Neil McIver - Preparing Ourselves for Passover

Neil McIver, in his third installment of “Preparing Ourselves for Passover,” focuses on the necessity of repairing strained and broken relationships. We have an obligation to forgive others as God has forgiven us, letting go of resentment and bitterness, releasing our offenders. When we harbor wrath, bitterness, and hatred to others, we actually harm ourselves by our smoldering resentment, bringing on debilitating illnesses. We need to displace anger and resentment with love and peace, letting Jesus Christ rule in our hearts, and make amends to those we have harmed or offended, letting God lead us to the right time and place. In our lifetime journey to follow Christ, we must maintain momentum, preventing ourselves from backsliding or relapsing into sin. We must support and exhort one another in our efforts to overcome, realizing that we need each other’s help. We should reserve daily time for self-examination using the spiritual tools of prayer, study, meditation, and fasting, enabling us to prove our faith and our works, while at the same time, taking inventories of our physical, emotional, relationship, and spiritual conditions, trusting God to lead us into true freedom.

Anger * Annual checkup * Arnold Winkelried * Bitterness * Colossians 3:13, 15 * Complacency * Control * Danger zone * Ecclesiastes 4:9; 8:6 * Emotional abuse * Emotional freedom * Emotional inventories * Empty chair * Ephesians 4:16, 31-32 * Evaluate relationships * Falling asleep in our Father’s arms * I Corinthians 10:12 * I John 2:16-17 * Forbearance * Forgiveness * Galatians 3:3; 5:7; 6:4 * God’s peace * Hebrews 10:25; 12:15 * Hope * Human nature * Indiana Pacers * Inventories Job 5:2; 11:13-17; 18:4; 21:23-25 * Kindness * Lamentations 3:40 * Leaven * Luke 6:27-30 * Lying * Mark 11:25; 14:35-38 * Matthew 6:6; 18:21-22 * Make amends * Message Bible * Momentum * Physical inventories * Pride * Prime rib analogy * Proverbs 3:5; 12:18; 16:18 * Psalm 1:1 * Relapse * Relationship inventory * Resentment * Romans 12:18 * Ron Artess * II Corinthians 13:5-6; 16:8 * 70 times 7 * Slow down to hear what God has to say * Spiritual inventories * Stay alert * Submission to God * Swiss Army * Tenderness * Trust in the Lord * Warning * Way of escape * Zechariah 4:6