One day a while back, a man, his heart
heavy with grief, was walking in the woods.
As he thought about his life this day, he knew many things
were not right. He thought about those
who had lied about him back when he had a job.

His thoughts turned to those who had stolen his things
and cheated him.  He remembered family that had passed on.
His mind turned to the illness he had, that no one could cure.  
His very soul was filled with anger, resentment, and frustration.

Standing there this day, searching for answers  he could not find,
knowing all else had failed him, he knelt at the base of an old
oak tree to seek the one he knew would always be
there.  And with tears in his eyes, he prayed:

‘Lord- You have done wonderful things for me in this life.
You have told me to do many things for you, and I happily obeyed.
Today, you have told me to forgive. I am sad, Lord, because I
cannot, I don’t know how.  It is not fair Lord,
I didn’t deserve these wrongs that were done against
me and I shouldn’t have to forgive. As perfect as
your way is Lord, this one thing I cannot do, for I
don’t know how to forgive.  My anger is so deep
Lord, I fear  I may not hear you, but I pray
you teach me to do the one thing I cannot do:
 Teach me to forgive.’

As he knelt there in the quiet shade
of that old oak tree, he felt something fall onto
his shoulder.  He opened his eyes. Out of the
corner of one eye, he saw something red  on his
shirt.  He could not turn to see what it was
because where the  oak tree had been was a
large square piece of wood in the ground.  He
raised his head and saw two feet held to the wood
with a large spike through them.

He raised his head more, and tears came to his eyes
as he saw Jesus hanging on a cross. He saw spikes in His
hands, a gash in His side, a torn and battered body, deep
thorns sunk into His head. Finally he saw the
suffering and pain on His precious face. As their
eyes met, the man’s tears turned to sobbing, and
Jesus began to speak.

‘Have you ever told a lie?’  He asked?

The man answered – ‘Yes, Lord.’

‘Have you ever been given too much change and kept it?’

The man answered – ‘Yes.  Lord.’ And the man sobbed more and more.

‘Have you ever taken something from work that wasn’t yours?’
Jesus asked?

And the man answered, ‘Yes, Lord.’

‘Have you ever sworn, using my Father’s name in vain?’

The man, crying now, answered – ‘Yes, Lord.’

As Jesus asked many more times, ‘Have you ever?’, the
man’s crying became uncontrollable, for he could
only answer – ‘Yes, Lord’.

Then Jesus turned His head from one side to the other,
and the man felt something fall on his other shoulder.
He looked and saw that it was the blood of Jesus.
When he looked back up, his eyes met those of Jesus,
and there was a look of love the man had never seen
or known before.

Jesus said, ‘I didn’t deserve this either, but I forgive you.’

It may be hard to see how you’re going to get through something,
but when you look back in life, you realize how true this statement
is.

Read the following first line slowly and let it sink in.

If God brings you to it – He will bring you through it.

When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!  If
you are one of the 8% who will stand up for Him,
forward this with the Title: 8%

92% of people won’t forward this.