DAILY VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
God has been so good to me. I’ve seen Him answer so many prayers that the only way I can describe it is as one great adventure. I’ve seen Him bring family members and friends to Christ in answer to prayer. I’ve watched God open doors into nations because of the prayers of His people. And I’ve witnessed the healing of a nation because of leaders seeking the face of God. There’s no greater joy in life than to go into the presence of God.
That’s why my heart was so heavy one afternoon when I attempted to spend time alone with God. It seemed as though the heavens were closed to my prayers, and it had been that way for over two weeks. I was miserable. I don’t think that there’s anything worse than having had intimacy with God and then to lose it.
As I cried out to God in frustration, the Holy Spirit began to gently speak to my heart, “You must forgive him. You can’t hold bitterness in your heart and have intimate fellowship with Me.”
I knew that it was true, but I felt so hurt – so violated. The man about whom God was speaking to my heart had done some things to me that had crushed me. I didn’t think I could forgive him. I thought he had been a dear friend until I discovered what he had done. I asked God, “How can I forgive this man? You know what he did to me!”
But God spoke again to my heart, “Do you understand what you did to Me? You murdered my Son. It wasn’t Jews or Romans who put Him on that cross. He could have called ten legions of angels to take Him off the cross. It was your sins that nailed Him to the cross. Your sins killed Him. And I forgave you. As I have forgiven you, you can forgive this man.”
I was stricken with conviction. I quietly prayed, “Father, I forgive this man.” Immediately there was a release of the presence of God in that lonely place. God met with me. I didn’t have the power to forgive the man, but God did. God had forgiven me, and all that I needed to do was to reach deep into my soul and by faith pull out the grace that He had placed there. When I dipped into the well of God’s grace and forgiveness, I discovered that “His grace is sufficient.” I was able to forgive the man.
Bitterness hurts no one but the person who hangs on to it. It’s the silent thief that robs us of our intimacy with God. We’ll never maintain close fellowship with God and hide bitterness in our hearts.
That’s why Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matt. 6:12 NIV). We can’t know the presence of God and become bitter at the same time. We can’t hold grudges and have power in prayer. We must choose which is most important to us – God’s power and presence or anger and bitterness. The result of that choice will determine the depth of our fellowship with God.
Matthew : Chapter 18
23) “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24) As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25) Since 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) “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27) The 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 silver coins.[i] 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 it back.’ 30) “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31) When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged 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. 33) Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34) In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35) “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
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