This Is A Hard Place | Matthew 18:21-35

Welcome back to Morning Inspiration With Pastor Walt! On this episode we're emphasizing the importance of breaking barriers, particularly focusing on the necessity of forgiveness as we navigate the complexities of human relationships. Pastor Walter Bowers Jr. encourages listeners to identify and confront their barriers, citing biblical insights and personal experiences to facilitate healing and growth. 

• Exploring the concept of excellence in the year ahead
• Highlighting the barriers of unforgiveness that we all face
• Discussing Peter’s question about forgiveness in the scripture
• Encouraging you to facilitate personal introspection and recognize barriers
• Examining the difference between grace and legalism in our forgiveness practices
• Personal testimony about dealing with church hurt and the need for true forgiveness
• Emphasizing the importance of self-accountability in forgiveness 
• Inviting you to engage in prayer and seek guidance from God 
• Highlighting journaling as a tool for self-reflection 
• Urging you to break down barriers and facilitate a flow of grace in their lives

Intro and outro created by Joe Anderson Jr. via Truflava Productions

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Transcript

Breaking Barriers

Speaker 1 0:00

right , I'm ready to jump in . So , um , let's do it , lord . We love you , lord , we praise you , lord , we thank you , lord , we celebrate you , we give your name all of the glory , honor and praise god . Forgive us of our sins , forgive us of our shortcomings . Have your way in this space . Speak , lord . Like only you can touch , like only you can heal , uh , like only you can set free , like only you can deliver , like only you can heal . Like only you can set free , like only you can deliver . Like only you can . God , we have to be obedient to what you are saying to us today and forevermore . So I pray for a season of great obedience for all of us . God , we're careful to give your name all the glory and praise . In the powerful name of Jesus , we pray that the people of God say amen , amen and amen . All right , family . Today we will .

Speaker 1 0:52

I'm wanting inspiration . Today is going to journey right along with the word that the Lord gave me for 2025 , to you know , to the people that I serve , and that word was this is going to be a year of excellence , but it's going to take some work , and so the first sermon series that God gave me was is entitled breaking barriers , breaking barriers . And on Sunday and happy new year , bro , happy new year sis and on Sunday , that's what the Lord had us to start talking about breaking , breaking right . And the first thing that we dealt with on Sunday , that is , if we're going to break some barriers , we have to identify the barriers . If we're going to break some barriers , we have to identify the barriers . And we talked about that Sunday and as I was getting ready for tonight , today's morning inspiration , the first one of the year , I said man , I got to be obedient to what God is giving me .

Speaker 1 2:17

So let me read this scripture and then let's jump in Matthew , the 18th chapter , starting at verse 21 , and we'll read verse 22 . The entire lesson is found in Matthew 18 , chapter , verse 21 through 35 , but I'll just read the first two verses and we'll kind of talk about the rest . The word of the Lord reads as follows . Then Peter came to him and asked Lord , how often should I forgive someone who sins against me ? Seven times , no , not seven times . Jesus replied , but 70 times seven , but 70 times seven . And I want to use as a topic today for this first morning inspiration , in light of the fact that we're talking about breaking barriers . This is a hard place . Somebody say this is a hard place . Say it one more time this is a hard place .

Speaker 1 3:25

Peter raises a question as he is learning more about faith , learning more about Christ , and he asked a question , I believe , from a place of sincerity . I believe he asked a question from a place of sincerity and I also believe that he asked the question from a place of hurt . Question from a place of sincerity , and I also believe that he asked the question from a place of hurt . The only time you ask a question as it relates to forgiveness is when there is someone or something in your heart that you feel like you may be wrestling to forgive . Let's just be real , we all humans . That doesn't come up unless it's something that's within you Either you've hurt someone or someone hurt you . Otherwise it doesn't come up . So , for reasons unknown to us , because the text doesn't say exactly why , but Peter being just as human as we are , forgiveness is something that he's wrestling with . And so he asked Jesus a question how often should I forgive someone who sins against me ?

Speaker 1 4:29

And then he goes on to say seven times , which suggests that possibly , like we talked about on Sunday , one of the barriers that we have to really understanding who God is is . Sometimes we have a religious barrier , and when we have a religious barrier we're looking for step-by-step guides and a checklist with God . I want to check the list to make sure I do what I'm supposed to do , because in Romans 7 , the issue that they were dealing with , remember , is they were still operating under the law that they couldn't fulfill and just couldn't accept the fact that now they were in this dispensation of grace . They couldn't accept the fact that God loved them anyhow . They couldn't accept the fact that they were imperfect and God had given them this greater gift , because they just had the inability none of us do to keep the law fully . And so it was some great teaching done there by Paul .

Speaker 1 5:31

And here we have Peter , who also is dealing with a legal issue . You say , why do you say that ? Because he specifically says a number . He says seven times because in their training and their upbringing , everything was associated with a number , if you will , everything was situated with a rule with legalism . Seven , as we know , in the Bible , would often stand for the number of completions . So in Peter's legalistic mind he said hey , you know what I have done my religious duty . If I check the block and I forgive you seven times , you got about one more time to cuss me out . That's number seven . I'm done with you . I ain't got to do nothing else for you . But Jesus says well , no , not seven times .

Speaker 1 6:13

Jesus replied , but 70 times seven , with emphasis to say that in this dispensation of life , it's not about the number of times that you have been wrong , it's about the fact that , at the end of the day , if you're going to operate in this grace dispensation , where God has been gracious to you and forgiven you , you got to forgive everybody else that has harmed you . I'll say that again If you're going to operate and be the recipient of grace in this dispensation of grace , as much as God has forgiven you , you have a requirement to forgive others . The truth of the matter is , if seven was a magic number as it relates to forgiveness , we would have ran out with forgiveness from God a long time ago . Amen , somebody . But I'm thankful for God's grace and what God is teaching Peter is that the way that I operate is how I need you to operate , and truth of the matter is what Peter was dealing with was a barrier .

Speaker 1 7:15

Everybody say , peter was dealing with a barrier . Yes , he was dealing with the barrier of unforgiveness . And remember , if we're going to operate in excellence , if we're going to break barriers this year , we have to identify the barriers . And I believe that the Lord gave me this message because enough of us that come into morning inspiration are dealing with the barrier of unforgiveness . I wish I had some people that want to be honest and it's okay if you don't want to admit it right now , because you may not even have recognized the fact that you've been dealing with the barrier of unforgiveness because you have been operating , you have been going about your business , you've been doing the doggone thing , you've had some wins , you've overcome some stuff , you're trying to move on . But the truth of the matter is the Lord is saying that there is this barrier called unforgiveness and we got to talk about it because God is saying this is going to be a year of excellence for you , this is going to be a year of amazing grace , this is going to be the year I open some doors , but you got to deal with the barrier of unforgiveness and I think this is where I have to be obedient to the Lord and share what God has shown me thus far .

Speaker 1 8:44

Yesterday , this is new language , language for me , but I felt like I was summonsed into prayer . Y'all ever feel like y'all was summonsed into prayer , like you had a urge and an unction to to go into prayer , and not because I was feeling bad . I actually was feeling pretty , pretty , pretty good . I was feeling bad . I actually was feeling pretty good , I was having a good day , it was a good night , the boys had finally kind of got settled for the evening and all that kind of good stuff , and I was summonsed in the prayer . Y'all ever been summonsed in the prayer ? Anybody ever been summonsed ? Zoom , family you ever been summonsed in the prayer ? Facebook you ever been summonsed in the prayers ? When God just give you an unction and a desire .

Speaker 1 9:24

So you know , I just feel like praying and again , especially in those times when it could be summonsing , when something is going on . But it was different when God summons you in the prayer , when , when , when it feels like out of blue , and so I try to be obedient to that . I'm trying to be more obedient to those moments . So , as I was summonsed into prayer and I started praying for you all that I served , I started praying for my family , et cetera .

Speaker 1 9:51

I was summonsed into this prayer because this time the Lord didn't want to hear from me . The Lord said I need to talk to you . I also started to learn that when God summons us into prayer , sometimes it's better to do a little bit more listening than we do talking . And I'm telling you with everything that's in my heart , because I know it came out of nowhere . It just came out of nowhere . It was not even something in my mind , in my consciousness , and I'm just going to be true , true , which didn't even feel like talk about this this morning , didn't feel like talk about this publicly . But I have no choice if we're going to break barriers and I have no choice if you're going to , if I got it , if you got to do it , I got to do it right and I don't feel like talk about it right now . But the Lord said to me . He said you have yet to forgive me , certain people that you served at the church that you came from , and it is a barrier to what I want to do next . Um , in your , in your life . And I was like whoa , where that came from .

Speaker 1 11:06

I don't say nothing about nobody , I don't talk about um , um , I don't talk about it , I don't mention it , I don't , I don't make reference to it . I , I , I keep it moving . Um , and you , you know me , I don't , I don't , I don't preach about it , I don't , I don't pray publicly about it . I say nothing about , uh , some of the things that , um , that I uh experienced . You know , it's always beautiful . I respect , you know , people that I serve when they talk about church hurt . That can be a real thing . But shoot , ask a pastor about some church hurt .

Speaker 1 11:40

But he said that I had not forgiven certain people for what they said , how they treated me and things of that nature . And this is not to go on a public display of , you know , what was said and what was did and what people did and all but it's to talk about . This is a barrier and that's why I said this morning this is a hard place . It's a hard place for me to come and even say that out , you know , out loud , fully aware that this is , you know , fully recorded and all those fun things . But I ain't playing with it this year . We gonna break some barriers this year and I try my best to lead from the front .

Speaker 1 12:18

So I had to say well , god , what does true forgiveness , you know , look like ? Because I don't talk trash , at least out loud , I don't say nothing , I mind my own business . And you know , true forgiveness , as y'all know , is never forgetting , because you'll never forget certain stuff . But true forgiveness is essentially letting people off the hook . None of us are Jesus and none of us pretend to be Jesus , but Jesus said something that I think helps us as it relates to understanding forgiveness . Thank you , sis . I'm going to break the barrier in Jesus' name . Jesus said something . None of us are Jesus , but he said something from the cross that I think all of us could probably embrace . He said Father , forgive them , for they know not what they do .

Breaking Internal Barriers

Speaker 1 13:08

Now , if you take that statement out of context , one who uses that statement could sound like you're being so holy and saying that you are so perfect and that you did everything right . No , jesus was perfect and Jesus did everything right . But what we take that statement to mean is you know , sometimes some people you know hurt us and they really don't have the full context of what they are doing and they may not really have a full context of why you took certain actions An employer , your employee that you had to let go , may not have the full context of why you had to downsize . And now they're angry at you and they say stuff about you because they're upset with you , but they didn't have the whole concept of that . The business was going about to close lest you made some difficult choices , and so sometimes people don't have full context . It's interesting . Had those Jews had full context , I wonder what decision they would have made as it relates to Jesus . And sometimes people do have full context and they still do what they do because people be peopling right , but at the end of the day , it's not them .

Speaker 1 14:29

It's the fact that a matter that if I , as I identify the barrier that I was dealing with unforgiveness and didn't even know it , that's crazy and I'm scared because I'm like man . How many of us are dealing with barriers that we don't even know , and that's why we got to identify them . So one thing I'm seeing now is that , as we go through this process and we identify barriers , you need to be prepared for God to show you some barriers that you have not yet dealt with , and you will know that it's a barrier that God has shown you that you need to deal with , because you will quickly discover that this is a hard place . This is a hard place , this is a hard place . I this , it's a , it's a , it's a , it's a hard place . You wonder why it's a barrier ? Because , remember , a definition of a barrier is an obstacle . It stops the flow . Uh , a barrier , it stops . It stops movement . A barrier , it stops your upward mobility . A barrier will keep you from operating in , in , in excellence . And so , uh , today , so today , subconsciously , I know that I'm not the only one that has to forgive and I know I'm not the only one that has a barrier , whether it's forgiveness or otherwise , that is so deep within that .

Speaker 1 15:51

You remember , I said on Sunday , I said some barriers , you've gone nose blind to them . Um , you've been dealing with them so long you done gone nose blind to them . Um , you done smell that stuff . So long you gone nose blind to it , you don't even smell it any anymore . Um , and the Lord has said I , I need to , I need to do you like they do at the perfume store . You know , at the perfume store , if you go in and you smell this stuff , they sometimes you got to get a sniff of some beans or whatever they do to kind of clear out your nostrils , um and but I mean immune to it exactly . So god is saying I gotta , I gotta , I gotta clear out your nostrils so that you can really smell what this smells like and see what it's doing , because I want to do a greater thing in your life in 2025 . I want to move in a different way , and so now I truly believe the Lord is saying this may be a great season For those of you all who journal , keep journaling .

Speaker 1 16:53

For those of you who do not journal , it may be a great time to start , because I do believe that God is going to speak about unforgiveness . I will say that makes this a hard place is that you're not really probably ready to deal with unforgiveness until you also are willing to deal with the fact that , with some extreme cases right , there are always extreme cases . Truth of the matter , in most cases to deal with unforgiveness , you got to deal with your own culpability , right In every situation . You may have been 90% right , but that still was a 10% that you could have done better . Or you were even flat out wrong . You may have been 70% right , but that's still a 30% that you needed to deal with .

Speaker 1 17:53

Again , with the exception of very extreme cases I'm talking about victims of violent crime and all that stuff like that would it ? With the exception of very extreme cases , you have some culpability in this thing , and if you're if you're , forgiveness of others starts with well , it's all the other person's fault . You're not . You're not in the place that you're ready to forgive . That's why I'm not really trying to rehearse anything that anybody did , because the lord is saying I , I have to deal with .

Speaker 1 18:29

You know anything that I could have done , um , different , you know . I'm saying as well uh , because the the true essence of of forgiveness is um , I gotta , I gotta deal with the whole council of the situation . Um , nobody else involved in the process has to change or even have to say um , they accept my apology , because they may not even feel that that's necessary , but I know , for me , I have to say you know what , lord , I acknowledge that I could have been better , I could have done certain things better , I could have done better , and if the Lord was to open that door , I would even apologize to anybody that said hey , you know what we feel like you hurt us as well , because if I'm going to break this barrier in this hard place , my ego has to die . You can't break a barrier in a hard place if you're not going to allow your ego to die . Your ego rises up every time if you go and have a conversation with somebody and say up every time .

Speaker 1 19:57

If you go and have a conversation with somebody and say , hey , you know what I want to forgive you , or hey , and it turns to what you did to me , or vice versa , you know what I mean . If there's always a flip , you know what I'm saying . If you ask for somebody to forgive you and they don't respond the way you want them to respond , and then you go to the left or the right , it's not about the other person's response , it's about you being obedient to Christ , and that's what makes this a hard place . So if you are a person seeking forgiveness , you say , hey , I messed up , I want to ask you a forgiveness , and they're not receptive , that's okay . That's what makes this a hard place . If you say to somebody you hurt me and I want you to apologize , and they say you hurt me first , it's okay , because that's what makes this a hard place .

Speaker 1 20:52

My forgiveness is not predicated on somebody else's response . Your forgiveness cannot be predicated on somebody else's response . Your forgiveness cannot be predicated on somebody else's response . Whether you are seeking someone to forgive you or you need to forgive someone else , you do it because you said you know what , in 2025 , I'm going to break this . Else , you do it because you said you know what , in 2025 , I'm going to break this barrier .

Speaker 1 21:20

I am , and , as we know , and I'm going to conclude early here because I'm on duty this morning to make some sausage , as we conclude early , you know , this morning I want to pray because , but I want to say trust God in this . You know , god didn't force me here . There was something else I wanted to talk to you all about , but I just need to go with God . But God didn't force me here just for me , because I could have had my therapy all by myself , would have talked to the counselor , but he forced me here because , apparently , there is either a subconscious barrier that you have not dealt with , or that barrier is , in fact , the fact that you've got to go forgive a family member , it is the fact that you've got to forgive a spouse , it is the fact that you've got to forgive yourself . That's another conversation for another day , but that's a real thing , and so I want to take some time and pray out today because we're going to break this barrier , because , remember , a barrier is stopping the flow and we're not going to stop the flow .

Speaker 1 22:28

And , as I said on Sundays , prophetically , barriers have been stopping your elevation long enough , been stopping your elevation long enough , and the moment we deal with this hard place , the moment we take a jackhammer to this barrier , it's the moment we're going to see God move in our lives like never before . Somebody say I receive it . The moment we take a jackhammer to this barrier , we're going to see the flow of God in our lives like never before . And you thought it was your business strategy needed to be better , but God is saying it's the fact that you've got a barrier in the spirit realm that you need to deal with . And if you deal with the barrier in the spirit realm , watch how I'm going to move in your life .

Speaker 1 23:16

So let's pray . Father , I love you , I praise you , I thank you , I celebrate you , give you name , glory , honor and praise . Thank you , god , for this first morning inspiration of 2025 . And thank you , god , for giving us an honest moment to talk , god . I just pray that all of us learn to operate in the spirit and just be obedient to what you're saying this year , because truth of the matter is , you're going to show all of us different things that we just got to deal with .

Speaker 1 23:41

We want to deal with it , but pray , god , that you help us to deal with the hard place . This is a this is a hard place to be able to deal with things that we have put in the back of our mind . A hard place to be able to deal with things that we put in the back of our heart . But that we put in the back of our heart . But , god , we got to be able to forgive . We got to be able to go and help us with that , father God . Help us with any unforgiveness . Help us , father God , with forgiving ourselves . Help us , god , to seek forgiveness from those that we have wronged , and if they're not receptive , then that's okay too . But we've done what you have called us to do . No more pointing the fingers , no more . Woe is me , no more . Look at what you did to

Removing Barriers Through Forgiveness

Speaker 1 24:22

me .

Speaker 1 24:22

Now , god is about forgiving . Certainly , we know God . It doesn't mean that we'll . You know . Whatever happens next is up to you is all . I say , god , because it doesn't mean that things will be as they were , it doesn't mean that it'll be whatever , but it does mean , god , that our hearts are open and our minds are clear and a barrier has been moved . So I pray right now , god , that you remove the barrier , god , so there can be a flow in the lives of your period . As often as you have been us , god , we have to forgive one another . God , lord , we just love you today . We praise you today . We celebrate you today . We celebrate you today . We give you name all the glory , honor and praise . It's in the powerful name of Jesus we pray . Let the people of God say amen , amen , amen . Listen , family , love you all . Have an amazing , awesome , super , stupendous type day and looking forward to seeing you all in Bible study tonight , where we're going to go a little bit .