Secure in God and in Forgiveness
Published by Deborah Negron – Child of God
August 26, 2022
Death is the equalizer. It demonstrates what the real state of the soul is.
When the pressure is on and everything has been done and nothing else can be done, all of us will face death.
We will all have to stand before God one day. We will have to give an account for every word, action and reaction.
Our lives will be weighed and measured. No one will escape that moment when we have to look at our lives from where God sees us.
You see, those who have not been on the fence and have fervently loved and served God will have no fear. They will be sad to leave behind loved ones but they will be glad to be with the Lord.
I saw this. I saw my Dad being literally pulled apart by the pain of cancer. I saw him as medications for pain no longer helped. The pain, excruciting and the cancer destroyed first his kidneys and then his bones and other organs in his body.
I saw how he cried in pain. Yet, I also saw how in the midst of great sorrow, Daddy prayed for the lost. He prayed for sinners to come to repentance. He prayed for us and how we would have to suffer his loss.
Then he rejoiced in his pain. He thanked God he was soon to go to be with the Lord. He did not cry God heal me. He cried Lord may my children serve you and know you. May my family see heaven, too.
Daddy made us call every family member we could on video and on the phone. His reason was clear. He wanted to tell them,
“I am going to be with the Lord. Make your lives right with God. Jesus loves you.
This occured about 3 months before he passed.
He was ready and willing to die. His concern was for our spiritual condition. He taught us that death is but the end of the mortal body but the beginning of eternity in Christ.
Daddy was sure of his eternal destiny.
I also spent much time in the last 4 years, with my uncle Angel Morales. He spent time in God’s word. He loved to soeak about God’s grace.. It was one of his favorite topics. About 3 months before he died he began telling everyone, I am leaving soon. Make yourselves ready. “Preparate, yo me voy. Ya pronto me voy con mi Señor.”
Prepare yourself, I am ready. Soon I will be going with my Lord.
While we were praying for Daddy ‘s healing, He was preparing to meet Jesus face to face.
While were were sad for my uncle, he was secure in his decision for Christ. He wanted to go home.
Many of us claim to serve God until we are faced with the possibility of suffering. Then we want to hold on to life so desperately.
For others, the Lord restores their health, only for them to continue in a wayward condition.
God answers prayers and they return to living in sin.
I pray that we get it right.
The Bible tells us, Without holiness it is impossible to please God. We cannot live on the fence in our faith. We must repent and live right.
Without repentance we cannot be forgiven. Repentance is a total turning away from sin.
Not living a double life. In church singing praises on one day and in the world looking like we are not children of light.
Our lives are supposed to reflect the image of God’s son. We are to be secure in God. Not belittling the great grace given to us.
God’s mercy is calling us to come and truly live for him. “We won’t be able to say, Oh death where is your sting,” unless we are truly living for God.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
1 Corinthians 10:12
If we are walking with grudges and with unforgiveness we need to repent. We need to reconcile and forgive.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Mathew 6:14
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25-26
We will be cast out if we do not forgive. We will be sadly mistaken when we come and think we can make it in. The Lord will say depart from me…
He cannot accept our lack of fogiveness. He paid such a high price that we must apply it to our account. The only way to do so is to repent, to forgive, to live lives where we love one another without begrudging or without hatred.
We have the opportunity to reconcile. We have the opportunity to make ammends and forgive others who may have hurt us or failed us.
We have the opportunity to free oursleves from living a double life.
The enemy of our souls is looking and provoking divisions and hatred and unforgiveness. He is the author of confusion.
When we come before God, no reason can defend our position. Jesus gave his life on the Cross and bled and died to pray the proce to set us free.
He was hated, rejected, put down, ignored, beaten, spat on and made to hang naked on a cross witha crown of thorns on his head. He took his last breath to take away our sins.
Now we cannot step on his blood and think that somehow we have the right to be angry and despise another.
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”
Ephesians 4:26
We may let each other down and we may hurt one another. But we must forgive. There is no other option.
I was married for many years to a man who played church. He was good at pretending. He managed to wear a smile to church on Sunday and curse me out as we left church.
He was bitter and angry at life. He had a low self esteem and covered it up by appearing prideful. He put others down. He used derrogatory language to put me down. He shoved me against walls and tried to push me down stairs. On two occaisions in my life, I had to press charges and have him arrested.
He abused my kids. And my fear and shame kept me from telling others about my suffering. I too was in sin. The sin of omission. I too acted like everything was fine and did not want anyine to know what I was going through.
He was a man who helped others and at times appeared gentle. Yet, deep inside he had been angry at God for allowing him to be born without the hearing of one ear and a deformity.
He carried that anger always. For times he seemed to calm down and then he would explode again.
He was diagnosed with depression and an explosive disorder the year he died. He had gone to anger management counseling 3 times. It never took.
His father had been an alcoholic when he was conceived. His mother had no fault in this. Yet, he was angry at her.
He would say he loved her and then always end up cursing at her.
He would do favors for his parents and then complain that they were a burden. He was angry at the world, at people many times for no apparent reason.
The thing is, even this man was one I had to forgive. I was a battered wife. I had married him out of the will of God and thus suffered the cnsequences.
But the day of his death was approaching. Divorce was not enough. Separating myself from the abuse was not enough.
I was faced with the decison to forgive him. Cobfronted by the fact that if I did not forgive him, Jesus would not forgive me.
The blood of Jesus was sufficient for both of us. The perpetrator anf the victim. Both had to surrender their wills to God. Yes, I had to let go of the hurts and anger and fear and forgive this man whom I had tried to love, but grew to hate.
God is not the author of confusion.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
I had married out of God’s will. I too, had offended God. I had to repent.
He was hurt and angry and an abuser, he had to repent too.
But the awesome part of God’s love is that he does forgive. He does restore. He does make us new.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I John 1:9
We may go through difficult circumstances. They cannot define us when, we surrender to Christ Jesus.
We may have failed ourselves and our loved ones. God is the one who reconciles.
We do not have to live in anger or in bitterness or holding on to the past.
We can begin again and be made clean.
You may feel like you are not able to let go. But the Lord is ready to heal your heart and help you to forgive.
Whether you are a victim or the one who hurt another. God is still able to restore you to a right relationship with Him.
Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18 – 19.
God has made a way for us to be made right with him. He wants to help us forgive and to move forward in faith.
Parents fail, children fail us. Friends hurt us. We are susceptible to failure.
But in Christ we can start over.
Daddy forgive people who had hurt him. He also forgave the man I had married out of God’s will.
The day I was called to hospice to speak with my ex husband. I had a battle within. I did not want to forgive him face to face.
Yet, it was my dad who said, ‘If you do not forgive God cannot forgive you. Being a child of God means we surrender our wills to his will.”
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
So we will suffer while here in earth. We will go through disappointment. Our loved ones will fail us. We too will mess up and let others down. But we can be restored if, we repent.
Then we will be ready to meet the Lord when it is our time to die. We will be ready to meet Jesus face to face with joy.
We Will also be ready when the Lord calls the end of our time here on this earth.
We must forgive and be healed. Then we can claim the truths of God’s word.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
II Corinthians 4:7-17
We Will See Jesus face to face when Our Time Comes.
Lord I pray we are ready. I oray for every person reading this post. I oray we are able to be tight before you. Help eaxh one to forgive. Help each on to believe snf trust that you are able to heal anf mend us. Lord Jesus have your will in our lives. We all need you. Th
This I pray.
Life and Faith By Deb 
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