い
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>> Welcome back to It Is Written
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Canada.
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Thank you for joining us.
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Having been born in South
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Africa, whenever anyone mentions
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Robben Island, I think of
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Nelson Mandela.
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Robben Island was where Nelson
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Mandela spent 27 years
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in prison.
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A number of years ago, Mike and
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I got to look into the room
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where Nelson Mandela was
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imprisoned.
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You probably know he was
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released from prison and became
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the president of South Africa.
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Many people around the world
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were expecting a bloodbath,
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a revolution in South Africa.
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Revenge.
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But instead, Nelson Mandela
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But instead, Nelson Mandela
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had a special seat reserved at
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his inauguration and it was for
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his inauguration and it was for
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his jailer, Christo Brand.
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Nelson Mandela said this...
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Friends, forgiveness is
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medicine.
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Forgiveness is the remedy
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for healing the sin-sick,
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shame-soaked soul.
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Dr. Frederic Luskin, the
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director of the Stanford
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University Forgiveness Project,
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sees forgiveness as
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living the life
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you didn't choose.
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Mike is now going to share how
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he discovered what it meant when
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we say that forgiveness is a
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choice to live the life
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you didn't choose.
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[theme music playing]
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い
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[pensive music playing]
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い
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[MIKE] Here is me as a small
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child, four years old, ready to
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play baseball with my brothers,
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clinging to a baseball bat that
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is way too big for me to handle.
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I always ask people if
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they think that I look happy
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in that photograph.
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in that photograph.
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It's true I'm smiling in this
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photograph, but in fact, I was
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suffering a very deep wound
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to my four-year-old heart.
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To understand the source of that
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wound, I have to take you back
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in time and introduce you to
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my mother's childhood.
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My mother was one of two girls.
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She was the eldest.
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[gentle piano music playing]
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I can remember my grandmother
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I can remember my grandmother
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as being very tough.
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Having grown up in a farm, she
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had these muscular arms
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like a man.
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She really had to be tough
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because she didn't have
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an easy life.
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Her first husband was
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not a faithful man, and
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his absence from the home
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had really affected my mother
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because that was her father.
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She always seemed to battle with
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what I referred to as the demons
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of depression.
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She felt like she was never
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good enough.
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She couldn't make herself look
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good enough or feel good enough.
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It's strange how these kinds of
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wounds in childhood can leave
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lasting scars that affect your
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emotional and psychological
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state, sometimes throughout your
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entire life.
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My mother was really looking
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for love.
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And I don't know how they met...
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...but here's a photograph of
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...but here's a photograph of
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my mom and dad on their
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wedding day.
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And again, they they both look
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happy in the photograph.
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I'm sure, and perhaps they were,
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I'm sure, and perhaps they were,
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but a happy wedding day does not
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always mean a happy marriage.
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A number of years ago,
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I came across a quote
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that helped me see how
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the enemy of souls, of all of
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our souls is behind unhappy
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marriages.
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Here's the quote.
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Of course, the quote
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makes sense.
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If you think about it,
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society is based
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on the family
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and if there is great
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unhappiness inside the home,
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which is what Satan wants,
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then he attacks the home.
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And within a few short years,
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my parents, they had three boys,
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my brothers, and seven years
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later I was born.
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They say I was a blue baby.
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I was a sickly baby.
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I didn't get enough air.
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I was...
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...I was born into this home
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of angry words.
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My dad had embraced his bottle
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of booze, and my mum's mind was
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always battling those demons
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of depression.
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Not exactly Paradise.
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I often say that my
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childhood home,
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like too many others,
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could be correctly characterized
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by one word, and that's the
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word, "dysfunctional," which
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many people think means "not
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functional," but dysfunctional
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rather means functioning
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in pain.
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It's like when you go through
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the day wearing a tight pair of
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shoes, they're too tight for
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your feet, and the pain subsides
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only when the shoes come off.
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However, like many children
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in this kind of home, I was not
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able to escape my prison of pain
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as a child, and I found myself
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suffering incessant sickness.
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High fevers, headaches, coughs,
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colds, infectious mononucleosis,
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tonsillitis, meningitis.
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I was in and out of hospital
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all my childhood.
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And shortly after I turned three
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years old, my mom decided to
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leave her unhappy marriage.
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She packed us all onto a train
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in Sudbury, Ontario, where I was
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in Sudbury, Ontario, where I was
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born, and from there
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we travelled to Regina,
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Saskatchewan where my
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grandmother lived, where her
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mother lived.
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That was a very long
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journey indeed.
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My mom said that I was
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very sick.
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I threw up the entire journey,
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and she had this new coat that
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she had got from my dad...
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...and she said it was a
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terrible journey.
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But finally we arrived at my
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grandmother's house.
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My mom and
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us four boys, but
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my mom soon found out that she
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was not able to take care of
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all of us.
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And one day she took us
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on a car ride
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to a place called The Orange
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to a place called The Orange
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Home, in an orphanage.
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There was an orphanage there in
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Indian Head, Saskatchewan.
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Today, it's no longer an
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orphanage.
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The buildings are still there,
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but it's a personal care home
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called Hayes Haven.
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I remember the day
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so well.
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There were lots of children all
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playing outside and
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playing outside and
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soon I joined in.
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We were kicking a soccer ball
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around, we were running around
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the swings and just having fun.
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It was such an exciting day.
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But when the sun set and they
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called all of us children in,
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I turned to find my mother
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and they told me that this was
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now going to be my new home.
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And my mother
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had left us
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had left us
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there at the orphanage.
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And so I felt essentially
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And so I felt essentially
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abandoned on my own at that
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orphanage from the age of three
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until I was 16.
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And some people ask if I ever
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saw my mother or my brothers
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again, and yes, we did.
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We usually, it was on holidays
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like Christmas when we all were
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like Christmas when we all were
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able to get together and get on
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a Greyhound bus and go to Regina
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and see our mother for
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those holidays.
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After 13 years
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living in an orphanage,
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I was really
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a bitter teenager.
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And I really didn't realize what
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I was doing at the time, but I
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began to try and numb the pain,
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anaesthetize the pain with
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alcohol and with other
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substances.
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substances.
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When I was ten years old, still
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living at the orphanage, my
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eldest brother Joe was killed in
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a tractor accident.
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He was 18 years old at the time,
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and Joe's death was like an
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explosion that went off
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in my chest, in my heart.
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I was standing there, I remember
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standing at his casket at-
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standing at his casket at-
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and it was open, he was there.
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And seeing him lying there
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almost crushed the life out of
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me, it almost crushed the life
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out of my brothers.
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And it certainly crushed the
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life out of my mother because
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six years later, when I was 16,
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my mother, who was battling
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with those demons of depression
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her entire life,
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she died by suicide.
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So this is where my grandmother
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stepped forward.
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At the age of 16,
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I had
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not yet finished high school,
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and so my grandmother suggested
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and so my grandmother suggested
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that I finish my high school
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education at a Christian
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boarding school, a school in
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Lacombe, Alberta.
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Lacombe, Alberta.
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And it was there that I was
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introduced to
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the Bible.
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Someone handed me
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his own Bible
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and he said, "Here, take it!
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This book will change
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your life."
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And then he said to me,
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"If you promise to read
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one chapter a day,
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you can have my Bible."
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And I really didn't want to take
00:11:33.69\00:11:34.99
it, but I wanted my life
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to change.
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And so I took that Bible
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and I did what he said.
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I read at least a chapter a day
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and it was true.
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He told me to pray
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before I opened the Bible,
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and I think that's a very
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good practice, because
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what was in this book
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was spiritual
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and you need to ask God to
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give you spiritual understanding
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to be able to understand
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the Bible.
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And he was right.
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Reading the Bible completely
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changed my life.
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No one can seriously read
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the Bible and pray
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and not be changed
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by God.
00:12:17.97\00:12:18.97
This book changes
00:12:18.97\00:12:20.90
people's lives.
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So right here
00:12:23.04\00:12:24.94
in the Bible
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is where
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I learned about forgiveness.
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And what did I learn?
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I learned that, number one,
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forgiveness is a choice
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to live the life
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I didn't choose.
00:12:38.82\00:12:40.96
So Jesus turned to His disciples
00:12:40.96\00:12:43.96
and He said...
00:12:43.96\00:12:45.26
But then he said...
00:12:49.73\00:12:50.97
So what's fascinating is that
00:13:14.72\00:13:17.29
when the disciples were
00:13:17.29\00:13:18.89
commanded to heal the sick,
00:13:18.89\00:13:20.96
to restore the strength
00:13:20.96\00:13:22.66
of lame limbs,
00:13:22.66\00:13:23.83
to give sight to blind eyes, and
00:13:23.83\00:13:26.84
hearing to deaf ears,
00:13:26.84\00:13:29.54
all through the miracle working
00:13:29.54\00:13:31.14
power of depending upon Jesus,
00:13:31.14\00:13:32.94
not once is it recorded
00:13:32.94\00:13:35.88
that the disciples asked Jesus
00:13:35.88\00:13:38.18
to increase their faith.
00:13:38.18\00:13:40.52
But when they're asked to
00:13:41.55\00:13:43.52
forgive someone who
00:13:43.52\00:13:45.72
sins against them
00:13:45.72\00:13:46.92
seven times in a day,
00:13:46.92\00:13:49.22
then they ask Him, "Lord,
00:13:49.22\00:13:51.19
increase our faith."
00:13:51.19\00:13:53.19
So think about it.
00:13:53.19\00:13:54.56
Your neighbour knocks on the
00:13:54.56\00:13:56.77
front door to tell you,
00:13:56.77\00:13:59.10
"Hey...
00:13:59.10\00:14:00.64
...I'm so sorry, but I...
00:14:00.64\00:14:03.61
...I was parking my car
00:14:03.61\00:14:05.31
and I accidentally bumped into
00:14:05.31\00:14:07.38
your SUV."
00:14:07.38\00:14:08.81
So as an apprentice of Jesus,
00:14:09.71\00:14:12.81
you take down the details of his
00:14:12.81\00:14:15.08
insurance and he signs a
00:14:15.08\00:14:17.19
statement saying that
00:14:17.19\00:14:18.39
the accident was
00:14:18.39\00:14:19.92
entirely his fault
00:14:19.92\00:14:22.46
and you forgive him.
00:14:22.46\00:14:23.46
It's not easy, but you do.
00:14:23.46\00:14:26.13
Now get this, an hour later, he
00:14:27.23\00:14:29.23
shows up again at your door and
00:14:29.23\00:14:31.03
he knocks at the door and he
00:14:31.03\00:14:32.43
asks you for your forgiveness
00:14:32.43\00:14:35.10
because this time, when he was
00:14:35.10\00:14:37.74
pulling out of his driveway, he
00:14:37.74\00:14:39.87
scrapes the entire side
00:14:39.87\00:14:41.51
of your car.
00:14:41.51\00:14:43.68
Again, he signs a statement
00:14:43.68\00:14:45.75
saying that the accident was all
00:14:45.75\00:14:48.25
his responsibility.
00:14:48.25\00:14:49.78
And as an apprentice of Jesus,
00:14:49.78\00:14:51.62
you forgive him.
00:14:51.62\00:14:52.42
It's not easy, but you do.
00:14:52.42\00:14:54.02
And this time, it only takes
00:14:55.82\00:14:58.66
your neighbour half an hour
00:14:58.66\00:15:00.83
to scrape the entire side of the
00:15:00.83\00:15:03.20
other side of the car.
00:15:03.20\00:15:04.40
And...
00:15:04.40\00:15:05.70
...this is only
00:15:05.70\00:15:07.84
three times.
00:15:07.84\00:15:09.17
And Jesus commanded His
00:15:09.17\00:15:11.21
disciples, "If your neighbour
00:15:11.21\00:15:13.38
sins against you seven times in
00:15:13.38\00:15:16.34
a day and seven times in a day,
00:15:16.34\00:15:18.21
returns to you, saying,
00:15:18.21\00:15:20.05
'I repent,'
00:15:20.05\00:15:21.55
you shall forgive him."
00:15:21.55\00:15:23.72
Three times in a day would be
00:15:25.19\00:15:26.92
pushing the friendship, but
00:15:26.92\00:15:28.19
seven times in one day?
00:15:28.19\00:15:30.39
Now you know why the apostles
00:15:32.29\00:15:35.10
said to the Lord,
00:15:35.10\00:15:36.90
"Increase our faith."
00:15:36.90\00:15:38.60
Forgiveness is way beyond
00:15:38.60\00:15:41.20
human nature.
00:15:41.20\00:15:42.20
Yet He assures us that by
00:15:51.05\00:15:53.05
depending on the faith that He
00:15:53.05\00:15:55.65
provides to enable you and me,
00:15:55.65\00:15:58.75
us to forgive, we can do it.
00:15:58.75\00:16:01.29
So what is forgiveness?
00:16:02.92\00:16:04.36
It's giving up believing
00:16:12.80\00:16:14.54
that your past will change.
00:16:14.54\00:16:15.90
It's not gonna change; your past
00:16:15.90\00:16:18.01
happened and no amount of
00:16:18.01\00:16:20.04
wishing it away or resenting it
00:16:20.04\00:16:22.41
away or holding onto the pain
00:16:22.41\00:16:25.41
and letting it control you
00:16:25.41\00:16:28.22
will ever make it better.
00:16:28.22\00:16:30.42
True forgiveness is a conscious,
00:16:31.55\00:16:33.69
deliberate decision to release
00:16:33.69\00:16:36.06
a spirit of revenge.
00:16:36.06\00:16:38.56
And feelings of resentment
00:16:40.36\00:16:42.76
towards a person or a group
00:16:42.76\00:16:44.93
who has harmed you, regardless
00:16:44.93\00:16:47.44
of whether they actually deserve
00:16:47.44\00:16:49.44
your forgiveness.
00:16:49.44\00:16:50.81
But it's not fair.
00:16:52.01\00:16:53.78
So here's the objection that
00:16:54.81\00:16:56.44
naturally arises from the human
00:16:56.44\00:16:59.31
heart: "But it's not fair.
00:16:59.31\00:17:01.25
Why should I be the one to
00:17:01.25\00:17:03.32
forgive when I am the one who
00:17:03.32\00:17:05.22
has been wronged?
00:17:05.22\00:17:06.59
They didn't suffer the way that
00:17:07.46\00:17:08.99
they made me suffer.
00:17:08.99\00:17:10.63
So it's not fair."
00:17:10.63\00:17:12.29
You know what I do whenever I
00:17:14.10\00:17:15.26
hear this objection, I ask this
00:17:15.26\00:17:17.13
question: If someone stabbed you
00:17:17.13\00:17:19.40
with a knife...
00:17:19.40\00:17:20.60
...would you want the doctor
00:17:21.60\00:17:22.94
to treat your wounds
00:17:22.94\00:17:25.17
and stop the bleeding?
00:17:25.17\00:17:27.31
Or would you complain, why do I
00:17:27.31\00:17:29.44
have to go to the doctor?
00:17:29.44\00:17:31.28
It's not fair.
00:17:31.28\00:17:32.55
Why should I be the one to
00:17:32.55\00:17:34.25
receive medical attention when I
00:17:34.25\00:17:36.18
am the one who has been wronged?
00:17:36.18\00:17:38.49
They didn't suffer the way that
00:17:38.49\00:17:39.65
they made me suffer."
00:17:39.65\00:17:41.32
So when people start to
00:17:42.96\00:17:44.06
understand that forgiveness is
00:17:44.06\00:17:45.89
the only path of healing,
00:17:45.89\00:17:48.66
then the light comes on.
00:17:48.66\00:17:49.96
Forgiveness truly is the only
00:17:49.96\00:17:52.20
mechanism for rooting out the
00:17:52.20\00:17:54.07
bitterness, the resentment,
00:17:54.07\00:17:55.94
the anger
00:17:55.94\00:17:57.17
that is within your heart...
00:17:57.17\00:17:59.04
...and the heart of anyone who
00:18:00.51\00:18:02.41
has been hurt by another person.
00:18:02.41\00:18:04.58
I was able to let go
00:18:05.98\00:18:07.42
of my bitterness...
00:18:07.42\00:18:08.88
...towards and forgiveness
00:18:10.05\00:18:12.12
of my mom and my dad
00:18:12.12\00:18:14.39
for the abandonment
00:18:14.39\00:18:16.46
and for their divorce.
00:18:16.46\00:18:18.16
And I was also- this is the
00:18:19.23\00:18:20.93
strangest thing, you know,
00:18:20.93\00:18:22.73
when you're a child, you think
00:18:22.73\00:18:25.27
that you're to blame for all
00:18:25.27\00:18:26.74
these bad things that happened
00:18:26.74\00:18:28.24
in your life.
00:18:28.24\00:18:29.07
And this was the hardest person
00:18:29.07\00:18:30.47
to forgive- myself.
00:18:30.47\00:18:32.27
I was also able to forgive all
00:18:33.54\00:18:35.34
those who hurt me.
00:18:35.34\00:18:36.81
When I read in the Bible the
00:18:39.15\00:18:42.18
account of when Jesus was
00:18:42.18\00:18:44.02
nailed to the cross
00:18:44.02\00:18:46.42
and my Savior said these words,
00:18:46.42\00:18:49.19
"Father, forgive them,
00:18:49.19\00:18:51.19
for they do not know
00:18:51.19\00:18:53.66
what they are doing."
00:18:53.66\00:18:54.96
That's when I realized
00:18:55.90\00:18:58.47
that God's reply
00:18:58.47\00:19:01.00
is always,
00:19:01.00\00:19:02.70
"I forgive you."
00:19:02.70\00:19:04.81
Actually, we were forgiven
00:19:05.91\00:19:08.98
before we asked.
00:19:08.98\00:19:10.61
God doesn't have to let go.
00:19:11.61\00:19:13.75
The Bible affirms this
00:19:14.88\00:19:16.28
The Bible affirms this
00:19:16.28\00:19:16.75
when it says...
00:19:16.75\00:19:18.12
He reads our hearts, but He
00:19:26.26\00:19:26.90
He reads our hearts, but He
00:19:26.90\00:19:27.76
knows how weak we are and how we
00:19:27.76\00:19:30.07
need forgiveness.
00:19:30.07\00:19:31.30
The problem is...
00:19:31.30\00:19:32.67
...the problem is that we have
00:19:33.30\00:19:35.40
been deceived about God's
00:19:35.40\00:19:37.37
forgiving nature.
00:19:37.37\00:19:40.01
How many times have we been
00:19:40.01\00:19:41.68
reluctant to come to God because
00:19:41.68\00:19:44.45
we fear that He is angry
00:19:44.45\00:19:46.41
with us?
00:19:46.41\00:19:47.55
Or He won't forgive us,
00:19:48.72\00:19:50.49
even if we do ask?
00:19:50.49\00:19:53.32
And how many times
00:19:53.32\00:19:54.99
has that attitude
00:19:54.99\00:19:57.56
kept us from forgiving others
00:19:57.56\00:19:58.89
kept us from forgiving others
00:19:58.89\00:20:00.60
who have hurt us?
00:20:00.60\00:20:02.83
When I realize that God forgives
00:20:02.83\00:20:05.73
so freely, I asked myself,
00:20:05.73\00:20:06.53
so freely, I asked myself,
00:20:06.53\00:20:08.50
who am I not to do the same?
00:20:08.50\00:20:11.61
Some people have said to me, "I
00:20:12.67\00:20:14.68
can never forgive, because
00:20:14.68\00:20:17.15
holding on to my anger makes me
00:20:17.15\00:20:19.71
stronger and less vulnerable."
00:20:19.71\00:20:22.18
They just don't want to
00:20:23.32\00:20:24.25
appear weak.
00:20:24.25\00:20:25.29
So I have to ask the question,
00:20:25.29\00:20:26.99
is that really true?
00:20:26.99\00:20:29.59
So imagine with me
00:20:30.73\00:20:33.09
for a moment
00:20:33.09\00:20:34.50
that you take a trip to a
00:20:34.50\00:20:36.63
tropical island where the sun is
00:20:36.63\00:20:39.17
blistering hot and you go down
00:20:39.17\00:20:41.50
to the beach and you fall asleep
00:20:41.50\00:20:43.54
for a couple of hours.
00:20:43.54\00:20:45.04
And when you wake up...
00:20:45.04\00:20:46.71
...you are burned.
00:20:47.94\00:20:49.14
You have sunburn.
00:20:49.14\00:20:51.31
And you quickly run
00:20:51.31\00:20:53.78
to where you stay and you
00:20:53.78\00:20:55.58
get inside with the air
00:20:55.58\00:20:56.79
conditioning and you try to get
00:20:56.79\00:20:58.55
comfortable, and you get behind
00:20:58.55\00:20:59.95
your computer and you start
00:20:59.95\00:21:01.59
doing some work, and you just
00:21:01.59\00:21:02.82
want everyone to leave
00:21:02.82\00:21:04.19
you alone.
00:21:04.19\00:21:05.63
And while you are working,
00:21:05.63\00:21:07.66
your child, little child, he
00:21:07.66\00:21:09.63
comes up behind you and he
00:21:09.63\00:21:10.73
wants to play with you and he
00:21:10.73\00:21:12.93
jumps on your back and he starts
00:21:12.93\00:21:14.90
saying, "Daddy, Daddy,
00:21:14.90\00:21:16.20
let's play!"
00:21:16.20\00:21:17.07
What do you do?
00:21:17.07\00:21:18.57
Will you scream?
00:21:18.57\00:21:19.57
You say, "Ouch!
00:21:19.57\00:21:21.41
Please get off of me!
00:21:21.41\00:21:23.24
Daddy's back is hurting.
00:21:23.24\00:21:25.18
I can't play right now.
00:21:25.18\00:21:26.68
Please go and play with Mommy."
00:21:26.68\00:21:28.58
And so you try to settle down
00:21:30.25\00:21:32.12
and get comfortable again and
00:21:32.12\00:21:33.49
you're just in pain.
00:21:33.49\00:21:34.82
And you continue working at
00:21:34.82\00:21:36.06
your computer until your
00:21:36.06\00:21:37.86
brother-in-law, who is on
00:21:37.86\00:21:39.89
holiday with you, he comes
00:21:39.89\00:21:41.40
behind you and you don't hear
00:21:41.40\00:21:42.86
him, and he slaps you on the
00:21:42.86\00:21:44.47
back and he says, "How are you
00:21:44.47\00:21:46.50
doing?"
00:21:46.50\00:21:47.50
What do you do?
00:21:48.20\00:21:49.80
Will you scream and you say,
00:21:49.80\00:21:51.41
"Ouch! That really hurt!
00:21:51.41\00:21:54.11
Can't you see that I'm
00:21:54.74\00:21:56.95
sunburned?"
00:21:56.95\00:21:58.08
So your brother-in-law, of
00:22:00.32\00:22:01.85
course he apologizes and he
00:22:01.85\00:22:03.42
leaves to- you can continue,
00:22:03.42\00:22:05.62
you're working on the computer.
00:22:05.62\00:22:06.89
Everyone is leaving you alone
00:22:06.89\00:22:08.22
until your wife,
00:22:08.22\00:22:10.06
she thinks that you need some
00:22:10.06\00:22:11.89
love and so she tiptoes silently
00:22:11.89\00:22:14.30
behind you and she squeezes you
00:22:14.30\00:22:17.20
tight and she gives you a bear,
00:22:17.20\00:22:19.20
big bear hug from behind.
00:22:19.20\00:22:21.54
And she says, "I love you."
00:22:21.54\00:22:23.97
What do you do?
00:22:23.97\00:22:25.67
Will you scream and you go,
00:22:25.67\00:22:27.04
"Ouch! That really hurt!
00:22:27.04\00:22:29.84
Can't you see that I've got
00:22:30.48\00:22:32.48
sunburn?"
00:22:32.48\00:22:33.68
You see, when you're burned,
00:22:36.55\00:22:39.25
you lose the ability to tell the
00:22:39.25\00:22:42.39
difference between touches of
00:22:42.39\00:22:44.09
play and touches of aggression
00:22:44.09\00:22:45.63
and touches of love.
00:22:45.63\00:22:46.96
Everything hurts.
00:22:46.96\00:22:48.60
And so you push everyone away.
00:22:49.40\00:22:52.00
So what's the best strategy
00:22:53.70\00:22:56.14
for sunburn?
00:22:56.14\00:22:57.54
Is the best strategy to keep
00:22:58.74\00:23:00.64
everyone away from touching you?
00:23:00.64\00:23:02.84
Or is the best strategy to get
00:23:04.35\00:23:06.58
healing for the sunburn?
00:23:06.58\00:23:08.68
So the process of forgiveness
00:23:10.45\00:23:13.39
heals the burns in your heart.
00:23:13.39\00:23:16.39
And when you are
00:23:18.26\00:23:19.19
healed from forgiveness...
00:23:19.19\00:23:20.96
...you become far less
00:23:21.93\00:23:23.40
reactionary and you are able
00:23:23.40\00:23:26.23
to interact with others
00:23:26.23\00:23:28.27
without...
00:23:28.27\00:23:29.24
...being so reactionary.
00:23:30.04\00:23:32.41
The belief that if you forgive,
00:23:34.41\00:23:36.95
it will open you up to further
00:23:36.95\00:23:39.45
abuse is really a lie.
00:23:39.45\00:23:42.12
It won't make you weaker, it'll
00:23:43.05\00:23:44.45
make you stronger to forgive.
00:23:44.45\00:23:46.59
If you aren't able to forgive,
00:23:46.59\00:23:48.96
it drives a wedge between you
00:23:48.96\00:23:51.73
and everyone else.
00:23:51.73\00:23:53.16
But Jesus said...
00:23:55.56\00:23:56.33
But Jesus said...
00:23:56.33\00:23:56.93
When we trust
00:24:03.07\00:24:04.97
the Word of God,
00:24:04.97\00:24:07.41
as I did when I read that Bible
00:24:07.41\00:24:09.61
for the first time, then we will
00:24:09.61\00:24:11.78
be able to do what Jesus
00:24:11.78\00:24:14.02
commanded us when He said...
00:24:14.02\00:24:17.12
When we do this, we will be
00:24:31.57\00:24:34.20
filled with the peace of God.
00:24:34.20\00:24:36.40
As the Bible says, "Great peace
00:24:36.40\00:24:38.14
have they which love Thy law,
00:24:38.14\00:24:40.44
and nothing, nothing shall
00:24:40.44\00:24:42.78
offend them."
00:24:42.78\00:24:44.08
[relaxing music playing]
00:24:44.08\00:24:47.08
い
00:24:47.08\00:24:50.12
Friends, Jesus understands
00:25:01.86\00:25:05.07
how the emotional pain that you
00:25:05.07\00:25:07.54
feel reaches the very
00:25:07.54\00:25:09.84
deepest levels of human agony
00:25:09.84\00:25:12.77
when someone trespasses against
00:25:12.77\00:25:14.61
you, when someone you never
00:25:14.61\00:25:17.71
expected violates you
00:25:17.71\00:25:19.85
or hurts you in some way
00:25:19.85\00:25:22.25
with their words or
00:25:22.25\00:25:24.39
with their actions.
00:25:24.39\00:25:26.59
You didn't choose for that to
00:25:26.59\00:25:28.42
happen to you, you didn't choose
00:25:28.42\00:25:30.69
that defilement to your life.
00:25:30.69\00:25:32.69
Someone else did it to you,
00:25:32.69\00:25:34.93
and that violation
00:25:34.93\00:25:37.30
invaded your world
00:25:37.30\00:25:39.03
and became a part of your
00:25:39.03\00:25:40.74
reality.
00:25:40.74\00:25:41.70
The only way to deal with this
00:25:41.70\00:25:44.31
desecration that you did not
00:25:44.31\00:25:46.27
choose is to forgive.
00:25:46.27\00:25:48.81
If you are convicted right now
00:25:50.58\00:25:53.15
that you need to do that,
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then please let me pray
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for you right now.
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Let's pray together.
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Father...
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...our Father in heaven,
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I wanna ask You right now to
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remove that seed of bitterness,
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that seed of anger, that seed of
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resentment from the hearts of
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all those
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who need You
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right now to do that for them.
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Father, change them, heal them,
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heal their hearts by the miracle
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of the gift of forgiveness.
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Give that gift to them
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right now.
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We pray this
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and we thank You for hearing and
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answering our prayer.
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In Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
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Friends, it was when I opened
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the Bible for the first time
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that I began to understand
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forgiveness.
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And God invites you to prove for
00:26:51.64\00:26:53.78
yourself the reality of His
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Word, the Bible.
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The goodness and the truth of
00:26:57.71\00:27:00.18
His promises; He invites you to
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taste and see that the Lord
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is good.
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>> Instead of depending upon the
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word of someone else, if you can
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taste for yourself, Jesus
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declares...
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So our free offer for you today
00:27:16.93\00:27:19.57
is our Bible study guides.
00:27:19.57\00:27:19.87
is our Bible study guides.
00:27:20.20\00:27:21.90
They will help you understand
00:27:21.90\00:27:23.97
forgiveness better and become
00:27:23.97\00:27:26.27
wise in your walk with Jesus.
00:27:26.27\00:27:29.44
[MIKE] Our free Bible study
00:27:29.44\00:27:31.25
guides will help you to
00:27:31.25\00:27:32.95
experience for yourself the
00:27:32.95\00:27:34.38
reality of God's Holy Word, the
00:27:34.38\00:27:37.09
Bible, the truth of His
00:27:37.09\00:27:38.39
promises, and how the Bible has
00:27:38.39\00:27:41.42
verifiable answers to all your
00:27:41.42\00:27:43.83
questions, including God's will
00:27:43.83\00:27:46.29
for your life.
00:27:46.29\00:27:47.73
>> Practical answers that make
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sense and will give you
00:27:50.30\00:27:51.70
assurance for the present
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and the future.
00:27:54.37\00:27:56.07
>> Before you go, we would like
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to thank all of you who have
00:27:59.11\00:28:01.21
supported the ministry of It Is
00:28:01.21\00:28:03.35
Written Canada with your prayers
00:28:03.35\00:28:05.25
and financial contributions.
00:28:05.25\00:28:07.12
Without your support, this
00:28:07.12\00:28:08.92
television ministry could not
00:28:08.92\00:28:10.65
have reached so many people for
00:28:10.65\00:28:13.25
so many decades.
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>> Yes. Thank you.
00:28:15.59\00:28:17.33
>> Friends, if you want the kind
00:28:18.26\00:28:20.23
of peace and confidence that
00:28:20.23\00:28:22.43
only God can give you, then we
00:28:22.43\00:28:24.73
recommend that you daily open
00:28:24.73\00:28:26.90
this book, the Bible, where it
00:28:26.90\00:28:29.10
is recorded that Jesus found His
00:28:29.10\00:28:31.44
assurance to defeat the Devil
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through the word of His Father
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when He declared...
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[gentle music playing]
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い
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