1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,280 It's said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:06,880 that it affects the other person. 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:14,440 I want to turn quickly and read from Matthew 18. 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,880 I know I've talked about forgiveness in the past and I 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,840 want to talk a little bit this morning about the fruit of our 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:24,800 forgiveness. And that's what Ben and Receiva 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,400 are walking in is the fruit of their forgiveness. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,400 And it's, it's a beautiful thing when those relationships are 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,960 reconciled and and we get to walk in that unconditional love. 10 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,120 So Matthew 18 verse, I'm going to start in verse 21. 11 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,840 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times 12 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,920 shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:51,560 Up to seven times. Jesus answered, I tell you not 7 14 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:56,000 times, but 77 times. Therefore the Kingdom of heaven 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,720 is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,160 servants. As he began the settlement, a 17 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,360 man who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. 18 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,320 Since he was not able to pay the master order that he and his 19 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:12,640 wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,960 debt. Now that amount that he owed was 21 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:18,760 not something he could ever repay in his lifetime. 22 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:25,880 And it's also interesting how our our debts affect there's a 23 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,000 ripple effect to his wife and children. 24 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,240 Continuing verse 26, the servant fell on his knees before him. 25 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,840 Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. 26 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,160 The servants master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let 27 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,720 him go. But when the servant went out, 28 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,000 he found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,880 denarii, which is not very much. He grabbed him and began to 30 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,000 choke him. Pay back what you owe me, he 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,000 demanded. His fellow servant fell to his 32 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,240 knees and begged him, Be patient with me, and I will pay you 33 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,920 back. But he refused, and said he went 34 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,120 off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,880 debt. When the other servants saw what 36 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,639 had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told 37 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:12,480 their master everything that had happened. 38 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:14,800 Then the master called the servant in. 39 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,680 You, wicked servant, he said. I cancelled all that debt of 40 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,640 yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have mercy on your 41 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:25,400 fellow servant just as I had on you? 42 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,280 In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be 43 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,360 tortured until he should pay back all he owed. 44 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,960 This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless 45 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,160 you forgive your brother. From your heart. 46 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:50,560 Wow, from your heart. Sometimes forgiveness is just 47 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,280 words, but how do we get it from our heart? 48 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:05,800 I think it requires Holy Spirit. So just a couple of points I 49 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,840 want to make on on forgiveness though, is to remember that the 50 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,800 one that gets the most out of forgiveness is the one doing the 51 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:19,320 forgiving. We might think and withholding 52 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,360 forgiveness from another that we are punishing them, but the one 53 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:29,280 suffering the most is ourselves. It's said that unforgiveness is 54 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,680 like drinking poison and hoping that it affects the other 55 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,040 person. Even our secular psychology 56 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,360 talks about the harm that unforgiveness can do to our 57 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,480 physical bodies. It can cause depression. 58 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,360 It can cause anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, all of 59 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:58,490 those things. But when we choose to forgive, 60 00:04:00,330 --> 00:04:05,970 it frees our hearts as well, and it restores the standard of 61 00:04:05,970 --> 00:04:08,530 holiness that's in US and through us. 62 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,920 So I would say that one thing that's the fruit of forgiveness 63 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,840 is peace. Peace in our hearts, peace in 64 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,640 our minds, peace in our relationships. 65 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,560 We heard a testimony of a married couple. 66 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,600 You know, forgiveness in a marriage is critical. 67 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,040 You're doing life together every day. 68 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:42,080 And we aren't perfect. Sometimes we mess up, but 69 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,880 responding in forgiveness. It's a must in a marriage 70 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,280 relationship, but it's also a must in the in the family in the 71 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:55,640 body of Christ. A little earlier in the chapter 72 00:04:55,640 --> 00:05:00,000 18 of Matthew, chapter 18, Jesus lays that kind of a three-step 73 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,480 pattern for approaching someone that's sinned against us or 74 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,440 offended us. You know, go to them, take 75 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,120 someone with you or take it before the church. 76 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,040 And how many times is it just easier to go tell somebody and 77 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,160 say, come with me or to tell everybody versus just going to 78 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:22,800 them one-on-one? And what a beautiful thing. 79 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,160 If we can go to our brothers and sisters in Christ and reconcile 80 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:31,040 with them at a heart level. That's what that's that's what 81 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,680 God always has wanted. And that brings peace in the 82 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,200 body. It brings unity in the body. 83 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,080 Those are all fruits of forgiveness. 84 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,040 I want to read a story. If I can find where it went to, 85 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,480 here it is. For time's sake, I'm going to 86 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,120 read it. And it's not my story. 87 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:52,920 It's actually a Heidi Baker's story. 88 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,680 And As for those of you that don't know where, she's been a 89 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,760 missionary in Mozambique for many years. 90 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,080 And so she writes, I found Louise on the streets. 91 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,800 He was sick and full of anger because he had been burned in 92 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,400 his house, which was a cardboard box, by people who had 93 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,360 previously been his friends. They had poured gasoline on it, 94 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,600 tied him to the cardboard, and lit it on fire, leaving him to 95 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,240 die. He was terribly burned and has 96 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,880 spent many months in a dilapidated local hospital. 97 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,920 He was unhappy and bitter about being treated so horribly. 98 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:31,480 His misery brought him to a place of great brokenness, so 99 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,200 Heidi writes. When I met Louise, I held him in 100 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,640 my arms and told him about Jesus's passionate love. 101 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,640 I invited him to come home and live with us. 102 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,440 At the time, Louise was not very merciful or forgiving. 103 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,400 He made his living by hitting, stealing and knifing people. 104 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:53,080 But I kept telling Louis about this man named Jesus who had 105 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,960 given up his home and riches and walked the streets, the one who 106 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,440 left heaven and came to earth to find him. 107 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,560 Eventually, Louis said I must know this man. 108 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,560 One day Louise came to me and said that he wanted to go to the 109 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,240 streets with me so he could tell the guys who tried to kill him 110 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,960 that he forgave them. I watched Louise pour out 111 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,440 extravagant mercy on many in the streets of Maputo, and I watched 112 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:24,560 the favor of God increase in his broken little life favor, 113 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,920 another fruit of forgiveness. One of our churches at the time 114 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:30,880 was an unconventional congregation. 115 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,920 We met in a brothel to reach prostitutes we worship. 116 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,600 Jesus prayed and simply loved the resident prostitute girls. 117 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,160 However, we weren't seeing a lot of breakthrough in the girls 118 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,800 escaping the cycle of their destructive lifestyles. 119 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,560 Some of these girls were as young as 1011 and 12 years old, 120 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,040 and they were selling their bodies on the street for a 121 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,520 bottle of Coke. I was desperate for Jesus to set 122 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,520 them free while I was on a 40 day fast. 123 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,920 I cried out to God to change the situation. 124 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,080 Shortly after this, the girls fell on their knees during 125 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,280 worship and started screaming. We cannot sell ourselves 126 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:08,840 anymore. I started weeping for joy and 127 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:10,600 asked Jesus what I should do next. 128 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,960 I knew that I could not move the girls into the same center as 129 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,800 the boys and I need to find a church where the pastor would 130 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,720 not fall into temptation. I needed a pastor whose 131 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,000 heartbeat matched Jesus in holiness and purity and who was 132 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,240 free from judgment. After crying out to God, I 133 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,000 looked up and saw Luis praying and worshipping God 134 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,400 wholeheartedly in the dirt. He hadn't finished the pastor's 135 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,600 Bible school because he could not read or write, but he was a 136 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,280 man full of mercy and compassion. 137 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:41,840 Lewis was worshipping with his hands lifted up, adoring the 138 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,960 Lord. I asked him if he would care, if 139 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,600 he would like to care for these girls as a pastor. 140 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,680 He fell apart sobbing, asking if God could give him the privilege 141 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:54,800 and the honor of such a beautiful task. 142 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,040 Kneeling down, he looked up at me and asked, Could God have 143 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,240 such great love to use a man like me? 144 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,240 He had great humility and great love, and he moved to a small 145 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,040 base and began to pastor the girls. 146 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,440 His life was one of love, mercy, and radical forgiveness, and he 147 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,080 chose to walk in ultimate justice, where forgiving and 148 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,840 releasing is the standard of righteousness rather than 149 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:32,010 bitterness and revenge. Sometimes it takes more strength 150 00:09:33,610 --> 00:09:38,570 and courage to forgive than it does to remain bitter and 151 00:09:38,570 --> 00:09:41,360 revengeful. But what a beautiful thing that 152 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:46,840 this man chose to forgive. And the result of that, the Lord 153 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,440 began to open doors for him because the Lord saw his. 154 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,360 He forgave from the heart and the Lord saw his heart. 155 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,440 Sometimes we wonder, Lord, why aren't you opening the next 156 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:56,960 door? Where? 157 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,240 What's the next thing for me? You know, I'm not hearing your 158 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,640 voice. And sometimes we need to go 159 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:04,080 back. And what's the last thing he 160 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,320 told us to do? And sometimes it's we need to 161 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:13,280 forgive. And as Louise forgave, the Lord 162 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,600 used him mightily to minister to these broken little girls. 163 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,680 What an honor. What a beautiful thing. 164 00:10:30,370 --> 00:10:35,650 I also want to share another story and this one, it's pretty 165 00:10:35,650 --> 00:10:40,360 crazy, but you can actually there's a book in the library 166 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,920 bookstore called Breaking the Veil of Silence. 167 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,720 And this there's it's 15 short stories of different people and 168 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:53,040 this gal's story is in there. So in 2013, I went to Cuba and I 169 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,640 was asked to speak at a conference call, Breaking the 170 00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:00,520 Veil of Silence. And most of you know my story. 171 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:06,080 I have a beautiful testimony of how God brought me out of just a 172 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,640 place of brokenness as a result of an abortion decision when I 173 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,240 was a teenager. And so I was there sharing my my 174 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:18,040 testimony as how the Lord broke me free from the shame of 175 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,720 sharing it all the anger, the unforgiveness, the unresolved 176 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,880 grief, all those things. And so I shared it. 177 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,480 And Leanne Goth, it was she hadn't was the one that invited 178 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,320 me in for the conference. She goes, I'd like you to pray 179 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:32,520 with this gal. And her name is Daime. 180 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,000 I'm not breaking confidentiality. 181 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,200 It's in the book. Anyway, so Daime, she brought 182 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,480 her up to me and I put out my hands to grab her hands to pray 183 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,400 for her. And she pulled back and shook 184 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,920 her head and walked away. And Leanne was like, what 185 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,360 happened? And I said I have no idea. 186 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,160 So the next day she came up to me with a translator to tell me 187 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,920 she was sorry but she did not want me to pray with her. 188 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,080 And we really, none of us really knew her story. 189 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:07,200 And that was in March of 2013. I went back the end of the year 190 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:11,560 over the New Year's, so December, January, and I did a 2 191 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:17,240 morning session on teaching the women of Cuba how to minister to 192 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,600 women that had an abortion in Cuba. 193 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,480 Abortion is like their preferred form of birth control and 194 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,800 they've almost all had, well I can't say all but a large 195 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,560 majority has had an abortion and most of them have had multiple. 196 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,240 It was part of the Russian culture that had come into Cuba. 197 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:41,760 So I do the first morning and at the end of the the morning Daime 198 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,680 comes up to my translator which I was shocked she was there too. 199 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,160 She came up to my translator and said, I want to share a 200 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,560 testimony tomorrow morning. And I thought. 201 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,480 We all were like, and I went back and talked to Leanne about 202 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:53,920 it. We're like. 203 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,840 Well, what's this going to be? We had no clue. 204 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,080 Oh, my goodness. So she got up and she shared 205 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:05,520 that next morning how when she was a little girl, her mother 206 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,400 would speak of abortions like they were her heroic acts. 207 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:14,200 And so at age 18, Daime found herself pregnant. 208 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,560 And her boyfriend didn't want her to abort it because they 209 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,400 were going to get married. And and her mother at that point 210 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:24,080 also told her that maybe she should have the baby, but she 211 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:28,240 chose to have an an abortion. And four months later, they got 212 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,440 married. And about six months later, 213 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:35,280 she's discovered she's pregnant. And she doesn't, she doesn't 214 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,480 want to have a baby yet. In her mind, it's like the 215 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,920 economy is bad in Cuba. This wouldn't be a good thing to 216 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,200 do. And so she was trying to keep it 217 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:49,440 a secret that her husband obviously knew that at about 16 218 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,600 weeks, she began to beat her stomach and throw herself 219 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,560 against the counter and against the wall. 220 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,800 And, and she, she hurt herself to the point where she collapsed 221 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:00,960 on the floor and passed out. And she woke up there. 222 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,440 And three days later, she lost the baby. 223 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,760 But she did not tell anyone what she had done. 224 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,200 And so everybody was blaming her husband and, and her mother, and 225 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,280 she just didn't say anything about what had really happened. 226 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:16,840 Well, six months later, she's pregnant again. 227 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,680 She has a little girl and the little girl isn't gaining weight 228 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:23,200 and she starts to beat herself up. 229 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,240 This is all my fault. You know, I, I'm a bad mom. 230 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,800 It's because I had these abortions and there's a curse 231 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,120 over me. And, and those are, I mean, 232 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,080 that's what she was saying. Well, two years later, they have 233 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,880 a little boy and I think around a year they discovered that his, 234 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,760 his cranium hadn't closed properly and needed surgery. 235 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,440 So once again, she falls into this thing of, oh, I'm a bad mom 236 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,480 and this is all my fault and everything. 237 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,240 And over the next three years, she has three more abortions. 238 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:57,360 That's five. And after those, she gets 239 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,480 gloriously saved. She meets Jesus and her family 240 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,600 is doing well and she finds herself pregnant again. 241 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,520 And she feels like this is this is God, though. 242 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:11,520 This is God saying that he he sees me and so they had the 243 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,560 baby. No health problems with this 244 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,280 one. And she says, OK, three 245 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,240 children's enough. I'm going to make sure I don't 246 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,520 have any more. And in the process of that, she 247 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:26,560 discovers she's pregnant again. And she talks to her husband 248 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,800 that that she's not sure she can go through another pregnancy. 249 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:35,080 And between them and her doctor, they have a 6th abortion. 250 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:40,720 And this one was hard because she knew how it was a sin 251 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:47,520 against God. She she was saved and six months 252 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,680 later she's pregnant again. And she has a little boy. 253 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,080 She said she began to hate her fertility. 254 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,160 She's going to hate herself. So they have this fourth child, 255 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,280 the little boy, and at three months old he won't eat. 256 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,640 She has to force feed him. And by the time he's about 15 257 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:07,960 months old, it's clear that he's not developing. 258 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,040 Normally he he doesn't talk at all. 259 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,200 He's completely silent. He sits on the floor and rocks 260 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,040 and if they don't play music, he beats his head against the wall. 261 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,280 And this is the point where I came to Cuba and I'm sharing 262 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,400 about what God's done in my life and, and healing me. 263 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,320 And she's pretty honest that she was mad at me. 264 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:39,600 But she said about she came and heard me. 265 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,160 And then when she went back home, she said three months, 266 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,200 next three months was, she said, just awful. 267 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,480 She said she couldn't eat. She didn't take care of herself. 268 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,240 She didn't do her nails, which in Cuba, it's kind of a big deal 269 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,400 to do your nails. Her marriage was continuing to 270 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,280 fall apart. They would just argue. 271 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,560 And her husband got to the point where he only came home to 272 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,640 change his clothes and sleep. And she said one night, she 273 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,880 cried out to God. And she said, God, I need help. 274 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:09,280 And she said all of a sudden, he started bringing back to her 275 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,240 some things I had shared about forgiveness. 276 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,480 And she thought I've got to go in and forgive my husband. 277 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:20,079 So she went in two in the morning and woke him up and 278 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,440 began to just tell him how sorry she was and asked for his 279 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,000 forgiveness. She said they talked about each 280 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,600 of the abortions. She confessed to him how she had 281 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:34,320 caused the one and he began to share his heart of how he had 282 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:36,000 been hurt and felt about each one. 283 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,240 And she said, I didn't even think he cared. 284 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,880 And so as they began to just share and forgive each other and 285 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,320 reconcile, she said it was she said, I she goes the I've been 286 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,520 telling myself my husband was a bad person, but my husband's a 287 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,200 good person. So that next morning they're in 288 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,640 the kitchen and in walks this little boy that they were 289 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,280 concerned he was autistic and had because he hadn't spoke. 290 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,760 And he walks in and he goes Mama, Dada. 291 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,560 And throughout that day he spoke the names of all the rest of his 292 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:18,280 siblings, she said. She said that day, she said he's 293 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,200 a normal child in every way except he's a little cross eyed. 294 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,920 Forgiveness changed the atmosphere of that home, and it 295 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,120 unlocked healing in that little boy. 296 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,720 I also have to think about how she was so silent about this the 297 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,640 the truth for so long and how it also her little boy was so 298 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:52,320 silent he was locked up as well. In Psalm 32 it says when I kept 299 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,520 silent my bones wasted away. She was wasting away. 300 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,680 But forgiveness broke things open in their home and in their 301 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,640 life. Have one more quick story and 302 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,320 then we'll move into some ministry time and most of you 303 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,720 have probably heard this before. This is a story Pastor Dave 304 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,600 shared before. But there was a gal here for 305 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,520 prayer in the altars one night and she was blind in one eye. 306 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:24,840 She had been, her husband had beat her and in one of time he 307 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,160 hit her and she lost the sight in her eye. 308 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,160 And Pastor Dave tells the story much more dramatically than I 309 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,040 can. You know, he says she he blessed 310 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,160 it and he cursed it and all these things and nothing 311 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,200 happened. So he sent her over to be prayed 312 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,400 for by somebody else. And they, they said, well, they 313 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,720 asked her what happened. And they said, well, have you 314 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,800 forgiven him? And she said, oh, yeah, I did 315 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,080 that years ago. You know, he got saved and he's 316 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,240 with the Lord today. And the person prayed with her, 317 00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:00,400 said let's forgive him again. And as they prayed and she 318 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,680 released him again, her eye began to see. 319 00:20:12,190 --> 00:20:15,590 We just don't know. We just don't know. 320 00:20:15,590 --> 00:20:19,030 And one of the things I want to challenge you with this week is 321 00:20:19,670 --> 00:20:22,790 sometimes we've taken an offence with someone and we just move on 322 00:20:22,790 --> 00:20:25,950 with life. But maybe just ask the Lord, is 323 00:20:25,950 --> 00:20:30,400 there anybody I need to forgive? Is there anybody? 324 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,920 And I, like I've said in the past when I've shared on this, 325 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,080 that doesn't mean you have to go to them and have a long 326 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,480 conversation. They might have forgotten as 327 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,080 well, or maybe they they don't even know they hurt you. 328 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,280 But we can forgive from our hearts without ever going to 329 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,160 them. Hey, thanks for watching. 330 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,480 At Heartland Church, we love to worship the Lord and we love His 331 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,520 Word. In fact, if you could jump on 332 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,840 and subscribe to our YouTube channel, you could make sure 333 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:00,480 that you don't miss any of the services. 334 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,720 We'd love to have you join us live or in person every week. 335 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:05,040 See you next time.