SAM HONIBALL BLOG

Matthew 5:7 says “Happy are those who are merciful to others,” Everyone have experienced broken relationships. In our pain and our woundedness we can build walls to keep the pain out, to keep ourselves from being hurt again. When we do that we end up locking ourselves in a prison and locking other people out. To rebuild relationships you have to tear down the walls. The choice that you and I are going to have to make is this: To evaluate all of my relationships, offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me, and make amends for harm that I have done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others. Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sin, your Father will not forgive you.” C. S. Lewis said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” So how do you become a forgiver? How do you let go of the layers and layers

You remember that when God and Jacob are wrestling, the Bible says that God dislocated Jacob’s hip. He pulled it out of the socket. Bible says this, Genesis 32:31 (NLT) “The sun rose as Jacob left Peniel and he was limping because of his hip.” After you have had a genuine encounter with God, you’re going to have a limp. What is the significance of this limp? Three things: ONE, for his entire life Jacob had run from conflict. He’d run from his brother. He’d run from his dad. He’d run from his wife. He had run from his father-in-law. He’d run from God. God said, “We’ll fix that. No more running. I’m just going to touch your hip so you will limp the rest of your life. You’ll never solve a problem by running from it.” SECOND, it was a daily reminder to trust God. He touched him on his thigh. You know what your thigh muscle is? It is the strongest muscle in your body. It’s the biggest muscle. God touched Jacob at the point of his greatest strength. He said, You’re no longer going to rely on

The Bible says this, John 11:43-44, “Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot [picture that] with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’” It says he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was covered with a cloth. There’s significance there. That means that nothing that binds you up and keeps you from fullness of life, nothing that trips you up as you try to follow Jesus, nothing that covers you up and keeps you hidden from the rest of the world – none of that can withstand the life-giving power of Jesus Christ. When you gave your life to Christ, the Bible says he brought you from death into life. It’s just like Lazarus – you were brought from death into life. But there are still things in your life that keep you from fulfillment in your life. Jesus said I came to give you fullness of life. But there are things that bind us up, that hold us back

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek.” If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, meekness is not optional. In the original language of the Bible the word for meek is PRAEIS, which has different levels of meaning. On the surface it can mean mild or humble. The stereotype of what people think Christians are like – mild and humble, kind of weak, kind of spineless, kind of wimpy, they wear a lot of polyester, they say “Praise the Lord.” It fits the stereotype. But there’s deeper meaning to this word and it’s the one I really want you to get. In the Greek, the word was often used to describe animals whose naturally wild spirit had to be broken by a trainer. Why did that spirit have to be broken by a trainer? So they could become useful. So if you imagine in your mind a stallion, an incredible horse that can run like the wind, that can pull plows through a field. That’s not a picture of weakness. But a tamed stallion, that’s the image that he’s representing. MEEK IS STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL. That’s