I don't throw stones at anyone for I have been guilty of this very sin - unforgiveness. The spell check tells me this is not a word and I agree. In our culture it is not the norm to forgive swiftly. We don't acknowledge that there is a need to forgive others. We don't see the devastation of not letting things go.
I heard the sad declaration of my uncle who refuses to forgive his daughter as he says "I would rather go to Hell than to forgive her". I hear the words of my sister as she refuses to let things go and builds the walls of offense higher and higher as she cries out "Everytime...." I hear it in my own thoughts as I struggle to forgive my son's dad for wounds freshly received and perhaps not intended.
It is not new knowledge that not forgiving others causes hardness of heart and impairs our physical health. Yet, it doesn't seem to make a difference in our responses to each other. I cringe when I remember the prayer of Jesus to the Father.
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"
Do I have any right to hold someone hostage in my heart? Do I have any right to deny them forgiveness? I have been forgiven of so much. I have been given grace and mercy so many times. I have received, so how can I not turn around and give as much? Why have I made it so hard to forgive?
Listen, I turn the spotlight upon myself today and I urge you to do the same. Examine your heart and ask Holy Spirit to light up the darkness and expose the awful cancer of unforgiveness. It will never be uncovered by any MRI, but the rays of God are able to see to the heart of all of us.
Friends, lets let it go today. Make that list and begin to pray
Father show me how to forgive them as you forgive me, In Jesus name.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Monday, December 25, 2017
Contributing to my own problems
Recently I made a nice cup of coffee/hot chocolate in my travel mug. The few sips I had was delicious to my palette. Arriving home I grabbed the cup and my hand bag and was trying to grab another huge bag from the back seat when I heard the sound of the mug cover hitting the ground.
I didn't even remember holding it in my hand. I didn't realize that as I wrestled with the bag, my mocha was being spilled all over my purse, inside and outside.
Needless to say, it was a mess. The mocha that seemed so good in the beginning was now the very source of my problem. Well, really it wasn't. I was the problem. I didn't heed caution nor did I think beyond the immediate need I had to fill. I never anticipated that holding everything at once would be disastrous and cause me more time in the end than it was even worth. Making two trips would have been a lot cleaner and in the end easier for me.
However, Holy Spirit doesn't miss an opportunity to guide me into truth. I realized that this spilled coffee drink was an illustration of my life. I am the root of my own problems most times. Only I am oblivious to this fact until it makes a mess and I hear for myself the splat of destruction. I don't realize that while I'm looking in one way, the other side of my life is being destroyed and I am the cause.
My inattentiveness to my spiritual growth, that good thing, creates problems that could have been avoided. I would want to say the Devil made me do it but truly that is not the real reason. I am vulnerable when I am away from the daily disciplines of Christian living. I become prime target and I am the one to blame. I create my own problems and I am pretty sure that you do too.
My friends, it is not easy to eat this message, but it is necessary to build us up. You and I must be aware of what we are doing. We don't want to find out too late that we are in a mess that we could have easily avoided. Walk circumspectly. Be intentional. Be wise. Get connected to the solution that is Christ, and don't contribute to the problem.
I didn't even remember holding it in my hand. I didn't realize that as I wrestled with the bag, my mocha was being spilled all over my purse, inside and outside.
Needless to say, it was a mess. The mocha that seemed so good in the beginning was now the very source of my problem. Well, really it wasn't. I was the problem. I didn't heed caution nor did I think beyond the immediate need I had to fill. I never anticipated that holding everything at once would be disastrous and cause me more time in the end than it was even worth. Making two trips would have been a lot cleaner and in the end easier for me.
However, Holy Spirit doesn't miss an opportunity to guide me into truth. I realized that this spilled coffee drink was an illustration of my life. I am the root of my own problems most times. Only I am oblivious to this fact until it makes a mess and I hear for myself the splat of destruction. I don't realize that while I'm looking in one way, the other side of my life is being destroyed and I am the cause.
My inattentiveness to my spiritual growth, that good thing, creates problems that could have been avoided. I would want to say the Devil made me do it but truly that is not the real reason. I am vulnerable when I am away from the daily disciplines of Christian living. I become prime target and I am the one to blame. I create my own problems and I am pretty sure that you do too.
My friends, it is not easy to eat this message, but it is necessary to build us up. You and I must be aware of what we are doing. We don't want to find out too late that we are in a mess that we could have easily avoided. Walk circumspectly. Be intentional. Be wise. Get connected to the solution that is Christ, and don't contribute to the problem.
He Knows
On Christmas morning I decided that I needed to meet with the King of Kings. I was so caught up in the doing of things that I neglected to give Him the time He deserved in my day. It was odd to celebrate Jesus' birth without even acknowledging the guest of honour - Him! Thank God that I was prodded and prompted by Holy Spirit who allowed me to see more in God's word.
I really wasn't looking for this word in particular, thinking it would be nice to re-read the account from the gospel of Mary being told she would have a child and the whole story surrounding that event. As I opened the bible to get there I saw highlighted the verses from Jeremiah 29:11
This verse is not unfamiliar. I have read it several times and recently wrote a song to be an aide for teaching the kids bible verses for life. Yet today the words "For I KNOW..." resonated within me. I saw the words as if for the first time and I really understood at that moment that God was saying that He knows.
He knows everything and that concept remained aloof to my consciousness for a while. I realized in the moment of Holy Spirit truth lesson that He really does know. This is not something He was saying to the people to get to fill up space but it was absolute truth, hard facts and an unchanging edict. God knows all about our struggles, our hearts are exposed before Him. He knows the path that we take. He knows everything.
I began humming as I pondered the words the lyrics to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" The writer says:
He Knows when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
(Don't quote me on the accuracy of these lyrics)
God is not Santa Claus and Santa Claus is not God. The truth is Santa doesn't know any of that stuff. He is just as clueless as you and I. However, God, who stands at the beginning and the end knows it all. Friends may this revelation of mine be yours today - He knows.
Image source:
(https://www.google.ca/search?q=jeremiah+29:11&safe=active&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUy-T6iafYAhVBRN8KHTnuAvAQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=651#imgrc=fqd1AVXlkCrPaM:)
I really wasn't looking for this word in particular, thinking it would be nice to re-read the account from the gospel of Mary being told she would have a child and the whole story surrounding that event. As I opened the bible to get there I saw highlighted the verses from Jeremiah 29:11
This verse is not unfamiliar. I have read it several times and recently wrote a song to be an aide for teaching the kids bible verses for life. Yet today the words "For I KNOW..." resonated within me. I saw the words as if for the first time and I really understood at that moment that God was saying that He knows.
He knows everything and that concept remained aloof to my consciousness for a while. I realized in the moment of Holy Spirit truth lesson that He really does know. This is not something He was saying to the people to get to fill up space but it was absolute truth, hard facts and an unchanging edict. God knows all about our struggles, our hearts are exposed before Him. He knows the path that we take. He knows everything.
I began humming as I pondered the words the lyrics to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" The writer says:
He Knows when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
(Don't quote me on the accuracy of these lyrics)
God is not Santa Claus and Santa Claus is not God. The truth is Santa doesn't know any of that stuff. He is just as clueless as you and I. However, God, who stands at the beginning and the end knows it all. Friends may this revelation of mine be yours today - He knows.
Image source:
(https://www.google.ca/search?q=jeremiah+29:11&safe=active&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUy-T6iafYAhVBRN8KHTnuAvAQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=651#imgrc=fqd1AVXlkCrPaM:)
I Know why...
I have a sister that has become nocturnal in her habits.
She sleeps all day and then in the night, under the cover of darkness she begins to move about. This seems to be the time she finds to go about her day - accomplishing whatever task she has a mind to do. It drives my mom bonkers. :-) and has caused many questions to be asked with no answers. Why, we would ask ourselves, does this girl sleep all day? Why does she not get up?
Then it occurred to me that maybe sleeping away the hours of the day that she is alone is easier for her. Perhaps this makes the hours of being alone more tolerable to bear as she is for the most of it - asleep. It makes sense that you cannot wallow in self woe if you are knocked out and unaware. I suppose we can call it the blissful oblivion of sleep. She wont have to find a way to fill the silence of the house with noise. She wont have to hear the screams from her thoughts asking is this my life? The hours of being awake before someone gets home is less when she finally arises from her slumber. The day is done.
Now I don't know if I am wrong or right. I never discussed this with her and chances are I never will. I wonder now how many people are doing the same thing? How many people are sleeping away life in an effort to avoid the harshness of their reality? I suppose they will say its easier, but is it really? Does it make any difference? Do they wake up right or is the reality still the same? Does the circumstance remain unchanged awaiting the moment of wakeful consciousness?
Those answers I cannot provide. However, I do know that what my sister (and all of us really), needs to do is to press into God. Jehovah understands what I don't and His compassion never runs out. He is the answer to her quest for a life that remains hidden and inaccessible to her. He holds the light that is needed to pierce the darkness she escapes to time and again. He is the one that gives sweet rest, even while we are wide awake. He is really the only One who knows why she sleeps. Oh Holy Father, speak to her even now in Jesus name. Amen.
She sleeps all day and then in the night, under the cover of darkness she begins to move about. This seems to be the time she finds to go about her day - accomplishing whatever task she has a mind to do. It drives my mom bonkers. :-) and has caused many questions to be asked with no answers. Why, we would ask ourselves, does this girl sleep all day? Why does she not get up?
Then it occurred to me that maybe sleeping away the hours of the day that she is alone is easier for her. Perhaps this makes the hours of being alone more tolerable to bear as she is for the most of it - asleep. It makes sense that you cannot wallow in self woe if you are knocked out and unaware. I suppose we can call it the blissful oblivion of sleep. She wont have to find a way to fill the silence of the house with noise. She wont have to hear the screams from her thoughts asking is this my life? The hours of being awake before someone gets home is less when she finally arises from her slumber. The day is done.
Now I don't know if I am wrong or right. I never discussed this with her and chances are I never will. I wonder now how many people are doing the same thing? How many people are sleeping away life in an effort to avoid the harshness of their reality? I suppose they will say its easier, but is it really? Does it make any difference? Do they wake up right or is the reality still the same? Does the circumstance remain unchanged awaiting the moment of wakeful consciousness?
Those answers I cannot provide. However, I do know that what my sister (and all of us really), needs to do is to press into God. Jehovah understands what I don't and His compassion never runs out. He is the answer to her quest for a life that remains hidden and inaccessible to her. He holds the light that is needed to pierce the darkness she escapes to time and again. He is the one that gives sweet rest, even while we are wide awake. He is really the only One who knows why she sleeps. Oh Holy Father, speak to her even now in Jesus name. Amen.
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