Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts

Yesterday, Today & Forever - a Monday Devotional
 and Always

Yesterday, today and forever is a long long time.  Have you ever thought about it?  That the days
since time began are like the stars in the sky themselves.  More than we can fathom.  And yet God's forgiveness spans them all.  When we surrender to Christ, when we repent, forgiveness is extended to us, not just for yesterday, and not only for today but forever because God knows the beginning from the end.  He sees our future failures and forgives them for all time.  Yes we may still need to come to Him and repent, we may still need to make amends, we may even still be subjected to the earthly consequences of our sin but the gift of forgiveness is unending.  

In Matthew, Jesus shares a story about how we are to handle forgiveness of those who sin against us: 
21Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Now the notes that I have read and the sermons I have heard, suggest that this meant 490 times PER DAY and PER OFFENSE . So if someone hurts your feelings 490 times today, God calls you to forgive them 490 times and if they steal from you 490 times in the same day, God wants you to forgive all those offenses as well.  I know this seems a bit irrational in the natural and I believe that God wants us to use wisdom, just because we forgive someone doesn't mean that we are giving them permission to continue in their bad behavior.  God will show us appropriate boundaries we can exercise when we seek him.  But I wanted to share this with you today because sometimes God places people in our life that seem to abuse our grace and mercy and we find it difficult to forgive them over and over again.  

I encourage you to ask God for two things if you are dealing with someone like this in your own life.  The first is to ask God to allow you to see them as He sees them: what wound, what addiction, what temptation enables them to offend you again and again?  Then genuinely pray for their healing and victory over those things.  The second thing to request from God is the ability to settle it in your heart that you forgive them yesterday, today & tomorrow just as He has.  It is a choice to forgive, a choice based on the infinite forgiveness God extends to each one of us.  If you do this, I am pretty sure that the next time that person offends you, you will find a peace in knowing that you've already rejected hanging on to bitterness and wounding by having decided that yesterday, today and forever, you have forgiven like God has forgiven you. 

Is there a difficult person in your life that you can apply this to today?

Many Blessings,
Cherry Fargo
Being ReMade (formerly Cherry's Creations)



3:00 AM | Category: , , , , | 1 comments

A Lesson About Grace - The Monday Devotional
PureRoxFaith

I don't always get this parenting thing right.
Most of the time my biggest struggle is fear and the lack of 
control that comes with having teenagers and young adults.

I guess when the children are younger it can seem as if 
we have more control.
The truth is while we can manage the physical comings
and goings of our children
even as toddlers they are already working hard 
to become self sufficient and separated from us.
It is what has to happen in order for them to grow up and 
operate in this great big world we live in.

Sometimes that causes distress to the heart of the parent
who just wants to protect their baby bird 
and not see them leave
the nest.

However, there is also much satisfaction 
in the job of 
parenting.

When we, as parents, see our young children begin
to care for those around them,
or as teenagers when they get involved in ministry.
As we hear our children pray asking God to be their Savior.
Such times of joy.

Most of the time we think we are the ones 
teaching our children the things they need to know
but so often they teach us.

An incident this week was just such a case.
Chelsea had been out with a group of friends 
playing Ultimate Frisbee.
When they left she had just one girl with her in the car
and they headed on their way home.

Apparently heady with adrenaline of a great game
Chelsea was not paying enough attention and 
went through a stop sign.
She simply did not notice it existed.

Fortunately the person coming the other way was 
an off duty State Patrolman and he was able to stop.
He got out of his car and gave her a serious talking to.

Now, some might have been upset if their child was 
spoken to in this way but I was so grateful.

When Chelsea returned home she was in tears.
Simply crushed.

I knew that anything I could have said couldn't have 
made her feel worse than she already did.

So, I told 
her that I knew it would make her more careful
the next time.
I told her how much I loved her and was thankful that 
she and everyone else who could have been hurt or killed 
were o.k.

A while later I was doing dishes 
and Chelsea came to 
the kitchen.
Her eyes were just so full of pain
and regret.
I simply asked, 
"Do you need a hug?"

She was very quick to say 
she did.

As we we embraced in the kitchen
Chelsea said:
"This must be what grace feels like."

Thud.

Melt my heart.

How many times have I grieved the Spirit to only have 
Him wrap me in arms of love and forgiveness
when I come to Him in my sorrow and pain.

Oh, the repentance was there in our little girl.
I pray that I am quick to repent.

But, I was reminded that evening....
grace.....it is a beautiful thing.

We mustn't take it for granted.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
 to forgive us our sins, 
and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness.

Ephesians 1:6,7
To the praise of the glory of his grace, 
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, 
the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace;
Thanks for reading.....Becky - Good Neighbors Candle Co.


6:35 AM | Category: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 comments

Friday Finds - Enjoy the Son!
Brought to you by Julie from Collar Topia and Sew Twisted in Stitches
I hope this Friday Finds everyone enjoying the Son and the sun!  I have chosen to share a devotional from Chuck Swindoll's "Insight For Today." (http://www.insight.org/library/insight-for-today/forgive-them.html).    
"Forgive Them"
"Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing." Jesus managed to utter those penetrating words through bleeding, cracked lips, swollen from the noonday sun. Impaled on that cruel, Roman cross, He interceded on behalf of His enemies. What a magnificent model of forgiveness!

He paid the penalty in full for the sins of the world, the just for the unjust. As a result of His sacrificial death, reconciliation was made between man and God. He's our model for correctly resolving disputes. Ultimately, it's a matter of forgiveness.

"Father, forgive them . . ." What a way to live!

Before going on, you may have some honest reflecting to do. I invite you to revisit your own unhealed wounded past. It may date back many years, it may bring to mind the face of a parent, child, friend, former mate, fellow employee, boss, coach, pastor, or sibling. They've wounded you. The pain has lingered all these years. You can't even hear their name or see a photograph without all the anger and mistrust flooding your soul like a river overtaking its banks.

My friend, it's time to move on. Seek a solution. Get help from someone else, if you must. But get on with it. Whatever it takes to be free, do that.

Right now, I invite you to stand all alone at the foot of the cross, look up to Him, and deliberately release it all. See Him hanging there, bleeding and dying, and embrace His forgiveness, for you and for your enemy. By forgiving, you're not condoning their sin. You're simply leaving that to God. That's His turf, not yours. That's grace. And you can offer it to others because you don't deserve it either.
Got a little homework to do? Get started on it before it gets too late and you lose your way home.

LG Guitar Pick Designs

Know God Through Art


8:00 AM | Category: , , | 7 comments

More on Forgiveness
by Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks


Forgiveness - our last two CAST Team blog posts have been on it. Sarah started us off with relating what she has learned about forgiveness in her post: Friday Finds: True Forgiveness.

Sue moved us forward with her open sharing of her struggle to forgive in Sunday's Scripture - Continuing Forgiveness. Me? I am going to put in a few thoughts that God has taught me on the subject. It is interesting how God works. I have been blank all week as to what to write (those who read my posts on a regular basis know that happens periodically) but this time I did not even worry about it. Tonight I was randomly going through our CAST Team Etsy shops to see if something would inspire me when I saw a convo from Sue that she was featuring one of my items on her post (thanks Sue!). I read her post and admired her candor while she shared her struggles. However, I questioned whether she really has not forgiven as she implied: "but what about that piece of my heart that doesn't forgive?".

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25-26

Forgiveness is a command from the Lord, it is our choice to obey or not. It certainly is not a feeling. We do not have to expect all the pain, sadness and hurt to go away once we have forgiven. It is nice when it does but I truly think that happens less than not. So how would you know you have forgiven someone if all those feelings still harbor within you? By choosing to do it. Like so many things in our walk with the Lord, we need to make a choice... it is a choice of obedience. Once the choice is made our next steps is to look to God's Word to see how we can make it a part of who we are.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Rom 12:1-2
God asks us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices in addition He tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When I have made the choice to forgive but have not felt like I was doing it, I have found it was because I was expecting some type of physical and mental relief... maybe a soft fussy feeling towards the person. For me that has not always happened nor does God state it will. So instead I work on transforming my mind.

The first part of transforming my mind is to trust in the Lord. Trust that He will honor my choice to forgive because I do it out of obedience to Him. When I seek a certain feeling I am not necessarily trusting God... I am trying to trust myself.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"
Prov 3:4
I go before the Lord and talk with Him: "I choose this but no matter how hard I try, I don't feel like it is happening. I am trusting that You will honor my obedience and give me the ability to make this happen." Then a rainbow appears, music plays and I feel love for the world... I only wish! No rainbows? I go to my next steps... what else can I do to renew my mind?
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Phil 4:8-9

Every time I start to think about the person(s) I try to focus on what God tells me to. I practice thinking of good things. I concentrate on what I have to be grateful for that day and the last several days. If life is not going well, I look for the little things... the beauty of a flower or someone's kind word or a smile. Because I have a mind that races, I often find that I get off the good stuff without even knowing it and I am back to the bad.... then I start all over again. While doing this I keep up with my daily reading of the Bible. Eventually, God seems to honor my tenacity and I begin moving forward. I will often secure some prayer support to help with it.

And... periodically it comes back to haunt me. I wonder if I ever forgave. If I did why would it be back? I believe it comes back at us because we are human and flawed. I believe we often have an enemy that would like us to feel as if we failed. In those cases, remember the victory not the failure. You got through 2 days without dwelling on your situation...YEAH! That is a 2 day victory! So you failed for a day... start all over and try next time for a 3 day victory (or 2 days and 2 hours).

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes"
Eph 6:10
One thing I did not mention was that I try my best to pray for the person. That is not always easy but I try. I remind myself that God loves them as much as He loves me and wishes them to draw near Him too.

Every now and then I think the Lord brings it back to us later so that we can process it better once our minds have had a rest from the intensity of the situation. And I think this could happen even years later. This has happened to me and I then converted it to prayer and asked the Lord what I should learn from it. Inevitably, if I am open to Him, I learn something new about myself. What can I learn to continue to help me deal with the residual pain or changes that happened in my life from the person who hurt me. And sometimes, I honestly have to say that I learn about some flaws I had during that time which I was blinded to then.

We are not capable of fully forgiving sometimes but God is and will give us the grace to be faithful and obedient. What a wonderful comfort it is to know I do not have to go it alone!

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
2 Cor 12:9

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Here are some great CAST Team shops with awesome items.




Silver weave necklace by forkaren












Little lamb goat milk glycerin soap by saintlysoaps










Watercolor by hillcrestcottage













Journal and bookmark by prayernotesbycynthia








Pendant by sarahstreasurebox












Note card by MYSAVIOR









Rom 12:1 card by AlatheaPapergoods
10:00 PM | Category: , , , , , | 8 comments

Sunday Bible Verse, May 2, 2010
Sunday Bible Verse

James 1:14-16

14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.




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Navy Bible Cover with Embroidered
Scripture, James 5:16 by CarryTheWord
This is just a reminder, Our God STILL Heals!! Sometimes we forget that, until someone we know receives a healing. When I am the person who is sick, I tend to have less faith about healing than if it is someone else. It is so easy to pray for others, not so easy to pray for myself. This verse says have the elders of the church pray over the sick, and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. AND if the person has any sins, they will be forgiven too. Our God is a mighty God. We should be accountable when we sin, having someone to confess to who will keep us in prayer. Then we can be healed! Isn't that awesome?


I hadn't thought about healing much lately with all of the sickness I have experienced lately. When I'm sick I am so focused on the illness, that I forget to pray for healing. Thankfully my husband has been praying for me, because I received a big healing from my big God. I had kidney stones, a blockage and fluid on my kidneys and after my husband prayed for me and all of my sisters and brothers on CAST prayed, I received a full healing. They could NOT find any stones whatsoever. There was NO fluid on my kidneys, and NO blockage. The doctors sort of shrugged and were confused. I was not, I know Who healed me and how it happened. I love telling others what happened to me, how I was healed and being a witness that our God still heals. Has He healed you in your life? If so, please share in the comments section. Let this post be a witness to the healing power of our God!

by Anastasia Watson of Mattscraftywife
9:21 AM | Category: , , , , , , | 6 comments