Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 20 Aug 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 20 Aug 2007
In Matthew 18:23 the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ says, "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'

In this parable it clearly shows how forgiving our father is to us all, for our sins, yet despite this we cannot even forgive our own father, mother, brother, sister, child, friend, and enemy. The interesting thing about this parable is how Jesus portions the amount we owe Him as our master, and how much our fellow brother’s owe us: 10,000 talents vs. 100 denarii. Let us be realistic, what Jesus did for us on the cross, the love God has for us, take all that and compare it to the un-forgiveness you have towards someone.

Today, I hope that we all would be challenged by Jesus to be quick to forgive, just as our Master is towards us all. Let us examine the hurt and bitterness, anything that we are holding on to, un-forgiveness, anger, dreams, promises that were made and were broken, pray this verse over the situation and allow God to release and let go.

By: Shaun Lee