Tag: truth

Forgiveness is…

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Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a choice to let God have it, hold it, and be responsible for it– whatever it is.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Forgiveness is taking the power away from them and giving it back to God.

You don’t have to trust them to forgive them.

Forgiveness is not about restoring trust in them, it is about trusting God with your heart.

They don’t have to be sorry in order for you to forgive them.

They don’t even have to know that you have them released them to God.

What you have to do is make the choice to forgive them today and remake that choice every day after.

Eventually the feeling of releasing them to God will line up with the decision.

One day you will be able to remember what happened without reliving the pain what happened.

“When we forgive an offense, we set a prisoner free, only to discover that we were that prisoner”.

– Freedom Groups, Week 7

What Life Takes

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A great life requires quiet strength.

A strength that gets up when it is tired.

Does the right thing when it doesn’t feel like it.

Holds on when it wants to let go.

Pushes through when it would be easier to quit.

It isn’t pretty.

It is strong.

It has scars.

Quiet strength doesn’t stop.

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.”

Colossians 3:12- MSG

It is the kind of strength that Jesus demonstrated every day as He walked with mankind and made his way to the cross.

The life that God has called you to live requires a quiet strength and a steely determination.

You can’t do it without Jesus and He doesn’t ask you to.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”  Ephesians 3:16 NIV

The quiet strength of God defies logic and grows in what seems to be an impossible place.

Don’t give up.

Stay faithful.

Draw strength from Jesus today and keep doing what God is calling you to do.

What You Don’t Need

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You don’t need more stuff.

More things will not bring satisfaction or peace.

More stuff will not make your relationships better.

Dealing with the daily conflicts that happen in your relationships will make your relationships better.

“Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.”
Proverbs‬ ‭17:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Peace never comes by ignoring the conflict but only through dealing with it.

Don’t stuff your feelings, deal with them.

Push through the uncomfortable space of it.

Be brave and talk.

Speak the truth in love.

You can’t do it on your own – you need God.

The peace that will permeate in your home is the peace starts with you and God.

Get your heart right with God then deal with the hearts of those you love and live with.

Do the hard work of communicating all the way through so that you can enjoy the blessed moments of life when you are at peace with God and at peace with others.

You don’t need a luxurious environment to possess luxurious love.

Don’t be passive with love and don’t look to possessions to solve your problems for you.

Look to Jesus to give you what you need today to break through and possess peace in your most important relationships – those in your home.

Less Care, More Adventure

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Life with Jesus is about love, risk, adventure, faith, serving, giving, and enjoying.

“There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.”

Matthew 6:25, 26 MSG

Life with God is about being filled with His love and peace every day and then pouring out on all those around you.

Life with God is about worshipping Him when we wake, when we walk, when we clean, when we work, when we eat, when we get dressed.

Life with God is about knowing that you are saved by grace and reconciled to Him because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Life with God is about knowing that He loves you because you are His kid and He enjoys spending time with you.

You are a child of God who is cherished, chosen and provided for.

Live in the freedom of His love.

Live care-less in the care of God.

Live more in this truth and less in the lie that you are valued because of what you look like, eat, wear or do.

Jesus has made a way so you can experience far more than that.

This life, this love, this security comes from Him and is unshakable.

The rest is frosting.

What Do You See?

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Perspective is powerful and it impacts everything:
Your attitude.
Your thought life.
How you see others.
How you see yourself.
Jesus talked a lot about seeing your life from God’s perspective.
He said,
“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:22-23‬ ‭MSG‬‬
When you live your life from heaven’s perspective and look to Jesus for help to do it, you will be filled with hope and vision.
When you live your life from earth’s viewpoint and look to those around you to help, you will be filled with disappointment and dissatisfaction.
Jesus came to earth to unleash heaven’s light on earth. He came for you so that your spirit, soul, and body can be filled with the uncontainable light of His love.
What perspective are you viewing your life from?
How can I pray for you?

Priority

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Did you know that when the word “priority” was introduced and used in English that is was not plural? It was was only singular as in “what is your top priority or your priority for today?

Over time, it became plural as now we have five top priorities rather than one. Our culture is now more about trying to figure what is the top priority out of the five top things that must be done today.

I vote that we make priority singular again, especially now as we are waist deep in the holiday season.

I don’t know about you, but it is so easy for me to fall prey to “just surviving” and then being sucked into everyone else’s crisis of the moment and it ramps up even more during this season.

Along with the sweet memories being made during the holidays comes the stress of added parties, stretched finances, being exhausted and days that fly by in the blink of an eye.

It is so easy to forget that if you are empty, you will have nothing to give others. Before you make your to-do list today put time with God in the number one spot.

Make your relationship with God your first and only priority. Spend some time with your Dad. Let Him love you.

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

Matthew 6:30-33 MSG

Today, may your soul be filled with His presence and may your heart be overflowing with His love.

Spend some time just being His kid and you will be pleasantly surprised by how that changes everything.

Happy Monday!

Abundant Rest

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Wholeness takes time.

Abundant life in Christ includes abundant rest in Him.

Resting from trying to figure it all out.

Resting from worrying yourself sick.

Resting from trying to control everything and have the answers for everything.

“May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.

The One who called you is completely dependable.

If he said it, he’ll do it!”

1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:23-24‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Take a deep breath, slow down.

The very best thing you can do is rest in Him.

The Lord isn’t slow in keeping His promises,  He is faithful to complete what He has started and is completely dependable.

I know it isn’t easy and life may not make sense right now.

Hold on, my friend.

Let Jesus work.

Trust in Him.

Put yourself and what is weighing heavy on your heart into His Hands.

He is patient with you (and with others) because He sees more than you do, His reach extends yours and His knowledge is not hindered by time or eternity.

God knows real change takes time and He is willing to wait.

Rest in Him today and give yourself permission to stop worrying about things you can’t control.