Benefits of Forgiveness

-

 

Im on Day 38 of You're Going to Make It. Highly recommend this devotional book by Lysa TerKeurst.  It takes discipline to do it morning and night, but it's a great habit to form.

The verse for this particular verse was Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

The Lord continues to forgive me again and again.  As we say in the south with sincerity, "Bless His heart" for I am a lot!

Check out this nuggets.  I've got to type this up and post somewhere in the house.

"Bitterness masquerades as a high court judge making me believe I must protect the evidence agains all those who hurt me...In reality, it's a punishing sentence of isolation, out to starve my soul of life-giving relationships.

Resentment cloaks itself in a banner marked with the word vindication,  making me believe that the only way to get free of my pain  is to make sure those who caused it hurt as badly as I do.  In reality, though, it's a trap in disguise, with dagger teeth digging into me,  keeping me tortured and unable to move forward.

Trust issues disguise themselves as private investigators...In reality, trust issues are toxic gas that, instead of keeping away the few who shouldn't  be trusted, choke the life out of everyone who gets close to me.

These are the soldiers of unforgiveness that have waged war against me...They are the ones who will always lead us to isolation, the emotional darkness of broken relationships, spiritual darkness with heaped-on shame, and a darkened outlook where we are unable to see the beauty that awaits just beyond...Those who cooperate most fully with forgiveness are those who dance  most freely in the beauty of redemption.

Redemption is sweeping our hearts clean of little offenses before they cause us big problems....Forgiveness is a weapon!"

Lysa says to whisper to Jesus and tell him we trust Him. Ask Him to SWEEP our hearts clean. I love that visual!  I think I need to keep a broom in the corner of the kitchen for all to see!  

Remember Gods promises and the truth that He wants you to be ready for the plans He has for us. If we are bogged down with bitterness and forgiveness we are of no use to Him.

The Song

"Come As You Are" Crowder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2zhf2mqEMI


Popular posts from this blog

She Fought the Good Fight

-
Image
February 27 Bible Gateway's verse yesterday was: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him . 1 John 4:9 A fitting verse for the day my everyday friend, soul sister, monster of the faith and mischievous partner in crime, Kaye, left this world behind and headed to her heavenly home. My husband was able to be by her bedside and said he knew she heard the words of our faith that he shared. Her sweet daughter held the phone up to her ear so I could say good-bye and the brightest single star you have ever seen shown through my bedroom window as she exited this earth! Yesterday, my heart literally ached so badly that I told the Lord, "Take me too!" Wouldn't she have been surprised if I had snuck up on her in heaven and said, "Thought you were going somewhere without me, did ya." When we received the call she was ready to go, I called out to the Lord for comfort and He led me to the Bible Gat
Read more

Toe Sucking

-
Image
June 13 If I keep my eyes on God, I won't trip over my own feet. Psalm 25:12 …or allow them to be sucked off by carp!  For as long as I've been on this lake (49 years) we've gone to feed the carp at various marinas.   I have a bag of old bread waiting to be tossed to the carp tomorrow by our grandchildren!   There's a new adventure at a couple of the marinas.  Toe sucking!   For 25 cents you can buy a small scoop of peanut butter to go on your toes. Then the carp suck it off!   I just got a pedicure, so I have an excuse not to participate! What we do need to participate in is keeping our feet on the paths the Lord sets before us. Give careful though to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:26 
Read more

Remember Your Story

-
Image
Our oldest granddaughter made this bouquet and hand painted card for me.💖 Nothing touches our lives that God doesn't allow.  He has a plan and a purpose, sometimes far into the future, that can be used for His glory. (Jeremiah 29:11) Flash back 40 years and I approached life's downs with an "I can't believe this is happening." and truth be told "How can I fix it?" attitude.   Now that I am older and wiser I see that God truly works all things together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8:28) I thank God for the stroke 8 years ago and how it mellowed me out (okay some of you are laughing, but it really did). And honestly,  I like getting old. Sure, there are regrets, but there is also value in being able to pass along the wisdom learned from those regrets. God CAN use everything for His good. Mentoring moments are what I feel called to at this stage of life.  Working on a talk for a women's retreat weekend, I came ac
Read more