We have to confront the reality that when Jesus was born the spiritual realm was thrust into a great battle in the ongoing war between God and Satan. When Jesus came into the world, Spiritual warfare was at a pique. Yes, peace is coming, but peace has a cost—that cost is paid in battle! The birth of Christ was far more like God’s D-day invasion than an olive branch extended on a silent night.

Listen to all the way to the end for a special announcement!!

Teaching Fearless: Monica Gill’s Mission in a Culture of Compromise (Apple)

Teaching Fearless: Monica Gill’s Mission in a Culture of Compromise (Spotify)

Did you realize that whenever you pray, you are acting as an Agent of Rebellion? The Christian worldview sees the world as enemy occupied territory. As you pray you come to realize that you are in the heart of that enemy occupied territory and you are part of the rebellion to take back the kingdom. You are a member of “the resistance” much like the French or Dutch underground against the Nazi’s in World War II. Understand that when you pray you are in a state of rebellion against the brokenness of this world acting as God’s Secret Agent in the resistance!

What does this forgiveness and turning the other cheek look like on a practical level?
There is a tension in forgiveness that we need to understand. The tension is that it requires both the conjuring of the will AND the reliance on the supernatural power of God’s love flowing from our life.

Hebrews 9:22 says “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” From Old Testament sacrifices to the death of Jesus on the cross, we see every sin is a trespass, a debt that must be paid for with blood. Forgiveness is not cheap. It is painful. What does extending forgiveness look like? It looks like Jesus dying on the cross. It looks like me and you doing the same for those who “owe” us for wrongs they’ve done.

When you look at Jesus’ sacrifice- how big is the cross? The greater we have a view of God’s Holiness the greater a view we have of our own sinfulness. If you see how big your own sinfulness is you have a much bigger view of the cross. The power to forgive comes from being transformed by his forgiveness. After his denial Jesus asked Peter three times “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” He asked three times to unravel or “redeem” Peter’s three betrayals. Jesus stands before us and asks us each individually the same questions: Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?”

Today we are going to focus on the first truth about forgiveness- and that is there is No Forgiveness without Love- He loved you anyway! We examine this aspect of forgiveness by continuing to unpack The Lord's Prayer in conjunction with the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

In this episode of our Series on the Secret Life we examine praying in Secret through the postures modeled in the Lord’s Prayer. We find that Jesus is the source of our daily bread, both physical and spiritual, and we unlock the key to one of the hardest things we must do in our lives- Forgive.

After Jesus struggled with His face to the ground and finally relinquished his will to the Father, what happened? He got up off the ground in strength and faced the suffering, enduring it in continued strength. That is the same power that is available to us in the secret place when we first spend time in adoration and then in surrender with the “thy will be done prayer.”