My Dear Friends in the Faith:
When I was a teenager in high school you just had to have certain things to be with the "in" crowd. If you were a girl you had to have some Chic jeans, a Polo shirt by Ralph Lauren, and some cute shoes. If you were a guy you had to have a Jheri Curl, some leather Nike's low top, and something to drive (Wow, am I telling my age here?) My parents provided their kids with the necessities, but if what they provided was not good enough for you, then you had to get a job and get them for yourself. Okay, as relates to the "in" crowd I had the Jheri Curl (Hahahahaha), I had the leather Nike low top sneakers, but I needed something to drive. So I worked at Burger King, cut yards, saved my money and bought a 1977 Chevy Luv pickup truck. Who cares that it was outdated, rusty, needed a paint job, and had a bad carburetor? It was mine!
Now my Chevy was a four in the floor. And, I drove all over our neighborhood, styling and profiling with no license and one cracked speaker in the back with only AM radio playing for me to boom with. I could handle the clutch with ease. But, I had this real problem with first gear. You see, first gear was right next to reverse. And often times when I thought that I was in first, I would actually be in reverse headed the wrong direction. Now this is not a devotional on my first little rusty truck, but I do see something here worth sharing. You see, forgiveness is an issue like that for many of us. Just when you think that you are going to put your life into first gear and drive on off and do well you get first and reverse mixed up and you end up going backwards instead of forwards. Have you ever been there before?
You know that you are stuck in reverse when you say, "yes I have forgiven them but just keep them out of my face because I just might snap." You know that you are stuck in reverse when you have been hurt by people and your response was to cut them out of your lives and say "since you've hurt me it's over for you and the horse you rode into town on." And, you know that you are stuck in reverse when you punish other people that have done you no harm at all for things that others have done that your new counterparts had nothing to do with. Forgiveness is a real struggle for many Christians and with it many of us end up stuck in reverse! This devotional is for people who can honestly say "it's hard for me to let it go." This devotional is for the person who has been abused, neglected, hurt, lied on, talked about, and cheated on. God never promised us that people would not hurt us. But, forgiveness is that tool that helps us move on with our lives and move from reverse to first without being stuck in reverse!
Jesus Christ is on the cross in Luke 22:34 and He makes a plea to His Father that heals, mends, and restores Him from the possible hatred that He could have had for those who beat Him ruthlessly. He says, "...Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
You see, Jesus knew that if He did not move on past the people beneath Him on the cross, He would never satisfy His Father that was above Him on the cross. So how do you move from reverse to first and move on with your life after people have hurt you?
Remember that you cannot move forward in reverse no matter how hard you try. There were times that I just knew that I was moving forward because I felt like I was in the right gear. But, as soon as I released the clutch I would spurt backwards. You see, being in reverse left me no options when it came to moving forward. The same is true with forgiveness. It does not come with any options. The liberating principle of forgiveness is this, in the eyes of God it is not a maybe, it is a must! Jesus is on the cross and He knows that if He does not forgive those that have harmed Him, He will do harm to Himself. So He says, "....forgive them..." Remember this, true forgiveness happens when you decide to let the person off the hook that has hurt you only to realize that the person that you have released is YOU!
Realize that first is much better than reverse. I noticed while stuck in reverse one day that there was only one gear designed for moving backwards and four gears given to move forwards. The moral here for us is simple. My old truck was designed to spend more time moving forward than it did going backwards. Here's a good devotional question for you today, "haven't you been in reverse long enough?"
The reason Jesus forgives these horrible people is because He refuses to let them keep Him in the wrong gear! He is in first. He is headed to the next level and a new dimension! He is heaven bound and nothing is going to stop that! Not even hurtful evil people that have tried to destroy Him. The word forgiveness is aphemi. It means to let it go; to release. Take a moment and think of all of the people that have hurt you that you struggle to forgive and make a decision that they are not worth you missing what's ahead of you hurting over what is behind you!
Recognize that you reverse leads nowhere, but first leads to second; second leads to third, and third leads to fourth! I don't care what anyone tells you once you get out of reverse everything else just flows and you go forward faster with the passing of each gear. It is like a promotion! Check Jesus out in the text. He knows that He is up for a promotion. We call it a resurrection. And He does not need anything heavy holding Him down because He is going to come forth and He does not need anybody holding Him back but He is going to get up! So to make sure that He does not go backwards in reverse He tells His Father to let vicious murders off of the hook. Three days later it happened! First gear, resurrection! Second gear, the grave is declared empty! Third gear, the angel declares He has risen as He said that He would! Fourth gear, Jesus declared for Himself, "All power in heaven and in earth hath been given unto me!" If I told you that the reason you don't want to stay in reverse is because God had plans for future and the only way to get there was to move on to first, second, third, and fourth would believe me? It's true and it's real! Forgiveness!!! It is the route to your peaceful tomorrow and the road that leads to your next promotion!
Often times I would get stuck between reverse and first and my gears would make that loud grinding sound. It was horrible. But, my father got tired of me doing it so he took some liquid paper and painted a cross on my gear shift. He said, "Bobby, when you get confused between first and reverse look at the cross and you will always move forward!" That was some sound advice that has blessed me all of my days and it will bless you too! For those who have been stuck in reverse look at the cross because the first gear of your future awaits you!!! It's time to move forward, never to be stuck in reverse again!!!
Your Friend and His Servant,
Dr. John R. Adolph
When I was a teenager in high school you just had to have certain things to be with the "in" crowd. If you were a girl you had to have some Chic jeans, a Polo shirt by Ralph Lauren, and some cute shoes. If you were a guy you had to have a Jheri Curl, some leather Nike's low top, and something to drive (Wow, am I telling my age here?) My parents provided their kids with the necessities, but if what they provided was not good enough for you, then you had to get a job and get them for yourself. Okay, as relates to the "in" crowd I had the Jheri Curl (Hahahahaha), I had the leather Nike low top sneakers, but I needed something to drive. So I worked at Burger King, cut yards, saved my money and bought a 1977 Chevy Luv pickup truck. Who cares that it was outdated, rusty, needed a paint job, and had a bad carburetor? It was mine!
Now my Chevy was a four in the floor. And, I drove all over our neighborhood, styling and profiling with no license and one cracked speaker in the back with only AM radio playing for me to boom with. I could handle the clutch with ease. But, I had this real problem with first gear. You see, first gear was right next to reverse. And often times when I thought that I was in first, I would actually be in reverse headed the wrong direction. Now this is not a devotional on my first little rusty truck, but I do see something here worth sharing. You see, forgiveness is an issue like that for many of us. Just when you think that you are going to put your life into first gear and drive on off and do well you get first and reverse mixed up and you end up going backwards instead of forwards. Have you ever been there before?
You know that you are stuck in reverse when you say, "yes I have forgiven them but just keep them out of my face because I just might snap." You know that you are stuck in reverse when you have been hurt by people and your response was to cut them out of your lives and say "since you've hurt me it's over for you and the horse you rode into town on." And, you know that you are stuck in reverse when you punish other people that have done you no harm at all for things that others have done that your new counterparts had nothing to do with. Forgiveness is a real struggle for many Christians and with it many of us end up stuck in reverse! This devotional is for people who can honestly say "it's hard for me to let it go." This devotional is for the person who has been abused, neglected, hurt, lied on, talked about, and cheated on. God never promised us that people would not hurt us. But, forgiveness is that tool that helps us move on with our lives and move from reverse to first without being stuck in reverse!
Jesus Christ is on the cross in Luke 22:34 and He makes a plea to His Father that heals, mends, and restores Him from the possible hatred that He could have had for those who beat Him ruthlessly. He says, "...Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
You see, Jesus knew that if He did not move on past the people beneath Him on the cross, He would never satisfy His Father that was above Him on the cross. So how do you move from reverse to first and move on with your life after people have hurt you?
Remember that you cannot move forward in reverse no matter how hard you try. There were times that I just knew that I was moving forward because I felt like I was in the right gear. But, as soon as I released the clutch I would spurt backwards. You see, being in reverse left me no options when it came to moving forward. The same is true with forgiveness. It does not come with any options. The liberating principle of forgiveness is this, in the eyes of God it is not a maybe, it is a must! Jesus is on the cross and He knows that if He does not forgive those that have harmed Him, He will do harm to Himself. So He says, "....forgive them..." Remember this, true forgiveness happens when you decide to let the person off the hook that has hurt you only to realize that the person that you have released is YOU!
Realize that first is much better than reverse. I noticed while stuck in reverse one day that there was only one gear designed for moving backwards and four gears given to move forwards. The moral here for us is simple. My old truck was designed to spend more time moving forward than it did going backwards. Here's a good devotional question for you today, "haven't you been in reverse long enough?"
The reason Jesus forgives these horrible people is because He refuses to let them keep Him in the wrong gear! He is in first. He is headed to the next level and a new dimension! He is heaven bound and nothing is going to stop that! Not even hurtful evil people that have tried to destroy Him. The word forgiveness is aphemi. It means to let it go; to release. Take a moment and think of all of the people that have hurt you that you struggle to forgive and make a decision that they are not worth you missing what's ahead of you hurting over what is behind you!
Recognize that you reverse leads nowhere, but first leads to second; second leads to third, and third leads to fourth! I don't care what anyone tells you once you get out of reverse everything else just flows and you go forward faster with the passing of each gear. It is like a promotion! Check Jesus out in the text. He knows that He is up for a promotion. We call it a resurrection. And He does not need anything heavy holding Him down because He is going to come forth and He does not need anybody holding Him back but He is going to get up! So to make sure that He does not go backwards in reverse He tells His Father to let vicious murders off of the hook. Three days later it happened! First gear, resurrection! Second gear, the grave is declared empty! Third gear, the angel declares He has risen as He said that He would! Fourth gear, Jesus declared for Himself, "All power in heaven and in earth hath been given unto me!" If I told you that the reason you don't want to stay in reverse is because God had plans for future and the only way to get there was to move on to first, second, third, and fourth would believe me? It's true and it's real! Forgiveness!!! It is the route to your peaceful tomorrow and the road that leads to your next promotion!
Often times I would get stuck between reverse and first and my gears would make that loud grinding sound. It was horrible. But, my father got tired of me doing it so he took some liquid paper and painted a cross on my gear shift. He said, "Bobby, when you get confused between first and reverse look at the cross and you will always move forward!" That was some sound advice that has blessed me all of my days and it will bless you too! For those who have been stuck in reverse look at the cross because the first gear of your future awaits you!!! It's time to move forward, never to be stuck in reverse again!!!
Your Friend and His Servant,
Dr. John R. Adolph
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