I have to confess that this subject slipped up on me today when I saw a calendar in the bathroom, of all places. I noticed that today, Dec 7th is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in the USA. Suddenly a flood of thoughts and memories came to mind. I feel a bit overwhelmed about this subject. It is critical to the life of a believer. I am praying God will help me to present to others what He has entrusted to me. Well, here goes!

FORGIVENESS is not EMOTION!

Forgiveness is not an emotional reaction. When understood from a biblical perspective, forgiveness is a conscious choice that is an amazing step of faith. It is crucial in our relationship with God and those around us. Here are just a few well-known scriptures.

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. KJV

Matt 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. KJV

Matt 18:21-22 Then Peter came to him and asked, "Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?" "No!" Jesus replied, "seventy times seven! TLB

PERSONAL APPLICATION

I have struggled with the part about forgiving and then trying to forget. There have been individuals that have inflicted great undeserved and unprovoked pain in my life. Some of them were Christians and even ministers. It was especially hard because this was not expected from them. At first there was shock and surprise, denial, and then anger. Soon conviction from the Holy Spirit would remind me that I must forgive them. I would pray and ask for God’s help in doing this. But self-preservation would set in. After all, it would not be good for them spiritually if they were to repeat this same mistake. So defenses would be put place to make sure this would not happen again. Of course, this process would impede any true Christian fellowship or being able to work together effectively.

The forgiving was required and necessary, but I remembered what was done to me. What was forgotten was the fact that, in many cases, I truly did forgive them. When a memory was triggered I would REMEMBER the trespass and FORGET the FORGIVENESS that had taken place. The pain and anger would be rekindled. I spent too much time and effort in trying to forget the offense and would forget that I had truly forgiven the other person. I am not sure how clear this is. Some may disagree and conclude that I did not completely forgive the other person. That is possible, but not the case in many situations. I simply forgot about my step of faith in forgiving the person.

I believe this to be true, for one reason, in that that many believers are troubled in their Christian walk because they FORGET that they have been FORGIVEN! This is why water baptism is important. Baptism is a public testimony witnessed by others that we have received forgiveness from God by faith in Jesus Christ. Those present are our witnesses. It also helps us to remember. Communion was set forth by Jesus so that we would remember and “show forth His death” until He returns in the rapture. Membership in a local body of believers can help us when being attacked by the “accuser of the brethren” a true brother will stand by us reminding us that we are indeed a Child of God and have been forgiven.

FAITH to FORGIVE

Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" NIV Of course, Jesus took this further and told Peter to forgive his brother seventy times seven. All of this cannot be done without faith. It takes faith to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. It takes faith to believe that He has forgiven us of our sins. Faith is also required to FORGIVE and RELEASE someone who has attacked and hurt us or those we love. We believe that God will handle the problem. We believe that He will deal with any debt of punishment or retribution. Rom 12:19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it. [Don't take the law into your own hands.] TLB

REMEMBER to FORGIVE

When wronged first of all, remember that you are forgiven by God and others too. Then remember that God has given you the ability, authority and responsibility to forgive that one who hurts you. Ask God to give you the faith, strength and love to forgive the individual. Do so by a conscious act of faith. This can take place in a private prayer to God. It might require a telephone call, email, or visit. In some cases, when this is public then it might take place in a group setting. This must be done in the right spirit. There is no pride involved in true Godly forgiveness. Those who make a show of this have their reward on earth rather than Heaven! In my personal experience, when wronged by someone, God required me to ask them to forgive me. Wow! That was hard. I argued when told to do so. It was just not right or fair. I had been waiting in one case for years for the guilty party to ask my forgiveness. Then God forced me to ask him to forgive me. I did have anger, bitterness and judgment in my heart. Oh, by the way, it works. When done in true repentance and honesty this will method almost always break the barriers of broken fellowship and relationships. For me, it can only be done because of God’s Grace and Love working in me. I cannot do this on my own.

PEARL HABOR DAY of REMEMBERANCE

I did not forget the title of this article. When this came to mind today I got excited because of some wonderful things learned a couple years ago when doing some research on World War II. If possible, I will include three links that you can follow to learn the surprising details behind this historical tragedy.

On December 7, 1941 a large squadron of Japanese airplanes attacked Hawaii. Over 2,000 people were killed and over 1,000 were wounded. America lost a large portion of their battleships and over 200 aircraft. This attack helped bring America fully into the war that had been raging in other parts of the world. As the news of act of war was announced over the radio a sergeant by the name of Jacob DeShazer was stationed on an army base in Oregon. He was said to have shouted, “The Japs are going to have to pay for this”. He definitely was not ready to FORGIVE Japan for the death and misery caused in Hawaii.

In March 1942 DeShazer volunteered to be a part of a top secret mission later known as Doolittle's Raiders. A group of B-25 bombers were launched from an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo. They were not able to return back to the ship and were supposed to land in a free area of China after the bombing raid was complete. He and many others ran out of fuel and were then captured by Japanese soldiers in China. He was kept in prison in China and then later in several locations within Japan. During 40 months of captivity he was in solitary confinement for 34 months. Of his five man crew three were executed, one was starved to death, while Jacob’s death sentence was commuted to a life imprisonment by Emperor Hirohito himself.

He was severely beaten and badly malnourished during the time in prison. During his captivity, DeShazer persuaded one of his guards to loan him a copy of the Bible. Although he only had the Bible for three weeks, he saw its messages as the reason for his survival and resolved to become a devout Christian. His conversion included learning a few words of Japanese and treating his captors with respect, which resulted in the guards reacting in a similar fashion. Wikipedia. After the war Jacob returned the USA and entered a Bible college and returned to Japan as a missionary. He moved to the city of Nagoya which was the very city that he bombed during the war.

Mitsuo Fuchida was a bomber pilot before and during World War II. He was very skillful and highly trained as a pilot. He rose in rank and became a well known instructor. Fuchida flew missions in China, Sri Lanka and Australia. As the flight commander of Japanese 1^st Air Fleet he led the first wave of 183 bombers in the attack of Pearl Harbor. He was the one who initiated the infamous command Tora, Tora, Tora signaling that their surprise attack was successful. He remained in the air over Hawaii coordinating and overseeing the success of the attack. When he safely landed on his aircraft carrier he was surprised to see that his plane had 20 large anti-aircraft holes and his main control wire was held together only by a thread. He became a hero and continued in other battles. Many times his life was in danger and barely spared by circumstances which seemed to indicate some kind of divine protection.

MITSUO FUCHIDA POSTWAR

After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for Japanese war crimes. This infuriated him as he believed this was little more than "victor's justice". Convinced that the Americans had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, in the spring of 1947, Fuchida went to Uraga Harbor near Yokosuka to meet a group of returning Japanese prisoners of war. He was surprised to find his former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who all had believed had died in the Battle of Midway. When questioned, Kanegasaki told Fuchida that they were not tortured or abused, much to Fuchida's disappointment, then went on to tell him of a young lady who served them with the deepest love and respect, but whose parents, missionaries, had been killed by Japanese soldiers on the island of Panay in the Philippines.

For Fuchida, this was inexplicable, as in the Bushido code revenge was not just permitted, it was a responsibility for an offended party to carry out revenge to restore honor. The murderer of one's parents would be a sworn enemy for life. He became almost obsessed trying to understand why anyone would treat their enemies with love and forgiveness.

In the fall of 1948, Fuchida was passing by the bronze statue of Hachiko at the Shibuya Station when he was handed a pamphlet about the life of Jacob DeShazer, a member of the Doolittle Raid who was captured by the Japanese after his B-25 Mitchell ran out of fuel over occupied China. In the pamphlet "I Was a Prisoner of Japan"^[5] DeShazer, himself a former U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sergeant and bombardier, told his story of imprisonment, torture and an awakening to God. Fuchida became more curious about Christianity but couldn't find a Bible at the time in post-war Japan, but in the spring of 1949, again at the statue of Hachiko he met a man from the Pocket Testament League selling the New Testament of the Bible, and he bought one. Later that fall, while reading the Bible, he understood for the first time why the young lady had forgiven her enemies and took his first steps in becoming a Christian. In May 1950, he and Jacob DeShazer met for the first time, as friends. Wikipedia

CONCULSION

God works in the affairs of man when and where we least expect it. Japan decided to attack Hawaii to prevent America’s interference in its aggression across Asia. The plan backfired completely. The Japanese Navy sent their most brilliant aviator to coordinate the attack on Pearl Harbor. He then escaped death many times as if divine providence was at work even though he was not yet a Christian and definitely did not believe in or practice FORGIVENESS!

God used an angry young Jacob DeShazer who was unwilling to FORGIVE Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor. God protected him from death when all his crew died while he still was not yet a Christian and still did not understand forgiveness. Alone in a Japanese prison cell Jacob received FORGIVENESS from God and immediately began to practice the same with cruel prison guards. God used the Japanese Emperor Hirohito to commute the death sentence so that Jacob could later bring his testimony of forgiveness to the Japanese people he had bombed earlier during the war.

God then put the two enemies together in Japan as FORGIVEN brothers in Christ. Jacob baptized Mitsuo Fuchida in water and the two worked together in evangelism and church planting for many years. Later Pastor Fuchida toured America seeking forgiveness from the people he had bombed years earlier. He also preached and demonstrated the power of Forgiveness.

APPLICATION

Growing up in church years ago I learned a song and a portion of the lyrics read, I don’t know  what I would do without the Lord, when I look around and see just how much He’s done for me, I just don’t know what I would do without the Lord. That describes how I feel about forgiveness. I am alive today because God forgave me of my sins. He has helped me over the past few years to better remember that He has forgiven me. By His Grace, I am doing better at remembering that I have forgiven others. My prayer for you is that you will receive His forgiveness and walk in it by faith everyday. I pray you will seek God’s help to forgive all those who have harmed you. Then be sure that you do remember that you have forgiven them too.

May God bless you as you Remember to Forgive!

Dan Corbett

“Reaching One Among Millions”

History of Mitsuo Fuchida

Pastor Fuchida's Testimony

Jacob DeShazer's History

Jacob's Praying Mother

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