13.07.2015 Views

Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

He resists <strong>the</strong> proud…and He does not forgive unforgiveness.F<strong>in</strong>ally, I saw that God had mercy, grace, and forgiveness for mys<strong>in</strong> but not for my pride. The Bible doesn’t say that God resists<strong>the</strong> s<strong>in</strong>ner, but that “God resists <strong>the</strong> proud….” (1 Peter 5:5) Hehas made provision for <strong>the</strong> s<strong>in</strong>ner: “If we will confess our s<strong>in</strong>s, heis faithful and just to forgive us our s<strong>in</strong>s, and to cleanse us from allunrighteousness.” (I John 1:9) I knew that. I had proven that —<strong>the</strong> forgiveness of God for s<strong>in</strong>. Now I had proven <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r pr<strong>in</strong>ciple:God resists <strong>the</strong> proud. The remedy for that condition is to“Humble yourselves <strong>the</strong>refore under <strong>the</strong> mighty hand of God.”(1 Pet 5:6)I will leave this to <strong>the</strong> reader to decide. Observe your own lifeand <strong>the</strong> lives of o<strong>the</strong>rs. God completely forgets and wipes outsome s<strong>in</strong>s, but o<strong>the</strong>rs, He doesn’t. One s<strong>in</strong> He does not forgive isunforgiveness. It is po<strong>in</strong>tless to try to enter <strong>the</strong> presence of God,while hold<strong>in</strong>g hatred and bitterness <strong>in</strong> our hearts towards ourbro<strong>the</strong>r or sister. He will not receive us. And we will receive noth<strong>in</strong>gfrom Him because <strong>the</strong>re is no forgiveness for unforgiveness.Until you forgive, as Jesus said, nei<strong>the</strong>r will your heavenly Fa<strong>the</strong>rforgive you. “But if ye forgive not men <strong>the</strong>ir trespasses, nei<strong>the</strong>rwill your Fa<strong>the</strong>r forgive your trespasses.” (Matt 6:15) I had failed<strong>in</strong> this regard when a bro<strong>the</strong>r who I despised delivered <strong>the</strong> Wordof God to me.I don’t reject letters because <strong>the</strong> postman has mud on his trousers.Maybe he has been out <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> wea<strong>the</strong>r and is wet and muddy,not clean and tidy. Maybe he isn’t as smart as I would like him tobe. Maybe he has crawled through <strong>the</strong> fence and has torn hiscloth<strong>in</strong>g. We don’t reject <strong>the</strong> letters because he is a mess. Obviously,we make a dist<strong>in</strong>ction between <strong>the</strong> message and <strong>the</strong> messenger.In this case, though, I hadn’t.By <strong>the</strong> grace of God, I did br<strong>in</strong>g forth fruit unto repentance. In away, also by <strong>the</strong> grace of God, I made it up to <strong>the</strong> schoolgirl whohad a crush on me. On a bus trip to <strong>the</strong> seaside one day soonafterward, I <strong>in</strong>tentionally placed that girl beside a particular youngman. They have been married many years now and have grownsons — <strong>the</strong> happy end of this story.95

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!