"And Peter...."

Since we started this Sunday Studies class on being the best "me" we can be, I've been trying to start each week with the best attitude I can. I've developed a "Monday Morning Shower Prayer". It goes a little like this: 

"Father- It's Monday. Again. I'm not a huge fan of Monday. You know this. So, Lord, I'm gonna need some help, please. Work is getting more and more busy, life is filling up as fast as it can, my body is wearing down and so is my positive attitude. Lord, grant me peace this week. Fill my heart and spirit with Your love and mercy. Ignite my soul so that I cannot contain all You have to offer and that my attitude and life choices will spill out on my friends and co-workers. I wish to be Your vessel, Father; Your tool for whatever You may need. Keep your arm around my shoulder, Lord and Your hand over my mouth so that I may always set an example of You in everything I do. And please grant me patience, Lord. Cause, again, it's Monday...." I shared the idea of my "Monday Morning Shower Prayer" with the class last week and was immediately asked, "How'd that work for ya?" Thanks be to God I could say: "It worked great!" As soon as I made the decision to be a better person AND THEN TOOK IT TO GOD my days became easier and my positive thinking increased. This puts me in and keeps me in “The Flow of the Holy Spirit”.

Sometimes though, we think God wants nothing to do with even the best version of ourselves because of our mistakes; our sins. We often forget that God offers complete forgiveness and a clean slate. As soon as we take our sins to The Lord and repent, He is faithful to forgive. And forget. But sometimes we think our sins are too big or bad for Him to forgive.

 Mark writes in chapter 16 verse 6 through 7, " 'Don't be alarmed,' he said, 'You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they had laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter', 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' “Do you know what the most powerful part of that passage is? 

"And Peter".

You see before Jesus was crucified, His disciple Peter denied Him three times in order to save his own skin. He DENIED Jesus. Denied God's Son! Can you imagine coming back from that? Even Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus out of sheer guilt! But as soon as Jesus rose from the dead, I do not believe His first thought was anger towards Peter or Judas, I believe He truly wanted to see His friend, Peter, in spite of the grievances Peter had committed against Him. 

If God can forgive a man like Peter, surely He can forgive a woman like me. Peter of course did not deserve forgiveness nor do I, but Jesus offers it all the same. He did not die an agonizing death on the cross so that He could hold grudges against His people. He died so that we might be forgiven and know Him more. 

But here comes the tricky part. In order to be forgiven by The Master, you MUST forgive others who have harmed you. So many times this week I have heard someone say, "Yeah...but You don't know what they've done to me!" No, I don't. But God Does. Or, "I'm not going to do something for them if I can't get something out of it." (Man, I really hope God doesn't have that attitude on Judgment Day. I'd much rather hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter in." than "I'm not letting you in to my House unless I get something out of it.") Nowhere in the Bible does it say, "Repent your sins to me but go ahead and hold on to your anger against others. That's okay." Of course, forgiving isn't easy. But it is not a choice. And sometimes it has to be a daily choice. "Lord, help me forgive them again. I thought I had let go of my anger but it seems to have worked it's way back up." Many times we pray a prayer of forgiveness and have genuinely forgiven someone; but when our anger and bitterness come back we are too ashamed to take it back to God. (We cannot expect The Heavenly Father to grant us something we are not willing to give to someone else.)

John Ortberg writes in his book, The Me I Want To Be:

"Shel Silverstein once wrote the 'Prayer Of A Selfish Child': 'Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray The Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my toys to break. So none of the other kids can use 'em. Amen.' " He goes on to say, "Children come to their parents with all kinds of requests: wonderful, foolish, generous and selfish. What matters most to the parent, however, is that their child comes to them. They know they can guide their child's growth- as long as their child speaks openly with them."

God just wants us to talk to Him no matter the subject. "I must pray what is in me, not what I wish were in me." God made us human and is therefore aware of our flaws. He knows that forgiveness can be and sometimes must be a daily process. Humble yourselves before the Lord so that He can offer you the grace and mercy only He can bestow. He alone can forgive eternally. He alone can fill us up. He alone can satisfy. He did not die for you to remain shameful. He died to forgive you. And, oh how He wants to.