Praying Blessings Instead of Revenge

Good evening. Hello. How is everybody tonight? Good, good. I'm glad you're all here tonight. Nice to see you. I had a message all prepared and written and I practiced and I was ready for you until about two nights ago, God said, I want you to talk on something totally different, which is really testing my faith because I like to prepare and plan ahead. And so God is really stretching me, making me trust him in these moments. But I believe God knew who was going to be here. God knew who was going to be watching the message online. And God had something for somebody that he wanted said tonight. But I have to admit, tonight's message spoke to me just as much as it could possibly speak to anyone else when he was giving it to me. And I was writing it down. I was in tears half the time because it just really spoke to me as well. Some of you may know my story. I've told bits and pieces of my testimony, but I grew up in church more or less. But it's amazing how little I knew for someone that went to church. My parents were not saved when I was a child, so my grandma would take me to her church. And I would love going and love going back into kids church. And I learned all the kids Bible stories and just thought that was great. But once I got a little bit older, I quit going with her and I started visiting some other churches. But I didn't really understand anymore. When it got to a point that I had to listen to a real pastor, I didn't really understand what he was saying. And I didn't really understand what my Bible said, so I just kind of trusted what the pastor would say. And that was the depth of my knowledge of the Bible. I'd open my Bible from time to time and read a verse here and there, but it didn't make a lot of sense. So I just accepted that and that's what I went with, the little bit of knowledge that I had. And it wasn't really until about 10 years ago when I said, I want to know God deeper. I need to know more about this. And I really started studying and digging in. And it was a slow process because there's a lot here in the Bible to learn. But every time to this day that I pick up the word, I hear something new and I learn something new. It is amazing what is in this book. But my whole life, even recently, I was reading a story and the kids' version that I learned is just what I accepted. That's what I thought the real story was, was the kids' version. And I agree with having kids' versions of some of these stories because they're a little too intense, a little too deep for some of our kids to hear the actual story. But at some point in our lives, we need to realize that there's an adult version and God's calling us to learn that version too.

We can't just be stuck on the kids' version of the story. And as an example tonight, I actually brought a book from home. It's one of the books that we have that we read to our kids, and it's Kids' Favorite Bible Stories. And I want to read to you out of this, and we'll get to the Bible, but I want to read to you out of this the story of Jonah. It's short. It's called A Whale of a Tale, and it says, One day the Lord spoke to Jonah the prophet. Go to Nineveh and tell them that they must stop sinning. But Jonah didn't want to go. He boarded a sailing ship bound for Tarshish, but the Lord knew Jonah had disobeyed his command, so he sent a violent storm over the sea. The sailors were so afraid they began to pray to their false gods. They even began to throw the ship's cargo into the sea to make it float better. Other sailors began to think that Jonah was somehow responsible for the storm. So they asked him, Is it your fault we are in this terrible trouble? Who are you? Where are you from? And Jonah answered, I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord of heaven who made the sea. What can we do to calm the raging sea, the sailors cried. Throw me into the sea and it will become calm, Jonah said. Forgive us, Lord, the men prayed. They then picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea. Suddenly the sea was calm. Everything was still. When this happened, all the sailors made promises to serve the God of Jonah. But poor Jonah was sinking deeper and deeper below the waves until a great fish swallowed Jonah whole. There he stayed for three days. When Jonah realized what had happened, he began to pray. I am in deep trouble, O Lord. Yet you saved my life. Hear my song of thanksgiving.

As Jonah continued to pray, the giant fish was swimming toward dry land where it spit Jonah out. The Lord spoke to Jonah for a second time. Go to Nineveh and proclaim my message of salvation. This time, Jonah went straight to Nineveh. For three days, Jonah told everyone in Nineveh, repent or God will destroy this city in 40 days. And when the people heard Jonah's voice, they knew he was preaching the truth. All of Nineveh believed God and declared a citywide day of prayer and fasting. They turned from their evil ways and blessed the God of Jonah. And the moral is it's better to obey the first time. Now that's a great story. It's a great story of Jonah. Jonah is a short book in the Bible. It's just four chapters. And this version, that's what I thought the book of Jonah was. And it is, that's what it's about. It's absolutely a good moral of the story that you should obey God the first time. It's way better if you just listen to what God's calling you to do and do it right the first time. That's fantastic. And that's a great, great, great message. But recently, God showed me

there's so much more to that story. So first I questioned, okay, God, why didn't Jonah want to go to Nineveh? Okay, so I researched. And Nineveh, it was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It was the largest city in the world. And it was wicked and evil. Nineveh was known for torturing people. As you walked into the city, there were pyramids you'd pass by made from the heads of people that they'd chopped off. You would see they would take men and they'd put these poles into the ground and put the men in the poles still alive. And they'd struggle for days until they died. They burned people alive. They turned women and children into slaves. Horrible, disgusting things were happening in this city. And I thought, well, I feel like maybe when I was a child, they said Jonah was scared to go to Nineveh. And that makes a lot of sense, right? I would be scared to go to Nineveh. Could you imagine going before these horrible people and telling them, God says you're sinning. You better change your ways. What a terrifying thought. But that's not why Jonah didn't want to go. Jonah wasn't afraid of the people. Jonah wanted no part of helping this city be redeemed. And I'll read that verse to you in a minute.

But he ran away and God said, I have other plans. So yes, this story that I just read to you is absolutely right. He ran away. There was a storm. He was thrown from the boat. He was swallowed by a fish. I wanna point out, I was glad that they called it a fish and not a whale. Do you know the word whale is not used in the book, especially the King James Version. It's not used one time, even though everyone assumes it was a whale that swallowed him. We have no evidence of what type of fish it was. The word that was used in the original Hebrew language was dag, which translates to sea monster. Just an interesting fact, but God kept him alive in the belly of the fish, spit him out. He went to Nineveh. He cried out to the people and the people repented. And that's a great story. And that's where I thought it ended. That's where the kid's story ends, right? That's what the story of Jonah is over. There's an entire chapter after that. And this book is only four chapters. That's only the first three chapters. There's another chapter.

And I never even realized that before. And so that's what I wanna read to you today. I'm gonna start in the last sentence of chapter three, where this story just ended. It said, after he went to the people and they repented, it said, God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways and God relented from the disaster he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it. He saw the people turned from their ways and he said, I'm not going to destroy the city of Nineveh. But here's what's interesting. Jonah chapter four starts off, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord and said, ah, Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness. one who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. He said, I ran away because I know what kind of a God I serve. I know, God, that you are compassionate, that you are slow to anger, that you are gracious, and that you are merciful. I knew you were, and that's why I didn't want to go, because I don't want to help these evil people.

I want those people to burn, I want them destroyed, I want them to pay for their sins. They don't deserve your forgiveness, they don't deserve your compassion, and I knew that you would forgive them. And that makes me angry. They should have to pay. And when I read that, it reminded me of a story my husband shared with me, and I use him a lot, he has some great wisdom God gives him, and he shares it with me, and then I get to share it with you guys, and I'm sure he won't mind me telling this story, because I've heard him tell it to several people, but several years ago, there was a person in his life, a man in his life, that did some really terrible things to him, really tried to harm him, and really caused a lot of pain in his life, and Ken was able to step away from that, and pray, and forgive this man. But he was in church one day, and the pastor said, I want you to search your heart, and see if you have any unforgiveness against anyone. And when he was praying, this man's name came to his mind. And he said, well God, why am I thinking of him? I've forgiven him, I forgave him a long time ago. And God said, did you? If you really forgave him, then I want you to pray that I don't hold him accountable for the things he did. And Ken said, what?

Your word promises that I get to rejoice when I see the vengeance of my enemies. This isn't fair. I forgive him because you're going to hold him accountable. And God said, is that really, truly forgiveness then? But that's how Jonah felt. Jonah wanted judgment upon his enemies. He was so upset that God wasn't holding them accountable, that he thought it would be better to just die. Most pastors, they appreciate when their congregation hears them and turns from their ways. But not Jonah, when he ran away, he wasn't afraid of the people, and he wasn't afraid of failure. He was afraid of success. That's why he ran away. And it's just interesting because in the last chapter, we see how he screwed up, right? How he disobeyed God, but God forgave him. God spared his life. He wanted that for himself. He just didn't want that for anyone else. In another version of the Bible, it adds in that last verse that, I told them that this was going to happen, and now it's not. So you also have to take into consideration, there may have been a little bit of pride there. He went to the people and told them they were going to be destroyed.

And now they're not. Kind of makes him look bad, right? He's a little bit embarrassed about that. So whether it's pride, whether it's embarrassment, whether it's just unforgiveness, it all equaled a hardened heart against these people. Jonah four, verse four says, then the Lord said, is it right for you to be angry? I can just imagine God saying that in just a gentle, tender, compassionate way like he does. Is it right? Should you be angry, Jonah? God often uses questions. He asks us questions instead of calling us out. He'll ask us in a gentle way, because he wants us to come to our own realization of what our hearts look like. God uses questions a lot. He asked Adam and Eve, why are you naked? God knew the answer. He asked Cain, where's your brother, Abel? Knowing what had happened, he asked Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? My favorite of all the questions God asked, though, were in the book of Job. If you've never read the book of Job, Job has some really bad things happen in his life, and he is crying out to God, God, why is all of this happening? It's not fair.

I don't understand your plan. And God just gave him about 60 questions. Let's just hit him with these questions in two chapters. And they're the most humbling set of questions you could possibly imagine. He said things like, Job, were you there when I laid the foundation of the earth? Job, do you command the mornings to begin every day? Can you lift your voice to the clouds and make it rain? Of course not. But God didn't want to just call him out. He wanted him to come to that realization on his own. God wants us to know that things are done his way, not ours. Because his way is so much better. He wants Jonah to search his heart and realize that his anger is not justified, even though he's trying to make it. Jonah 4.5 says, so Jonah went out of the sea and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city. You'll notice he didn't answer God. He just left the city. Because deep down inside, he wanted to keep an eye on them. Deep down inside, he was hoping maybe they would screw up again. Maybe they'd stop repenting and stop trusting in God and turn away. And he was going to be there to watch them burn if that happened. He was far enough away, he wasn't caught up in the middle of it,

but he was going to sit back and watch from a distance. When I realized that, I thought, gosh, I think I've had that attitude sometimes. People have harmed me. People have hurt me. People that I think are bad or said mean things or treated me badly, I think I'm just going to sit back and watch what God does to them. Maybe they're probably not really a good person, even though they said they've turned from their ways. They didn't really turn from those ways. They're going to mess up again. And I'm just going to watch. What a horrible thought. But I can admit that to you, because I'm sure I'm not the only person in the room who's ever had that thought. God is going to show Jonah, though, how wrong that feeling is. In verse 6, it says, and the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Jonah wasn't grateful that an entire city of people was going to be saved, but he was grateful that he was comfortable now. He was grateful that God was blessing him, but not grateful that God was blessing someone else. He was selfish. He was self-focused. He was only worried about himself and his comfort. He wasn't worried about anyone else. He's worried about his life, what's going on in his life, and what he's getting from God, and nothing else.

And then, it says, as morning dawned, the next day, God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened that when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. Then he wished for death for himself and said, it is better for me to die than to live. Now, he's not going to die, but he's going to live. And he's going to live, and he's going to live, better to die than to live. Now, he's mad again. God blessed him with something and then took it away, and now he's uncomfortable again. He's so focused on his circumstances and what's going on around him that he just wants to die. He could be spending his time praying for the people in that town. He could be spending his time praying for himself. He could think, God used me, and God's going to use me again. I'm going to rest, and I'm going to get in the Word, and I'm going to spend time with him to prepare for the next thing. He couldn't focus on anything because of his comfort. He went into depression. He started dealing with self-pity. He was in misery. It was unfair what he's going through. He had his blessing away, and now these other people that don't deserve it are getting blessed, and that's not fair. It's not fair that I have to watch someone else be blessed that doesn't deserve it. So God asks him another question. Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about the plant?

The first question was just, are you angry? And now, are you angry about the plant? The plant. Jonah, is that what you should be angry about here? Jonah, he says, it is right for me to be angry even unto. Death. I am mad that my plant died. He's justifying his anger. This is wrong and this isn't how it should be, he's saying. Anger causes us to think the wrong way sometimes. When you see the suffering of the world and then think about the things that make you angry, can you really justify your anger? Can you say things like, I'm mad, that person just cut me off, this is my lane, I had the right of the way, who do they think they are getting in front of me? Or, oh my gosh, this person in front of me, in line at the gas station is talking forever and I just want to pay for my snack and get on the road, I have places to go, are they ever going to stop talking? Are we angry at the things that make us uncomfortable? The things that inconvenience us in the teeniest, tiniest bit? But did we ever stop to think about those people's souls? Jonah's not thinking about those people's souls. God calls him out. It says, but the Lord said, you have had pity on a plant for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in the night and perished in a night. And I should not pity Nineveh,

the great city in which more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand. He says, these are human beings. They have souls. There's 120,000 people living in this city that was going to be destroyed. You know there's some innocent people in there. They're not all bad. The plant has no soul. The things we worry about. These people were destined to burn for their behavior, but Jonah was focused on himself because his anger caused him unforgiveness. His anger caused him to walk away from God's plan for his life, caused him to run from God. It caused him to separate himself from everyone else. It caused him to be bitter. He said, these people don't even know right from wrong. They have no moral discernment. They don't know God. God gave Jonah a chance to tell people about him. God gave Jonah a chance to be used to bring an entire city to salvation. God gave Jonah a chance to show them an example of how great our God is and how great his love is for them. And Jonah threw a temper tantrum. Jonah had just been giving a chance at new life the chapter before. I actually want to read to you the prayer that he prayed to God. It's Jonah, chapter 2, verse 2 is where I'm going to start. It says, I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All your billows and your waves passed over me. Then I said, I have been cast out of your sight, yet I will look again toward your holy temple. The waters surrounded me even to my soul. The deep closed around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed behind me forever, yet you have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer went up to you into your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. He was in great distress. He was destined to die, but he remembered the promises of God. He said, I was dying. I was in a desperate, dark place, but you rescued me. If Jonah felt that way, how do you think Nineveh felt? How do you think the people around you feel? There are people in dark, desperate places, and God is calling you to help bring them out. Are you going to focus, though, on your own emotions, on anger, on unforgiveness, on self-pity? The entire purpose of the Bible is summed up in that last sentence. It says salvation is of the Lord.

The whole point of giving us the Bible is so that we learn that. And Jonah knew that for himself. But he didn't know that for others because it was justified. And he said, God, don't you know who these people are? Don't you know what kind of horrible people are there? Don't you know the things that they've done? And God said, I love them anyway. And I want nothing more than to see them saved. That's how God feels about you. That's how God feels about the entire world. He's so good. He wants to see all people saved, regardless of their past, regardless of their decisions, the way that they've been living their lives, regardless of the mean things that they've said to you, regardless of how they may have offended you, regardless of how they've hurt you, because it's not about you. God wants them saved, and he wants to use you to do it. And it's not our place to determine who should be saved and who should be punished. There's a verse in the Bible, Matthew 7, 1. It says, judge not, yet ye be not judged. And I love this verse. I've probably quoted this verse 1,000 times because I think judgment is a big problem in this world. And it's something that I focus very hard on trying not to be judgmental.

I'm a landlord, and every single day, I get applications brought in front of me, and I have to judge whether or not the people will make a good renter in my home. And so I'm judging the paper, but I have to remember not to judge the person. That's different than judging their lifestyle. We're not called to judge the choices that other people make. It's not our place, okay? It's not our place to say, well, those people moved in together, or, oh, that lady drinks a lot, or, well, she had an abortion, or they're gay, or they don't go to church. God actually tells us that if they're not in church and we don't have a relationship with them, it's not even our place to tell someone whether or not they're sinning, because their sin is not accepting Jesus Christ. That's it. And the Bible was written for you and you alone. But God showed me that Matthew 7, 1, judge not meant something even more than that. This just blew me away. God just showed this to me a couple weeks ago. It says, judge not. He said, Katie, what's a judge? I said, well, when you commit a crime, you get arrested, and you go to court,

and there's a judge, right? In our judicial system, the judge, it's an official, and they have the authority to hear legal matters. And once you're deemed guilty, that judge determines the punishment for your crime. The judge holds you accountable. He says, this is what your punishment should be. Because we don't get to pick what other people's punishment should be. God is our judge, okay? Jonah wanted to play judge. He wanted to hold the people accountable and determine their punishment. Is there someone that you're hoping God will punish, that you're trying to play judge with? My husband has this other visual that he sometimes shares, and it's when someone harms you, and you're holding on forgiveness, and your heart, it's like you have a chain on them, and you're dragging them around, not letting it go, not setting them free. And I just wonder, when God looks down, if he could see that chain, who do you think he'd be more disappointed in? You or them? I can tell you, we, me, you, we've committed crimes. We've committed lots and lots and lots of crimes. And we need to stand trial. And when we stand trial, we are guilty.

Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and our punishment is hell. And our God is just. He is so just that the law demands that he must hold us accountable for what we've done. Someone must be held accountable. But he's so good that he says, I'm gonna come up with a way so you don't have to suffer the punishment. He says, I'm gonna send. My son, my son who never committed a crime, he's gonna come down here and he's gonna pay the full price of your penalty. He's gonna bear the full weight of your sentence. He's gonna give his life so that you don't have to serve out your sentence in hell. If God can do that for us, if God can completely, completely forgive us and find a way out of us being held accountable, why can't we do that for other people? Why can we not do that for the people on this earth that have hurt us? Is there anyone in your life that's hurt you? Anyone that deep down inside you think, I wouldn't mind seeing them fail? Maybe you don't wish them an eternity in hell, but maybe you wish they'd break up with their boyfriend or lose their job or get a speeding ticket. You think they should be held accountable in some way, right?

But we have all fallen short of the glory of God and we all deserve to suffer the consequences and none of us will ever be good enough to be determined innocent. But their crime is not worse than yours. We can't set expectations for other people's behavior. We can only set expectations for our own. Psalm 103, verses 10 through 12 says, he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the East is from the West, so far he has removed our transgressions from us. We deserve to burn, but God has taken that away and he wants us to do that for others. We've been reading parables in the Bible study for the last several months now, studying them and Jesus told some amazing, amazing parables and there's one that we studied a few months ago or a few weeks ago that I just wanted to read because it just was really brought to my mind when I was studying this about unforgiveness and it's the parable of the unforgiving servant. And I'm just going to read it to you. It is in Matthew chapter 18, verse 23. It says, therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts,

one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents, but he was not able to pay. His master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and that payment must be made. The servant fell before him saying, master, have patience with me, I will pay you all. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii and he laid his hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him saying, have patience with me, I will pay you all. And he would not. But went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he called him, said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not have also had compassion on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly father also will do to you

if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. We're looking at someone who owed several million dollars versus someone who owed a few dollars. The man who owed millions, there is no way he could ever begin to pay that back. He couldn't grasp the magnitude of what the king did for him. just as we could never pay Jesus back. We can't understand how hurtful our sins are, how great our iniquities are, so we can't begin to grasp the magnitude of what our king has done for us. If we did, there is no way we would have anything but love and forgiveness for his other children. If God can love the city of Nineveh with all of its horrible, torturous ways, he can love the person who broke your heart, who took advantage of you, who gossiped about you, who lied to you, who cheated you. And you say, but you don't understand. You don't know what they did. God loves them. And you may say, but I did forgive them. They just keep hurting me. God loves them. You may say, how many times do I have to forgive them? Well, that question Peter asked Jesus, and that's why Jesus told this parable. The parable we just read, he told,

because it says Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? And Jesus said, I do not say to you up to seven times, but 70 times seven times. Just forgive them over and over and over and over. And it's not going to be easy. But the Bible tells us to love your enemies. And God didn't tell us that because he thought we wouldn't have enemies. He knew that on this world we are going to have enemies. He knows that people are going to hurt each other. He knows that we are selfish because our flesh rules us. He knows that. But he wants, like Jonah, for us to stop focusing on ourselves and our situations and our feelings and our anger and our inconveniences and just love people. They may have stood you up. They may have not appreciated you. Love them. Forgive them. Pray for them. That's what the Bible says. But I also want you to think about why. Why you're forgiving. Sometimes we forgive. And it's the right action, but sometimes it's for the wrong reason.

Because sometimes we want to let the person know, well, I've forgiven you so that we look good, right? Well, you really hurt me, but I'm going to be the better person here and forgive you, right? Or we want them to think, oh, gosh, she's so wonderful for forgiving me, right? So we want the praise sometimes that comes along with the forgiveness. But chances are those people will never praise you. Those people will probably never even know that you've forgiven them. In the book of Jonah, it doesn't say that the people of Nineveh thanked him. It doesn't say that the people of Nineveh threw a party for Jonah and started making a holiday after him. The people probably never even thought of Jonah again. But that's okay. It's actually better that way. Kenzie, you can come up any time. Forgiveness and love require sacrifice because it goes against our flesh. But God blesses our sacrifice. In Matthew 6, verse 4, it says that our giving should be done in secret. And this is generally applied to financial giving, but that's not the only kind of giving it means. If you forgive someone, but you want them to know what you've given up to forgive them, you want them to know how hard it is to forgive them, you want them to know even though it isn't fair,

I'm going to go ahead and forgive you, then that's your reward. Your reward is them knowing. But if you just forgive them in secret, in your heart, it says our Father sees our good deeds and he rewards us. And I can guarantee you his rewards are way better than any praise we can get on this earth. When you desperately want someone to pay for the things that they've done, but you realize that your love for God is so much bigger than that, God will bless that. I want us all to start praying for anyone that God doesn't hold them accountable. you can't pray that for. Pray that the people who don't know the left from the right, that they meet God. If there's a person and you say it's gonna be hard because that person broke my heart, I want you to say, you know what? I'm gonna forgive them and I'm gonna pray that they find a wonderful spouse and that the two of them together do amazing things for God's kingdom because God has a different plan for me. And maybe the person who got the job promotion upset you, but you're gonna say, you know what? I'm gonna pray that God blesses them abundantly, that they just keep getting promoted,

that God blesses their finances and that God touches their heart so much that they take those finances and put them into the kingdom of God and people get saved because of them. Maybe there's a child at school that's bullying your kid. Instead of being mad about it, posting things on Facebook about it, maybe we should say, you know what? That child might be bullying somebody because they just wanna feel loved and accepted themselves. So instead of being mad, maybe we could say, God, I'm gonna pray for that child. I'm gonna pray that you put someone in that child's life that loves them unconditionally. I'm gonna pray that you bring a friend for that child. I'm gonna pray that that child comes to know you. I'm gonna pray that that child's family is blessed and I'm going to pray that they know how great your love is for them and that they are loved unconditionally and accepted by you. We need to change. It's not just about forgiveness. It's about wishing good for other people. It's about wanting blessings for other people, not just ourselves. It's about wanting to see people succeed. It's about wanting to see people repent. It's about wanting to see people turn from God. And if it takes seven times, 70 times

of you having to show them and forgive them and set an example over and over and over, God says, just keep doing it because that's what I'm calling you to do. That's what you're here for because I've forgiven you of much. The least you can do is forgive them and love them and pray for them and want good for them. Not like Jonah who wanted his enemies punished. Let's start wanting our enemies blessed so greatly that God's kingdom explodes. Let's just start. So I asked tonight, is there someone in your life that you need to pray that for? You know, 1 John 4, seven through eight says, let us love one another for love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. And who does not love does not know God because God is love. Do you know God? First and foremost, if you've never met God, I wanna tell you that God desperately wants you saved. God desperately wants to take your punishment away. He's provided the way. He's provided the sacrifice. You simply need to say, I accept it. It's that easy. You simply need to say, I believe that Jesus died on the cross

and that he took the full weight of my penalty away. And Lord, I want to love you and follow you from now on. That's it. It's literally that simple. And if you've never prayed that, I just beg you to do that right now because you don't know what tomorrow will bring. And maybe you say, well, I've met Jesus. I've been to church. I pick up my Bible from time to time. But I don't truly know God. This, this is all I know, the basics. It's a good start. It's great. But God says, I wanna know you deeper. I wanna know you more intimately. And just pray, God, start speaking to me because God wants to speak to you. Just ask him to open your heart, to hear him, to realize his, recognize his voice. Just start spending time with God. Start praying, start digging deeper into the word. And if you're harboring unforgiveness, ask God to show that to you. Say, I know God, but there's just somebody that hurt me. Ask God to help you heal. Because our God, as we learned last week, our God promises healing, but it's not just physical healing. God wants to heal your heart too.

He wants to soften it so that you can love people. Just ask God, soften my heart for these people. Help me to just. Just keep forgiving them. Give me the strength to forgive them over and over and over. And just start blessing them. And just say, God, how can you use me to be an example for someone else? I know you, God, and I know you have big plans for my life, and I know that I'm setting an example for people everywhere I go. I'm setting an example for people in the grocery store, at work, at school, wherever it is. God, use me so that I can show people your love. Use me, God, so I can share that love with other people. Kenzie's going to sing, and if any of you want prayer for any of those things, then I welcome you to come up here. And myself and Pastor will be happy to pray for you. And if you don't want to come up front, that's fine, too. You can sit in your seats and pray, or maybe you just want to go home tonight alone and spend some time with God. Whatever God's calling you to do, that's what I want you to do. But I'm going to give Kenzie a chance to just sing for a minute. If anyone does want prayer, come up, and then we'll go ahead and pray together in place.