Forgiveness is a gift – one that has been given to us by Jesus Christ so that we might give it to others.

In our last message from the forgiveness series, we join Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, as he reminds us that unforgiveness in us grieves the heart of God.

Taking us to the book of Ephesians, Pastor Matt shows us how the indwelling Spirit of God is heartbroken when He is not allowed to forgive others through us because of our failure to obey Jesus.

Open your Bible to Ephesians 4 as we discover the 5 reasons why unforgiveness grieves the heart of God.

Men and women across the sanctuary stood to demonstrate they had forgiven every person in their lives that had offended them after that prayer. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you, too, have joined in forgiving every person in your life who has ever offended you. This truly is the path of life and joy.

If you have, will you take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study?

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

Artwork Credit: ceruleansanctum.com

Conviction – it’s a word many Christ-followers misunderstand. When the Spirit moves through the words of the pastor, many people get uncomfortable and upset.

While many would rather not address the subject of conviction through the pastor’s messages, we join Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, as he wades into the deeper waters of the ways of God.

Let’s open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 5 and discover how the Church is supposed to work and why, from time to time, the words of the pastor will be used by the Spirit of God to show us we are doing something wrong.

At the end of this message, as men and women chose to not hold grudges or anger when people failed them and chose to quickly call others to repentance when they see a failure in another, the Spirit of God rejoiced and the people in attendance stepped closer to Christ-likeness. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you, too, have joined in making these choices of forgiveness as well.

If you have, will you take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study?

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

Artwork by OnlyCurious

“People find fault as if there is a reward for it!  Too many people look for the worst in others and never pass up the chance to cut down or criticize others.”

That quote from Zig Ziglar reminds us of our theme for today’s podcast: God wants us to forgive people, not just bear with them.

Forgiveness is a new life style the Christ-follower has to “put on” – like one would put on their clothes each day. With our Bibles open to Colossians 3, let’s discover the 2 things Jesus expects us to put on in order to forgive the people we are currently bearing with.

We join Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, as he talks about a new suit and how that taught him to forgive.

And with Dr. Smith’s responsive prayer at the end of this episode, men and women chose to forgive those that they were currently bearing with. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you, too, have joined in that prayer as well.

If you have, will you take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study?

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

Unforgiveness is a prison in which we are our own jailer! If I want out of my prison of pain all I need to do is release the offender. Let go!

Welcome to the Transformed podcast!

Forgiveness involves a choice and a process. Many people struggle with forgiving because they don’t understand what happens after they forgive.

As we open our Bibles, we discover that one of the major problems we all have is that we are insensitive to how we treat others and we are over-sensitive to how we are treated! In fact, Jesus tells us that if we would pay more attention to how we treat others we wouldn’t have to endure fixing so many broken relationships!

Let’s join Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, as he offers us the keys to forgiveness from the lips of Jesus in Luke 17.

And with that prayer, men and women came forward to release the offenders in their lives and find the freedom Christ gives once that happens. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you, too, have prayed that prayer as well.

If you have, will you take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study?

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

Welcome to the Transformed podcast.

We cannot accomplish God’s dream for our church until we learn to forgive and forget the offenses of others.

One of the closest men to Jesus tells us today there are 7 key understandings about forgiveness and it’s linkage to fellowship. Once we apply these understandings our fellowship circle will grow and we will enjoy a depth of friendship unheard of among our neighbors.

Let’s listen in as Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, teaches us about forgiveness and fellowship from 1 John 1.

We hope you prayed that prayer to receive the forgiveness of God. If you did, congratulations! It is our sincere hope and prayer that you will take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study.

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

We are praying that you would be filled with the love of God so that you can demonstrate His love to the lost and dying in your city! God bless!

Welcome to the Transformed podcast.

Gary Inrig has said, “Our response to Jesus is the infallible evidence of whether or not we have understood and received forgiveness.”

In our episode today, Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, explores forgiveness when it becomes the theme of a dinner that Jesus is invited to by a local Pharisee.

As we open our Bibles to Luke 7, we discover that attitudes are the fragrance of life and the difference between the religiously superior person and the forgiven spirit are the attitudes you can smell … as we see at the dinner situation Jesus was in. Let’s listen is now as Jesus tells us that how we respond to the forgiveness of Jesus reflects what’s really happened inside of us.

We hope you prayed that prayer to receive the forgiveness of God. If you did, congratulations! It is our sincere hope and prayer that you will take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study.

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

As hard as it is to imagine at times, God wants to forgive you!

• I know, there are things you can’t imagine God forgiving in your life.
• I know, some of the things you have done are just too embarrassing to even consider asking for forgiveness about!
• I know, after reading what you have read in the Bible or hearing what you have heard from “Christians” you know God’s opinion of what you’ve done.

And, as a result, you know God wouldn’t want to forgive you.

I would agree with you – if I didn’t understand the road to forgiveness!

In our episode today, Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, explains the three phases on the road to forgiveness with God.

Let’s open our Bible now to Romans 3 and listen in as he teaches God’s Word …

At the end of the podcast Pastor Matt led you in a prayer to receive God’s forgiveness. We hope you prayed that prayer to receive His forgiveness. If you did, congratulations! It is our sincere hope and prayer that you will take the next steps in the faith by getting into a small group of believers and digging into the Bible through group study.

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

And now, until next time, we are praying that you would be filled with the love of God so that you can demonstrate His love to the lost and dying in your city! God bless!

Easter is all about forgiveness!

It’s about the proof that God forgives us …

• Despite what we have done
• Despite whom we’ve hurt
• Despite how we’ve treated others
• Despite … ourselves!

Our episode today is from the transcript of God’s own conversation about his “forgiveness plan,” Pastor Matt shares 5 facts about God’s forgiveness as seen from the eternal plan of God.

We hope you enjoy today’s episode as you listen as Dr. Matthew Smith, lead pastor of the Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, California, lifts our hearts and spirits concerning the intentionality and compassion of God’s love for us.

As the episode concludes we hope you pray the prayer to receive the forgiveness of God and develop a deep and abiding relationship with God.

You can take the thought of this message one step further by ordering a copy of Pastor Matt’s book, In His Presence.

In His Presence is a daily devotional which targets the purpose of Magnification or Worship.

It revolves around the Biblical truth, “God welcomes you into His presence with joy and pleasure.”

The devotional follows a reading schedule through the entire book of Psalms over the course of the year.

You can order a copy of In His Presence from Amazon by clicking the link on the side panel of the Eagles In Leadership website.

And now, until next time, we are praying that you would be filled with the love of God so that you can demonstrate His love to the lost and dying in your city! God bless!

Editor’s Note: We continue our series of blogs for those who are reading the Bible with us cover-to-cover this year. Interspersed with our thoughts on our daily reading, we want to provide some tips about reading the Bible in general. Today we want to explore …

Weeding the Garden of My Soul

Repenting of Daily Sins

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. ” (Psalm 139:23–24, NKJV)

“How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. ” (Job 13:23, NKJV)

Each morning, in my time alone with God I pray these two prayers by these two giants of the faith. I am captivated by the power of their words. They make a time of reflection for me, as I wait for God to answer. After praying them, I wait for God to answer my prayers, and he most certainly does!

I have learned there are 6 things I need to weed from my soul every day.

• I need to weed out my heart. Here is who I am, what I feel, how I act all wrapped into one word. The “heart” is often spoken of as meaning heart, mind, inner person. The primary usage of this word describes the entire disposition of the inner person that God can discern.^[1] How often do I need God to show me where I have allowed the weeds of faithlessness and selfishness to creep in and grow?

• I need to weed out my anxieties. What surprised me was this one – those disquieting thoughts that take away the peace (shalom) of God from my heart and soul. I have come to realize that when I am anxious (read: worry), I have lost my faith in God’s ability to resolve my problem and that he has already allowed into my life to test my faith (James 1.3).

• I need to weed out my wicked ways. While I need to avoid the blatant sins this would immediately conjure up, there is a more subtle, practical reality at the core of this failure before God. Essentially this is the sin of irritability and anger, which often breaks out upon others. The [word “wicked”] relates to physical pain as well as to emotional sorrow.  Words similar in Hebrew are “to writhe,” “to be hot (with anger),” “to grieve,” “to become tired, weary,” “to be irritated, angry,” “to be bitter, despairing,” “to feel a disgust,” “to trouble” (Ps 78:41), and the noun “turmoil.”^[2] This is a common weed in times of stress.

• I need to weed out my iniquities. So often I get off the path of God’s plans for my life. I take a turn God never intended. In every instance, I realize it when I feel lost or I am in pain. Repenting (turning around) and seeking direction is at the center of my time alone with God at this point.

• I need to weed out my transgressions. The fundamental idea of the root is a breach of relationships, civil or religious, between two parties.^[3] How many times have I come to God asking for forgiveness and help with broken relationships – either with him or with others? And God answers! I can’t survive long without repairing relationships.

• I need to weed out my sins. At its core, this is the most generic of the areas I need to ask God’s light to shine on. I simply ask God to show me where I’ve missed the mark in his sight, just as a dart thrower misses the bull’s eye. So often I just miss the mark and don’t accomplish what God desires.

Perhaps now you can see why I need to weed the garden of my soul each morning. Maybe you do too? I am sure you have learned some ways to do this that would be beneficial to all of us! Would you be willing to share what you have learned with the rest of us by leaving a comment? Thank you!

It is our hope that this background information helps a bit as you read on in the Bible.

For daily insights into the passage we are reading together each day, you can follow Dr. Smith on Twitter and on Facebook.

You can obtain more help from the FREE Bible reading schedule on our resource page. In His Image is a daily devotional that also follows our reading schedule and expresses the Biblical truth: “God Created You to Love You.” You can find this resource on the side bar of our website.

^[2] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (687–688). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[3] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (741). Chicago: Moody Press.

Sponsor: GoToMyPC

We wrap up our very practical study, Forgiveness – The Breath of Life!, today. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Transformed podcast, I’m your host Mike Powers. Today’s episode is entitled Walking Into the Wind or When There’s No ‘I’m Sorry!’ promises to be very helpful.

We are all called and commanded to be forgiving people. That is hard under any conditions. But what if the offender does not, will not, or cannot repent? Let’s join Dr. Matthew Lee Smith as he teaches the congregation at First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes Ca from Matthew 18.15-20