Forgiveness

When you think of forgiveness, What comes to mind? What do you really think?

Ephesians 4:32 says,

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

So when you think forgiveness, do you think of a situation that has happened in your life? Maybe you are thinking.. Rose you have no idea. I had this done to me, that is just unforgivable… Jesus was whipped, he was kicked and beaten then nailed to a cross. He had a sword pierce his side. He was ridiculed and tortured. Yet one of the last things on his mind was the people that were doing this to him. He had compassion on them and said "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." To love and to forgive like Jesus. That is what God asks of us. Not all of you know me or my past. I am a survivor of abuse. I did not always have the best in life. But I can say, "I forgive you".

How can that be possible you may ask? I could have decided to hurt that person right back. I mean after all was my right, they hurt me first. No I forgave them….I forgive because God forgave me. He makes it possible. Without him, I could never say I forgive you. Without him, I would be a pile of rubble. Bitter and full of hatred for these people that hurt me. I am not and it all because of God.

Have you ever herd the saying "Forgive and Forget" ??? This is far from the truth… Forgiveness is not a feeling; nor is it forgetting. It is not pretending that it never happened. It is not being able to trust that person again. It is not even reconciliation with that person. Forgiveness is something you decide to do because you want to obey God.

No one can make you forgive that person. Not even God himself can make you forgive that person. Forgiveness is a choice we have. We can chose to hang on to it and let is eat us away or we can let go and let God. It is not our job for revenge. Revenge is God’s job.

The bible is straightforward that no one should avenge himself on others.

Romans 12 :9

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

God has reserved vengeance for himself. I forgave those people that hurt me because God forgave me for the hurts that I caused him through my sins. In the end forgiveness protects the forgiver themselves. When we forgive others, it cancels the debt like Jesus canceled our debt when he died on the cross. God says, " I will do all the punishing. Now your job is to forgive." Forgiveness is not something that happens over night. It is a process. It takes time to heal. However it is an act of faith that shows God’s grace for us. When we forgive it gives God access to work directly on that other person. When we refuse to forgive, it creates a barrier between us and God. I am saying to God that what the person did to me is more important then him. I know I have totally forgiven that person when I can pray for them. Not for harm but for good. I also know I have forgiven that person when God can use me to touch the person that has wronged me. When my decisions are not controlled by what that person has done to me, and when I am free from the pain, bitterness, anger and hatred towards that person. When I am experiencing God’s peace, I know I have truly forgiven.

If you noticed when I said I was a survivor or abuse not a victim of abuse. I say this because I am no longer living in that bondage and hurt and pain. I have totally forgiven my abusers. I have given them over to God. And I can honestly say that God is the reason for me being a survivor. He has taken me from that hurt and bitter person and made me a person with confidence and peace. He has also gave me a heart of love for those that hurt me and he can do it for you too.

Maybe you need to forgive someone, Is your lack of forgiveness holding you back from what God wants for you? Ask God to show you, and for the desires to forgive also. He will give you the ability and strength to do so. All you have to do is hand it over to him.



Miracles Do Happen

    In a hospital room a mother was praying for God to not take her little girl. This little girl weighed no more then 2 pounds. Doctors had told her parents it was hopeless. This little girl would surely die. The mother had already had 12 other children, However her heart broke at the thought of loosing this one very special little girl.
 
   In a near by room was also this babies grandmother who was frail and at the end of her life. Family had decided not to tell her of her Granddaughters birth in fear that she would give up all hope. 12 hours after the birth of her granddaughters birth, she took her last breath. At this point this little girl would gain life and perk up. God had answered this mother’s prayers to keep the fight of life in this little baby. This made it the most special day and yet one of the saddest times for this family. As time went by this child was sick off and on but over all seemed to be getting stronger and healthier. Her parents believed in God and they loved God. They would take their children along every Sunday, to church. It was a family thing and very important that their children knew and loved God also.

    At a year old the mother went to get the baby from her crib, Only to discover that her head did not look right. As she picked up her daughter, she noticed that her head looked deformed. After rushing her to the hospital, The doctors had sat her parents down to inform them that this mass on her head was water. It got so big it came over and rested on her shoulder. They informed the parents that their child would probably die. They said there was no hope. The parents went home to rest. The mother decided to go to a ladies prayer meeting. They prayed for this baby at 12:00 p.m. The child’s mother felt this warm sensation come over her. She just wanted to dance. She looked at the ladies and said, "My baby she has been healed." I know she has.

    The mother rushed home to tell her husband that she was going to the hospital. Their daughter had been healed and she knew it. The father could not believe and did not want the mother to be disappointed. He sent the oldest son with her just in case. When they arrived to the hospital, she realized that she did not bring anything to keep this little girl busy, because she would need things to play with. She did want her getting board. She sent her son up to the room while she ran to the gift shop to get some stuff for her daughter. When the son got upstairs and went to check in on his sister. He discovered his sister was gone. She was nowhere to be seen. He went out and told his mother who at that time was coming up the hall. "Don’t be silly." Said the mother. She has to be here. Where else would she be. Just as they were going to reenter into the room where her daughter had been, a nurse came dancing up the hall. "Hello there, can you tell me where my daughter is?" asked the lady. The nurse turned and with tears in her eyes said, "Yes… your daughter is in X ray’s". She continued to tell the mother on how she went into the room to check on her daughter at about 12 noon. She looked at the little girl and that mass had vanished. No visual sign of it anywhere. They had her in X ray’s to see what happened to it. The mother knew instantly what had happened to it. She was overcome with emotion and thanksgiving to God for healing her daughter.

    Why do I tell you this story? I tell you this story as an encouragement to you. God answers prayers. I heard a lady once say.. ..Do you really think that God heals like he did in the bible. I am here to tell you "Yes he does". How can I be so sure you ask me.. I can be sure as that tiny baby with no hope was me. Satan tried numerous times through out my life to distroy me.

John 4: 4 "Greater is he that is in me then he that is in the world."

In the end no matter how bad things may seem, No matter how down and out you may be, Always remember God is in control. He is crazy about you and he wants the very best for you.

"ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE"

Free!!

Galations 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

     In my email today I received an email about a whale. A humped back whale had gotten tangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighed down by hundreds of pounds of traps that were pulling her down and she was unable to stay afloat because of them. She also had hundreds of lines wrapped around her body, tail and torso. There was also a line around her mouth. This made it very difficult for this poor whale. With hours of working on this whale the rescue team was finally able to set her free. She eventually came back to each and every diver that had set her free. She would nudge them gently as to say Thank you. The one diver said that her eyes never left him the whole time he worked on releasing those traps. She had faith that these divers were going to remove all that bound her and that they would set her free.

     Throughout our lives we deal with issues, and past hurts. Many things in our lives that are like these traps and lines on the whale. They wrap around us so tightly that we can not swim. They keep building up until we can not stay afloat. We are weighed down so much by the things around us that we sink. Some traps may be hard to let go of. We need to have faith in God to remove the traps that bind us. Just like this whale had faith in the divers. God will show the traps that bind us. He wants us to completely hand them over to God. Once we do he will remove them one by one. Some of these traps and lines may take longer to remove then others. As we hand them over to him daily he will take that trap and replace it with love and victory. God is our refuge and he wants us to hand it all over to him. He wants us to be free.

God does not promise us that it will be a bed of roses without thorns…However he does promise to be our refuge when we prick our fingers and end up crying or being shaken. He wants to remove all the things that bind us.

The Tongue

     Have you ever said something without thinking, and later on thought why did I do that. I hurt that person. Or maybe you were on the receiving line of that insult or thing that came out of someone’s mouth. Either way it can be very hurtful to the person on the receiving end. When I was a young girl in Sunday School we sang a song. One of the verses were, "Oh be careful little tongue what you say… Oh be careful little tongue what you say… For the father up above is looking down in love. Oh be careful little tongue what you say. I never realized exactly what that song was saying until I got older.


    Washington Irving once said, "A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use." He was right. The bible emphasizes on the tongue.

James 3:6
The tongue also is fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

    One of the greatest threats to those around us and to ourselves is not any crime or violent act, but it is the tongue. I remember as a child the saying, "Sticks and Stones may break my bones but name will never hurt me. To me this saying is so far from the truth. Words kill. It kills someone’s spirit. It kills any confidence in a person. It will distroy them both mentally and spiritually. People may put on a big front, But in the end it will eat away at them in one way or another.

    Many times we scold children for talking about people behind their backs. Where do they get this from? Children learn by our actions. They do it because we do it. They also do it because the media does it all the time. It kind of makes me think of the saying, "Do as I say, not as I do" This is another saying I really do not like. Children are the carbon copies of ourselves. As they see it in us. They do it. God’s thought in this matter are pretty clear.

Proverbs 11:12
Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.

    I don’t know about you but this one is a hard pill to swallow. I was raised if you think it say it. So this was a very hard thing for me for a long time. God wants us to give everything over to him. He wants even our tongues. When we turn it all over to him. He will quench that fire with his Holy Spirit, he then is able to use our tongue for good. As we learn to complement and not condemn and we learn to encourage and not discourage. We become better people and it allows God to use us more.

Obedience To God

   I remember as kids my parents would take us camping every year. It was a big thing for my family. It was a very memorable time for all of us. When we grew up we continues on with this trip with our children. I remember the one time my sister had brought her 3 year old daughter along with us. We decided to go and take a walk down to the water after setting up the tents. As I was enjoying the view of the water and idle chit chat with a few friends that we had made over the years. My niece had decided she wanted to play in the water. she yelled to me, "Auntie can I go in the water?" My response was, "Yes, but make sure you don't get your clothes wet." She was wearing shorts, so I thought it would be ok for her to walk through the water... she would  be okay to play. I continued to talk to my friends and at the same time keep an eye on her to make sure she was safe. In a few minutes I turned my head to check on her. There standing before me in the water, was my beautiful little niece, not a stitch of clothing on. Totally naked!  She was definitely making sure she was not going to get her clothes wet.
    I could feel my face getting hotter and I just knew that I was going to die. I am sure my face was quite red. What was she thinking??? I ran quickly to her and scooped her up rather. Could anything be more embarrassing I thought. She had just stripped down to nothing and in front of my teenage friends too. I would be the disgrace of the camp grounds.With what dignity I had left. I got her out of the water and got her dressed.  I rushed her straight up that hill to return her to her mother.
Later on that night I lay in my tent thinking about it. I started to laugh. Maybe it was not as bad as I had thought. My niece loved me enough to actually want to obey me. In the end that is why she took her clothes off. She did not do it to embarrass me. She did not do it in spite or just to be funny. It was the sweet innocent and sincere actions of a child.
    I think of this every time I think of my love for God. As a child of I should be obedient to God. How careful am I about obedience? Do I think carefully about my actions to totally and diligent obey God’s word? Or am I sometimes careless?
    God tells us not to do certain things, but does give permission in other areas. He does this for two positive reasons, to protect us and to provide a good future for us. Obedience in how we live occurs within the bounds of God’s love.

Jesus says, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His Love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" John 15:9-11

They have it all.. Why can’t I?

    Have you ever sat and looked at someone and thought. Man they have it all. They can loose weight at the drop of a hat. They have the most amazing children. They seem to have it all. A loving relationship with their spouse. They have the looks, brains, athletic or artistic talents, they have the whole package. What I would not do to have a whole lot going for me like them. Everything that is good in life they have. We have a tendency to look with envy on those who seemingly have so much more going for them than us.

   We sometimes are utterly amazed at how strong, how smart, how sweet, how talented or how much someone has going for them in a particular area in some other way. It is so sad when we sit back and watch someone squander all that they had going on for them through bad decisions and through their human nature.

   When you sit and think about it as children of God, we have a whole lot going for us then sometimes we realize. We are unconditionally loved, forever forgiven, and we are personal friends with Jesus. How great is that. He loved us first so we can love others.

   Next time you are thinking so much about what we do or do not have going for us, we need to think more of Who we have going with us. We have God on our side. If God is for us who could be against us? When we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have "a friend who sticks closer than a brother," an advocate who pleads our case to God. He is our burden bearer, the lover of our souls, and the one and only Son of God. He died on the cross so that we would not have to die. How amazing is that. He is crazy about us. Along with Jesus, we also have the Holy Spirit living in us to provide the power and the strength we need to get through the temptations and trials of life that come our way.

   When we have Jesus walking with us, we know that our future is secured, because of the blood that Jesus paid for us when he died on the cross. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. To God we are all precious. God sees us much like a parent does their children. There are no favorites. He sees each special talent and goal in us. No one else can see us like God does. He knows our heart he knows us better then anyone. He made us all unique in his eyes. We all have a great amount going on for us. He loves us.

   If we don’t have Jesus living within us by the power of the Holy Spirit, all that we have going for us is never going to be enough.

"And the joy of the LORD will fill you to overflowing. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 41:16b NLT

Indescribable Chris Tomlin