ON THIS SACRED AMERICAN HOLIDAY, THANKSGIVING,
I bring joy unspeakable to those who will receive the truth of God!
This article is written to victims; specifically victims who have had a family member brutally and heinously murdered.
Selah.
A WORD OF COMFORT TO YOU!
Once again I listened to a man whose daughter had been brutally murdered. I won’t go into details at all. It upset me greatly that this man touted that his faith requires him to forgive this murderer! Balderdash!! God doesn’t! And He doesn’t want you to either!
Now hang on, God’s children (spiritual Israel and the Church) are required to forgive upon repentance…
Selah.
As God’s Word says, there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
If you remember, the first murderer did not repent. Here is part of that comfort for victims and their families I am speaking of. You, my dear ones, are not – I repeat – are not to forgive a murderer who has not repented (this means turning away from sin, asking God to forgive him, and becoming a child of God: for believe me, a murderer is a child of the devil! And as such, if such a person dies in his sins, Hell is his eternal destination:
Genesis 4:8-11
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
1 John 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Revelation 21:6-8
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Selah.
Cain never asked God to forgive him. Forgive him of what? Murder!
Did God forgive him? No!
1 John 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Jude 1:11
Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
But God did forgive King David of the same crime!
Psalm 51:14
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Psalm 51:7-17
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
NOTE:
I pray you understand the difference between murder and killing. Murder is sin; killing is righteous. Sometimes a deep study is necessary for such tough subjects; but, if you really care, you will find the answers!
SO THIS THANKSGIVING DAY be thankful. Be at peace: God is just. God does see the wicked man in his sins; and like King David, He hears the cries of painful repentance for all sins but one…
Selah.
THE ANSWER?
Do not forgive a murderer who has not repented: and pray he does so! Go on with your life believing you will see you loved in Heaven and be at peace with God:
John 14:26-27
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Ephesians 2:1-10
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS FOR THIS JOY STORY:
Repentance is mandatory to forgiveness from God:
Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
2 Corinthians 7:10
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Revelation 3:19
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
God will not honor the unrepentant sinner, nor listen to him:
Psalm 66:18
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Proverbs 28:9
If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
John 9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.
1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
May your Thanksgiving be in Christ each and every day! Amen and amen!
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