The Vampire Spirit

Lately God has been speaking about forgiveness. In little ways, He has been dropping subtle (and not so subtle) hints for me to forgive. It’s funny how many times I have shared on this very topic but it yet always seems to come up.

For any of us who struggle with hurt, we have to know that we might be struggling with forgiveness, also. Somehow they go hand in hand. Not saying that they should, but they yet do or can.

Anyway, a major part and I believe at the foundation, the core of our belief in Jesus Christ, is forgiveness. And our ability to forgive. After all, this is what sent Jesus to the cross. To die on our behalf, that we might be forgiven. But God says, if you do not forgive others of their wrongs, neither will He forgive you. So no matter what Jesus did to take away our sins, our injustice towards others, if we continue to hold on to unforgiveness in our hearts toward other people, we will not be forgiven.

I was chewing on this word forgiveness, again and God sort of painted a picture for me. Of vampires. Yes, you read that right… vampires. With all the shows on tv, and the movies much is said about vampires and zombies and flesh-eating creatures. And for me, God often shows me something in the natural to make a spiritual point. And this is what He said.

Vampires, zombies and flesh-eating creatures, (oh my…) thirst for blood. That is how they survive. That is how they thrive. And we, when we do not forgive, do the same. Because we have been hurt, sometimes we thirst for blood, have a desire to see the one that has hurt us bleed. Not so much in the natural, first natural, then spiritual. As a vampire who hungers and searches for blood, he has a need to feed that thirst. Only once he feeds, he doesn’t stop wanting to feed. He continues to have the need. When he gets the blood, for him, it doesn’t get better, it only gets worse.

The same is true of us. When we hold on to hurt, we have that same need. That need to feed. We want the other person to hurt. Hurt people really do hurt people. We want them to feel our pain or some kind of pain. Desiring to see them cry, like we do. Experience some type of hurt, emotional, mental, some of us actually want to hurt them physically. And then once we see them hurt, it’s not enough. That is how revenge works. It’s a need to feed a vengeful spirit that doesn’t end. Always having the yearning to see whoever hurt you, hurt even more. And it’s fueled by unforgiveness.

But God is real. Glory to be God who always causes us to triumph. God cares about us so much that He allows us to see where we might be struggling. He shows us where we are falling short. He reminds us of what Jesus died for and what it cost Him. Especially now in this season. When Jesus was on that cross, with the two thieves on His sides, with people mocking and ridiculing and stabbing and crucifying Him, He made a decision to forgive. If He can do that from that position, seeing what He saw, feeling what He felt, who are we that we can’t forgive someone who called us out of our name, forgot our birthday or didn’t meet our expectations. Oh, forgive me, Lord.

“Vengeance is mine. I shall repay,” saith the Lord.

Rebuke that vampire spirit within you. Take away the need to feed and give it (whoever the “it” might be) to God. He can actually handle the blood. Selah.

A servant of the Lord, still.
Sis. E

www.butgodisreal.com
Copyright ©2016
 
Lately God has been speaking about forgiveness. In little ways, He has been dropping subtle (and not so subtle) hints for me to forgive. It’s funny how many times I have shared on this very topic but it yet always seems to come up.

For any of us who struggle with hurt, we have to know that we might be struggling with forgiveness, also. Somehow they go hand in hand. Not saying that they should, but they yet do or can.

Anyway, a major part and I believe at the foundation, the core of our belief in Jesus Christ, is forgiveness. And our ability to forgive. After all, this is what sent Jesus to the cross. To die on our behalf, that we might be forgiven. But God says, if you do not forgive others of their wrongs, neither will He forgive you. So no matter what Jesus did to take away our sins, our injustice towards others, if we continue to hold on to unforgiveness in our hearts toward other people, we will not be forgiven.

I was chewing on this word forgiveness, again and God sort of painted a picture for me. Of vampires. Yes, you read that right… vampires. With all the shows on tv, and the movies much is said about vampires and zombies and flesh-eating creatures. And for me, God often shows me something in the natural to make a spiritual point. And this is what He said.

Vampires, zombies and flesh-eating creatures, (oh my…) thirst for blood. That is how they survive. That is how they thrive. And we, when we do not forgive, do the same. Because we have been hurt, sometimes we thirst for blood, have a desire to see the one that has hurt us bleed. Not so much in the natural, first natural, then spiritual. As a vampire who hungers and searches for blood, he has a need to feed that thirst. Only once he feeds, he doesn’t stop wanting to feed. He continues to have the need. When he gets the blood, for him, it doesn’t get better, it only gets worse.

The same is true of us. When we hold on to hurt, we have that same need. That need to feed. We want the other person to hurt. Hurt people really do hurt people. We want them to feel our pain or some kind of pain. Desiring to see them cry, like we do. Experience some type of hurt, emotional, mental, some of us actually want to hurt them physically. And then once we see them hurt, it’s not enough. That is how revenge works. It’s a need to feed a vengeful spirit that doesn’t end. Always having the yearning to see whoever hurt you, hurt even more. And it’s fueled by unforgiveness.

But God is real. Glory to be God who always causes us to triumph. God cares about us so much that He allows us to see where we might be struggling. He shows us where we are falling short. He reminds us of what Jesus died for and what it cost Him. Especially now in this season. When Jesus was on that cross, with the two thieves on His sides, with people mocking and ridiculing and stabbing and crucifying Him, He made a decision to forgive. If He can do that from that position, seeing what He saw, feeling what He felt, who are we that we can’t forgive someone who called us out of our name, forgot our birthday or didn’t meet our expectations. Oh, forgive me, Lord.

“Vengeance is mine. I shall repay,” saith the Lord.

Rebuke that vampire spirit within you. Take away the need to feed and give it (whoever the “it” might be) to God. He can actually handle the blood. Selah.

A servant of the Lord, still.
Sis. E

www.butgodisreal.com
Copyright ©2016
Very good! I think Christians miss out on what happens to them physically because of misunderstanding this verse:

John 20:23 (KJV)
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained.​

Remit: the only time it appears in the word of God. Many other translations say "forgive" but that's way down on the list of definitions. The word "remit" is "to send away". Think about Jesus' attitude towards sin: is He really telling them "who you don't forgive, they won't be forgiven"? That's contrary to what He told Peter when Peter asked how many times to forgive someone - and I don't think it was really 490 times. So what does it mean?

Well, let's think about what forgiveness is really all about. Is it for the victim or the abuser? We automatically think it's only for the abuser, and it can be, but far and above it's truly for the victim. If then, this is true, what's Jesus saying here? We need to define one other word - retain. We think to "keep in possession" which is true, but more exactly it's "to have power, be powerful". Now that's interesting. Here's what Jesus is saying:

If you send away the sins of others, they are sent away. If you hold onto their sin, it will have power over you - in a negative way. Studies have proven that bitterness and unforgiveness towards others tends to produce arthritis in them. Jesus is saying, if you don't let go of their offense towards you, you'll let them fester in you until physical harm is done. This is why proverbs says not to let the sun go down on your wrath. It's why Matt 18 says to go to those that have offended you, so you can be free. Not to get them to repent for what they did to you - though that would be nice - the real issue is to get you free from their fiery darts. :)
 
Back
Top