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#Post#: 3100--------------------------------------------------
Coming back Home..
By: Runner Date: January 3, 2013, 11:17 am
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I enjoyed this ... :)
When Wycliffe Bible translator Bob Russell sought a word for
"forgiveness" in the language of the Amahuacas of eastern Peru,
he discovered their unique way of asking one another for pardon.
In that culture, if an offender wants to be reconciled with
someone he’s offended, he says to him, "Speak to me."
Russell learned that Amahuacas who are unreconciled typically
refuse to speak to each other. So when the offender asks the
offended to speak, it’s the equivalent of saying, "Show me we're
friends again by being on speaking terms once more."
The many biblical terms translated in English as "forgive"
reflect a beautiful array of meanings: to cancel debts; to lay
aside or to cast away sins; to spare, to cleanse, to rescue, or
to free the sinner. Yet the Amahuaca expression strikingly
translates what is the most important biblical meaning of God’s
forgiveness—above all, it is a reconciliation, the restoration
of a friendship with Him that has been marred by sin.
The prophet Isaiah put it this way: "Your iniquities have
separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from
you, so that he will not hear" (Isa. 59:2). Our wickedness is an
offense to God’s holiness, and we aren't on "speaking terms"
until the offense is forgiven. But Christ’s sacrifice has made a
way for us to be reconciled.
For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins... Once you were alienated
from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil
behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical
body through death to present you holy in his sight, without
blemish and free from accusation.
Col. 1:13-14, 21-22
The sins that came between God and us can be cast aside so that
we can be friends again.
All other meanings of the word forgiveness must be seen in the
light of this one. As the various biblical terms imply, our
debts have indeed been remitted, our punishment has been
averted, our hearts have been cleansed and set free, our lives
have been spared—and all with a single purpose in mind: that we
might receive the greatest gift of all, to be once again "on
speaking terms" with our Father in heaven.
Like the prodigal son in Jesus' parable, we're relieved to be
swapping our smelly rags for a silken robe and our pigs' pods
for a fat-calf feast (see Lk. 15:11-32). But what could possibly
match the thrill of seeing our Father—the one whose heart we
broke with our sin—running toward us with open arms? He has
welcomed us home again!
#Post#: 3126--------------------------------------------------
Re: Coming back Home..
By: James Date: January 4, 2013, 12:46 pm
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Quote were enemies in your minds...
That hit me, we might ask for forgiveness because we believe
that our God is not speaking to us, but it is not the case. If
the way-would son had been able to see his father he would have
realized that he was speaking volumes in love as he watched
every day for his imminent return. It was while the sons mind
was at enmity with the father that he could not hear love.
'Speak to me' we might say to the Lord, while the truth is he
has never stopped speaking, it is just our minds have stopped us
being able to hear.
James
#Post#: 3129--------------------------------------------------
Re: Coming back Home..
By: Runner Date: January 4, 2013, 5:24 pm
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YES!! Good one James. I so agree...He never stops speaking!
♥
That so reminds me of one of dad's poems that I love so much.
~Out In The Fields~
Out into the fields I went today
For I wanted to hear what God would say
But all I heard was the seagull's cry,
And his plaintive keening haunting by.
I heard the hum of the bustling bee
And the gentle stream crooning pleasantly
But God didn't come to talk to me.
I saw the white clouds in the azure sky
And I felt deep within me that God was nigh.
And I drank deep of the peace that brings
The soothing healing of unknown things,
The uprising spirit that exultant sings.
I watched the butterfly's beauty go
Fluttering, dancing to and fro.
It skimmed the grass top and then would rise
To the dizzy height of my gazing eyes.
The wind came whispering, loitering by
And rocked gently the hovering butterfly
But I did not have a glimpse of Him
Whose hand gently stroked the grasses slim.
Softly I trod to the patient cows
And they lifted their heads and ceased to browse
And watched me with calm and peaceful eyes,
Unmindful of all the invading flies.
And I was at peace yet had not heard
From God to my listening ear a word.
Then into the woodland cool and dim
I wandered and slowly but found not Him.
What was I looking for? Some bright form
Of Him who could still the wind and storm?
But God was standing by every tree
And in every sound He was speaking to me
And revealing Himself in all He'd made
And through them speaking of all he had said
In the streamlet and cloud and butterfly
And the grass and the wind as it rustled by.
I saw His beauty in every place
Wherever it pleased me to turn my face.
And I lifted my head and looked at the sky,
Criss-crossed by the trees that were standing by
And I sang in the knowledge that He was nigh
And that He was speaking each long day through
In a language that those who sought Him knew
And revealing Himself in all He had made
And speaking to me of all He had said.
~ Hugh Alexander~
~1908 - 1998~
#Post#: 3135--------------------------------------------------
Re: Coming back Home..
By: Laurie Date: January 5, 2013, 7:07 am
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That poem really blessed me, H.....took me back to a place and
time 30 years ago...and several since.
[quote=James]it is just our minds have stopped us being able to
hear.[/quote]
Dozens of good lessons could be written and told from that
truth.
#Post#: 3138--------------------------------------------------
Re: Coming back Home..
By: laterunner Date: January 5, 2013, 9:27 am
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Good one runner, thanks for that.
James as you say He speaks all the time but we seem to br rarely
in ". Tune "
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