Taking God At His Word…Forgiveness Part 2

OK…lately I haven’t written a lot…God has been doing a DEEP work…it’s hard to talk when He’s rooting out faulty stuff from your foundations.  Lately, He’s been teaching me to see through the doctrines I have been taught all my life and seek out what His Word ACTUALLY says.  Right now I am meditating on the verse out of Matthew 6:14-15 which is Jesus talking.  He says, “For IF you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But IF you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will NOT forgive your sins.”  So, if I take God at His word, I better do some forgiving of others.  Of course I do this, but God has been showing me the depth and seriousness of forgiving.  

If I don’t forgive, several things will happen.  One is that a chasm will form between me and that person that kills relationship.  It will not only limit the relationship I can have with the person, but also with God Himself.  Second, a root of bitterness will begin to grow in my heart that will make me succeptible to Satan’s temptations and plan in my life..i.e. I open the door to the Enemy for him to come in and have access to my mind and heart.  If I do not stop that bitterness, it will grow and grow until it is out of control and thus choking out the “good” growth that allows intimacy with God.  Which leads us to the third thing, separation from God…If all of this is not stopped, ultimately I “will not be forgiven” of my own sins which means (if I take God at His Word) being eternally somewhere I don’t want to be.

If you haven’t taken forgiveness seriously enough, please do.  Rethink it…eternity hangs in the balance.  Is your grudge worth it?  My apologies if this got too serious, but I did say He has been doing a DEEP work for the past two months…DEEP work is always serious.

 

Whew!!

Ok, all I have to say is being at home in the summer with 10,8, and 7 year old boys WITHOUT at pool in the back yard is hard work…any suggestions?

 

Corey was here!!!

Ok, I have a degree in biology with a minor in secondary education…translation…I taught high school and middle school science (mostly biology).  When I was in college I knew God was calling me to teach, but I also knew that little kids was not my gifting.  So you can imagine it has been a learning experience for me to have children.  While I love my children very much, I have often longed to be able to have deep discussions with them and explore concepts that require much thinking outside of the box.  For any of you who know me, you know I’m kind of a freak about that.

Anyway, for the past ten years I have had “little kids” in my house.  Now, my oldest is 10 years old and seems to have cognitively moved into a new era in his life where he can begin to not only understand my humor but can give it back to me.  I love it.  I am quite sarcastic in a VERY playful sort of way, and Corey has really tried hard to understand that weird quirk of mine.  I know he’s getting the hang of it because of the cute little joke he pulled on me the other day.  I opened the fridge for something, and there in the door was a note that read “Corey was here.”  It was in a space where it was clear something had been eaten.  I fell out laughing.  What a great surprise that was.

He really has tried very hard to get to know me and that touches my heart in a deeper way than any way before.  I love him very much and would always love him no matter what he does, but oh, what a joy to have him study me enough to know what would make me smile!!  I know he loves me back and yes that makes me cry as I write this.

My heart’s most desperate cry is to make God feel that way about me.  I want him to feel loved by me because I have studied him so much I know what makes him smile.  I am SOOOO thankful for the whole idea of parenting.  I can truly understand his heart because of the relationship he has given me with my children.

How about you?  How have you made him smile lately?

 

The Main Thing

“I can’t live if livin’ is without you.  I can’t give; I can’t give anymore.”

These words from that famous song have been ringing in me lately.  As we are doing the study “Making Room For LIfe,” God has been bringing this refrain to my mind and my heart.  Am I trying to live without Him?  Am I doing it my way and pursuing what I think is best and hoping He’ll bless it?  Am I giving myself to things, pursuits and people in an attemp to find my worth and value outside of the One who made me to have inherent worth through Him?  Do I think I can make it on my own and don’t need anyone else because not only am I able to do things on my own but also because people will hurt me if I let them too close?  Does my heart cry out for closeness with God and I try to solve that God-given longing with everything but God?

I have evaluated this before many times in my life.  And while I know how to focus in on God and keep the “main thing” the main thing in my life, it is an ongoing evaluation process.  It is something I will have to do for the rest of my life because it will keep my relationship with God fresh.  Satan would love nothing more than for my relationship with God to go stale and for me to pursue “side topics” in my life to keep me from finding value and worth in Christ.

Have you evaluated your heart lately?  What are you pursuing for value, worth, protection?  Is God your “main thing” or is something else replacing that in your life?  Is your heart crying out “I can’t live if living is without You. I can’t give; I can’t give anymore”?

 

Friends

So, I went on a road trip with a couple friends of mine this weekend to play music for a women’s conference in Indianapolis…a long drive!!  Anyway, we laughed the entire time we were gone! I really hadn’t thought about how tired that will make you until I got back and have felt sore on my inside from all of it. Ha Ha!!

Aren’t friends great?  They help me keep my sanity when I’m on my last leg (like when my 3 sons decide to throw one of them through the window in their room WHILE my small group is going on and when my husband is at work and can’t help me!!!–thank goodness for friends to help me clean that up!!).  They help me put things into perpestive when I’ve lost mine.  They will bring you soup when you’re sick and presents on your birthday.  And soooo much more.

I am so thankful God chooses to show me His love! What a creative God we serve to make relationships with our friends part of how He chooses to love on us.  If you haven’t told them thank you lately, make it a point to do that soon…and thank God for them while you’re at it…

 

Forgiveness….

So lately I have been hearing myself talk to others about forgiveness–well really just this one perspective on it.  I know when that happens that God is solidifying something in me, so I thought I’d let you in…

I have struggled with forgiveness (I bet I’m not the only one out there though), and through that God has given me some revelations.  One is that not only does unforgiveness hurt us, it is like allowing a wound to fester in the very body of Christ.  So here’s the analogy…let’s say you and I have had a confrontation and we allow it to cause a parting of ways in our relationship–let’s think of it as a cut between us…a chasm of sorts.  If we are Christians, then that means we are a part of the body of Christ.  OK, so now Christ’s body has a cut in it–a chasm.  If we do not work toward restoration, then we allow that cut to remain open and festering.  Very painful, right?  Well, I am passionately in love with Christ, and the thought of hurting him because I want to hold onto pain that he wants to heal is something I can’t process. 

I remember having this revelation and deciding then that I knew I couldn’t control the other person involved, but I could do my part…I could forgive.  I have to forgive; I can’t leave a wound open and festering in my Savior’s body like that?  Could you? So, let me encourage you to think of it this way next time you have a ‘falling out’ with someone.  Forgive so wounds in the “Body” can heal.

 

Praying Boldly

A friend of mine once told me that boldness brings clarity.  I have been reading through the Bible again and I just love the Old Testament.  I’m not sure why, but I can really identify with the stories.  Anyway, I love to read about Moses and David.  Those two guys knew how to approach the throne with boldness. It is amazing to me how direct they got with God.  I mean they flat out challenged and almost dared God to show up on their behalf.  It is my desire to have the kind of relationship with him that I know how to approach him with that confidence and yet with that complete humility.

Today, in my prayer time, I think I got a little taste of it.  I have been really processing and struggling through some personal stuff, and I am to the point where I am probably just frustrated enough to dare to boldly come before him.  I found that as I did some things became clear.  I realized that he is chomping at the bit to show up and be the hero in our situations.  He wants to show his glory through our faith.  Will I show the boldness to believe he wants to do such radical things as healings and other miracles in my life?  I pray that I will.  How ’bout you? 

 

Ummm, yeh…it’s been a while…

Okay, so I haven’t blogged in a long time.  It’s not because I haven’t sat down to do it…I don’t know…everytime I would sit down to write something, I felt like I should just hold off.  I’m not even sure anyone has really noticed it has been a while.  As of right now God is still clarifying some things in my head in a very present way and I can’t seem to put them into words yet.  I guess, once He’s done, I’ll put them down here.

One more thing, do you guys know how to put the books you’re reading and the music you’re listening to up on your blog sight?  I think that would explain a lot for me to be able to list those.  They are one tool God is using to do some processing with me.

 

God is Moving

So Sunday was our first in the new building at church.  It was phenominal!!  It is so amazing to watch what God is doing in this body of believers.  I just love to watch Him work because He always, ALWAYS blows me away!!!  He leads to the unbelievable and then does it for us.  Who in the world would have believed that a church only 3 years old in Moncks Corner would be moving into a building the size of a Wal-Mart?!! 

You know what though? It feels like he’s just getting warmed up around here…I mean I can feel the eletricity in the air when I talk with others in the community, others I have known all my life who can’t believe what’s going on either.  Just today I had a very long conversation with a friend of mine about how God is moving in this church body.  I can’t wait to watch Him work some more!!!  How ’bout you?  How have you seen Him working?

 

Why blogging?

Ok, I just have to ask it…why do you think blogging has taken off so? I mean, what do you think God is up to with it?  I can see a whole community being built among people who may not ever see each other other wise.  Is He building His own global communications community?  How does this build relationships…because we know He’s all about relationship? This whole thing intrigues me.  I would love to know why do you think blogging has taken off.