Begin Again: "Forgiveness" - Pt 1 (Genesis 4:1-16)

1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth , and his countenance fell . 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well , shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well , sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him . 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said , I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said , What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass , that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD. - Genesis 4:1-16

We live in the days foretold by our Lord, when offenses would abound. People, even those who are members of the body of Christ, are easily offended and do not seek forgiveness or offer it. The very first murder recorded in the Bible is about what happens when we allow the spirit of offense to divide us. As children of God, we are to live at peace with all people (even our enemies), however, this seldom happens in the church universal. 

As it says in James 4, we covet what others have and rather than ask the Lord for what we think we need, we slander or gossip and otherwise murder our brothers and sisters with our tongues..

How different Cain's circumstances may have been if he had simply asked the Lord to help him to present an acceptable sacrifice, or offering, to God? Of course, Cain was so envious of Abel, and hated him so much, that he would never consider humbling himself enough to ask Cain what he did that made his offering more acceptable to God.


Pride keeps us from admitting that we need help. That is why the Lord is so opposed to pride that he resists the one who is prideful. Pride tells us that we are better than others and keeps us from living at peace with them. Pride keeps us from forgiving others for the ways that they have offended, or otherwise wronged, us.


The spirit of offense often masquerades as a spirit of entitlement; a belief that we are better than another because we've been deserving (in church all of our lives, for example); while the offending party is undeserving (continually stumbles into sin, for example). Yet, when they are blessed more than we are, we become angry with them. Instead of reasoning together with the Lord (i.e., seeking His mind about what has happened in the life of the offender) we believe that our judgement about the offending party is the correct one, and oppose them to demonstrate and justify our ill-will toward them (our envy or jealousy).


That same spirit was at work when the prodigal son returned home after spending his inheritance on sinful indulgences. His older brother could not understand, or forgive, his father's acceptance of the brother who had done nothing to deserve, or earn, his father's favor. The same holds true for the woman with the alabaster box. She was rebuked by those who had already written her "off" as a sinful woman; yet, she was accepted by our Lord. In both cases, those who took offense with the offender (the one who had fallen into sin), did not seek forgiveness from the offender, or from the Father. They felt justified in withholding their acceptance of the "sinful" brother or sister.


If we are to love, as Jesus has asked us to love one another, we cannot do so while harboring a spirit of offense. 

Personal application: Think of someone that you do not show the love of God toward? Examine your heart. What keeps you from being supportive or encouraging of them? Ask the Father's forgiveness for whatever He reveals to your heart. Ask the Father for ways to support and/or to encourage those who irritate or offend you.


For an Inductive Study on the above Scripture reading, please visit the Bible Study for Busy People blog.

Begin Again: "Forgiveness" - Intro

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. - Matthew 6:12

Our Lord tells His followers to ask the Father to forgive us for the wrongs we've done to others. More than that, our Lord also tells us to forgive those who have wronged us. How easy is it for you to forgive? Chances are that it's not as easy as you would like.

For the next several weeks, we will explore the topic of "Forgiveness" in a new series studies entitled, "Begin Again." It is my prayer that these studies will encourage and inspire those who hear and read the messages to live a life of love, to extend the mercy and forgiveness of Christ to others, and to be set free from the spirit of offense that plagues the church in these last days! Blessings to you!!

Blessed, Broken and Given

And Jesus, when he came out , saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said , This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:  Send them away , that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat . He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat . And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat ? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye ? go and see . And when they knew , they say , Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks , by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed , and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat , and were filled . - Mark 6:34-42

What do you do that you consider to be so unimpressive to people that you've hidden it from God? If our Lord could take two fish and five loaves and feed thousands, don't you think that He may have so much more that He wants to do with the little that your offer Him?

I've been writing devotionals and Bible studies for just over a decade. I have journals filled with writings that have never been published. Eventually, I launched out and began publishing the writings on sites for Christian writers. But, I didn't think that my meager attempts at writing were enough for anyone to receive spiritual nourishment from. And, I was right! Oh, but when the Master adds His blessing to what little I have to offer, He can do far more than I ever imagined with what He inspires me to write.

Late last year, the Lord blessed me to self-publish my first book. It is entitled, Blessed, Broken and Given: The Making of a Servant of God. The Lord gave me the book several years ago. However, I was not able to write it, in its entirety, because I did not understand what brokenness was. Even after completing the manuscript and publishing the book, I discovered that the Lord had more to teach me about servant-hood. So, that book will be revised, as the Lord leads.

Recently, the Lord has been inspiring me to write more. He's placed it on my heart to write on topics such as "forgiveness," "repentance," "love," and "grace". I love to write Bible studies and devotionals, so it is my prayer that He will continue to inspire me to write these as well. So, I'm launching out into the deep, again. I've asked the Lord, "what if no one reads what I've written!" Then He reminds me, that I'm writing for an audience of One. He will give the increase, in His time and in His way, at the appointed time, for the glory and praise of His Name!

Shalom!