Seventy-Seven Times

New Creations In Christ Jesus!!
The Old is Gone, the New Has Come!!

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? Matthew 18: 21

The other day I was struggling with someone who was angry with me.
I was reading my Bible and praying.
I was so frustrated and hurting.
I was talking to the Lord.
Then, sitting there talking to God, venting my hurts, laying on my side, my Bible pages fell open to the back index.

And what did it fall open to but the section on Hearts.
I noticed how many entries it had.
There were so many.
I thought yes, God really cares about our heart.
That everything Jesus did was to give us a new heart.
That we would have His heart in place of ours.
For His heart is always choosing love for us even in our worst days to Him.

That God was giving me a divine intervention to refocus my heart.
My heart on being better at loving and forgiving.

I also discovered that my NIV Bible has 77 entries for the heart.
Whether that was intentional or accidental,
it matches with Jesus’s answer to Peter, that we are to forgive seventy-seven times.
Seventy-seven being symbolic of completeness, essentially forgiving until there is nothing left to forgive.

Which is what Jesus did for me!
Forgiving me completely, paying for my sins at the cross, completely, that there is no sin or offense that can count against me in the courts of Heaven.

May we know that we know that we know, we are called to live by the new hearts that Jesus gave us, full of love and forgiveness for everyone.

May we know that we know that we know, we are called to forgive everyone everything until no hurt remains and no forgiveness is needed anymore.

May we know that we know that we know that Jesus really did wipe away every offense for us, and we are truly, completely forgiven, every sin, every trespass, declared not guilty, redeemed, made new.

love kathlynn