Take a big step toward the best year you’ve ever experienced.

The Lord wouldn’t have commanded you to do this one thing if it weren’t possible for you to accomplish it.

If, however, it does sound too tough for you, a similar command would prove much simpler to achieve and still contribute to your best year yet.

But let’s look at the tough command first:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45)

That’s pretty straight-forward. Problem is, our pride, our self-righteousness, our sense of justice, even our inherent need to play God, makes it difficult to impossible to do. We are angry, and we are not about to forgive, much less pray for our enemy. “Besides,” we reason, “they would never pray for me!”

If you are still in that “eye for an eye” frame of mind, and are not about to “let” the Lord handle matters his way (which is the best and only way), then consider this alternative. Remember the Lord’s words, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.”

He demands that we forgive, so let’s get back to that forgiveness concept.  Consider what Jesus Christ said:

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:14-15).

How is it that most of us seem to overlook that passage? Is it because we believe we are willing to suffer the consequences? Is it because we think we can pay the price? Or do we blithely accept the doctrinal statements of our denomination’s favored theologians, and somehow find wiggle-room to ignore the plain words of our Lord?

Do we dare? Shouldn’t we strive to be absolutely free of any possible onus? Since the greatest command is “love,” and it’s the essence of Christ’s ministry, dare we ignore it? Do we really want to carry that guilt all the way through life and to the gates of heaven where we will then be judged for them.

“For every idle word that ye shall speak,  “ye shall be held accountable.” Those are not empty words.

Get forgiveness now, or suffer who knows what embarrassment or worse later. Still, I’m not talking about the white throne judgment” or any other fuzzy end-times theological discussion. My warning is more practical.

Jesus said, if you are not forgiving the other guy, I am not forgiving you. So…which of your prayers do you think He is about to answer? Are you trying to enter into some sort of arbitration with the King of Kings? He’s all-wise and all-powerful. Yes, he’s merciful, but he is also righteous and just. “Be ye holy as I am holy,” we are commanded.

When we know that we are failing him, well, “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” He won’t punish us, but he will discipline us, and often those two experiences appear indistinguishable to us. They hurt! So, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” (Psalm 66:18). This is one of the principle reasons for unanswered prayer. And not forgiving someone is a sin.

Consider this possibility: Many, and perhaps all of the trials you experienced this year may be the result of your failure to forgive others.

Do you remember those words of Paul, “We are more than conquerors through Christ who saved us….” What is being more than a conqueror? The concept is alien to a world which does not know Christ. To be more than conqueror, you don’t kill, enslave, or exploit others. You don’t “get even” with them. You don’t insist they see things your way. You pray for them, you extend Christ’s love to them, and you help them come to know him as their Savior. You promote their best interests. You do exactly what someone else did for you in order to help you find and follow Christ.

The Bible teaches that, “We love him (God) because he first love us.” Ask yourself this. “How are the unsaved, who cannot understand the concept of agape going to love us unless we love them first?”

When those we despise, our “enemies,” are converted and turn into “supernatural” human beings, into believers in Jesus Christ — each filled with his Holy Spirit, obedient to the heavenly vision, and full of good works — they join us in changing the world for the better. They begin to become friends who will stick closer than a brother.

That’s the blessing of forgiving. Your former enemy becomes your friend and ally and, as a side-effect, the Lord does not have to judge you for failing to forgive that person.

( I am not talking about people who would break into our homes to kill, or who would cross our country’s borders to murder our families and fellow citizens. Such enemies do not come to reason with us.)

But you may have experienced a hundred slights, a thousand insults through the years…and you may have been unwilling to set them right. On many occasions, even when I’ve recognized such, I’ve “swept them under the rug and forgotten them. That’s a bad decision!

Have you asked yourself whether you have contributed to the  problem, and may be even more at fault than the person you refuse to forgive?

Do you wonder why your prayers are not answered? If you have not forgiven your neighbor, Jesus stated emphatically that the Father is not now forgiving you! That’s horrific!

In order to live a more fulfilling life, you need to get out from  under that cloud of judgment and sorrow.

Instead of starting the new year by pulling out financial documents to prepare your annual taxes, try this: Pull out a pen and paper and start listing the people you are angry at. Make three columns. Column one, their names. Column two, what you have against them. Column three, what they have against you. Then, take care of business….God’s business!

Are they Christians? If not, why would you think they would try to make things right with you, or pray for you, or forgive you? If so, and you think you are more mature, and that you can judge them and remain unforgiving? Consider the Lord’s words: He who is greatest among you will be my servant. The greatest shall be the least.

“Not that I have attained!” The burden is on every one of us, my friends!

And if you are not a believer, it’s time to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to clean the slate, to become a new creature in Christ, and to start 2016 off with a new life.

For, “When anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. All things have become new.”

Find Christ and forgive others. That’s the formula for making this your best year ever.

It’s up to you! The Lord will honor your loving obedience.

Happy New Year!

Frank

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

“And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24)

“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” (The Revelation 1:7).

For yet a little while, you have liberty to receive the Son of God as your own personal Savior…

“… if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

That is the way to a happy new year!

 

 

Thanks for helping get the word out.

Hopefully many people will read and enjoy “Our Cause It Is Just” because of your labors. It’s Joy’s prayer and mine that it attracts people to the gospel.

“Our Cause It Is Just.” is the fourth novel in the Star Spangled Banner Series. Incidentally, the sequel to this book, “Conquer We Must,” may be available by Christmas. In fact, we just received a special delivery package containing edits of the final chapters from Carol Kenzy.

We are honored to have had the wonderful editorial assistance of Pastor Jeremy Stopford, Patricia Pursely, and Carol Kenzy in the preparation of “Our Cause It Is Just.”

While Book 4 will be a happy diversion between other holiday activities, Book 5 may really kick off your new year.

Thanks!

Frank

 

ONCE UPON A TIME, a small group of people, desperate for the freedom to worship God in their own land, traveled to a New World.

These people arrived at the beginning of a particularly harsh winter. They had already suffered disease on board their little ship. Upon their arrival, they were without food or medicine. They struggled to build crude shelters, gather food, and store firewood to survive the brutal cold.

Many died that winter, but the survivors persisted.

The following year, with the help of the native people of the land, they were able to grow crops and hunt for food. At harvest time, they gathered together to give thanks to God for the blessings they had received.

As the centuries passed, however, and the people of that land enjoyed ever greater prosperity, they began to take the simplest blessings as their just due.

Most were anything but thankful. The legal holiday was an occasion for revelry, for play, for travel, and for recreation. Yes, they wished one another “Happy Thanksgiving,” but it was only the rare believer who understood to whom they were supposed to give thanks.

Many became vain in their imaginations, and committed all sorts of evil acts. Others turned the sacred holiday of Thanksgiving into “Turkey Day,” and “Football Day,” and “Feast Day.” Instead of thanking the Creator and the Savior, they began thanking one another for what they considered their important contributions to society.

And every year, fewer gave thanks. After all, how can one give thanks to a Being that society now agrees no longer exists?

The story of “Thanksgiving” is not quite over, but the end of it certainly seems near. It remains to be seen whether a sufficient number of the people in that blessed land see the truth in time, and resume worshiping the creator rather than the creation.

It remains to be seen what God will do to the people of that land if they continue to turn away from him.

It’s not too late for them. The promise is true:

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).

“Conquer We Must!” which is the fifth book in the series, “The Chronicles of CC,” should be available in time for Christmas.

This exciting book adds important background information about CC’s past. It also reveals much about his wife’s character and courage as evidenced by the challenges she overcomes.

A number of new characters are introduced, including a Chinese-American newsman and helicopter pilot who is forced to serve the Chinese invaders. Several other characters play a far larger role as events move forward.

We see the enemies of America falter, while the desperate surviving Americans begin to harbor the idea that they might actually recover their lost land.

The book begins with a flashback to the night that CC was arrested at the Butter Creek Inn, and ends with a badly injured CC watching his small group divided after they are driven from Hidden Valley.

This book is the largest yet in the series of five.

amazon.com/author/frankbecker