March 17, 2014
“…See that you go on growing in the Lord and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught…” Colossians 2:7
As we grow in relationship with our heavenly Father and as we draw nourishment from Him…we grow in Him and we become strong and vigorous (full of 
physical or mental strength or active force, with energy, robust) in all of the truth which He teaches us. He equips us, He prepares us, He anchors us, and He empowers us through His Spirit…with vigor, energy and strength, (the ability to resist being moved or broken by a force)…We are able through Him…
Yes, we are able to and are empowered by our Loving God to navigate through life and through relationships which God gives to us…
“God has chosen you and made you His holy people. He loves you. So always do these things; Show mercy to others; be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Do not be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, then forgive him. Forgive each other because the Lord forgave you. Do all these things, but most important, love each other. Love is what holds you together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14
Anytime I hear or read the words “holy people”, I remember a really ugly scenario in our home school moments…and it had to do with me…
We kept a very strict morning schedule for home school. I was the teacher Mrs. Mom and Bill was the principal, Mr. Dad. School started at 8:30 and chores had to be done, and students—our kids—had to be dressed and in classroom at their desks. I had been in a rush that morning and had not done my alone time with God to start my day…that was a vital part of the routine of my day. We always started with Bible class and I rushed into the day, into the school room…in a tiff! The kids were rowdy, as we began the day. Christie had her kitten in the desk drawer, the one named Big George, whose feet were frost-bitten; she bottle-fed him because he was not able to walk well and compete with his kitten siblings. Adam just wanted to be outside. I began to read the devotion for the morning; it said that God wanted us to be His holy people….They were wiggling and giggling about the kitten or something. Suddenly—I have no idea where it came from (Oh yes I do!) I yelled, “God wants us to be holy people!” and I threw the book across the room and it landed by the window…then a deafening silence; I was horrified. I had not been kind, or humble, or gentle, or patient; I was angry and I lost it!
My son, Adam, said, “Mom…I don’t think that you spent time with God this morning”. A dagger found its way into my heart because he was absolutely right. I sent them on an early break and went to try to get it right. I shed the tears; I asked God for His forgiveness at my lack of patience…at my laziness and haste as I had begun the gift of a new day. I spent some time with Him, and then went back into the school room and there sat my two little students….in their desks….very orderly…..Before I could apologize….they in unison said, “Mom, we forgive you.”
Those three words are some of the most beautiful words that I have ever heard….especially from my children and my husband when I have messed up. The ultimate forgiveness is the forgiveness of our Father…
“Blessed are those whose disobedience is forgiven and whose are pardoned.” (NOG)
“Blessed and happy and to be envied are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered up and completely buried. (AMP) Romans 4:7
I have found and experienced the exhilaration of being forgiven…by people whom I love…and the miraculous forgiveness by my Heavenly Father. I truly believe that those three words, “I forgive you,” are life-changing and life-giving; they are freeing, and they are beauty-filled.
Forgiveness in every way at every level is truly a miracle! The fact that the True and Holy God Almighty can look at me and desire me and pursue relationship with me is miraculous and it is only possible by the blood of my Savior who came in the flesh from His throne in heaven to atone for the sin and the wickedness in my heart. I spent my youth and early adult years not understanding and not receiving the gift of forgiveness from God; although, it was there once I invited Christ into my life…but it was a process for me to accept it and it was part of my life-journey to receive it and to begin to understand and to embrace the miraculous gift. The realization and the gift absolutely changed my life…it changed how I viewed myself…it changed how I viewed God.
Sin has a high price; no doubt that it captures us and holds us prisoner. God’s forgiveness sets us free from the dark dungeon of the sin nature and the separation which it creates from the Holy and Mighty God…
And our individual sins have a price when they are hidden and go unconfessed…The sin of unforgiveness is devastating; and we all are tempted to pick up and hold onto offenses. In doing so, we become captives, prisoners of burdened hearts…and to the dark dungeon of oppression and despair brought about from the prison wall which is built around our hearts if we hold on to offenses and to the unwillingness to forgive.
And we are called to forgive husbands, wives, sons, daughters, extended family, friends, pastors, teachers, mothers, fathers, employees, employers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, neighbors, acquaintances and…and we must forgive ourselves…
Forgiveness…I heard a message several years ago from one of our pastors in Waco. It was the message of truth that sears its way into your heart, and it was life-changing. He said… “No one has a right to pickup an offense. No one. Why not? Because Christ did not pick it up…ever. And He was crucified; He forgave in His judges, His murderers, His people…each one of us.”
“Father, forgive these people, “Jesus said, “for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
I have thought about that message over the years. And I have had the opportunity to make the choice of whether to pick up an offense…a cruel word…a hurtful action…an unjust incident…an untrue accusation…All of you have had the same opportunities to choose. The hurt and the pain and the wound of the unkindness or injury are there, but those can heal through the miracle of God’s grace. What becomes even more devastating than the injury or wound, in a marriage, in a family is when forgiveness is not the choice, rather the offense is embraced and held onto.
When we do not forgive, we pick up the offense with one hand and it begins to burn….then we grab it with both hands instead of letting it go….and it burns…and if we still do not let it go, we have to press it to our bodies to hold on to it and it sears its way into our heart…festering and the longer we hold on to it….the harder it is to let it go….and we become its prisoner…controlled by it. We carry it…and then we pick up another offense and another…and we become the prisoner of a hurting, festering, heart…and the memory of the injury or the wound runs rampantly through our minds, controlling our thoughts…we are held captive by an enemy who should have absolutely no control over us because Christ died to set us free. He forgave us…and we are called to forgive.
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Philip Yancey, 1991
Years ago, I had a friend who, I discovered, had a habitual problem of unforgiveness. She would live in a friendship, or a business relationship until something occurred which offended her, and then she severed the relationship, totally and absolutely. This pattern was repeated a number of times during our friendship…and then one day, it happened to me. Bill and I made a family decision concerning our children and which school they would attend. Our decision greatly disappointed her and that was totally understandable; but the problem was that it offended her and she absolutely refused to try to understand or to be willing to try to forgive. I tried to explain to her why we made the decision, and to ask for her to forgive the disappointment that our decision had caused her, but she refused my attempts…my phone calls, my letters, my visits…her front door remained closed and locked, even when her car sat in the driveway. I finally had to let go of my efforts to receive her forgiveness…God helped me to understand that I had done my part…and today, many years later, when I think of her, I pray for her. I have wondered if she ever felt truly forgiven for something. Had she ever forgiven herself for mistakes that she had made? Had she been able to trust God to empower her to forgive?
The saddest part of this story is that her marriage dissolved…and her child never saw what forgiveness looked like…I pray that something has changed in these lives…I pray that God has been allowed to heal the many injuries and the wounds in the lives of this family. I pray that God has been allowed to bear the burdens that have been carried and hauled around for years… I pray that God has been allowed to free this wonderful family from the fortified prison walls of unforgiveness.
It is true that the wounds and the injuries that people bear are often serious and devastating. We all know people whose lives have literally been rocked by cruelty, insult, or by betrayal; perhaps you are that person and you are still trying to survive the overwhelming disappointment of something in a relationship.
Forgiveness does not suggest that every injury should be forgotten. Forgiveness is not a license for the perpetrator to continue to hurt or to offend. Forgiveness does not mean that restoration with the perpetrator will always occur or should occur, depending on the nature of the circumstances… Forgiveness is not earned because of actions or lack of them. Forgiveness is not void of consequences…
Forgiveness is the releasing of a burden that we will have to carry if we choose not to forgive. Forgiveness is giving back to God His role of being God. Forgiveness is letting go of the desire to get even or to retaliate. Forgiveness sets us free from the prison wall that unforgiveness erects in our lives. Forgiveness is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit…He empowers…
“Forgiveness really is the ultimate miracle!” Paul J. Meyer, 2006
As we grow in relationship with our heavenly Father and as we draw nourishment from Him…we grow in Him and we become strong and vigorous (full of physical or mental strength or active force, with energy, robust) in all of the truth which He teaches us. He equips us, He prepares us, He anchors us, and He empowers us through His Spirit…with vigor, energy and strength, (the ability to resist being moved or broken by a force)…We are able through Him…
Yes, we are able to and are empowered by our Loving God to navigate through life and through relationships which God gives to us…
Our loving Heavenly Almighty Father makes the impossible…possible…and He empowers us through His Spirit…
One of the greatest gifts of empowerment for our children occurs when we parents model the miracle of forgiveness in our homes. Children must be taught to forgive; they must also be taught how to forgive. The greatest tools are for them to witness true, God-honoring, and loving forgiveness in their homes and to be held accountable to ask for and to receive forgiveness when they are the perpetrator, and then to grant forgiveness when they are hurt or disappointed. But they must witness their parents in action; parents must habitually forgive one another…they must forgive each child…and they must forgive themselves. Children must know that they are forgiven…they must feel forgiveness by family members because it demonstrates the freedom from forgiveness by our loving God; our homes should be dwelling places which reflect the precepts and principles of God’s Kingdom.
The truth is that each one of us will disappoint, hurt, insult, injure, and offend people in our life-times, often unintentionally, sometimes unknowingly. There will be other times when we are intentional…When we realize that we have caused hurt and injury, we must be quick to try and make things right in an authentic and honest way.
Conversely, we will be the victim as well, hurt, wounded, and injured by the words and/or actions of a friend… a family member…a colleague…even a stranger…but we must make the concerted choice to forgive.
Our loving Heavenly Almighty Father makes the impossible…possible…and He empowers us through His Spirit…
Unforgiveness is extremely costly, and my parents, as I have previously mentioned in past blogs, were victims of unforgiveness for many years and it was devastating in our home. However, our loving God used the painful events to teach me the importance of the miracle of forgiveness…He taught me how to forgive others…He empowered me…and He taught me how to forgive myself…And, He restored the relationship of my parents as they both fought incurable diseases…and they discovered the ultimate miracle of forgiveness in the latter years of their marriage. They discovered that life was literally too short to hold onto the offenses that had burdened them for decades.
God gave me the gift of a husband whom I believe to be the most forgiving person I know. Forgiveness has been a foundational tenet in our home with our children, our family, and our friends…because we are called to forgive…and in honesty, there have been many times when we have had to depend completely on God to empower us…because we could not…and sometimes did not want to let go of the offense… but God Almighty forgave us…and we chose and will choose to forgive! We want to be habitual and intentional to forgive!
I am so thankful that God uses every circumstance in my life to teach me…He uses the circumstances in your lives as well…He is willing and He is able to do the same in every person who will allow Him to reside in their heart. He heals the wound, the injury, the perpetration, and although it may leave a scar…the scar is a visible reminder of the new life and the new work that God has done…It is a reminder of who God is…The Healer! And we are free as we set down every offense that is hurled at us…refusing to allow the offense to sear its way into our hearts. And if it finds its way there…our Loving God, the King of Kings is willing and He is able to remove the burden of the offense we have picked up…if we will allow Him to work in us, empowering us through His Spirit.
Our loving Heavenly Almighty Father makes the impossible…possible…and He empowers us through His Spirit…
And if someone refuses to forgive you…such as my friend refused to forgive me…take it to your Lord…and lay it down at His feet. He understands…He knows…He adores you…He will lead you; He will guide you; pray for the person…but ultimately, trust God…
And just remember, God will always forgive you when you confess with an honest, authentic heart…and nothing can separate you from the love of your great God Almighty…nothing…ever…
Our loving Heavenly Almighty Father makes the impossible…possible…and He empowers us through His Spirit…He empowers us with His love…
“Now glory be to God, who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more that we could ever dare to ask or even dream of infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” Ephesians 3:20
Yes, your Great God, your Almighty Father, your King of Kings, your Lord of Lords, your Counselor, your Savior, will do greater things, more miraculous things, than you can ever imagine…as you trust Him to empower you through His Spirit…He is able to make you strong and vigorous in the truth…
“…See that you go on growing in the Lord and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught…” Colossians 2:7
Abundant joy and freedom and blessings,
