that you and I have known, the sickness and pain. As He prayed to the Father and said "Not My will but Yours be done", He laid His life down upon the eternal altar. A divine exchange was made in the Heavens that day. He took the punishment that was ours to take, and we received forgiveness.

Friend, this message is a reminder to all of us that we are indeed forgiven when we come to God and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We experience the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God. He is ours and we are His - we are forgiven, cleansed and adopted by God. He is our Father and we are His kids!

It is so wonderful to receive and live in this revelation, but many of us still live under the condemnation we felt when we lived in sin. Too many forgiven children of God still live in guilt and fear, unable to really accept that Jesus already paid the price in full. We hang ourselves upon a cross of shame and blame, hurting and wounded in body, spirit and soul. Many precious people suffer continuous symptoms of some infirmity or the other, which are simply the manifestations of the sense of condemnation they carry. They are bearing upon their bodies the pain that Jesus already bore. This was the case in my own life, until one Atonement day, I finally experienced the revelation of total forgiveness and oneness with God, which brought total healing and wholeness into my body.

Dear people of the King, know today that you are precious and loved by the Lord. He knows your deepest thoughts and still loves you. He wants the best for you and has good plans for you. If you have not known the fullness and freedom of complete forgiveness, there is one way to settle it here and now. Bring your life to Jesus afresh; offer Him yourself as a living sacrifice (not one that is dying slowly on a cross of pain and condemnation!). Ask the blessed Holy Spirit to give you a real revelation of the forgiveness of the Father today. Picture Jesus crying out to His Father "Forgive them, for they know not what they do....". If there is anything you need to put right between yourself and the Father, bring it to Him today and ask for forgiveness. You receive it the first time you sincerely ask! There is a reason why many precious people may be battling continuously with symptoms of infirmity, uncontrollable thoughts, addictions and compulsions; you don't feel forgiven because the devil keeps feeding you lies - that you are not free or forgiven, and that you are sick, broke, in pain, and unloved. I break the power of those lies over you today, in the name of Jesus. I declare that you are loved - so much that God gave His one and only Son for you to be free and forgiven and healed. He has plans for you; plans to prosper you in every aspect of your life. He has plans to lift you up and manifest great healing, fruitfulness and freedom through your life. You are the Father's and the Father is yours! The heart of Jesus overflows with compassion for you - you are forgiven!

God's heart is filled with compassion for all the lost and hurting people who reject and refuse His love. He reaches out to them with tenderness and mercy. He longs for the lost sheep of Israel to return to their Shepherd and their Maker. As we receive the powerful potential of everything Jesus died to give us, remember those who do not know Him - let us reach out to them with the same spirit of compassion and forgiveness, that they too may know the joy of oneness with the Father. And if there is anyone who has caused you pain or heartache, may I encourage you to do what Jesus did - forgive them and let it go. That is what He did for you and me! The Holy Spirit will help you - even to forgive yourself! Forgiveness is a powerful key to experiencing healing, freedom, and all the fullness of what Jesus wants us to know.

My prayer for you is that you will walk in His forgiveness, His wholeness and His peace. Jesus died that you could live in the fullness and abundance of life He came to give you. You are precious and powerfully loved by the Lord! You are forgiven! Be free!

Minoli Haththotuwa
www.wingslikeeagle.info

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