

# FORGIVENESS 101

# Your back to basics guide to swift forgiveness

By Wendy Barge

To my Father, Husband, BFF & to infinity: God!

& to my children, who please everyday that they breathe

Thanks for the support kids!

To Toneka, you know who you are!

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Copyright © 2013 by Wendy Barge

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval systems, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission from Wendy R. Barge except for brief excerpts in reviews and analysis

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Public Domain
CHAPTER 1

Weekly Worship

Worship at my former church consisted of an energy field experience I looked forward to all week. Being newly returned to Christ after a two year hiatus from God, I wanted all he wanted for me and wasn't trying to go back to the unfulfilled mess of a life style I led previously.

One Sunday I lifting my hands focusing on the Lord and his goodness and attempting to gain fuel for the week from Him, I opened up my eyes briefly to see an Elder Minister in front of me who beckoned me to come to her. Perplexed at her request for my attention I pointed at myself and mouthed "Me?" She said "yes you", In a very firm manner. Being a part of the Pentecostal tradition since childhood, I wasn't in the dark about what might be next, in regards to our interaction.

She said that all that weekend the Lord showed her my face.

I will say that, I am not one to ignore a person if they believe they have received a message from God. I do believe in testing messages against scripture, but at this time, my mindset wasn't as it is now! What she said alarmed me, because in my pattern of thinking, her message had to be a reprimand from the Lord!

I was bracing myself for a spiritual confrontation.

She said God told her to tell me to let it go.

Hmm.........let it go?

Let what go?

What ensued after that was a "ministry session" in which I was on the floor praying to Jesus to take away whatever it was that needed to go. I didn't know what "it" was, but I was not trying to get caught with it.

Another member of the ministerial staff came over. She kept saying, if you don't let this go its going to affect your whole household!

If I didn't let whatever "it" was go I would mess my children up, my potential husband up, and whatever it was would lead me to hell perhaps?

The revelation was way too much for me to grasp.

I did asked the Elder later and she said that she didn't know what "it" was, but that it would cause me not to be as anointed if I didn't dump it.

That cryptic message was the beginning of a journey that carried on for years.

I needed to know what "it" was and learn how to be free of "it". I began to immediately look at my relationships.

My father

Before that I really didn't give the absence of my father and how I really felt about him any thought, but the challenges I went through seemed to have a connection to him. I began to realize they were significant, but I really could not grasp how large the issue was at that time.

And to be honest, It took many years to truly gain a real appreciation of just how large that mountain was, that was set before me, but I was about to scale it.

I was just doing everyday life, taking care of my son, and in my mind serving the Lord.

The only times I gave it any thought, was when I would attract attention of the opposite sex. I would, without fail, want to run if they even seemed to indicate a tiny form of interest. They were really great Christian guys, but I didn't feel worthy.

I really didn't know what to do with all of my anxiety and it was beginning to worsen, because I had met someone I was interested in, but it wasn't going anywhere because of my fear.

I really didn't know what to do. I truly was in great despair about my situation.

I prayed, begging the Lord to reveal what my problem was and to set me free from the mental bondage I was in. I could not grasp what was wrong with me, then after thinking of all of my past psychology courses, the amateur psychologist in me reared its head once more. I can be self analytical to a fault, at times. My inner psychologist led me to burning letters, talking to chairs, and even seeing a psychologist, who had no answers by the way. NONE!

The Lord reveled to me it was, indeed, un-forgiveness of my father, which at first was baffling to me, because I didn't give two thoughts about him on a daily bases. He was out of my life at three and that was it. I had no communication with him and I didn't really think of him in a negatively.

In fact, consciously, I had no opinion of him negative or positive, as far as his leaving. The Holy Spirit knew better and in order for me to be used, the un-forgiveness that he made me conscience of, as well as other un-forgiveness in my heart, had to go. And I had a lot of it!

The phone call

My heart begins to beat faster as I press each finger to the number pad. It seems the coldness of the phone itself, coupled with my apprehension kept pushing the numbers from my mind.

So, I try it again.

I pressed my thumb to the largest button without thinking and put the phone to my ear in determination. "Just have to get this darn number right"...........grrrr

As I take it away from my ear to examine both the numbers on the small piece of paper and the number pad, it seems my mind, and finger connects.

The phone rings. One ring, maybe two I don't remember but he answered.

I smile as I say "Hi, Daddy its Wendy!!!!"

"Ohhhh! My, my! This my daughter?!!!!" he says in his rough Philadelphia accented voice. I always thought he sounded like Bill Cosby.

"Yeah! How are you dad, missed you"

That was what I remember, with a little creative embellishment, of my first conversation with my father in ten years.

To me it could have been 20 years, because I was 26 and realizing that I was missing my fathers influence in my life. I was also beginning to realize that I didn't posses the ability to pay the emotional dept that his leaving caused. I had reached a point were I truly felt that I was damaged goods.

His leaving was not an issue years before in my younger years, because he left when I was three years old, I didn't have the longing for a relationship that I never had in the first place. To be honest I am grateful for that, because I didn't have the torment of that longing at such a young age and for other reasons, as well.

Because of the absence there was quite anger I carried for most of my childhood, teen years and on into my adult life.

My call that fall day in 2000 was in response to the confusion I experienced in the beginnings of my young adult life. I wanted to be married and my inability to open up to others, In particular men I had an interest in and who may have felt the same for me, was hindering me from exploring healthy dating relationships.

My inability to relate to any man (except for family members) without feeling awkward or say no to unwanted attention and requests scared me.

In addition, by this time I was a single mother of a young boy, who, I didn't want to grow up fatherless. My call to my father was my attempted at healing me.

I had not gained the knowledge from God that I could not heal myself. That was his job. I knew consciously he could heal, but my vice grip on the cultures answers in the form of psychology as the answer was hiding the answer from me.
CHAPTER 2

My view of forgiveness

In spite of all of my issues I was always enamored with Psychology. This started to be so, in the early 80's, during the Donahue era. Topics like child abuse and Alzheimer were fascinating to me. Later when Oprah took over as the queen of talk I was introduced to the concept of forgiveness.

Then guest talk show psychologists would talk of the importance of being angry. To my young mind it was the gospel. Though, I went to church each Sunday, Wednesday Night, and Saturday, and I knew that the Lord commanded us to forgive. I felt, because I had been introduced to modern popular psychology at such a young age, somehow it had the answers to deep emotional issues the Bible could not address.

The Prevailing view on forgiveness

I grew up in the 80's. Yes, I was part of the Oprah, Phil Donahue generation. Being a part of that generation, I learned about the silence of sexual abuse, coming out closets, how to forgive, and if forgiveness was even necessary, what was clear was the response to a wrong had to be forgiveness as self preservation, if at all. Meaning it was not necessary to forgive, but if it facilitated ones feeling of "wholeness", which was emotional health, that it could and should be done, but was not necessary. I observed guest psychologist who even made it clear that anger was necessary for healing emotionally. That one must first experience the anger then they will be free to forgive the wrong.

Forgiveness I have learned is a language that means different things to those who do not come from my cultural worldview. I am a Christian, so, I am a cultural outsider, but as a child I didn't know this. I was indoctrinated and naturalized into the secular culture. When I came to Christ to surrender my life to him, my language changed. So, when I write about forgiveness I will not and do not speak the language of the secular world, but of the kingdom of God.

It is interesting that it took me this long to begin to learn that my language is not the same. It is an acceptance of this language and its' culture that caused me to forgive and move on from the hurt, pain, torment, depression and anger, of un-forgiveness. So my definition of forgiveness may seem unorthodox to you, if you are not of my culture, but hold on, there is good stuff up ahead that will change your life if you are willing to keep an open mind and heart.

CHAPTER 3

The Word is our example

Did you know that all the things that happened in the Word of God (Bible) have been given to us for an example? The Bible offers many things: the salvation message, historical record, strength, insight into the future and into ourselves (Heb. 4:12) and much more, but the biggest thing that I have found is that it gives us understanding of how to overcome obstacles' in life (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:3).

2 Tim. 3:16 KJV says:

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2 Pet. 1:3 says:

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

The most epic tale of overcoming obstacles', to me, in the Bible, is the story of the Children of Israel's exit from Egypt and they're journey to the Promised Land-- Canaan.

In order to come out they needed to make a decision to obey God. Not only so, but they needed to recognize that God was able to do it! These people spent 400 years in Egypt. Generation, after generation, they worked, was mistreated, abused, taken advantage of by their task masters.

After never knowing any of the initial generation that came to Egypt, they had no idea what freedom looked like for them. They didn't understand nor couldn't even grasp the concept of truly being free of a culture that was not their own. They left Egypt but they didn't take their minds with them; their worldview was tainted by Egypt.

We too, have been in the land of un-forgiveness for so many years: months, weeks, maybe even decades and we are tired! We have cried out hoping that a change would come. More than likely we have used the cultures methods of remedying difficulties and long standing emotional issues, but have found its methods ineffective. Running away from the captor of un-forgiveness didn't work, because un-forgiveness would always come with its chariots and find us!

Just like the Children of Israel, you, just as I was, are desperate!!! Or else, why did you pick up this book?

We have initially made the decision to come out of Egypt, with our confession of sin, but now our faith in him needs built up, so he's sent an example to you of someone who has learned the formula to be free after a lifetime of bondage under the Pharaoh of Un-forgiveness; someone who has not arrived, but understands the formula and uses it as a tool to combat it in her own life.

I am confident, knowing how God works, that this is not the first nudge that he is given you to feel safe trusting him, but the methods of the culture look so promising. You've been promised that you will be better and will not suffer the torment of past pain that was inflicted on you. It promises to be your "go to", default method that works: you just have to spend years in therapy, reading books, burning letters, talking to chairs to get it!!!

Just as God sent the plagues to not only show the Egyptian all around that he is NOTHING TO PLAY WITH! He also sent these miracles to show the Israelites', who only heard stories of God passed down from generation to generation, that he was more than an a childhood story character, but he was real! That he was capable of ANYTHING! This is why he would get so angry in the wilderness at them when they didn't trust him but reverted to complaining that the other way was better!

What miracles has he done for you? You may think that, that stellar job you have, salvations in your family, healings you've encountered, life changing events that you've experienced, that only God could have given to you, was to show people the God you serve is awesome, BUT his purpose was much more than you realize.

Some of it was to show YOU, that you could trust him with the things you hold close. He wants you to know, by doing those miracles in your life, that he could do so much more; so, he's building your trust.

The List

Let me tell you, periodically over the course of years I have gone through extreme financial problems. Being a single mother, at times I would find myself in challenging situations financially. The Lord led me to write a list of all the good things that he has done for me, when I was really feeling low.

Guess what?

It worked!

Felt a heck of a lot better and decided to teach my son to do it when he was little. We still do the list sometimes. Usually when one of them are feeling unhappy, depressed, or is just had a bad day at school. I do it too, because I am not immune to a down day.

Taking inventory of the past miracles of our lives needs to be done frequently, because you just may find that your faith is boosted by meditating on those things(Philippians 4:8).

If you are thankful it is absolutely impossible to be depressed! The devil is not going to try to hang around when you are thanking the Lord. That ruins his party.

If you don't think that you have had enough past to put together a miracle (I say this to younger readers), think about the fact that you were born and you are alive and you belong and can belong to God! Heck, the fact that you are here IS a miracle! If you don't feel like you have a lot to thank the Lord for, thank him for that. Did you know that your life is a precious thing? How many people die every day and are not ready or are leaving prematurely.

Do you want to know the miracles that the Lord has done that have given me the ability to trust him? I am a single mom! Yes, I am. I'm sure you are shocked. Don't be, it is part of a greater journey that God has brought me through. I'm a child of divorce, single parent TWICE!!! I can recognize the hand of God through miracle after miracle occurring in my life: I was rescued from death, kept from suicidal ideas, overcame depression with his help, the loved ones in my life, are loving, intelligent, imperfect but God fearing children, am clothed, fed, and have a roof over my head--God is good! How can I not trust him? But I didn't trust him in the area of forgiveness.

So, I trusted what I knew to help me be free of my torment. I knew Phil Donahue as a tiny tike and Oprah into my adulthood. They told me that counseling, burning letters, talking to chairs, forgiving as an act of my will was how to be completely free from un-forgiveness. Keep in mind that my list is not in any way exhaustive!

You know what I found? That at the end of listening to the culture, I ended up in just as much, if not more bondage then when I first was offended. But know I had a new oppressor-- confusion!

Confusion came to assist in my mental torture, because I thought all those methods would work! You may think torment and torture are strong words, unless you have actually are gone through it. Ultimately, fear resulted when the Lord revealed to me that I needed to forgive or I would not go to heaven. Now I know that some of you are about to put this book down because I said that, but I will boldly say that the Bible doesn't mince words about where you will stand with God if you don't forgive. Lets' look at the words of Jesus Christ:

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses (Matt. 18:21-35).

Hell is a literal place in which one is separated for eternity from the lord. We don't want to be wrong on this. Despite my love for God I had tremendous un-forgiveness and knowing the scriptures I was very aware that I needed to forgive! That is when the fear of God gripped me.

Prov. 16:6 says:

6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

The fear of the Lord led me into desperation and even a little anger, because how to forgive, to me, was confusing!

I felt as though I was careening down a hill without breaks! I was aware that my eternal mortality was at stake.

Mat. 6:14-15 says:

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

This is the position that the Lord had to get me to, because it was then that I cried out to him like the children of Israel!

Like the Israelites' in Ex. 14:10-12, when they were being chased by Pharaoh, I said "why am I going through this, you want me to forgive (come out of Egypt), but I don't know how (the Egyptians are after me) and I'm going to end up in hell and it's NOT FAIR!!!"

That is how I felt, because I could not rip those feeling out of my heart! I, also, knew that my days were numbered and I didn't want death to catch me like that. The reason why my mortality and my heart condition concerned me, is because the Holy Spirit made it so and I was taught to always be ready (Matt. 24:44; Luke 12:40); I take that seriously!

I was overcome with frustration and I was willing to do anything to get an answer, my prayer time would consist of a 10 minutes pray when I could remember, I knew that I needed to pull out all the stops, so I went on a consecration. The Lord eventually gave me an answer, that changed my entire life!
CHAPTER 4

Nearing the destination

The Israelites near their destination: after seeing seven miraculous feats of God, receiving untold riches for the later construction and furnishings of the tabernacle from frightened former abusive captures who felt it was their duty to enslave them, being led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, fed by manna each morning directly from heaven, and receiving the law by God's personal hand, they sent all the heads of the tribes into the land to check it out and bring back a report.

Num. 13:1-21 says:

13 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3 And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. 4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. 5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. 8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. 9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18 And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. 21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

These men returned with an awesome report of the Land, its beauty and abundance. They made the Israelites amazed at their reports of the size of the fruits, even bringing an example of grapes that were so large they had to be transported from their desired land to the their camp site by using poles. They brought the grapes back because Moses directed them, along with pomegranates and figs (Num. 13:23), that appeared to not convince them that this was, indeed Gods plan, because the next thing out of their mouth makes their view of the situation in Canaan clear.

The walls were big; the people strong and worse of all there were giants!

Num. 13:26-33 says:

26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

For them, that was a deal breaker, even though God showed them over and over by example that he had power and giants were less than ants to him! Their walls were, but paper Mache, and the people were no match for his strength. In short, they were more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37) because, this God who drowned Pharaoh and Egypt's military host by parting the Red Sea and closing them up in it, was on their side!

God does big things

So, what are they talking about?

They had a military might of 603,550 men (Num. 1:46)! They had plenty of practice in the wilderness. Plus, God gave them the land and caused them to become a great army that all the tribes around were afraid of (Deut. 2:4; 28:10)!

They saw all of that, but yet, they doubted that he did big things. If he was able to do all of that, you would think that they would have begun, to see a pattern. God does big things: He makes universes, he makes planets, he makes natural systems that scientists go to school for years to understand and let's not talk about the human body!

Scripture says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made?

Students who want to become doctors go to four year institutions after preparing in high schools, then medical programs for another number of years and when they are finished they have to contend with residency. After all of that they gain more experience and when they are at the pinnacle of their career they open up a practice.

The key word is PRACTICE!

Even then none will tell you they know everything, they will tell you, however, that they are still learning about the human body.

Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made! How arrogant to believe that a human can have more answers than the one who made them, but we believe that.

That mindset will keep us in bondage!

As it is in medicine, it is in Psychiatry, accept a psychiatrist must go to school of psychiatry AFTER thy toil in medical school.

How long do you need to educate yourself before you know it all: ten years, twenty years, fifty-five years?

The medical community says there are things that they, still, don't know about the human brain and body. Why? Because, they know that the human system is complicated and they haven't, even, scratched the surface, of understanding it.

Faith

The Hebrews were Gods chosen, BUT the first generation who knew only Egypt and its world view was destroyed in the wilderness, due to lack of Faith (Jude 1:5). Their lack of trust in God to bring them out of the situation after seeing all of those feats, put them in opposition to the Lord.

Just to be clear, James 2:14-26 says "faith without works is dead" James makes it clear, that Faith is incomplete when we put no action behind it. So God directs us, through his word, to move in it.

Isa. 55:11 says:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Heb. 11:6 says:

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Heb. 11:1 says:

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We can't please him without faith (Heb. 11:6). We MUST understand what faith is so that we can be clear. Faith defined, is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not scene (Heb. 11:1).

So we hope that the substance is there that's not seen with our human eyes and that same hope is the evidence that its material.

That is what faith is!

Faith is not a natural way of thinking for us, but it wouldn't be, because it's a supernatural!

We are hoping for the things that we don't see, that same hope is supernaturally inspired and if it is supernaturally inspired by God that means that it is something he truly wants to materialize in our lives for his glory.

Ps. 37:4-5 says:

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Can we think of how we felt when we initially came to the Lord? We were happy and we took delight in him and he put desires in our heart and directed our way. He directed us, as he continues to do, to complete wholeness.

We may have had an issue with smoking, and then he gave us the desire to put it away, after we requested his assistance, he delivered us. We may have partied uncontrollably and when we turned our lives over to him, or during the course of our walk, he inspired a desire for us not to do it anymore, so we may have asked him to assist us in resisting the urge and just stopping and he did it! We might have had a dirty mouth; then we came to Christ, that all changed, when we asked him to help us not curse anymore. These were desires that we had and he inspired, so he could do more in us.

If we belong to the lord and desire to please him, there will be desires that he will inspire in our hearts. It is those desires that he wants to bring to pass in our lives, but we can tie his hands when we don't trust him, by not totally committing everything to him, especially our un-forgiveness to him.

A, not so simple, example of faith is our initial introduction into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If I believe that God can change my life and make me new, it will not happen until I take the, initial, step, in faith, and confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that he has raised Jesus from the dead!

We first have to humbly take this step and then we can be saved.

Rom. 10:9 says:

9 That 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.

Salvation only happens in the lives of those who take the initial step. Just as we did, when we first believed on him he wants us to do now, but we can't please him or see anything from him without faith in action to see it come to past.

Heb. 11:6 says:

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

See, the reason that we are not seeing an authentic brake through in this area, is because, just like the children of Israel we don't truly believe he is able to bring us all the way out and into the Land that he has promised.

If we want to get to the promise we must be just as Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who was of the original generation that made it into the land of Canaan, because, as the God of the Universe said, he had another spirit. All those who doubted that they could not take the Land ended up dying in the wilderness!

We never see authentic forgiveness in its truest form, because we are ignorant of Gods methods or don't believe that he IS able, to bring us out and into the land promised. Caleb believed that Jesus was the God who brought him through the red sea so he was, in his estimation, able to give them the land!

Num. 14:27-37 says:

27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. 30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. 32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. 34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. 35 I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. 36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

We become just as those who were of the original generation, who ended up never seeing a land that God promised with his words to them and never ended up dwelling in a land without being captive or knowing what it is, to experience an existence that was not connected to the past.
CHAPTER 5

The many lessons of Jacob

Jacob's life rendered rich stories of forgiveness, and in each one there were many lessons.

Jacob's uncle, Laban

Jacob came to know him as boss and the man who would present him with a raw deal.

Jacob would come to know what it felt like to be on the receiving end of offense, because Laban ended up taking Jacob through the wringer.

So, Jacob moved to his uncle's house, after helping his mother, who, by the way, happened to be the sister of Laban and tricked Esau, Jacob's twin brother, out of his blessing!

When Jacob gets to his destination he meets Rachel, Laban's youngest daughter, and falls head over heels in love with her.

Jacob and Laban enter into an agreement, in which Jacob works for Laban for a period of seven years and then would be rewarded with Rachel.

Jacob fulfills his end of the contract only to have Laban, perform a "bait and switch".

For those who don't know what a "bait and switch" is, I will explain.

It's when a business advertises a certain product for a great sales price, only to have an inferior or higher priced product in stock for purchase on the actual day of sale. They may have very few advertised products, so that they can sale their other, more expensive, or inferior products when the advertised product quickly runs out on the day of sale or not have the product in stock, at all!

So, Laban would promise Rachel, only to give him Leah, the older less attractive sister.

Which hearkens back to when Jacob preformed a bait and switch, with the help of his mom on his father Isaac, for Esau's blessing (Genesis 27:1-33).

Jacob grew to be quite upset when he woke up to see Leah, the other, not so, attractive sister, lying next to him!

Jacob didn't particularly like being on the receiving end of a bad deal!

He burned with fury, as Laban told him, matter of factly, that it was not customary to give the youngest daughter in marriage before the oldest. So, Jacob served for another seven years and another six years for his cattle, in the mean time he increased with material.

Jacob left with all he believed was his and Laban came after him and they eventually came to a resolution, but the real story lye in Jacob's reconciliation with his brother, of whom he stole the birthright and blessing of the elder child.

The most important lesson he learned, while at Laban's, was how to treat others.

The Bible makes clear how we must treat people. We ought to treat people the way we would want to be treated. We can learn how NOT to treat other, by the maltreatment we receive!

Luke 6:27-38 says:

27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

1 Cor. 13 says:

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Jacob learn this lesson well, because by the time he went home, he understood what he'd done. In full repentance of the past, he returned baring gifts, being afraid that his brother would kill him.

Instead of bloodshed, God orchestrated reconciliation.

You may have gone through some things, quite similar to this and wonder if there is a point?

God wants to bring your relationships full circle, just as Jacob learned dependence on God for protection and guidance--he wants to teach you how to relate with those who have wronged you. He wants to heal those relationships.

Before this Jacob seemed to have no clue to the confusion he produced by his antics. Even though, we, as readers, tend to see it as Gods hand, and I agree, we need to recognize, the Lord does not delight in tricks, he intended to work some things out of Jacob, because God ordained him to be in the position he ended in.

God knows the end from the beginning.

God didn't want us to go through those things; though, there was a goal. As Joseph, Jacob's son, told his brothers:

20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Gen. 50 :20).

God's plan is big, huge, and powerful. He draws upon all of the things we go through, for the purpose of other people we have never met. All of the things Esau and Jacob went through brought about a purpose that's helped many who read their story.

Our walk is relational

God is all about relationships. He wants us to have healthy thriving connections based on his love and purity.

It's important to note in this story the power of reaping and sowing and how it ties into our personal spiritual growth.

Now, Joseph did all of those things and he reaped the consequences. There are people who may read this book and have reaped some things they've sewn. Don't live in denial, be honest with yourself!

There's no one here to judge you. It's just you, God, and this book. So, ask the Lord to show you and be honest with yourself. Don't hide!

People have blind spots. Jacob possessed them. If you happen to be one of those people, the Lord, in his sovereign mercy, want you to be aware of it, as you go through the process of forgiveness. It's easy to not understand the depth of our blind spots, but as I mentioned before, this can be why offensive situations have come about in some of our lives.

Gal. 6:7-9 says:

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Once we have been made aware of our blind spots we will want to begin to mend those relationships with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They might be an old relationship with a friend, which went sour, because of our coldness to their feelings, or it may be a number of things--God knows.

If you don't know ask him!

CHAPTER 6

The story of Joseph

Another notable story of forgiveness is the story of Joseph; Jacob's favored son.

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers. Their anger and jealousy against Joseph for his favored position drove them to hurt Joseph and their father deeply.

Joseph was a teenager, who happened to be the son of Rachel, who was the favorite wife of Jacob, his father. The history of these relationships in context of his mother's rivalries with his older brothers' mothers extends way before the birth of Joseph and all of his brothers, but were quite significant.

Gen. 29:30-35 KJV says:

30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. 31 And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. 33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon. 34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. 35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

Gen. 30:1-25 says:

30 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? 3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. 4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan. 7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. 8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. 9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. 10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. 12 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher. 14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. 15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. 16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. 17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. 18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. 20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun. 21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. 22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: 24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. 25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

These relationships had to have tainted Joseph's older brothers' view of him. Their resentment was made worse, because Joseph was also their father's favorite. So, he was not just the favored son, but the son of Rachel whom, Leah, didn't like (Gen 30:14-15).

Children can pick up our attitudes toward people. Face it they live with us, so they see it all. We may not speak about a person, positive or negative, but our children will pick up our attitudes.

It is, also, important to note that we must look at the behavior of the person who hurt us in light of their history. That doesn't mean that they aren't responsible for their action, but it helps when we know the dynamics at work in their actions. When we pray for them, the Lord can, truly generate a deep compassion for them in us. So many people are unaware of their condition and why they are the way that they are. Whether it is due to childhood abuse, life experiences, demonic oppression, or just plain possessions of the enemy, many people go through life without a clue how they turned out the way they did.

You see this in the unsaved populations often. But as professing Christians, our job is to pray for them and love them. We can only do that, by following the guidelines set forth in the Word of God.

Let's venture back to the story of Joseph

One day Joseph's brothers conspired among themselves to kill him, but Reuben, the oldest, stopped them. I believe by the leading of God, whether he knew it or not. He persuaded them not to kill Joseph, so instead they sold Joseph to a pack of Ishmeelite (Gen. 37:20-22; Gen. 37:25-27)

Joseph could have let that stop him, but his continued in the things that God had for him to do. I'm confident that, that experience was, not only, hurtful, but quite confusing to him. He may have felt anger about the situation, but he didn't hold onto it.

Though, Joseph was a victim he ended up growing from the experience. In the end he gained respect for the value of his trip (Gen. 50:20). Just as Christ learned obedience through the things he suffered (Heb. 5:8): Joseph learned to be obedient to the Lord, he learned to trust God, he learned to act on Gods' voice, he humbly learned to forgive.

The actual offense was not great, compared to the strength he gained as a result of his journey. He was able to endure more and more and see the value in his experiences. The Lord wrought much strength through those experiences!

No, I'm not saying it was fair, nor do I want to diminish the pain of your offense, but it can become easier to forgive him, her or them if you understand the fruit of the offense has brought much strength. You want to keep in mind; the depth of your pain dictates how great the gain of strength will be in the end. To put it in clearer terms; the depth of pain determines the depth of the anointing that will be generated in the end.

You'll need to understand, some people do not glean anything from their experiences. I guess they may not be ready, but, even, they will come to the place where they are tired of the tapes and will step back and reflect on the gift God has presented them. The opportunity to forgive and grow is a tremendous opportunity! We easily miss it, when we are in agony over maltreatment, but if we can remember God hasn't forgotten about us and will use the pain for his glory (2 Cor. 4:17), taking us to another level of maturity in him and strength, we can go through it and submit to his call to pray for them and whatever he calls us to do to be completely free.

2 Cor. 4:17 says:

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

2 Cor. 3:18 says:

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

I know there are many of you, who may not want hear this. But you will get sick of the CD player in your head, which rehearses the misdeeds.

We don't want to be captive to un-forgiveness. Think of it this way; while you are consumed by their treatment of you, they are, completely, unconsumed with it. These are things that the Holy Spirit let me know. These people need prayer because despite their state and how ungodly it may be, God does not want them to see hell.

1 Tim. 2: 3-4 says:

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2 Pet. 3:9 says:

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

So, we must be obedient to God on how to deal with them, on a spiritual level. The most effective starting point will always be prayer.

I remember, last year I listened to a radio show, while cooking a meal. The host invited a guest. I do believe this was on a Christian talk show, but cannot remember that. What I do remember, is the subject and some of the things the guest said. The topic was, clearly, meant to mislead people, regarding something that could bring great harm to the area and has to other parts of the country. He mentioned some facts that I knew weren't true, because I was abreast of the subject. I said to myself, "that man is 'gonna have a special place in hell" and immediately, the Lord said "I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO GO TO HELL!" I repented right their! That was scary.

I say that, to further drive home this point, GOD DOES NOT WANT YOUR PERPETRATOR TO GO TO HELL! We must pray for these people!

If you do not come away with anything from this book, I want you to know that God has called us to compassion and not vengeance! Revenge is his job.

Rom. 12:19 says:

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

He will take care of that, but he wants our position to reflect him; that can only happen through the work of the Holy Ghost. He can generate that love and compassion in us. We just don't want to be caught in the sin of condemning people to hell when that is not what the savior of our evil souls has called us to do.

Rom. 3:23-26

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

All of us have sinned and come short of his glory of God, but thanks to God's grace and mercy, we are washed by the blood of Jesus and aren't going to hell! After he reprimanded me I began to think that with a judgment like mine I could have went myself!

If God could change Paul, who took part in unspeakable Acts against the body of Christ, and all those imperfect people in the Word of God; he can, certainly, save and turn around the lives of the most egregious sinners.

Hitler would not have been a hard case for The Master, if he submitted to him!

The issue is not what they do with the Lords correction and leading, because our stance, as believing, Kingdom citizens, must be to pray for them. The Lord wants us to stay in perfect peace and we can't do that if we don't keep focused on him. Out of all of the steps that I will share with you about freedom from un-forgiveness in these pages, prayer is the "ground zero" of forgiveness, period.

Isa. 26:3 says:

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

We cannot be in peace thinking of their punishment and our vengeance. God will handle it, keep praying. Pray until something happens: P.U.S.H.

CHAPTER 7

First offenders: Adam and Eve

Let's look at the first instance of forgiveness, which presents itself in Gen. 1:26, when the God of ALL Creation creates man out of the dust. By the end of Genesis Chapter 2 God has given the earth to man to subdue it. God then sees the goodness of what he has done and is satisfied. He creates man in his own likeness, and then gives man a vocation and a beautiful wife.

By chapter 3 man is effectively fooled out his blessing by the devil:

3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life (Gen. 3:1-24 KJV).

Poor Adam; kicked out the garden and has to till the ground where before he didn't. He had it good: a wonderful wife, no ground to till, no worries about how to feed the screaming kids, and no troubles with the boss. Unfortunately, for him, that all changed, because of disobedience and eating from a certain tree that was forbidden. Eve's choice causes women to have painful childbearing and other woes.

Vengeful God stereotype vs Forgiving God reality

It's important to highlight, that despite the bad rap the Lord has gotten, because of the things that went on in the Old Testament, as the vengeful God, the truth is he didn't strike Adam and his wife dead and start all over. He still gave Adam a chance (Luke 6:35).

Over and over again, he gave man a chance!

He still does, look at the times we deserved annihilation.

Luke 6:35 says:

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Num. 14:18 says:

18 The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

If you've read the story, then you will know he had to make sure that they were out the garden for safety reasons, not because he was being vengeful! He specifically says that if man takes the tree of life after eating of the tree of good and evil, then from the tree of life, evil man, in all his rebellion, would live forever (Gen. 3:22)!

What a mess that would have been!

So the Lord put a stop to that by removing them from the tree of life's vicinity.

The Lord still took care of Adam and his wife, he didn't cut them off. He made them clothes and they were permitted to leave without harm. He forgave them, though there were repercussions to their disobedience (Gen. 3:14-19). The Bible says He is slow to anger and of great mercy (Num. 14:18).

Exod. 34:6 says:

6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

We see in the New Testament in Mat. 18:21-23, where Jesus states that when we are offended we must forgive seven times seven. The thing is the Lord has led us by example; he never, anywhere in the Word of God, gave a direction and not followed it himself. He forgave over and over and over again. It took hundreds of years before he would destroy a town, city, etc. I think of the examples of the father that I had and he was the opposite of who God is, and like a lot of people we mistakenly put these examples on God.

Don't you know that our earthly fathers are only examples of or Heavenly father?

God is consistent, unlike the examples we have known, whether your father was there or not, your earthly father did the best he could with the humanity he possessed, he was bound to get it wrong sometime even if he was the picture of what a father should have been, but we must be aware that God loves us and takes offense after offense from us, and so he is the perfect example to follow when it comes to forgiveness.

So I believe and know, from experience, that in order to effectively forgive we must look at Gods example every time, because his response to our offenses toward him is an effective formula to understanding, practically, how to forgive others.

You must know that I am not writing this book for the sake of writing a book about forgiveness, but because of the evolution of thinking that I have experienced over a number of years.

I told you how my evolution began, but didn't tell you what it was. Well, what I am about to share with you, out of the Word of God, is so revolutionary, that it has not been taken seriously by many Christians, who see it as a high ideal and not an effective method.

When I put this formula to use, I immediate saw results after years of entrenched un-forgiveness, that effected every facet of my life.

Now, I cannot promise you that you will be instantly free of this thing within the full second of putting it to work; but then, I can't say that, it won't happen either!

I began to see a difference within moments of doing it!

I will say, though, that you will see a change in a small span of time and healing begins immediately, if you will trust Gods Word. I can promise you that!

What is this revolutionary thing that I did that made the change?

Applying the Word of God!

Applying Luke 6:35 and Mat. 5:44.

Luke 6:35 says:

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Mat. 5:44 says:

44 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;

These two scriptures, by themselves, are so revolutionary and so powerful, that most of us don't regard them, but, as something in the Word of God that we wish and pray we could live up to.

I think our mindset must change in regarding the Word of God. It is, indeed, a manual for life. It is NOT a high ideal! We as a body of believers say that it's a manual for life or use other names to indicate how important it is, a lot.

Do we really believe what is in there?

I'm a Bible scholar. I love the Word, but there have been things I would study and would think that I believed, but didn't have enough trust in my spirit to put them to practice IN FAITH. Yes, faith!!!!

Faith is the key, because until I said Lord nothing has worked and it has been years since I have learned that I was walking in this bondage to un-forgiveness, what is up, Lord, and looked in the Word as a child seeking answers. Not an adult who knows it all, as I would do at time, did I see freedom.

CHAPTER 8

First, humble yourself

The Bible says in Mark 10:14 let the children come to me and don't stop them because such is the kingdom of God (Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16; Matt. 19:14 ). I had to humbly look at the Word in another light as the ultimate answer to my issue and not one of a few or many answers. Psychology was an option for me. The Lord let me fall on my face with that, and then he gently nudged me toward His Word. It just was my choice to humbly trust that what he said was absolutely, without a doubt, the answer I needed and then implement it by faith.

Mark 10:13-15 says:

13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Luke 18:15-17 says:

15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

Mat. 19:13-14 says:

13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Children are unquestioning. They don't have doubt about the things you tell them if you are a parent, you know this. The trust they have is incredibly sweet. I told my daughter. "Mommy is quitting her job and writing a book." You know what she did!!!! She said, "okay." She was not critical. She didn't say you can't do that, in doubt. Or, God didn't tell you to do that! She thought it was cool and that was that! She was happy, because we could spend time together. Her next question was what to have for a snack.

God is looking to take us there, actually he wants us to go there and be there when we are in his Word, because, we can't even get into the gate of the Kingdom without a child's mentality.

What is the Kingdom?

According to Rom.14:17 it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost!!!

Rom. 14:17 says:

17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

You can't put a price on peace and joy; the rich know this. There are billionaires that could have anything they desired, but they do not have peace. How do I know this? The Bible speaks of this.

Ps. 37:16 say:

16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

I Tim. 6:6 says:

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

We can acquire more money, knowledge about how to be happy and learn how to be at peace with ourselves in books, wrap ourselves in religion, and get tons of education, anything we can name that the world says will make us happy, but according to the Word of God if you don't come to the Lord as a child you will not have peace.

We can use cultural remedies, but they are not effective and you can see them not working, in your daily living, thought patterns, relationships, emotional issues if you are honest and self examine. Self examination is a good thing. 2 Cor. 13:5 says to examine ourselves to see if we be in the faith.

Also, humbly approaching the Word of God and examining ourselves, when we get into the Word, is so important.

When you do, there may be something within you that resists doing it!

This is because there is power in that book!

A man or woman of God who is free is a dangerous thing to the enemy! He is trying to take us down as quickly as he can, because he knows his time is short. He will do anything to keep you from being a threat to his kingdom!

CHAPTER 9

Second, looking at the Word as a manual

In school, I learned to look at instructions as pieces instead of a whole. That served me well in college. It served me well enough to get through it. I was not a perfect student.

After being sick and tired of playing the HD video in my head of the offenses of people and feeling the usual victim, angry, defeated, frustrated and pretty close to doing something drastic, I decided to look closer in the Word of God and tried a different approach.

I know that decision was motivated by the Holy Ghost, because, as I said before, the Lord inspires our desires. It was not like I was not in the Word of God at all in the past. I was, but I wanted an answer in the Word of God that fit my understanding, made sense to me, an easy solution that didn't require humility to walk out. I wanted to see what I wanted to see in the Word instead of just taking it for what it said.

The answer I got the day I pick up the Bible in 2009 was something that I had scene and read since childhood. Since when I first began to learn to read, then read it for myself.

It was so simple to me that I didn't give it credibility, because it seemed so elementary! This was something I learned about as a child, but when I thought about it, I realized that I hadn't really implemented it. Some, of it was so out there, that I didn't WANT to implement it. I thought I would be stepped on and re-victimized, but really my pride almost stopped me from having a life changing experience! My pride had gotten in the way in the past and was about to get in the way once more, but I decided to humble myself and look.

No fire works or big ball of light, but what awaited me was a life changing experience that caused me to enter a new level of freedom that I had never known in this regard. Not only so, but what I am relaying to you in this book is a tool to help you overcome offenses that WILL COME!

Matt. 18:7 says:

7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Luke 17:1 says:

17 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

Then, Matt. 24:10-12 says in regard to the time we live in now:

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

The Bible says that offenses will come, but we must be adept at forgiveness. One of the reasons this book is, even, being written is that most of us do not know how to fully forgive. It creates a feeling of helplessness for most of us, but as the Word of God says, the Lord gave all that was written in it for instruction--among other things (2 Tim. 3:17). Why not follow the guidelines set forth within its pages and find true freedom that is emotion deep, not just empty actions that do not lead to a heart change from the Lord?

In school, when you were faced with an assignment you looked at the instructions. For example, in the first grade your instructions for a math assignment were written on the top of the sheet. It may have said "Read the word problem and answer the questions then show your work" So, you first read, then answered, and showed your work, by working out the problem on the actual sheet. If you didn't know what "show your work" meant you would ask the teacher to explain, what she or he meant by that. The teacher would explain.

So, we had questions that we needed to systematically break up into smaller parts so that we could be successful at the assignment and if we had a question we asked. That is the same way that we must view the Word of God. We must look at it in terms of a manual. I am, certainly, not taking away from its importance in saying that. Absolutely not, we must be respectful of it, but we must look at it, when we study as a manual given to us from God for living. We must look at it as the manual that it is!

2 Tim. 3:16-17 says:

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Rom. 15:4 says:

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

1 Pet. 2:21 says:

21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

If we had any questions about the instructions, we would ask the teacher. Conversely, as believers we have the Holy Ghost and he is our teacher, so we must ask him when we do not understand something in the manual.

John 14:26 says:

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

1 John 2:27 says:

27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

The Holy Ghost, who is God, is there to answer questions, so we need to ask away! This is what the Lord wants us to do. Instead of getting other people interpretation of the manual we must ask the Holy Spirit, because he is ultimately the one who wrote it.
CHAPTER 10

Third, the instruction

After years of unsuccessful attempts at forgiving as an act of my will power, I decided to forgive with Jesus's power instead.

I decided that I would do best, looking closer at Luke 6: 35 and Matt. 5:44 in context.

Luke 6:28-35 says:

28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Matt. 5:38-46 says:

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 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; 45 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. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you

When I became conscious of my feeling toward people in light of the Word of God, I had to reclassify the people who I held grudges against. The people who did things that were, in my mind, unforgivable: were not acquaintances, were not classified as enemies, and yet they would do things that friends wouldn't do!

Things were done that people who had my best interest in mind would not do.

I had to be honest about my relationships!

I say that not to bash anyone, but there is a greater purpose in being honest about our relationships with people.

If a person is constantly mistreating you, not observing important boundaries, just has no qualms about offending you in anyway, doesn't respect you as a human being, mistreats you and causes offense after offense, we must recognize their behavior, as the behavior of that of an enemy.

If their behavior meets the criteria of an enemy, we must admit that they, indeed, are not our friends! They may be related to us by blood, are friends of the family, or people we have recognized as friends for years, but in all honesty, they are not our friends.

That is a very difficult truth to accept, because in many cases this will end in feelings of loss.

I will agree with something that I learned in psychology that we are constantly running from pain. We will do anything we can, not to experience pain and loss, but at the point that we can admit that our friend or family member have not had our best interest at heart when they did what they did and were not our friend when they did it, is when we can move on to the next step.

The nature of hate

A much used slang term to describe those who have been jealous of us, dislike us or have not treated us well is "hater", but, in truth, that is what anyone who mistreats a person without regard is.

They are haters.

Now, let's not get confused, there are people who offend us and do not intend to. I will talk about that later, but my focus is offense that is generated, by just abject disregard to the amount of harm that would be done by the treatment of us.

These are hateful acts, that were not always done with intent to hurt us, but the actor didn't care if it hurt us, either! These actions were born out of a disdain they had for us.

Have you ever heard people say they didn't like a person, who may have been family, but they loved them? The human emotion is so complex this can be possible. I mention this, because it is frequently those who are closest to us who hurt us the most.

Someone may not like you, but they may love you. These people can be classified as family member, family friends, or friends, believe it or not! No, their actions do not the display love, but if you were to die or if something tragic was to happen they would be the ones trying to throw themselves in your casket!

Now, I know you have seen this before and if you have not seen this behavior, keep living. We are not being honest when we equate the treatment we receive from them, with whether or not they love us.

How many abusers of wives and children are in jail, who says they love their family? They are operating under a misconception of what proper loving treatment and regard is. Somewhere there version of love was distorted and from that point we can begin to see a space, between all of the issues to apply a bit of grace to them.

In most cases we have, but our view of the maltreatment has also been distorted and that is why this exercise in being honest with ourselves through self examination and examining our relationships, for most of us, is so important.

Yes, the treatment that you've experience by them was hateful and hopefully you have come out of the darkness and applied light to the relationship through the Word of God and the assistance of the Holy Spirit and are now willing to admit, that they are NOT your friends.

So, what do you do with that?

If you have been paying attention you already guessed what's next.

Love!

Yes, we are going to love them, because this is the plan of Christ, that we reflect him. He says that he has called us to walk even the way that he walks and that is in love (1 John 2:6). When we are walking in love we are in an upright, holy position with the Lord and then we are usable. I know that you are saying to yourself. "What is she talking about? My emotions are so strung out over this and I feel so bound to this situation that I've experienced, that I can't love them! That was the whole point of picking up this book!"

1 John 2:4-11 says:

4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

John 15:7-12 says:

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

If you don't love sister and brother you are living in darkness, but walking in love by starting with forgiveness is how to turn on the lights!

Let's look at some of the benefits of loving them!

Did you know that by walking in love, the lord keeps you from stumbling (1 John 2:10)? So, if anyone of you are struggling with an unstable Christian walk, love will stabilize you!

Also, by loving we are fulfilling all of the commandments were walking in the fullness of the Joy of the Lord, we begin to bear fruit or mature normally, and the Lord will not hide his face when you call on him: He will answer you!

The passage that comes to mind is Isa. 58.

Isa. 58 says:

58 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

You must know that the people that Isaiah wrote to were seeking Gods hand and not his heart! The reason they were not seeing change in their lives is that, their love stores were empty! I am here to tell you that God can fill them and he has laid out a plan through his Word for that to happen. Simply put, forgiveness begets the love for others that touches the heart of the Lord. That is what we really want, don't we?

We want to speak to him and hear him answer, knowing that he speaks in many ways.

Some of us are experiencing an Iron heaven, meaning that when we pray we don't feel like he even hears, well maybe, it has to do with love. Forgiveness is why you picked up this book, but forgiveness will do more for you than you will ever know! Forgiveness is the key to joy, abundant life, peace, a deeper more abiding walk in Christ, and his love--bearing with our brothers and sisters in Christ's in love, which can only be done by love!

Forgiveness is a lifestyle tool

Your issue is how to forgive and that is what I am here to tell you!

This is what you're going to want to do, not just for those instances of built up, hardened, unbearable at time, un-forgiveness that you are reading this book to remedy, but every time you experience hate that generates un-forgiveness, because forgiveness is a lifestyle, but I am getting ahead of myself.

You will want to do good to them.

Now, I know for most of you that is going to be something that is considered unthinkable, because you don't wish these people well, but I want to tell you a story about what happened to me when I put this formula to work, but before I do I want you to know that, because we experience different types of offense, we will be applying different remedies to the un-forgiveness.

A good way of looking at the Word of God is as a medicine cabinet. You will use different remedies for different illnesses.

I will explain.

So, a close person did something to me that I felt was unforgivable a few years ago. It had to do with boundaries that they insisted didn't exist, but in the course of them nonchalantly crossing them they did something that caused much confusion in my home. I cried to the Lord about it, complaining, as I do when I am frustrated and he led me to look at Luke 6:28-35.

By this time, he had well versed me on how quickly he could get rid of the emotional stings associated with un-forgiveness and restore my compassion for this person, so I was doing what I normally did in instances of un-forgiveness, since he revealed to me how to forgive, figuring it was a one size fits all solution, when in reality that was far from the truth. I began to think that I knew it all about how to forgive quickly when he revealed that I did not. When I would pray for this person the days began to go by and I still had those feelings, it was then that I realized I needed to look at the passage again to gain a clearer understanding of how to apply the Word. So, keep in mind each section of this can apply to different situations, the results will depend on how it is applied.

I had to, first, assess what I was dealing with and then got to my trusty King James. I looked at it much deeper. Okay it said to love my enemies. Then, do good to them. That was all I needed, because I knew that he had just delivered me from years of un-forgiveness and some of it was aimed at this person. So, I began to think of things that I could do to bless them. No, I didn't FEEL like doing it. I was going strictly on faith.

I was doing this in response to the Word and not my feelings. Feelings will mess us up if we go with them. A lot of us mistake our feeling with the leading of the Lord and that is really convenient to say that "I am not led to do" whatever when we have a convenient feeling that is telling us not to. The enemy of our souls works in and with feelings, so when I am feeling repulsion from following the will of God there is a little imp around whispering that it's not God. Who wants to follow a direction that is from the Lord if it is opposite of what we want to do? It's more convenient to believe a lie and this is the case with many of us at times.

When we are sick of the beat downs we take from the enemy in this area, we will submit!

I was sick and tired of being sick and tired of the victories that the enemy seemed to win over me, so when God gave me the previous victory in this area anything he led me to do to get free of that, once more, I was going to do!

So, I thought and thought, and thought about it some more. I didn't have a job, so I was pretty much a broke single mom, but I did have some cards that I couponed for on an extreme couponing excursion. I knew that whatever I did, had to be a sacrifice of love from my heart, in doing good. So I wrote a letter, in which, I praised the person for being the blessing that they were to me down through the years. I wrote how grateful to God I was for their care. Even though I didn't feel all of those words, I meant them. I walked to the mail box as soon as I could, because I was sick of that familiar sick feeling I would get when I was battling negative feeling against someone. A feeling that, at the point of the, offense, I had all but said good riddance to; I was free, but that old familiar feeling was back again and I had to rid myself of it! I was motivated by desperation when I raced down to that mail box that day.

The moment I pulled the handle to the door of the mailbox and sat that envelope on it and it went into the box, I WAS FREE!

I WAS FREE!

Yes, that feeling was GONE!!!!

Gritting my teeth while I wrote that not so heartfelt, but true letter, had worked! The Lord saw my faith in his Word and he moved that disgusting feeling of anger and helplessness out of my heart and replaced it with love and compassion and a knowledge that whatever damage the enemy meant to do the Lord would get in the center of and fix.

If you are applying the Word in this way, what you do may not amount to a card. It may be taking someone out to dinner, or sending them a present with a card attached, whatever the Holy Spirit leads you to do, but do something kind and watch the Lord give you that love in your heart for that hater.

What you will find is that you will quickly develop a grace, compassion, concern, and love for this person that you have never know before. You will no longer have the memory playing in your head, the emotional memory of it or worry if you end up at the family reunion that they may be there. It won't stop you from living.

Pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44)

Many of us have been hurt tremendously by those who have been close to us, but the Lord knows your pain. He was despitefully used and persecuted too. Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus was tempted just as we yet without sin. He knows your pain and this is the reason why he had me write this book. It is a love letter to you with serious directions that will take you to freedom in him so that you will be able to walk even as he walked, in love.

It is tough to pray, or do good for anyone who has mistreated us or rejected us, but if we keep in mind that when we put our personal feelings aside, God can not only deliver us swiftly from un-forgiveness, but he can also begin to destroy the works of the Devil that is so prominent in the lives of those who hurt us, miss used us and he can bring deliverance to them eventually as well, keeping in mind that he wishes that all humanity come to repentance, that includes an uncle who may have molested you for years, an aunt, mother or father who tortured you as a child.

It comes down to faith. Faith that as I bow my head or knee in knock "down drag out", as my mother calls it, prayer for someone as though I were praying for myself, that God will do the healing in me. If you commit to praying for this person and do not quite, the Lord will swiftly do a work in you.

A few years ago I spoke to a prison re-entry program in regards to the things the lord showed me in my own experience and later the director spoke with me.

He told me that it was really interesting that I brought up praying for actors of offenses for swift forgiveness, because this is what he learned in Narcotics Anonymous. He said they were taught that praying for people that have hurt them was the quickest way to forgive.

God is powerful!

Don't be a victim

The Lord wants us to walk in victory and allowing our feeling to get in the way of really praying for someone is a trick of the enemy to keep you bound and missing the purpose and plan the Lord has for your life. You may operate in those things, but not in the fullness that the Lord ordained from the foundations of the world!

If I knew what I know now, I would be light years away from where I am, but the Lord had to take me this way for others who have been given wrong information (including myself) about how to forgive authentically. I mean 100,000,000 percent forgiveness, which never comes back!!!

That's what I am talking about!

Too many methods are not one hundred percent and that includes the psychology laced advice that is given over most pulpits today and this is why it behooves us to be careful what voices we listen too, many will lead us down the wrong road.

The only place our will is involved is when we willfully submit to the Word of God and the Holy Spirits leading. That is it! No empty chairs, burning letters, behavioral changes, will work only obeying the leading of the Lord and heading the Word of God that has already been written for our understanding of what he has for us to do.

We don't have to look any further, for the ultimate example of forgiveness. Jesus was beaten, tortured, spat at, slapped, abused by church people, rejected, abandoned by his friends, made fun of, and mocked, he was awfully treated and what did he pray?

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do", he prayed for them; though, I'm sure his humanity screamed no, but he was obedient to the cross. He died that his enemies, the ones that beat tortured, spat at, slapped, abused, rejected, abandoned, made fun, and mocked him might live!

Let's look at Phil. 2:2-11

2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So, if Wendy Renee Barge, wants to say to herself "I refuse to pray for this person or I don't feel led to pray because I don't feel it"": I have a lot of nerve!

Though they were wicked foul and hurt Jesus deeply, as we do with our sin, he was willing to get on that cross and die for them! He was willing to pray for them and still does when he intercedes for us continually and we mess up big time and often!

Just as he died we must now die to ourselves and forgive. Forgive what they did and let it go!

I'm telling you what that Elder told me years ago on that Sunday morning during worship!

Let it go!

Let go of your pride and your selfish desire to hold on to the anger and pain!

Yes, you are rightfully angry, but if you hang onto it willfully knowing what you know now you are operating in sin. We can't hold that, we don't have time! You won't be fit to do exploits in his name until you do!

Time is running out. Jesus will be coming and what he is saying is will he find faith in the earth (Luke 18:8)?

Will you walk in trust in him or hold on to the past and the pain and hurt that these event generated, when you could be living in peace without a care in the world emotionally, with that joy unspeakable and full of glory that the Word of God speaks of?

If we don't let it go and walk in the tradition of Christ, we will, not experience that power and anointing as a body that the Word of God says the last days church should be operating in this time (greater works).

John 14:12 says:

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

This thing can and has effected everything about you and is the reason why a lot of our other relationships are so messed up, but the Lord can fix that today just begin praying for these people and if it applies take the other steps listed after evaluating what type of situation you are dealing with. If it has to do with a friend or loved one persecuting you or despitefully using you, then pray for them according to Luke 6:28-35 and Matt. 5:44. If it is actions of hate by someone, then you do good to them according to Luke 6:35 and Matt. 5:44, if you have been cursed by or are being persecuted by someone, bless them and remember the example of Christ when he was on the cross he didn't have the time, energy or the physical ability to stay up at night in prayer for those people he just simply prayed "father, forgive them for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)"

God has placed these things in his Word to help us through life!

He does not get some perverse joy out of our pain, he loves us and I will reiterate the reason for this book is to let you know that there is a way out! You are not trapped in that emotional prison, the Lord wants to bring you out! The Lord has had me to pray Isaiah 58:6 over you and I want you to pray it over yourself and all those that you believe are going through what you are. Not only, but the ones who have hurt you, pray this over them.

Isa. 58:6 says:

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

The Lord wants to loose your bands of wickedness, undo those heavy burdens, let you go free of oppression and break every single, solitary and connected yoke in your lives!

CHAPTER 11

Forth, P.U.S.H.

The acronym P.U.S.H. means pray until something happens. There have been many prayer groups started with that title. These groups know that in order to see results they have to get on their knees until something happened! This is what I am telling you to do!

If you want to see a response in any area of your life you have to pray!

You ever see a bulldog get a hold of something? They will get their powerful jaws on whatever it is and lock them! They are not animals to mess with when they get determined! Oh, no!!!

That is how the Lord has called us to be! We must go into forgiveness with bull dog faith, Praying until the forgiveness takes place!

Heb. 11:6 says:

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

There is a diligence involved in this. We are going to be walking in faith as we pray and be obedient to his manual, which is his Word, but when we diligently seek him for whatever it is using the manual, we will see that which is in the supernatural come into the natural realm!

James 2: 26 says:

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Faith doesn't work without our works! We, also, want to recognize that just doing works without faith will not work. Working the Word without faith doesn't work. Faith needs to be there and that is where the expectation that Heb. 11:6 speaks about comes in.

When we believe that he is, we are in miracle, deliverance, and healing territory!

We have to believe that the God, that's GOING to deliver you, is the same God that parted the red sea, brought Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders following, delivered Daniel out of the mouth of lions, accompanied Shadrach Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace, walked on water, fed two loaves and five fishes to the 5,000, died and rose again on the third day and sits on the right hand of the father ever making intercession for you and me!

You want to go into this, ready to work the Word until it works!

You want to have some expectation that this has to work, even if it just to see if it works at all, but there must be, somewhere in your heart, a desire to see his power demonstrated!

If what I have said to you so far has not caused you to have an appetite for what is to come in your life, I'm not sure what would, because with faith there is always a level of expectation even if it is really tiny, it is there!

My expectation levels, originally, was half hearted, but guess what?

The Lord took that little mustard seed of faith and within a week I was free of years worth of un-forgiveness; I'm talking from childhood stuff!

You can't tell me, my God is not bad!

I was so overwhelmed that I didn't know what to do next, so I told everyone I could about how to forgive. Most didn't listen, some said yeah that in the Bible we know that, now I am writing about it and telling you about a method, that if you put it to practice it will work one hundred thousand percent, one hundred thousand percent of the time!

Not trying to sound like a late night infomercial, but it is true!

God has invested too much in us, to see us in ruins spiritually, emotionally and never healed, so P.U.S.H.!

P.U.S.H. through all of the doubting thoughts, knowing that your faith is not a feeling, it is complete in action!

Abraham knew this when he took his only son, who was promised to him by the Lord, up to the mountain for sacrifice. He had so much faith and he was so bent on obeying the Word of the Lord that an angel from heaven had to tell him not to kill his son who the Lord promised to him (Gen. 22:1-12; James 2:21-23)!

Another instance of faith we can look to, is a ruler by the name of Namaan he was a leper who was told by Elisha to dip in the Jordan River seven times. He almost missed his blessing, because he balked at the idea of doing that. He dipped in it seven times and was made whole. 2 Kings 5: 14 says that his skin was as the skin of a little child. You see, Namaan was like some of us, who are thinking "are you kidding me, pray for my enemies, bless them and do good?"

It's only a revolutionary idea to us, because we are not operating at that level or else more of us would be free, and there would be more love in our relationships.

What it takes is faith in his Word!

A passage about faith, that makes me want to run around my house Heb. 11.

Heb. 11 says:

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

And, they didn't receive the promise, but we have! We must pray: diligently, until something happens, do good to them until something happens, bless them until something happens and love them until something happens!

CHAPTER 12

Forgiveness is a lifestyle

Forgiveness must be a lifestyle for individuals who are Christ followers, who belong to a Kingdom culture!

If I am going to say that I am living in Kingdom culture and am a Kingdom citizen, what I possess should not be the indication, the amount of love should! In the true Kingdom it does. As believers we should be the sweetest people we know, the longer we are following Christ, it should not be the opposite!

1 Cor. 13 says:

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

When we came to Christ we were a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and the Lord took time with us, as he does now. As we continued to live for him he systematically takes things away, but one of things that is created, as we allow him to change us, is a sweet attitude and an authentic love. That only happens when we submit to his leading to let go of offenses of others and forgive consistently.

The lifestyle I am talking about will begets love

The lord would like us to walk in love. The more we endure hardship as a good soldier (2 Tim. 2:3) and pray for those who hurt us etc. we see a significant change in our character over the years, as we submit to the Lords direction.

We may not see a change, but believe me, others will

People will be able to feel comfortable coming to you with things, because they will feel the safety of knowing that you are real and not there to hurt them. We will not only express compassion and love with our lips, but we will actually FEEL IT with our hearts!

This cannot happen when you are mired in bitterness. We as believers are to be there for each other, but many times we do not feel safe speaking to each other about anything, because of fear of judgments, worry about it getting all over town, or just fear that any information that is shared will be used in some way against us and not for prayer and assistance.

If you look at the Acts church it says that everything they possessed belonged to one another other.

Acts 4:31-35 says:

31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

They were a family that were not connected by natural blood, but were still a family connected by the blood of Jesus. They knew that they were of the bloodline of Christ, so they treated each other, as such! They cared for each other and that is what the Lord wants the church to reflect today. This is the picture of a bride without spot or wrinkle, as spoken of in Eph. 5:27 that the Lord is coming back for.

Eph. 5:27 says:

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The root of their behavior was love! When you are filled with the Spirit of God the first thing you will feel, as the Acts church did, was love!

The filling of the spirit is important as a believer because without it, it will be harder to walk in love. Jesus spoke of the coming helper--the Holy Ghost as a paraklētos, which means advocate, counselor and comforter.

Rom. 5:3-5 says:

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Acts 2:4 says:

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

According to Strong's Concordance, the word tongues is glossa meaning language, so the acts church spoke in another language. When Pentecost was fully come the inhabitance that heard them and were amazed saying don't these men speak Galilean but they are speaking our native languages.

Acts 2:5-12 says:

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

It is clear that the Lord orchestrated the devout men's presence, that day, who were from every nation, so there would be no doubt that these people were speaking in other languages.

Acts 1:8 says:

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

As you journey toward wholeness in this area, the Spirit of God wants to help you walk in victory. Just as salvation was and is a free gift the Holy Spirit is as well; just ask him to fill you.

Jesus said in Luke 11:13:

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

If you ask he will fill you.

John 7:37-39:

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

When you open your mouth as an act of faith the words will flow out! No flashing light, burning, or seeing angles, just open your mouth by faith and you will speak.

I say this, because that what happened to me! It was just me and my Cousin Camille in her mother radio station at fourteen! No one else.

She said "think about Pentecost and praise and thank God" and that's what I did. It took all of 3-5 minutes and I began to feel this energy and excitement and the words came! I was never the same after that! I fell away in my late teens due to lack of fellowship, but things were different.

Even when I backslid as a teenager I could not do what I wanted and I was just different. I still had that confidence, because the Lord is married to the backslider.

Let me tell you if at 14, a little know-nothing snot nosed teenager, could receive the spirit of God you can too!

One thing I will say about that encounter before I end my diatribe is my cousin was the same age and she and her younger brother had received it a few months prior to my summer visit to her city. She was telling me everything she remembered when she'd received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. She first told me before we began, and I left this critical piece of information out---to repent of all of my sins.

If there is anything I could think of, to repent for it! Even though I was saved, she said, you still need to do it, because the Holy Ghost is not going to inhabit a dirty temple.

So, that is what I will tell you, if you are saved, it is important to first get into repentance mode as you seek. The Bible tells us to repent over and over and that is not unsaved, but saved people. There is a reason why 1 John 1:9 says if you confess your sins he is faithful and just to forgive you of them and cleans you from all unrighteousness. It is clear by this passage and many more like it, that as believers we mess up! We all sin and it behooves us to repent whenever we do.

Many have not been filled due to un-repented of sin. There are things that we have not committed to give up. Repentance is a turning away not just words. When we say we are sorry to the lord we need to mean it with our actions. That does not mean you might fall back in it, but that you repent, by making a commitment not to do whatever it is again. When we repent or say sorry with our lips and not our hearts, meaning making up our mind, God sees that. He can see everything! Nothing is hid from him! He knows that you said that but plan to go right back to it tomorrow!

Sometimes you have to ask the Lord give you the strength not to do those things again and that is why he wants you to be filled, but initially you must make sure you have repented in your heart first.

Repentance is not a feeling! Just as faith is not a feeling repentance is not either. It is a commitment to do things Gods way when you must! That is what it means. Tears are great if it is accompanied with a commitment!

CHAPTER 13

Love, love, and more love

As believers we have a responsibility to love each other. Jesus said "walk even as I walk" (1 John 2:6) and that is to love and by forgiving I love my neighbor as myself. If my neighbor is living and breathing, they deserve to be forgiven!

Isn't that a revolutionary thought?!

So often, in our cultures, we feel that we are doing people a favor when we forgive, especially when they have hurt us tremendously? As believers, we sacrifice our desire to hold on to the anger and in obedience, give our anger and mistreatment over to Jesus.

Forgiveness is an act of obedience

We have to do it!

We have done many things in this life that deserve long term, eternal punishment and we must know that in order love them as we love ourselves we must show the same grace and favor that Jesus showed us on the cross. He gave his life for the undeserving, which we are, so that we could have eternal life, if we believed in him.

Prov. 21:2 says:

2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.

Prov. 16:2 says:

2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

We tend to look favorably on our own behaviors, even when we may be wrong.

In the same spirit of Jesus we must forgive our neighbors and give them what He gave us; his life to undeserving, ungrateful, unloving, and evil man. By bending the knee as a true act or faith, and praying for them, whether we feel the urge or not, we are loving them.

Jesus also said owe no man but to love, we can't do that without the work of the Holy Ghost in our hearts.

Rom. 5:5 says:

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

When I make that decision that I am going to pray even if I don't like or loath a person, he begins shedding the heart of God into me for that person.

He does!

It's true!

We then, begin to feel compassion and walk the way Jesus walked!

How many times was Jesus moved by compassion? He didn't have to, but he walked in love, and love was and is who he is, he was moved with compassion. And what happened next? He healed them all.

Miracles followed!

Isaiah 58 says that he would heal our land if we come to him with our whole heart. As I type this it is clear this is a reason for an absence of the healing power of the Lord in so many of our lives. We don't see miracles and I mean true parting the red sea, raising the dead, blind man seeing miracles, because we have decided that it is more important to love our lives than lose it for Christ.

As we deny ourselves the comfort of our pain and forgive, we will see a complete change in our lives, our walk with Christ, and our relationships, but we must start the process with humility.
Bibliography

Meyers, Rick. e-sword. 2001-2012. Sept. 2013 <http://www.e-sword.net>.

Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. S.T.D., LL.D., 1890.

**Wendy Barge** has a passion to see people free from bondage and oppression. Her concern for people caused her to obtain degrees in both, Human Services and Social Work. Also, she has served in part time ministry for a number of years, teaching the Word of God whenever the door is open for her to do so. She and her children reside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wendy currently writes for her own website http://wendybarge.blogspot.com/. She can be contacted at wendybargeministries@yahoo.com.

 James Strong , Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. ( S.T.D., LL.D., 1890.), e-Sword 10.1.0.

 James Strong , Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. ( S.T.D., LL.D., 1890.), e-Sword 10.1.0.

