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Women At The Well: REJOICE – Episode 32: Jesus, the Ultimate Forgiver · Women At The Well: REJOICE

• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Grand rising sisters.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Psalms 1182 says, This is the day the Lord has made.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: We will rejoice and be glad in it.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't you glad we have this day before us?
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what happened yesterday, today is a fresh opportunity to experience His mercy, grace, and His love.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: I am Rose.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, and I am glad you joined us at the well this morning.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: We are beginning a brand new month, and throughout August, I would like us to focus on one powerful word, forgiveness.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: This month we will intentionally set our hearts and minds on releasing the debts, offenses, and hurts that have been committed against us.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: We will learn what it means to let go, trust God with our pain, and choose not to carry bitterness any longer or hold anything against anyone.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your coffee, your tea, or lemon water, and let us begin this journey towards freedom and start forgiving.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: As we journey through this month together, soften our hearts to receive your mercy, release those who have wounded us, let go of our own shame, and become women who extend the same grace you have lavished on us so freely.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Father, may every episode point women to the cross, where forgiveness was purchased once and for all.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, help us to be forgiving women.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get this started.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Let us turn in our Bibles to Luke 23, 32 through 34.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: I am reading from the NIV, it reads.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: That was from the NIV.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to think about what Jesus said while hanging on the cross.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Father, forgive them.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Just three words.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Father, forgive them.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: The Roman soldiers had beat him, mocked him, stripped him, nailed him to a cross, and were gambling for his clothes while he suffered.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: All that the Roman soldiers had done to him, yet instead of calling for judgment, he asked for God to forgive them.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me ask you a question.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Think about all the people who have hurt you.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the words spoken against you.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the betrayals, the rejection, the disappointments, or injustice you have experienced.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: When was the last time you sincerely asked God to forgive them?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is difficult, huh?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness does not mean what they did was acceptable.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: It does not erase the pain or pretend the offense never happened.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness means we release our right to seek revenge and place justice into God's hands.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: We trust Him to be the righteous judge while he heals our hearts.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now let us turn to John chapter 8, verses 1 through 11.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: It reads, and we're still in the NIV.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: He sat down to teach them.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now what do you say?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Again, he stooped down and rolled on the ground.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: At this those who heard began to go away one at a time.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: The older ones first, until only Jesus was left.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: With the woman still standing there, Jesus straightened up and asked, Woman, where are they?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Has no one condemned you?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: No one, sir, she said.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Go now and leave your life of sin.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: This unnamed woman deserved condemnation under the law.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus extended mercy instead of condemnation.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: His words in the King James Version say, and I really like this, neither do I condemn you.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Go and sin no more.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: They perfectly demonstrate that Jesus is the ultimate forgiver.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Notice that Jesus did not ignore her sin, nor did he condemn her.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, he offered both grace and truth.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: He forgave her, and then he called her to a transformed life.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sisters, that's exactly what Jesus does for us.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: We must realize that Jesus sees way beyond our failures.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: He sees beyond our mistakes, our regrets, and even the shame we carry.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: His grace is greater than any guilt we or others try to put in place.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't it remarkable that the very people who have wounded us are still loved by God?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that can be difficult to accept.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it reminds us that God's mercy reaches farther, way farther, than our understanding.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: You see, the same grace that rescued us is available to them as well.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I like about God.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: He has no respect or person.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is a powerful reminder of the complexities of forgiveness and the nature of God's compassion.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness is not easy.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it is a process rather than a single moment.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yet, through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can release the hurt that has held us captive.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: You see, when we forgive, we are not only setting someone else free, we are allowing God to set us free.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is not easy to let go of hurt.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: But through the grace of God, we can be set free.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And set others free.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: His forgiveness calls us into a transformed life.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, let us look at Romans 8 and 1.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that, and that is wonderful news.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: You see, because we belong to Christ, we are no longer condemned by our past, we are no longer defined by our failures.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Through our union with Jesus Christ, we have been forgiven, redeemed, and made new.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sisters, if Jesus has released you from the guilt and punishment of sin, do not continue carrying what he has already removed.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: We are free from guilt, punishment, and judgment of sin through our union with Jesus Christ.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today, I want to leave you with this simple challenge.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Free somebody today, even if it's yourself.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Release the offense.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Let go of the bitterness.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Pray for the person who hurts you.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And as you do, you will discover that the greatest freedom may be the freedom God gives to your own heart.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, we thank you for forgiveness.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you don't hold things against us.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: We thankful, we are very thankful that you will forgive us as we forgive others.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, help us to release anything that weighs us down against anybody.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then, Heavenly Father, teach us to forgive.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we might need help to teach us how to forgive.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we just don't know how.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, Father God, teach us to forgive.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to be kind and compassionate to one another, to forgive each other just as you, Christ, have forgave others.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for your love, your kindness, and your forgiveness.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name I pray.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sisters, before we go, you know I like to do some uh rejoicing.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to carry this truth with you today.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing you have done that is greater than the grace of God.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And there is nothing someone has done to you that God cannot help you forgive.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness does not embrace the past, but it does release the future.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: It loosens the good abilities, makes room for peace, and allows God healing to begin.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: So today, when I have and remember the words from Jesus.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive them.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: If I send you to pray those words from the house, he will give you the strength to pray them in your own circumstances.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Why can't free them?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus has already conscious for you.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: We say this forgiveness.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's famous forgiveness.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And rejoice because they forgive the heart is a free heart.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so that's all for today.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to leave the world.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: I am rose.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I have been your host.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And God said I will see the next thing.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness of my hands will happen in the happening.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness is fine to what happened.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: And to the hands of the one.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: We come to Jesus for the hand of the free.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: We can walk in the free.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And we come up in the light of the next one.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: We don't like the line.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: And remember.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: And number one, we can be a little bit more.