Podcasts (Audio)

The Duffel BagPastor David: Hello. I want to share a story with you. It's a true story.I just call it the duffel bag. You'll understand why in a minute. I have for many years, probably 20 plus years, I've ministered along the border of Texas and in Mexico, in Texas, and all around. But I lived on the East Coast and would fly out to Texas frequently to a very close friend of mine, in fact, my best friend.He would ask me to come minister at his church, his parents' church, a friend's church, or someone else that he knew. We had Bible schools, and we started quite a few churches.So there were always places to go and minister the good news. There was this particular time I flew out, and I ministered in one church in the morning, and then I was scheduled to minister in another church on another part of town in the evening.So my friend brought me back to the hotel, ministered in the morning, went out to lunch, and then they brought me back to the hotel so I could freshen up, and rest, and get ready for the evening service at a different church.So I was there in the hotel and was praying, as you know, as I do, and seeking the Lord about. if there was something specific He wanted me to minister that evening.And it was really, really cool, really interesting.The walls inside the hotel room were kind of stucco color, kind of a light tan, if you will, color. I was sitting on the edge of the bed. I'm wide awake, praying and reading the Word, my Bible, and preparing for the evening service.I look at the wall, and I see a shadow. It's like to begin with, it was kind of zoomed out, if you will. What I see is a person; all I see is the silhouette. It's a shadow, but it's like animated. This person, I see, where it's like they've got one arm with one hand up towards their shoulder.It zooms in, and I see it's just the silhouette, but I see the person's face, and their shoulder, and their hand, if you will. If you were to take your arm and bend it all the way up to where your hand is at your shoulder, that's what I saw, just the silhouette of it, because it was a shadow. But I realized, hey, that's me.I was looking at the wall in the hotel, and I'm looking at an animated shadow, and it was me. I knew it was me. And I'm like, wow. I'm just fascinated, just staring.Well, then it zooms out to where I could see the whole person, my whole body, and all the way down to my feet, and I'm walking.I've got this duffel bag and the strings to it are on my shoulder. Then I stop, the shadow stops, and bends over, opens up the duffel bag, and starts putting things in the duffel bag. I knew while I was watching it, it was cares, it was burdens, it was concerns.God was ministering to me. Put your burdens on Him, put your cares on Him, put them in the duffel bag.I see me just stuffing one thing after another. It was like cares, concerns, and burdens, stuffing them in this duffel bag.Then, the shadow throws the string over the shoulder again, and it's still a full screen, if you will, where I'm seeing me from head to toe, and the duffel bag. The duffel bag was so full of stuff.It was not only going, the strings I'm holding at my shoulder, over my shoulder. The strings went all the way down, and the duffel bag was so full, it went all the way down and folded, and drug behind me for several feet. If you could picture a really full bag, and I'm six three, so it was a big bag. So it was at least more than half the length of my body.It hit the ground, and it was dragging the ground several feet past that. So it was a really full duffel bag. Well, He showed me walking while my feet and legs are walking in this shadow.It's like watching a movie on the wall, except it was real, and I was awake, and I knew it was me, and it was my shadow. I'm walking, then the camera zooms in again back to where it started, to where it's my face, the silhouette. I could see my hand over my shoulder. Then He started ministering to me.Holy Spirit said, 'Cast your burdens on Me. Put them where they belong. There's nothing that should come between you and Me.' Then the camera zooms back out, and this was the cool part: that long duffel bag was now just two strings hanging over my shoulder. The whole duffel bag had just worn in two while I was walking, and whatever was in that duffel bag was gone.There was nothing over my shoulder except the string and a memory of what used to be there.He led me to the ministering that He did for me. I'll give you some scriptures, but what He ministered to my heart I want to share with you because it's so important.Number One: our cares, and burdens, and concerns, I don't want to say worries, because the Bible says worries are a sin, but even worries, everything that you can consider a burden or something that can weigh you down or is just bothering you, it's heavy on your heart, or whatever, all of those things, none of them belong between you and God. Here's another thing. Even the blessings, even miracles, even healings and things that are of God, they don't belong between you and God. He wants nothing between Him and us. He just wants that relationship between us and Him; that fellowship between us and Him.You can go back and picture Adam and Eve and the Father walking in the garden. That's what He wants with us.That's exactly what He wants with you and I. He wants that fellowship. He doesn't want anything in between us. Those burdens and cares, concerns, whatever it is. He doesn't want anything, even good or bad, nothing between us.Put things where they belong.You know, I learned that I ministered that, that night, and it definitely was for many of the people, but it was for me. And I'm sharing it with you because I believe it's for every believer.I see myself for years after that, you know, I just start to get overwhelmed. Maybe this, that the other is going on. And I go, whoa, timeout. The duffel bag.I need the duffel bag. And I just visualize myself taking every one of those cares and burdens and sticking them in the duffel bag and then putting them where they belong - behind me, not in front of me, not between me and God, behind me, so that I can pray and fellowship with God one on one, like He wants us to.Here's a couple of scriptures that I'm sure you've read before, but they took on a whole new meaning for me after that experience.Psalm 55:22. Easy to remember. 55:22. Psalm. 'Cast your burdens upon the Lord.'First Peter in the New Testament, 5:7. 'Cast all your cares upon the Lord.' He literally wants us to give Him our burdens, but most importantly, the cool thing He taught me in that visualization of watching my shadow up there with that duffel bag on the wall in the hotel room I was sitting in was, it's literally that simple.Put your burdens where they belong, behind you, not in front of you, not between you and God, behind you, and then just keep walking.Stay on your path, stay on your course, and God will take care of all those things.Give them to Him, and He will. Trust Him, and He will. Pray and say 'God you've got to take these', like we just read in Psalm, in 1st Peter: Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7. Give Him your burdens, give Him your cares, and He'll take care of them.Get back to fellowshipping with God. 'God, I love you. Forgive me of my sins, and what would you have me do today? You know, thank you for this and thank you for that. You're a blessing.'Love on God. He wants to love on you all the time, 24/7. I hope this turns into a blessing for you as it has for me over the years. The duffel bag - each one of us have our own duffel bag but until that moment, I didn't know how to use it.Hopefully, this helps you know how to use the duffel bag in your life. Put all your burdens and cares behind you, throw them over your shoulder, and get your eyes back on God, and God will take care of it.Amen. Be blessed. God bless.

Stuck In The SandPastor David: Hello. I want to share with you a story that took place. A true story. When I was young, I was around 18 years old, and I was in college, and a close friend of mine and I who had graduated from high school together. We were active in our church, especially with the youth.The pastor and his wife approached the two of us and asked us to come up with an activity and take the kids in the church that were getting ready to graduate from high school.They asked us if we wouldn't mind finding an activity, something fun to do, and celebrate graduation with the new graduating class. So at that time, I lived on the East Coast, very close to a beach, and there was one section of the beach that allowed vehicles on it. Not many places along the coast on the East Coast allow that anymore, but at that time, they did, and it was fun. People during the day would go there, not so much camping or anything, but primarily drive down there to have fun with friends and family, and go fishing and things like that. But we knew graduation was going to be late in the day, and my friend, he and his dad both had four wheel drives. One was a jeep, and one was a large pickup truck that was raised up in four wheel drive, with big tires, and his dad said we could use it.So what we thought we would do that didn't cost anyone money was we would just take all the kids and go on some trails and have fun in the four wheel drive.Another thing we did was you were allowed at that time to have people in the back of the truck while you were riding around. I don't think they allow that now, but that's what we did. We had fun. We took the truck, went down to the beach, and had fun.If you've ever been on a beach, you know there are tides - there's low tide, high tide, you know, ebb tide, right in the middle. Well, when we got there, apparently it was low tide, and we were having fun, having a blast.There's soft sand, as you can appreciate, as you get closer to the dunes, and then, when it's low tide, right where the water has been, it's normally more packed, and it's easier to drive on. So we were having fun. We were hopping dunes, as we called it. You know, where you drive over a sand dune, not ridiculously fast or anything, but it's just fun. It was fun for us. So all of us were having fun. It started to get dark because we started when it was daylight, but it was late in the day after they graduated. We were just having fun and got on that spot on the beach, and my friend's driving because it was his dad's truck. The music minister from the church was with us, my friend and I, and a handful of youth. There were probably graduating that year, six or eight kids. I say kids. I was only a year older, but we were having fun and got stuck when the tide started coming in. We got stuck on that part of the beach that you knew if you waited long enough, it was going to be covered in water because the tide was rising and the water was coming in. Well, there's a lot of vehicles on this section of the beach because there weren't many places you could drive on the beach.On this particular section of beach, there were constantly vehicles. It seemed like, well, the later it gets, and the darker it gets, the fewer vehicles. You know, people didn't want to be out there. Here we get stuck, and there's a group of us, so we're all pushing and pushing. When that sand gets really wet and soft close to the shore, it's like a suction cup. And it was just like, man, we could not get that thing unstuck.So we told all the graduates, all the kids that had just graduated, you know, 'Go have fun on the dunes. We're going to figure this out. We'll find someone to help pull us out.'Not long after that, only a few minutes or so, it's like dust/dark at this point. Two guys, I remember thinking at that time, older guys. Now, I don't think they're so old because I'm older, but they were probably, I'm guessing, probably in their 30s - 20s, or 30s. And they were coming down the beach on the sandy part, and we said, "Hey, we're stuck. Do you guys mind helping pull us out?"I think we even had a strap in my friend's dad's truck. They said, "For 20 bucks, we'll pull you out."Well, you have to understand in that area, I mean, people just didn't do that. You know, everyone helped each other. If someone was stuck, someone else pulled them out because you knew the chances of you getting stuck were pretty strong.So, I mean, it was really uncommon, and I just blame it on the Holy Spirit because I'm a pretty mild guy. I'm, you know, 6'3". So I'm not a real small guy, but it takes a lot to get me riled up, or flustered, or whatever word you want to use. But, boy, I just felt the Holy Spirit very strongly and uncharacteristically, I walked up to the driver's window, and I said, "We're out here helping kids celebrate their graduation, and we're all children of God. You can't do us this way. You can't charge us to get out of here. All we're asking for is a few minutes of your time. Just pull us out." The two guys started laughing, and they were being ugly. My friend asked me because he knew, because we were going to go out and get pizza afterwards. He knew I had some money in my pocket, and he said, "Dave, don't you have money?" And I said, "Yeah, but they can't do God's children this way. This is wrong."I felt very strongly about it. So anyhow, these two guys drive off laughing at us. I had just wagged my finger in the driver's window and told them, 'You can't do God's children this way.' And they drove off.Then my friend got mad at me.He was like, "Dave, my dad's truck's going to get swamped and ruined." And it would ruin a truck. It could ruin any vehicle. He said, "It's going to get swamped and ruined from the salt water. Just pay the guys." And I'm like, "No, this is wrong. You just can't do that to someone else when they're down and out." And then he got angry, really, really angry at me. So the music minister was there, my friend and I. Well, my friend was so angry, he said, "You guys walk that way, and I'm walking this way. I'm going to find someone else who will pull us out, and you guys go find someone else."And we started walking, as it turns out, south. The music minister and I started walking south, and my friend was walking north on the beach.I mean, it was not far, but it was so dark out there, maybe two or 300 yards. We walked south, and here there's a truck stuck in the sand up to the axle, and it was these same two guys.Well, without seeing anything, and again, I just believe it was the Holy Spirit. I walked straight up to the driver's window, and I said, "See, I told you." Both of them, both of the guys in the truck said, "Look, we're sorry. If you'll pull us out, help us, help push us out. We'll go down, and we'll pull your truck out." And we said, "Okay." So that's what we did. So we helped push them out. We hopped in the back of their truck.They drove back up the beach, and we hollered out, "My friend came back," and he got in the truck, in his dad's truck, and they pulled us out of the sand.Well, he was still upset, so he still didn't want anything to do with me for that moment. And it was God, you know, it just was because he went off in the sand dunes to go find all the kids that we brought out there. And the music minister and I went over to thank the two guys for helping us.They actually said, "Hey, do you have a minute?" And we said, "For what?" And they said, "You know, when you said you can't do God's children this way. We're down here from", and it was a city that was, oh, a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.They said, both of them said, "We came down here to the beach to cheat on our wives. We want to know more about the God that you're talking about because we don't have any doubt that what you said and told us we needed to hear." So we said, "Sure." So we got in their truck, and we drove a little further south down the beach, and there was a pier down there. And we started talking to these fellows, and they confessed, and we didn't know them, and they didn't know us, but the situation that God orchestrated ministered to them, and it hit them in the heart. And they said, "You know, tell us about this God." And it wasn't long and drawn out. I mean, it was within 10 to 15 minutes. They both said they wanted to get saved. "How do we get this God that you have? How do we have the same confidence that you have? How do we find the same peace that you have?", because I was willing to let my friend's truck stay stuck in the sand, but I was doing it with conviction. I knew that, I knew that, I knew that this is what the Holy Spirit wanted me to say to them. And they both accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior right there, right then.Then they both said, "Look, we're really sorry for what we did earlier, and thank you for being here and sharing with us about your God. We're both going back home." And it was like I said, about two and a half hour drive each way. They said, "We're both going back home to get back with our wives. We shouldn't be down here in the first place."Then they drove us back to my friend, and at this point, everyone's happy. Then we went from there out and got pizza, but the most important thing was being stuck in the sand.I think all of us go through times in life when we're stuck in the sand, you know, what do we do? Well, trust God. Don't run to your own instincts, run to God's.'All right, God, you're teaching me something. Or maybe I shouldn't have done something, I got stuck. Or maybe I'm right in line with your will and got stuck.' What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to say? What do you want me to pray?Sometimes in just life, we can get stuck in the sand of our own life, a situation, and say, "God, I need your direction. I need to know where to go, what to do," and He will guide you. He will direct you. He loves you. He loves you so much. He lets you witness about His love to others from time to time.Well, this has always been a blessing in my life, stuck in the sand, and it's a true story.I pray that it blesses you and your loved ones, and friends, and maybe total strangers. Be blessed. If you're stuck in the sand, seek God and watch Him turn it into a blessing.Amen. God bless.

Why Do God's Children Suffer?Pastor David: You know, there was this time, not so long ago, where it seemed like I was getting call after call after call of Christians, people who I knew love God, worship God, but they were suffering, you know, loss of a job or this or that or the other, different things in different lives. But the common thread was they were all suffering, and they were all in this particular situation, believers, strong believers in many cases, and spirit-filled Christians. So I took it to the Lord, and I was asking God, why are so many of your children suffering?And He showed me something I will never forget. You know, how God can say one word and create a universe. He can paint a picture that takes centuries to describe with one word. He's so awesome, so incredible.Well, in this particular case, I had a real heavy heart for my brothers and sisters in Christ, and God knew it. And when I asked Him in prayer why so many of his kids were suffering, He showed me, and I was awake. So I've heard people call it - you know, there are visions, and there are dreams, and a lot of people talk about an open vision. In other words, you're awake and maybe even talking. Your eyes are probably open. Not necessarily, but in a lot of cases, and you see something, and you know it's from God. Well, it was one of those situations.And the way He answered my prayer was that I saw His hand, gigantic hand, pulling down this pouch. I don't know if it was made of leather, but it kind of looked like leather. It looked like a giant leather pouch, and this giant hand, and I say it was giant because there were a lot of people standing up in this pouch.Countless, a lot of people. So the hand was huge. The pouch was huge. And I saw this hand pulling the pouch downward, straight down. And all of these people, their hands were reaching up, and they're all looking up. But here was the interesting part. The four corners of the pouch had what looked like giant rubber bands on them. I didn't see what they were connected to. They went, you know, way up, like they were connected to something high in the sky. But this hand was pulling this pouch down. All these people were in it.And then He spoke to me, and He said, sometimes I have to pull my children down to make them look up. And that was it. I didn't see the hand let go of it, of the pouch. It would have shot the people straight up in the air. But it caused me to think of so many things.I mean, and you go through scripture, and you start looking. But that was His answer to me. And I had a heavy heart. And I was like, wow. And then He showed me that, and I'm like, oh, my goodness. You make the complex things in life so simple. It was like He was forcing His children. You're going to look up because you have to look up. You get your eyes off of your circumstances and situation.You got to look up. And if He let go of that pouch, I assume that would be the equivalence of the Rapture we read about in First Thessalonians. So it was interesting, but it reminded me of a scripture outside of the Rapture. It reminded me of Luke 21:28.Luke 21:28, in the King James says, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."What does that mean?It means get your eyes back on God. If you are looking at circumstances and situations, what does the enemy love to do? Satan loves to distract, and manipulate, and deceive all the way through the Word.We know those are his common character traits. He lies and deceives, always seeking who he can kill, steal, and destroy. As we hear and read in the Word. So what does Jesus want us to do?Well, John the Baptist was probably the best messenger that said, look up, look up, look up. He told every believer, look up. Get your eyes off of your circumstances. Get your eyes back on God. Focus on God. Look at God.Don't look at this situation or circumstance. Look up. Get your eyes back on God. Because when you start looking at God, you start getting your heart back in line with God.You start asking for forgiveness because He's a Holy God. You start loving on God because He's loving on you. You want the things of God when you're looking at Him, and He wants to bless you as His children, because He is love and everything He does is to our benefit.He even said, all things work to good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. So get your eyes back on God is what He's wanting you to do.You can be down and out if you're a Christian at some point in your life, sometimes many points in your life, you will be pulled down because the world does that. The world hates God. The ways of the world are against God.So you have to expect that you're going to get in those situations where you need to, as David said in Psalms, he had to reassure himself in the Lord. He had to pull up, you know, his own bootstraps, if you will, and start looking up and encouraged himself in the Lord, is what he said. Encourage, encourage, encourage yourself in the Lord. In other words, reminding yourself, yeah, I know God loves me.I don't care what the world says. I don't care what Satan says. I don't care what anyone says. In my heart, the truth of truths. I know God loves me, and I'm going to get my eyes back on Him. Even if they weren't off of Him. He wants you to focus on Him because something's about to happen.Maybe He's protecting you from something. Maybe He's delivering you out of a situation. Maybe He's helping you avoid a situation, but get your eyes back on God.So I'll never forget that God's hand pulling down a bunch of us in that pouch, and there were rubber bands on each corner. I look forward to the day when we're all looking up, and He lets go of that pouch, and we get to go home in the twinkling of an eye.But God bless you. Be blessed. I hope this ministers to you in Jesus name.Have a blessed day and a blessed week.

Once Saved Always Saved?Pastor David: From time to time and over the years, I'm asked the question of what does the Bible say about once saved, always saved? Well, there are a couple of scriptures that stand out. First, in Exodus, chapter 32, verse 33, the Scripture says, And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Well, what does the word blot mean?The original word that was used was machah in this particular scripture, and it literally means to erase, to rub or stroke, or wipe away. So there's no question it's talking about removing a person's name from the Lamb's Book of Life. That's referenced here in Exodus 32:33. So if you put two and two together, in order for a name to be removed from the Book of Life, it had to be added to the Book of Life.So if all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and your name is then added to the Book of Life, this is a scripture that says that it is removed as a result of sin. Well, so what does it say in the New Testament, since that's the Old Testament, and Jesus came, and we are no longer under the law of Moses, according to Romans, we are now under grace because of Jesus.So what does the New Testament say? Well, there's a good scripture in Revelation 3:5, and it says, he that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels.So, he uses a different word in the New Testament instead of machah; the word used in the original text in the New Testament was exaleipho, which also means to smear out, to obliterate, to erase, blot out, and wipe away. It has the same message, except under the grace of Jesus, He says, he that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. Key word is, you have to overcome. And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life. Well, it doesn't vary in my opinion that Scripture is saying the same thing that we just read in Exodus.In Exodus, he said, if you've sinned, I'm going to blot your name out. Now, the difference is that we have the blood of Jesus and His grace. We're not under the law anymore, but the punishment and wages of sin are the same. And you need to walk in forgiveness. You need to ask for forgiveness, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So as I read the Scripture and these two verses I believe sum it up, the question of once saved, always saved in Exodus 32:33, and then what we just read in the New Testament in Revelation 3:5, once saved, always saved is not scriptural.I don't believe it is. I believe we have to continually ask for forgiveness. I believe you can be saved and backslide and turn and get away from God, and you need His redemption, which He provides and provided for all eternity through the cross that He died on and shed His blood for you and I on.So once saved, always saved. I don't believe once a sinner, always a sinner is true. And I don't believe once saved, always saved is true, according to the word of God as I understand it. So hopefully that helps.What do you do if you sin and you don't want your name taken out of the Lamb's book of life?You ask God for forgiveness. That's what Jesus did on the cross. It's so beautiful. It's for all of us, you know, Father, forgive me of my sin, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.I would go a step further and even say, Father, forgive me of all my sins, committed knowingly or even unknowingly. Sometimes you can do things that's a sin and not even realize it until God points it out or Holy Spirit points it out to you.There's examples of that in Leviticus where a person made a certain expression and caused someone else to sin, and they didn't even know it. They didn't realize they were causing someone else to sin, and they were being held accountable because someone else sinned.Just always, and I recommend start every day early with Father, please forgive me of all my sins. If you're a parent over a household like the book of Job tells us, he got up in Job one and two and asked God to forgive not only himself but all of his household. Because there's that patriarch authority, where if you're a mom or a dad and you have children or you have your spouse, you have children and grandchildren and so forth, you have the ability and the God given ability to ask God, please forgive all of my household of all of their sins.Job did. It's in Job one and two, you'll see it. I would encourage that every day - better off, you know, overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony, and just try not to sin, be conscious of it.And if you do, be really quick to ask God. Oh, please forgive me if you've hurt someone else. Please forgive me. Tell them I'm sorry. Please forgive me. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Amen.Amen. Have a blessed day.

What Do I Forgive?Pastor David: Hello. Today, we begin a six-part series on forgiveness. To begin with, what do I forgive? The six questions of forgiveness. What do I forgive? Number two, who do I forgive? Number three, when do I forgive? Number four, where do I forgive? Number five, why do I forgive? And number six, how do I forgive? So today, we're going to start with lesson one: what do I forgive? Well, before we begin answering that question, why is there forgiveness? In Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 21, Jesus lays out the entire course of why forgiveness is needed. Why Jesus died on that cross for you and me, and for everyone so that we could have forgiveness. It starts in Romans 5:12, where in the King James Version it reads, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" So, in Romans 5:12, he's talking about Adam and the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden, disobeying God and eating fruit from the tree God said not to eat from. So, by one man, sin entered into the world, and, according to Romans 5:12, death entered because of that sin. So sin entered, and death entered the world because of that sin. And verse 13, for until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. This is why in Matthew 5:17, Jesus said he didn't come to condemn the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. Because law was needed because death was reigning because of the sin of Adam and Eve. So in verse 14, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Who is the figure of him that was to come. So, according to Romans 5:14, you don't have to be as disobedient and blatantly sinful as Adam and Eve were when they directly disobeyed God when he said, don't eat of that tree. It says that sin nevertheless reigned from Adam to Moses, and it caused death to reign. So, as a result, God brought the law in. So it started with Adam and Eve sinning that ushered in death because of their sin. So then, through Moses, God ushered in the law. We refer to the first five books of the Bible, typically as the law of Moses, and then go to Romans 5:21, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life. By Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus, came to fulfill the law, to fulfill the prophets, to finally answer perfectly, as no other person could, the solution and the perfect Sacrifice for the sin that started with Adam and Eve. This is why we ask for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus and the sacrifice he made for you and I on that cross is the reason we can ask God for forgiveness. And it's also the reason we have to ask everything that we pray in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. John 14:6 says, no one comes to the Father but through Jesus. And that's why Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for you and I, and the reason we can even ask for forgiveness. So, if you haven't today, please ask God to forgive you of all your sins. And remember, always ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. So, lesson one. What do I forgive? Well, in Romans 3,23, the word is clear. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So sin is death, forgiveness is life. It's not just life; it's eternal life when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. So, the answer for lesson one. What do I forgive? Forgive everyone for everything that has happened to you. Sometimes people do things, and they're intentional. Sometimes, they're not. You may have been offended and felt wronged by someone. You may have been the recipient of something that was just blatantly wrong. It doesn't matter. So, what do you forgive? You forgive everything and do so quickly, and always in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen. Amen.

Who Do I Forgive?Pastor David: Hello. Today is lesson two on forgive. So there were six questions, each one a lesson on forgiveness. The first was, what do I forgive? Today, we're going to talk about who do I forgive. So, who do I forgive? Well, you forgive everyone, no matter who, and do it quickly. But why? Why do we? You know, God doesn't want anything between you and him. He doesn't want anything between you and him. He wants a relationship with each of you, each of us. We're his children, his creation. So, who do I forgive? Well, In Revelation, chapter 2, verse 5, we read, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Repent means to turn and do it no more, whatever it is. So if you sin or someone sins against you, ask for forgiveness and forgive quickly. Who do I forgive? You forgive everyone. Get yourself out of the way. When you forgive someone of sinning against you, you're saying, God, I'm not allowing that to tarnish me. I'm not allowing that to hinder me and my relationship with you. I'm not going to put my grudge or hard feelings or bad feelings or resentment between me and you. I'm giving it to you, God, I forgive them. Now, Father, you deal with it however you choose, but it's off my shoulders. It's off of me. I want it completely off of me. I don't want anything between me and you, Father. You know, even the Word says that signs and wonders will follow the believer. He doesn't even want miracles and wonderful things that God does between you and him. They are supposed to follow us. Our relationship with God needs to be our relationship with God. He wants to talk to you, communicate with you, love you, bless you. He doesn't want anything in the way. Sin gets in the way, even if it's not our sin. If someone else sins against you and does you wrong or hurts you in some way, forgive them. Forgive them. And According to Revelation 2:5, be quick to forgive them. He said, do so quickly. So, therefore, we should forgive anyone who sins against us quickly as well. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It says in Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10, love God with all your heart. Don't allow anything between you and God, including when others hurt you. Give it to God. Forgive that person. Forgive those people. Whatever the situation or circumstance, forgive them. Does that mean they were right in doing you wrong? No. It means you love God more than you love holding onto resentment or holding on to hurt. It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. You don't want to hold on to the hurt. You want to hold on to the love and the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Amen. So, for lesson two, with the question, who do I forgive? The answer is simple. Forgive everyone, no matter who, and do so quickly, always, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

When Do I Forgive?Pastor David: This is lesson three on the six part series on forgiveness. Lesson one was what do I forgive? Lesson two: who do I forgive? Lesson three, today, we discuss when do I forgive? Well, in Matthew 18:21, the scripture tells us that Peter asked Jesus, how often when my brother sins against me, should I forgive him? He said, till seven times? And Jesus answered him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. In other words, Jesus was saying there is no limit. You forgive him. If your brother sins against you, forgive him. Period. Forgive him as often as you need to forgive him. There is no limit to the number of times we should forgive because if we don't forgive others, our Father will not forgive us. So, when do I forgive? Forgive in good times and bad. It doesn't matter when, just be quick to forgive. As we learned in lesson 2, on who do I forgive? Jesus said in Revelation 2:5 that he would come quickly and remove the candlestick out of our place if we don't repent. So, if we have to repent of our sins quickly, we need to forgive others quickly. So when do I forgive? Forgive. In good times and bad, Be quick to forgive. Be quick to forgive. Be quick to forgive. It doesn't matter where you are, forgive. Don't hold on to it, not for a second. As soon as someone does you wrong or sins against you, be quick to forgive. Oh, Father, I forgive them for what they've done in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. My experience is sometimes when you forgive somebody, it could be a hurtful thing somebody did that you keep remembering tomorrow, I remember, the day after, I remember ... every time it comes back, forgive them. Forgive them. Forgive them. Father, I forgive them for what they did. I forgive them. You know, eventually, it won't keep coming back to you, and eventually, you won't have to keep forgiving them, but as long as it causes you hurt, and you remember what someone's done to sin against you, forgive them. Forgive them. Forgive them. Get it out of the way. Keep your relationship with God between you and God, and don't allow anything in the way, including other people's sins against you. Forgive them in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen. Amen.

Where Do I Forgive?Pastor David: Hello. Today is lesson four on forgiveness. We've got a six part series, and today is the fourth, and each one is a question about forgiveness. The first lesson was, what do I forgive? The second, who do I forgive? The third, when do I forgive? And, today in the fourth lesson, we'll discuss, where do I forgive? Well, have you ever considered where Jesus was when he said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" in Luke 23, verses 33 and 34? Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." If Jesus could hang on the cross, between two who had committed crimes at that time and were being punished by hanging on the cross as well, surrounded by people, crucifying him and killing him, even as an innocent man, Jesus knew no sin. He never sinned, but He decided to die on that cross and hang on that cross and shed his blood and be treated horribly, for you and I. He wanted to stand in our place. And then he rose again from the dead, where he died on that cross three days later, so that you and I could live with him for eternity. That's how much our God loves us. That's how much Jesus loves us. We can't even comprehend how much He loves us. In Romans, chapter 5, verses 12 through 21, God said He gave us a free gift, and the free gift was Jesus, his only begotten Son, so that we could live with him for eternity. One of the conditions of that free gift of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only way to the Father is through Jesus. According to John 14:6, "... no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" is what Jesus said. So, where do I forgive? Right where you are. Wherever that is. Even on the cross, Jesus forgave all mankind. He didn't say, well, I have to wait until Sunday or when I'm in church. I have to wait until I've got my eyes closed and I've bowed my head, and I'm down on my knees, and then I can forgive other people. I have to wait until I'm alone in my prayer closet. No, those are all wonderful places to forgive people. But Jesus was hanging on the cross, being crucified for you and I and our sins, when he asked the Father to forgive you and I of our sins. So, where do I forgive? Right where you are. Wherever that is. And do so quickly, always, in the name of Jesus Christ. Don't allow anything or any place or any situation to get between you and God, even other people's sins against you. Father, I forgive whoever that is. I forgive that person. I forgive those people. I forgive them in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen. Amen. So, where do I forgive? Right where you are. Wherever that is.

Why Do I Forgive?Pastor David: Hello. Today, we begin lesson five on our six part series on forgiveness. Each part is a different question. The first part was, what do I forgive? The answer, everyone sins against you. That's what you forgive. Everyone sins. Part 2, who do I forgive? Forgive everyone, no matter who, and do it quickly. Part three: when do I forgive? Forgive in good times and bad. Be quick to forgive. And then, in lesson four, where do I forgive? You forgive right where you are, wherever that is, always in the name of Jesus Christ. So today, why do I forgive? Well, the why we forgive is because we've all sinned, and we all need forgiveness. And there are a couple of scriptures that make it very profound as to why we have to forgive. Jesus said in Matthew 6:14, 15, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:" Well, we need that, so forgive other people. But in verse 15 of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus said, "But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses." So why do I forgive? Because I need to be forgiven. According to what we just read in Matthew 6, 14 and 15, if we forgive others, God will forgive us. But if we don't forgive others their sins against us, God said he won't forgive us for our sins. That's pretty profound. In Mark, chapter 11, verse 26, Jesus said, "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven, forgive you your trespasses." Remember in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." That includes you and me. When we sin, we need forgiveness. When other people sin against us, we need to forgive them. Be quick to forgive. As we Learned in Revelation 2, 5, be quick to forgive. But remember the most important reason why do I forgive? You don't want anything between you and God. Keep your relationship clean and pure, and open between you and God. He wants to talk to you every day. He wants to love on you and bless you every day. He wants to have a relationship with you every day. Ask for forgiveness of your own sins every day. Remember, Job did it every morning, early in the morning, and as a result, God gave him a hedge of protection around him and all his household, and all that they had on every side in Job chapters one and two. So much so, that Satan complained and said, you won't let me touch him because you put a hedge of protection around him, not just him, but his whole household. Because Job was obedient every morning and asked God, please forgive me and all my household of all our sins. I encourage you to do the same. Why do I forgive? We need God's forgiveness. Jesus provided it through Himself. He provided it in Romans, chapter 5 as we read before verses 12 through 21. Sin entered the world because of the sin of Adam and Eve. And with sin came death. Then came the law through Moses, but grace, grace came for you and me through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Why do I forgive? Because we all need to be forgiven. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We all need forgiveness. We need to forgive others. As we just read in Matthew 6:14-15 and Mark 11:26, we need to forgive others so that God will forgive us. So be quick to forgive and always forgive. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen. Amen.

How Do I Forgive?Pastor David: Hello. Today, we conclude the six part series on forgiveness. Each part was a question. The first lesson, what do I forgive? The answer, everyone sins against you. The second lesson, who do I forgive? The answer, forgive everyone, no matter who, and do so quickly. The third lesson, when do I forgive? Forgive in good times and bad, and be quick to forgive. Lesson four: where do I forgive? Right where you are. Wherever that is. Lesson five: why do I forgive? We forgive because we've all sinned, and we all need forgiveness. And lesson six, how do I forgive? The answer is, forgive everyone in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The lesson we Learned in Mark 11: 24-26, read, "Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them." Verse 25. "And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have ought against any, that your Father which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. And verse 26 of Mark 11. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven, forgive your trespasses. So when you're praying for anything according to these scriptures, in Mark 11, you're praying for food on the table. You're praying for a better understanding. You're praying for patience, you're praying for peace, you're praying for loved ones, you're praying for healing, you're praying for finances. It doesn't matter what you're praying for. In Mark 11:24 through 26, he said, if you stand there praying, forgive. Unforgiveness gets in the way of everything. It gets in the way of health, it gets in the way of prayer, it gets in the way of blessings that God wants to bless you with. Forgive, forgive, forgive. Be quick to forgive. Revelation 2:5. Forgive, forgive, forgive. Remember, we read in Romans 5, verses 12 through 21, because of what Jesus did for you and I, we have grace. And the law is covered under grace. And we have forgiveness of all sin as long as we do so through Jesus Christ of Nazareth, always through Jesus. That's why we pray in the name of Jesus. In John 14:6, he said, there's no way to come to the Father unless we do so through Jesus. Why? Because Jesus paid the price for you and I. He's the reason we can ask for forgiveness. We learned in Matthew, we learned in Mark that if we don't forgive others, God doesn't forgive us. We have to forgive other people. It's not an option. Oh, well, you don't understand. They did me so wrong, I can't forgive them. And I've Heard people. You've probably heard people say the same thing. It's wrong. It's a trick from Satan. You have to forgive people. Sometimes, it's harder to forgive because the hurt is deep. But you have to forgive and forgive and forgive. There are things that I've encountered in my own life, day after day after day, week after week. I have to forgive people sometimes because the hurt was so deep. I forgive and forgive and forgive until I don't have to forgive anymore. Eventually, you know, what they did doesn't hurt as bad. What they did doesn't come back to my remembrance. But until I reach that point, I have to forgive and forgive. And you do, too, forgive. Revelation 2:5. Be quick to forgive, but most importantly, forgive. And as I've taught through all six of these lessons, as we've learned through all six of these lessons through the Scripture in the Word, God doesn't want anything in between him and us. He wants you to have a relationship with him, to fellowship with him, to communicate with him, to love him. He wants to love you. He does love you. He wants to love on you and bless you. Sin gets in the way. It's like an obstacle between us and God, and that's our sin, as well as unforgiveness, which is a sin. So another sin against you, be quick to forgive. It's like wiping that slate clean between you and God. Don't let it get in there. Don't let it get in the way of your relationship with God. So, how do I forgive? Jesus made it simple. Feeling sorry for something you've done or feeling sorry for something that was done to you is not the same thing as repenting and asking for forgiveness of yourself or forgiveness of others. I feel really sorry for that sin I committed. Well, that's fine, but ask for forgiveness. I feel sorry that that person was in such bad shape that they did that to me. If a person sinned against you, forgive them. Feeling sorry isn't the same thing. Jesus died on the cross for you and I to have forgiveness, to ask forgiveness, and to be able to forgive others freely and quickly. So Jesus made it simple for you and I. How do I forgive? It's as simple as a prayer. Like, Father, I forgive everyone who has sinned against me. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Amen. That's how simple God made it for you and I. How do I forgive? Tell God you forgive them and reestablish your relationship with God. And don't let anything get in the way between you and God. Father, that person who sinned against me, I forgive them. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Father, that sin I committed, please forgive me. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Amen and amen. Remember, be quick to forgive. Don't let anything get in the way of your relationship with God, especially unforgiveness. If you're about to pray for anything, be quick to forgive. And then finish your prayer. Amen. I love you. And this is New Storehouse Ministries. I'm Pastor David. Be blessed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, ask for forgiveness and be very quick to forgive. As you're quick to forgive and ask for forgiveness always. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, letting nothing get in the way of your relationship with our Heavenly Father. Amen. Amen.