Category Archives: forgiveness

Blogroll, Discipleship, Evangelism, faith, forgiveness, God, Growing, life, love, Personal, purpose, Uncategorized

Get Honest And Get Free!

At first thought, I would love to tell you I am a perfect person. A person that always thinks good thoughts and always does the right thing. A person who has no enemies, commits no sins and gets it right, no matter the situation or circumstance. At first thought, I think this is what I would love to be able to tell you, but then after I think about it for a few minutes, I realize that would not be me at all.

While it is very true that I am not my mistakes, sins and failures, the reality is, they are a part of me, the part of me that is human. They are the part of my human experience, which is teaching me that I am a spiritual being getting to have a human experience. And while I am not proud of these things, the Spirit has taught me that God has used and is using all of these things to help shape me into who and what He created me to be. It is all part of His process!

The world we live in is a beautiful, mystical and amazing place, but it also a hard, ugly and mean place at the same time. It is in this place that there is a continual battle that wages, a battle we get caught up in and often distracted by.

Oh, we like to pretend that it doesn’t exist and we tend to ignore the obvious, but that does not change the reality that all of us are sinners that miss the mark, and we really do need to own that. A big part of accepting what God has done for us through Jesus is admitting the truth that we are sinners who miss the mark and don’t measure up.

“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you. please.” -Galatians 5:17

Part of our saying that we BELIEVE is acknowledging our sinfulness, accepting it’s consequences and admitting that in our on limited human strength and power, we can do nothing to save ourselves and live the life we were created for. We don’t need to dwell on this part of our life and living, but we do need to be honest and real about it, because that is a vital part of our being able to allow Spirit to do His work in and through us.

Yes, we have messed up and we will mess up, but God loves us and has a plan to use it all for His glory and our blessing as we trust in Him. So own your stuff, admit and learn from your sins, mistakes and failures. Learn to yield to the SPIRIT and you will overcome the desires of the flesh that attempt to pull you off track and out of the will of God’s blessing.

It’s not easy, but it is possible and it’s the relationship you were created for…

Blogroll, faith, forgiveness, God, Growing, Healing, life, love, mindfulness, Uncategorized

Ego Vesus Heart!

Sometimes it seems as if I am in a constant battle with my ego and I know this takes me away from the things I really want, the things that my spirit knows is best for me. My ego is the idea that I am what I do, what I have or what I think other people think of me, and the truth is: I am so much more and so are you!

This battle with my ego often causes my heart to become hard and encourages me to be moody, arrogant and selfish, which is the exact opposite of what I really am and what I truly want to be. I was created with a soft and tender heart that says: “I am peace, humble and giving all wrapped up in supernatural love.”

When I am my real self, my spirit self, the self that God created me to be, then God is able to move through me and it is such a wonderful and amazing experience that words cannot even come close to explaining. This is an experience where self gets out of the way and allows Spirit to shine all the beautiful gifts to and through my spirit’s presence in this human experience.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” -Ephesians 4:31-32

So take a few moments today to realize this life is sometimes a very real battle, but it is a battle worth engaging in and ultimately winning. And to win the battle with the ego, we must focus on doing two things:

1. We must get rid of all, not some of the by-products of ego. We have to take on, take out and get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and every form of malice.

2. We must replace the empty space with kindness, compassion and forgiveness. In others words: We give to others what God has given to us. We cannot give something to someone else, if we do not have it for ourself, so first we must receive the kindness, compassion and forgiveness and then we are empowered to share it with others.

Getting rid of the bad and replacing it with the good empowers us from the inside out and gives us a victory that cannot be obtained in any other way. It is a battle, but it’s a battle worth fighting to get our heart soft, tender and ready for the supernatural seed of the Almighty…

Blogroll, forgiveness, peace, Uncategorized

There Is No Peace Without Forgiveness!

Several years ago, I can remember sitting on the front steps of our home and thinking: “All I really want is peace!” You can have a nice home, fancy cars, stylish clothes, cool toys, be surrounded by friends and have what you call meaningful relationships, but if you don’t have peace, it is really all just a waste. I set out on a journey that day to find it for myself and through a series of valley and mountain top experiences, I can finally say I am closer than I’ve ever been.

The key to peace is forgiveness. We cannot have peace without forgiveness. We have to forgive others and we also have to forgive ourselves. The Scriptures teach us that God, our Creator forgives us for our sins and failures. And yet even with this amazing truth in our head, it has no real power until we believe it and accept it into our heart. We are forgiven, but we must accept the forgiveness in order for it to have any real impact upon our life and spirit.

And if God in His perfection can forgive our imperfection, then we should be able to forgive ourselves and others. To not forgive others only hurts us and keeps us in a prison of our own making. Some people say: “Well, I’ll forgive the when they ask me to forgive them!” And the problem with that, is that they may never ask. You have the power to forgive, let go and move forward without their asking. Just do it, because that is what God has done for you.

Now let’s think for a moment about forgiving ourselves, which is actually probably one of the hardest things for us to do. We think I am not worthy, I could never deserve it and make up a thousand other excuses, but the truth is we think we know better than God. If God has forgiven us, then who do we think we are to not forgive ourselves???

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9

Remember: There is no peace with out forgiveness. Forgiveness is key to our experiencing the gift of peace. The God of love created us in love and for love and our mistakes do not un-create the love in which we were created. It is true, we make mistakes, commit sin and miss the mark, but when we accept God gift of grace and mercy, His love releases from the consequences of our indiscretion and into the amazing gift of His peace.