Baggage: Embracing Forgiveness and Love's Transformative Power as Children of God

Hello friends, Chaplain Terry Warner here and welcome to the Chaplain's Corner. net. I have still a few more updates. When you visit my website, the Chaplain's Corner. net, a drop down menu will appear and you can sign up for my monthly newsletter. Your communication will always be private and never be shared. Subscription benefits will include a monthly newsletter, blogs and articles that I write and, occasionally, a video Plus. You will have the ability to email me privately for your specific questions and comments. Starting at the beginning of the podcast, I will give you the season number and the episode number. Thank you so much for listening. My podcasts come out every Monday morning. Please like or follow me and again, thank you so much for listening. Hello friend, Chaplain Terry Warner here. The title of this podcast is Baggage. It is S3E52. It will air on 12/25/ 2023. Your foundation scriptures Philippians 3: 12- 14,. Isaiah 43: 18 and 19,. Galatians 2: 20, Matthew 6: 14, Acts 2:38 and Romans 2:17-19 We'll start with Philippians 3: 12 to 14. "Not that I have already obtained all of this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus". I have been running in the race of life for a long time and if I had to guess where or what place I am in, I am fairly certain that I am running in the pack, toward the back of the crowd or the back of the runners. I don't want to compare my life's placement to someone else, because I am sure if I did I would be pushed back further. But when I read the scriptures and see what Jesus thinks of my place in the race of life, I discovered that I am not as far back as I thought. There is the possibility if I draw closer to Jesus even more than a possibility, a fact that in the race of life, as far as Jesus and I are concerned, I am closing in on first place. Giants in the faith. As a matter of fact, I don't compete against anyone or anything in the race of life. You see, Jesus won first place in the race of life when he defeated the devil by his blood sacrifice and rising from the dead. It is his victory, not mine or anything I tried and do. It is all Jesus. Well,C haplain Terry, I can just sit back and relax and take life easy. Not so fast. My friend Jesus told us to go make disciples of all nations, to heal the sick, raise the dead, bind up the brokenhearted, to love my neighbor, my wife, my children and to forgive every one of their sins and shortcomings and behavior. What we couldn't do and still cannot do, christ did for us and showed us by example what to do to live a life like a child of God on this earth. When we do that, we move up to share first place with our Lord Jesus. So let's look at some more scriptures under the light of forgiveness and love. We are letting go of the things that are holding us back and stopping the flow of God in our lives. If you are reading this and thinking that's nice friend, you're probably missing the most important item in your life that will set you free to a new life in Christ Jesus. Sure, God has a plan to save His creation. He is God, but in that plan you are included. You see, if you are not in Christ by being a believer, God's plan is not complete. He needs you. He loves you more than a physical attraction, more than a liking. God's love is a love so deep and covers so much that he sent His own Son to earth to leave His glory and position and come to earth to forgive, buy back, redeem and even give His own life as a sacrifice for you, so that you could live and dwell with God in heaven. He loves you and he still does. That is why your eternal security is eternal. Don't think God has ever given up on you. If you're still breathing and walking and talking and walking this earth, you are still available to come into God's kingdom and God's love. Isaiah 43.18. Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. I don't care what you have done or what kind of mess you are in. God will forgive you and straighten it out for you if you'll turn your life over to Him. Isaiah 43.25." I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. Unforgiveness will prevent God from acting in your life. As a matter of fact, it will also prevent God from acting through you. Let's get personal for a few minutes. You visit a social media application and you say anything that is not in love, and then wonder why your family, your job, your quality of life are just not where they should be. And so you get frustrated and post more unkind and unloving words and point out everyone's faults and go off in a huff, only to return the next day, repeat the same process while suffering from a sickness, to post more hate, direct it to someone else. Read the book of Haggai for a deeper understanding. You'll see that the more you love and follow Christ, the more benefits and blessings you will receive. Can you see Jesus with this smartphone doing this? We may even go to Church or Bible study and still voice our opinion or opposition, so others will know where we stand. If we voice our opinion, post our remarks, let's at least stand for what is right and realize that no person is the root cause of this mess we are in. Well, Chaplain, Terry, you're not being realistic. I used to think so too, but God showed me that I was wrong. He showed me that the way to victory was through love and forgiveness. God is the spirit and everything originates from the spirit. The devil is just a fallen angel, and if you want to get mad at someone and criticize someone and talk bad about someone, do it to the devil. But better yet, why not speak loves of kindness and mercy and grace to the Lord Jesus and to the friends and people that you meet, and give them a hope in the future? You want to stop the devil? Look no further than James 4: 7- 8. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come nearer to God and he will come nearer to you. Let's go to Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, the life I live, in the body. I live by the faith and the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Do you realize that when you became a Christian, Christ Jesus is living on the inside of you? When you criticize and condemn, you are an ambassador for Christ and you're criticizing and condemning one of God's creation. No matter their color, no matter their race, no matter their opinion, no matter anything. They are a child of God and have the opportunity to give their life to Jesus Christ. If someone will encourage them that love and forgiveness is the way to go. Matthew 6: 14, and 15. "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." That's not freeing up. You're not doing that to free up the person that hurt you. You're doing that to free up yourself, so that person doesn't live rent-free in your brain. And don't give me this stuff. Well, I get over it faster, I get over it fast. And then you repeat it. Or, well, that doesn't bother me. Well, I'll forgive, but I'm not going to forget who you're kidding. You're trying to convince God to go against His Word. When you do that, it's not going to work. Forgive the person and if you have to forgive them seven times a day, 490 times a day, forgive them. Forgiveness is your key to victory and it's also their key to love and kindness that they will see through you. Acts 2.38. Peter replied Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord, or our God, will call. Your children are watching you and your children will do what you do and you'll train your children, whether you are aware of it or not. Do you want them to be like you? Do you want them to post all this critical stuff on social media? Romans 2.7. "To those who, by persistence in doing good, seek glory, honor, immortality, he will give eternal life. That's what we're striving for, is eternal life. This world's going to end here pretty soon, pretty abruptly. I don't know when. No one does, that's fine. But rest assured, if God says he will return and come and get us, he will return and come and get us. Let's jump to 2nd Corinthians, 5, 17-19. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is the new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That God was reconciling, in other words, restoring friendly relations of the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them, and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." I don't care who it is. Forgive them. They need to know the love of God so they can come into the kingdom. So it's time to leave all the baggage, unforgiveness, the grudges, the discontent, the revisions, the retaliation and anything else that is contrary to God, righteousness and holy living. You need to decide the day to start living for Christ. Clean up your life and start serving others with love, kindness and compassion. Think about it. It cost God his one and only Son to purchase your redemption from the devil that was going to put you in hell. Fortunately, a lot of us who have accepted his plan of salvation washed ourselves in his blood or on our way to heaven. Unfortunately, there's a lot out there that have not accepted Jesus Christ. But because we don't know the scriptures, we are finding out that we are grieving the Holy Spirit and our living is contrary to God's word. God's word. Word equals Son. It's contrary to Jesus. Finish enjoying your Christmas celebration this week, but start thinking that in 2024 it will be your year to start living in victory. It is time to quit making excuses and get to working out the plan God has laid out for you. Jeremiah 29 and 11. Romans 10, 9 and 10, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved, or with your heart that you believe and are justified. And it is with your mouth that you are confessing and saved." So quit badmouthing the government and politicians and start blessing others and start walking in forgiveness, just like Christ Jesus did for you. You will be amazed what God will be able to do through you. We just might hold off the return of Jesus Christ so a few more will come to Christ before he finally does return for His Church. You have a blessed day In Jesus'. Name amen. This has been Chaplain Terry Warner. Thank you for listening to my podcast. They come out every Monday morning. It is thechapelencecorner. net. When you go there there will be a place for you to sign up and get my newsletter. Thank you so much for listening and please like and share and follow me, as it helps so much to get the word out. You have a blessed day In Jesus' name amen.