In Matthew 18:28, Jesus continues with the parable saying, “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’”

Do we show the same grace and mercy that has been shown to us for all that we’ve done against the will of God? Often, when we get into desperate situations, we try to find anyone who owes us a debt and we attempt to collect from them. We can be very harsh, demeaning and in many cases, worse than non-believers. The worse part is, that person owes us or wronged us is much less than what we have done to someone else. We can be so mean and vengeful to people when it is something pertaining to us while we always expect mercy and grace to be granted to us. Jesus commanded us to “do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” (Matthew 7:12 NLT) We should not be so harsh and disrespectful with others. Remember, God forgave us of our evil desires, wicked hearts and disrespectful nature towards Him. It is only right that we extended the same grace, mercy and peace of God to everyone whether they have wronged us or not; especially those who are yet to know Jesus Christ personally.

In Matthew 16:7, after Jesus warns the disciples about the Pharisees, they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

Although this statement amongst the disciples may be a bit humorous, it is also sad and describes our lives. Our minds are always preoccupied by the current state of our conditions that we may completely miss what God has to say to us. How many miracles and wonderful works has God worked in our lives? How many times has He kept us safe? He has delivered us out out of trouble over and over. Yet, it always seems to go right out the window when we are faced with uncertainty or adversity. It may be the loss of a job, a death in the family, or a mortgage that needs to be paid. There are so many different situations that occur in our lives. I know it happens to me many times. Then while I’m frantic and worrying, God tells me not to worry; He’s got it covered. Just recently, we were trying to figure out how we would solve a transportation issue for our vacation. Imagine that! Worrying about vacation. As usual, God gave the perfect solution at the perfect time because He is perfect. That is such a small example but it shows how God cares about the smallest details of our lives and wants to take care of those issues as well. Praise the Lord for His mercy. Thank God for His compassion. He is so patient with us. As He slowly refines our lives, being the great master potter that He is, He takes our worry, our thoughts, and other works of the flesh away from us and adds love, mercy, and compassion in our lives. The more we allow God to work in us, the more He transforms us into the image of His son Jesus Christ.

Fighting and going against God is so tiring and is a fight that we will never win. He wants to love us and take care of us. If anyone is yet to turn their life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, let today be the day! Ask Him into your heart and let Him do the mighty work He so desperately wants to do! Receive His precious salvation!

Have we left our first love? Many times we get so busy being involved in serving the Lord that we forget all about loving the Lord. Then whatever it is that we do becomes a burden for us and we feel the weight of the world upon us. This is how the enemy traps us. We end up Being Under Satan’s Yoke. Have we left our first love? Join us in this special message directly from the heart of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Deliver on how much He loves us and desires us to return back to Him, our first love.

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

Revelation 2:1-7

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

² “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. ³ You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
⁴ “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! ⁵ Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. ⁶ But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
⁷ “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.”

2 Kings 3:3-14

³ Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. ⁴ The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. ⁵ That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

⁶ Solomon replied, “You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued your faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

⁷ “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. ⁸ And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! ⁹ Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. ¹¹ So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—¹² I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! ¹³ And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! ¹⁴ And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 5:6-11

⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Philippians 1:6

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

The question always arises “what do I need to do to be a perfect Christian?” I am sure many people have a plethora of answers on what it takes to be a perfect Christian. All these answers are the cause of denominational outbursts. Every time we disagree with what one another says or believes (in how to live the Christian life), we create our own brand new, hot off the press denomination to do what we want to do. Not only this is dangerous but it is also selfish. Religion is the biggest separation between man and God. Look at how separated the Pharisees were from God, yet they were very religious.  The separation happens because man moves away, but God always remains in the same spot. The wall that Christ destroyed between Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised, and all the other methods of separation, man is trying to build back in Christianity. Once we allow religion to separate us from men, we then become separated from God. God wants us to have fellowship with one another. Also, the danger of this separation allows the enemy to make his way in and devour our souls.

The selfishness that occurs due to our weak knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is caused by a lack of communication with God. We may say that we pray every day, but my beloved, what are we praying for? Are we praying for the truth of God to be revealed in us so we can preach the word of God throughout the world? Or are we praying to worldly satisfaction? Do we want people to do everything the way we want it done because we are the perfect Christians? I say assuredly, when we continue to pray to God for something He does not want to give us, He eventually may allow us to obtain it, but it will also come with the consequences of why God didn’t want to grant that prayer request. Let us not blame the Lord for our selfishness.

This denomination outburst is incredible. We have become so divided in order to have a higher place so in this world to say we are doing the will of God. The commandments of Jesus Christ were to “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Our selfishness causes us to be divided; we are unwilling to accept one another. We are so stiff-necked and hard-hearted. We all want the Word to conform to our lives and to be shaped around our selfish nature. We must shape our lives around the Word of God so it can mold us into His perfect image.

I have seen so many denominations of Christianity that will not even listen, let alone acknowledge another denomination because they do not do the same things or follow the same rituals that they do. We all want to have people convert to our denomination by teaching why our denomination is better than all the other ones, but where is the Word of God? Where is the encouragement to love brothers and sisters and to tend to the lost sheep? Yet we keep statistics of how many converts we make, and how many members we have, how much money we raise, building projects, and all this worldly information so we may boast. This information is not for the Lord because He already knows! Why does it matter how many members a church has or how many people converted?

Speaking to a Catholic relative the other day, she told me the Catholic Church is the ONLY church because it is the “universal” church and is the church that Simon Peter established. I say assuredly, the ONLY church is the Church that the Lord Jesus Christ established. That is the universal church. What we label a church is not what makes it the Church of Christ, it is what our spirits put into it and what our spirits get out of it that makes it the church. Whether we are Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or any other denomination of Christianity, we are ALL baptized by the SAME Holy Spirit and none of us is any different from the other. To be a Christian, we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do not trust Him, rely upon Him, cling onto Him, knowing that He died for our sins, but rose again on the third day by the power of God the Father, and have the assurance of salvation, that we will be with Him in eternity, we are not yet a true Christian. We are just going along with the label. Whatever denomination we claim, the ONLY thing that truly matters is that we preach the Word of God and we live accordingly to the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. Assuredly, if we want to stand to worship, sit to worship, wear earrings or not wear earrings, hats or not hats, sneakers or shoes, and the list can go on and on, do it for the glory of God. Just love the Lord and praise God for giving us life! Don’t let petty rituals and religion get in the way of the loving relationship we have with our Savior, our Comforter, our Friend, our Protector, our Provider, our Messiah, our Christ, our Lord, OUR GOD!!!

In Romans 14:1 the apostle Paul writes “As FOR the man who is a weak believer, welcome him [into your fellowship], but not to criticize his opinions or pass judgment on his scruples or perplex him with discussions.” (Amplified Bible)

Who are we to say a person is a weak believer and tell them how they serve the Lord is wrong? Let the Lord guide them as we unite with them in fellowship. Let us not cause brothers and sisters to fall because we do not agree with their methods. The way they serve may bring them closer to God the same way we serve brings us closer to God. If the way we serve doesn’t bring us closer to God, maybe we are really the weak believer and should be the one asking for their guidance.

I actually have an answer to the opening question “how to be a perfect Christian?” The answer is simple. The Lord Jesus Christ answered it to for us two thousand years ago. If someone disagrees, you are not disagreeing with me because I didn’t say it; I’m just quoting my Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. The answer is to love God with your all and ask Him to let the Holy Spirit guide us. Once we have truly opened our hearts and accepted the Holy Spirit, it will unite us with our brothers and sisters covered by the blood of Jesus Christ regardless of which denomination of Christianity we belong to. Let the labels not divide us, but let Christ unite us! We shall speak out on what is against the will of God, provide support for the body of Christ, helping each other grow in truth accepting each other’s differences, so in all ways we can glorify Christ, our Savior and King.

In Matthew 10:40, Jesus is near the end of His instructions to the disciples before sending them out and He says to them, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Now, my beloved, let us not be selfish, but be filled with loving hearts, compassion, forgiveness, and receiving everyone. Remember Jesus said what we do to the least, we also do it onto Him. We must not gossip and have hate filled hearts towards one another. We cannot say we love Jesus but hate everyone else. If we love Jesus, we must love and care for everyone else and if we hate everyone who displeases us, we also hate Jesus. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we were filled with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which never departs from us. The love that was shown to us and for us on the cross must be reflected through each second of our lives receiving our brothers and sisters, sitting them down at our tables, loving one another as Christ first loved us.

One of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard starts with “Everyone needs compassion, love that’s never failing,” and continues with “Everyone needs forgiveness, the kindness of a Savior.” This song has truly touched me. So many times, we go through live with an unforgiving heavy heart.

Relationships in families, marriages, friendships and so much more can be ruined with lack of forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of the key elements in life. Being that NOBODY is perfect, when you make a mistake, you expect to be forgiven, so why must you be unforgiving?   After all, Jesus was crucified on a cross to forgive us of our sins so we can live eternally; so how can we not forgive others? Can we really say a person has caused us more pain than the pain Jesus went through for our sins?

Matthew 18:21-22 reads ²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Jesus will forgive us as many times as it takes to get it right! As hurt as you may be, we must be forgiving, compassionate, loving, and accepting of the faults and flaws of the people we love. It is what strengthens us in Christ. Holding a grudge hurts you more than the person who has wronged you.

So many relationships suffer because both parties are unwilling to accept the fact that humans make mistakes. Instead of working through the rough times, they abandon the ship and dwell on the pain instead of aspiring to work together and progress.

In my line of work, there is something called regression testing. That is when you go back to check if the prior mistakes have been corrected. This should not apply to relationships.  One of the worst things to do is bring up prior incidents and situations. That is not really forgiveness. That is just collecting leverage to use against a person when future mistakes are made.

Pure forgiveness is acknowledging that although something has occurred, it will NOT tear our relationship apart. We can talk through it, and work together to leave it behind us. Nothing is too big to accomplish through Christ.

I am not saying to allow yourself to be a doormat and have people walk all over you; you must carry your faith strongly. However, you must remember that we all fall, and just as Jesus was there to extend his hands to save the disciples on drowning, He will reach out His hands to pick us up when we fall down; you must be willing to do the same for the people you love.

If we walk with compassion, understanding, love, and forgiveness, none being greater than the other, then we can be that brightly shining light in the lives of others that allows them to know we are all human, and you will be there for them to love and forgive them just as our Savior is there to do the same for us.