Today Our Daily Bread Matthew 18

Matthew 18: 1 - 35
1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" 2 Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, "I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck. 7 "How terrible it will be for anyone who causes others to sin. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting.
8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven crippled or lame than to be thrown into the unquenchable fire with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. 10 "Beware that you don't despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. 11 And I, the Son of Man, have come to save the lost. 12 "If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? 13 And if he finds it, he will surely rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish.
15 "If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If that person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If the church decides you are right, but the other person won't accept it, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. 18 I tell you this: Whatever you prohibit on earth is prohibited in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth is allowed in heaven. 19 "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them."
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" 22 "No!" Jesus replied, "seventy times seven!
23 "For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn't pay, so the king ordered that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 But the man fell down before the king and begged him, 'Oh, sir, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' 27 Then the king was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 "But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient and I will pay it,' he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid in full. 31 "When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him what had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny. 35 "That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart."
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Why would I pursue peace with anyone? Why would I especially want to be agreeably joined with believers? Because it is the very character of God to agree, to unify, to join forces. It is the character of satan that opposes and divides and goes against God’s character. If I agree with anyone or make peace I’m displaying the attributes of God, if I agree with another believer who is in agreement with working with the power of God, I unify with God’s spirit and with another Son of God who is in agreement with God’s spirit and the forces of God are increased mightily against God’s enemy force and the enemy force just lost a participator, a recruit! Remember 7 times means all the way, till it is finished, made whole, tied up, completed. The Lord is saying WORK IT OUT period, till it is complete. Forgive as long as you have to till you agree with ME. God’s kingdom stands on agreement, unity and the power of it. It cannot stand (at least in me) if it is divided. It is not about fairness or who or what is right or how even things are. It’s about taking great transgression and pardoning it. That makes me cry to think of that. I’m so glad God was not fair when he dealt with me or I’d be smoked, and dead, and gone. Thank God He gave all for me when I could hardly give any to Him, and then He forgave my debt to Him and set me free. That is so incredibly brave of God, because with my freedom I could leave Him and serve others, but he loves me anyway, died for me anyway, and woos me all of the time. What and who He is also what and who I desire to be. I can’t get enough knowledge of Him, because He is truly perfect and so loving, my heart is overwhelmed imagining and trying to fathom it. Humility is an attribute of the likeness of Christ, pride is an attribute of God’s greatest enemy-satan. "Which is the greatest?" is just like saying , "I will ascend…" They are statements of pride and self exaltation. Jesus’ point is/was, if we are self-centered, we will not be God/Christ or kingdom-centered. Pride was thrown OUT of God’s presence, out of heaven, it cannot dwell there WITH God, who and whatever dwells with God, must be like He is, One with Him. Think about that one when considering what will put us in or keep us out of heaven. What is One with God and what is not? Change is of God, especially when it involves me becoming more and more as He is, and as more and more of Him is defined for me and I choose to move from who or where I am to become who and where He is. Satan’s ploy is to make us as he is, unlike God in any resemblance. If we lose faith, we won’t ever be able to become One with Him, we’ll not even want to. We are in an intense battle for the hearts and eternal Destinations of people’s souls! It is the original battle between God and satan, and satan wants to add to his forces of evil. He left heaven with a third of the angelic host, he is looking for recruits to strengthen his forces of evil work against God and His kingdom. Satan does the tempting, he steels the faith, he does not relent or repent. If we have ever had any inkling to do any of the above, we’ve Got to change! It’s a matter of death and life. This battle is so deadly serious and of such eternal significance that we’ve got to wake up and join the force of God and His spirit while we are in and on the earth and still have any time to do so. It is so important that this author stresses it is such a descriptive manner as to say, it important enough to almost "die" for, or to lose something of great value and use over, such as an important member of your body. It is That serious! Are we Son’s of God? If so, we’ve got to see that we also have come in the time of life we are in, in the time on earth we were born in, in the time and places we live, we also came to seek and save the lost!