I was in deep prayer for the past three weeks over what to write my next blog entry on. It had come down to two topics. God revealed to me in three different ways through 3 people including myself that this was the topic he would want me to write about. I find it amazing that he will reveal to us these things. All I had to do was ask him and his word says he will answer our prayers if it is in accordance with his will. (Matthew 7:8, Matthew 21:22).
I could go on and on about this topic but I am going to write about how this topic has been a key area in my life that I have struggled with and at times still continue to struggle with.
God has taught me so much through my experience in the past year in a half. The most important thing that he was trying to teach me was that my trust, hope and confidence always need to be in him first. The problem in my life is that I was depending on a person to fulfill my hope, happiness and contentment. In other words I was placing someone on the throne of my heart and not God.
Here is God’s warning through Jeremiah of what happens when we do not rely on him and put our trust in man.
Jeremiah 17:5-10 - This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
I am sure we can all imagine something or someone that we have put too much hope, happiness and contentment in. It becomes an idol in our life that in our eyes is perfect and can never do wrong or disappoint. We forget that people are human and flawed and we also forget that whatever the things of this world offer are always temporary and fleeting. Our thinking becomes clouded by whatever or who ever we are trusting in. It becomes fantasy and not reality until we either lose it or we do not get what we want. It also takes away from our devotion to God and bearing fruit in our lives and doing work for his Kingdom. Our main focus then becomes whatever is taking up that time and place within our lives and other things such as family, work, and responsibilities become less important.
The result is disappointment, rejection, sadness, and our hearts get hurt. The damage can take much time to recover from.
When we put God first and truly trust him for everything, he is then ready to bless us. It will also eliminate and prepare us when a trial or storm comes into our life. Instead of falling apart and fearing the unknown, we can trust in the solid foundation and love of God to bring us through whatever happens. He will not disappoint nor forsake his children. Hebrews 13:5- Do not love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. Matthew 6:33- Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
When I start to head down this road, God will allow certain obstacles, and the daily frustrations of life to test me on if I am putting him first. It serves as a wake call to me to get me back on track.
I pray daily that God would fill me with his peace, happiness and contentment. Sometimes I still struggle, but I know I am not perfect. I am humbled by who he is and how much he loves me and is always there no matter what.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is one of the most difficult topics to address with people. The act of forgiving in itself can be extremely difficult for people.
We can rest assured that we find many examples of forgiveness in God's word. The truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a story of forgiveness for all people. Here is one verse that speaks of this forgiveness.
Colossians 1:13-14-For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We can probably all agree that we have been hurt in some of the ways that I will mention: being lied to, made fun of, betrayed, abused emotionally or physically, cheated, or cheated on by a spouse, boyfiend or girlfriend, fired, etc. These acts can lead us to believe or feel that we have the right not to forgive. We can become prideful in our attempt to justify our reasons for not forgiving someone because we feel that we have been hurt and sinned against.
This verse sums it up for us. In Gods eyes, we have no choice but to forgive. In the end, we have to ask ourselves if we are going to let unforgiveness run our lives here on earth and possibly cost us rewards we would receive when we get to heaven.
Matthew 6:14-15-For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
We have to remember no matter how much someone has hurt us or sinned against us we must forgive. This takes a person who can humble his or herself and admit that they are not perfect themselves. It does not matter what has been done to us. Refer to the verse below:
1 John 1:9-But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
I cannot imagine or fathom to know what it is like to lose a child or to have been abused, etc. But there have been some horrible things that have happened to me in my life and I can honestly say until I was able to forgive the person completely only at that time did I feel truly set free with a peace and happiness that God gave me. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. Then I was able to truly move on with my life with no hesitations or doubts.
A big part of forgiveness is learning not to keep rehashing or replaying situations with people or even in your own mind. I know from experience it is difficult to truly forgive and move on if we are constantly replaying the situations in our mind and with other people. I am not saying there will not be times and certain things that may spark a memory or a thought, but I find it best to truly keep the negative events of the past in the past where they belong. The spirit reminds me of a verse that speaks volumes of this.
Psalm 103:12- As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Let us take this a step further and refer to Hebrews 10:17-Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.
If our Lord and Savior can take all of our sins against him and remove them and never bring them up again, then we as humans should be able to do the same when people have hurt us.
I would like to look at a powerful story of forgiveness from the scriptures. Joseph was Jacob and Rachel’s first son who came into the scene in Genesis 30. As Joseph was growing up it became apparent that his father Jacob favored him. Joseph was a man who followed God. God started to reveal to him in his dreams that one day he would be great in the land of Egypt and that his brothers would bow to him. It was also revealed to him that the land would prosper for a time but then a great famine would soon follow. During the times of increase, Joseph worked hard to store up the bountiful harvest to prepare for the famine to come. Unfortunately, his brothers did not see their brother Joseph as a mature and important man of Egypt. Instead they grew not only jealous of the favor Jacob showed to him, but also were fueled with jealousy over the dream that he would one day be a prominent leader. His brothers became so jealous that they were even plotting at one point to kill him. The events that followed from his brother’s jealousy led him to be sold into slavery. But that was not the end of this story. Joseph was given an elevated position by the Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. Once the great famine had hit Egypt, his brothers were filled with great remorse over what they had done to Joseph. Being the man of God Joseph was he forgave them. His years of persevering dependence on God brought about his elevated position. The end result was the salvation of his brothers and father and an entire country saved from starvation.
In closing, I cannot imagine what would have happened if Joseph did not forgive his brothers. The cost would have been loss of not only his family, but an entire nation.
I think we can see how important forgiveness is in this life. I pray that if anyone is reading this blog and is struggling with forgiving someone, that you would pray for God to grant you the peace and power to forgive. It may not be easy and it may require taking baby steps daily, but it is a start to a beautiful beginning of setting yourself free from the bondage of the anger and bitterness that unforgiveness can cause.
We can rest assured that we find many examples of forgiveness in God's word. The truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a story of forgiveness for all people. Here is one verse that speaks of this forgiveness.
Colossians 1:13-14-For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We can probably all agree that we have been hurt in some of the ways that I will mention: being lied to, made fun of, betrayed, abused emotionally or physically, cheated, or cheated on by a spouse, boyfiend or girlfriend, fired, etc. These acts can lead us to believe or feel that we have the right not to forgive. We can become prideful in our attempt to justify our reasons for not forgiving someone because we feel that we have been hurt and sinned against.
This verse sums it up for us. In Gods eyes, we have no choice but to forgive. In the end, we have to ask ourselves if we are going to let unforgiveness run our lives here on earth and possibly cost us rewards we would receive when we get to heaven.
Matthew 6:14-15-For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
We have to remember no matter how much someone has hurt us or sinned against us we must forgive. This takes a person who can humble his or herself and admit that they are not perfect themselves. It does not matter what has been done to us. Refer to the verse below:
1 John 1:9-But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
I cannot imagine or fathom to know what it is like to lose a child or to have been abused, etc. But there have been some horrible things that have happened to me in my life and I can honestly say until I was able to forgive the person completely only at that time did I feel truly set free with a peace and happiness that God gave me. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. Then I was able to truly move on with my life with no hesitations or doubts.
A big part of forgiveness is learning not to keep rehashing or replaying situations with people or even in your own mind. I know from experience it is difficult to truly forgive and move on if we are constantly replaying the situations in our mind and with other people. I am not saying there will not be times and certain things that may spark a memory or a thought, but I find it best to truly keep the negative events of the past in the past where they belong. The spirit reminds me of a verse that speaks volumes of this.
Psalm 103:12- As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Let us take this a step further and refer to Hebrews 10:17-Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.
If our Lord and Savior can take all of our sins against him and remove them and never bring them up again, then we as humans should be able to do the same when people have hurt us.
I would like to look at a powerful story of forgiveness from the scriptures. Joseph was Jacob and Rachel’s first son who came into the scene in Genesis 30. As Joseph was growing up it became apparent that his father Jacob favored him. Joseph was a man who followed God. God started to reveal to him in his dreams that one day he would be great in the land of Egypt and that his brothers would bow to him. It was also revealed to him that the land would prosper for a time but then a great famine would soon follow. During the times of increase, Joseph worked hard to store up the bountiful harvest to prepare for the famine to come. Unfortunately, his brothers did not see their brother Joseph as a mature and important man of Egypt. Instead they grew not only jealous of the favor Jacob showed to him, but also were fueled with jealousy over the dream that he would one day be a prominent leader. His brothers became so jealous that they were even plotting at one point to kill him. The events that followed from his brother’s jealousy led him to be sold into slavery. But that was not the end of this story. Joseph was given an elevated position by the Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. Once the great famine had hit Egypt, his brothers were filled with great remorse over what they had done to Joseph. Being the man of God Joseph was he forgave them. His years of persevering dependence on God brought about his elevated position. The end result was the salvation of his brothers and father and an entire country saved from starvation.
In closing, I cannot imagine what would have happened if Joseph did not forgive his brothers. The cost would have been loss of not only his family, but an entire nation.
I think we can see how important forgiveness is in this life. I pray that if anyone is reading this blog and is struggling with forgiving someone, that you would pray for God to grant you the peace and power to forgive. It may not be easy and it may require taking baby steps daily, but it is a start to a beautiful beginning of setting yourself free from the bondage of the anger and bitterness that unforgiveness can cause.
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