Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Friday 03/30/2012)

Forgiving On My Terms

Luke 17:3-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)

³Pay attention and always be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him.⁴And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).

            One of my best friends had not known her father, he abandon them.  My children did have any contact with their father for over fifteen years because of our divorce and choices that were made. But in both of these cases when God came into the lives of these individuals and they realized who God was and what He required of them, they not only forgave, but purposed in their heart to face those people and try to find them and give them a platform to speak their piece and a giving them a chance at relationship. I had a child of someone I know tell me that they had forgiven their parent, but they had moved on and their parent was in their past and they felt God wanted them to put all of that to include the parent in the past and live their life.  I felt so sad, why because we take the word of God and often will twist it to suit our agenda.  We will allow something that our pastor, friend and even family members says that we will manipulate to make ourselves feel better about what we are doing and how we are doing it, even though it is contrary to the Word of God.

            When we forgive there is evidence and there are characteristics that are exhibited.  II Chronicle 7:14 says “If my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways and seek my face then will hear from heaven forgive their sins and heal their land.”  When we forgive we will turn away from the process by which we handled people to do things differently; we will seek healing in every way possible.  Many times when we need to forgive we look at the person’s track record and we take note of how many times we have had to forgive them, what if God ran a play by play of how many times we were disobedient, offensive and just down right rebellious to what He asked of us and how He asked us to live?  What if He forgave us and said well there is a limit to my forgiveness, or if you pass three times I will deal with you differently or treat you with dismissal, disregard and estrangement?  If God dealt with us the way we deal with those we so call forgive, we would be in trouble and in truth we really wouldn’t be forgiven. We would be sentenced to a life that is unforgiven and forever out of the presence of God.

          We need to stop giving people an out when we counsel them about what true forgiveness is.  We need to stop telling people it is okay to say that they forgive and then show no evidence of forgiveness.  We ourselves need to stop saying we forgive people that we have not forgiven, because we keep their past transgression before us so that it keeps a gulf between us and relationship does not exist.  But most of all if we are going to lean to God and use Him as our guide and resource for forgiveness than we should know the Word of God and what it says and what is required of us to be forgiven and to forgive. Many of us are walking around still angry, upset, bitter, vengeful and full of hate and contempt because with your mouth we have confessed forgiveness but we forgot to include our mind, heart and soul in the process of forgiveness. Let God’s example and His characteristics become ours, especially as it concerns forgiveness, because whether we want to believe it or not our life, eternal and otherwise depends on it!

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Thursday 03/29/2012)

Everyone Else Knows But Me

Matthew 18:15-18 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁵If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.¹⁶But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.¹⁷If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be that is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.

            Have you ever been in a situation where there was a problem and you didn’t even know that there was one, but mutual friends, family members and others knew that someone was upset and what the issues or problems seemed to be? Have you ever wondered why they never came and asked you, spoke with you or communicated their concerns, thoughts and hurts with you?  This is not a strange dynamic to any of us I am sure, I believe we all have been here at one time or another. But I guess the sadness of these times and moments are not the being in the dark, but when we become aware that while we were in the dark about this situation that is was being discussed by others, partially involved or not involved at all or when a person blows up at us and we have no clue what is going on with them, and then we find out that they have been discussing these issues with everyone but you.

            Why do we find ourselves talking to people that have no insight into the situation nor do they have anything to do with how we are feeling, what we perceive we are seeing or understanding a situation to be?  It is because we want someone to commiserate with us; we want people to feel that we are right.  When want to attempt to build a case, so that no matter what truth is what we have already formulated in our mind will not and cannot be changed. But this is not what God’s word commands us to do. God asks us to go to the person, and discuss it with them.  By going to them, without outside influences and preconceived notions and thoughts, we can hear the truth of the situation and God can intervene to heal many situations that otherwise left to fester would not be healed or would be more difficult to reconcile or heal.  Nowhere in this scripture does it say that we are supposed to bring the opinions of others and or a deaf ear and a made up mind, nor does it say we are to initially to approach things in a public forum, it says private that means it is between, you that person and God.  So then if reconciliation takes place we don’t have other people involved and feeling one way or another about that person.  If the person does not hear you, then is when we bring a witness.

There is a process and a way that we need to handle ought, wrong doings and offense with others.  When we employ our own tactics instead of what God has required of us, we can fully expect to receive the results of our actions and the confusion and further stresses that come as a result.  We want God in the midst of our lives but we don’t follow His requirements, suggestions and request.  We cannot hope to solve an issue when we take matters into our own hands doing it our way, by adding more confusion and issues into the mix.  In many cases it can be a situation where we are misunderstanding a situation or we have judged a situation, statements made or actions taken the wrong way, because we are all different and we all see things differently.  Let God lead our actions, our thoughts, our words and the way we handle conflict. Many of us need to pray more and talk a whole lot less, and follow what God has given us as a guide to resolve conflict and see how different things can become not just in this area of our lives but many others!

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Wednesday 03/28/2012)

Does Your Living Shift The Atmosphere

Daniel 6:1-28 Amplified Bible (AMP)

 ¹IT PLEASED [King] Darius [successor to Belshazzar] to set over the kingdom 120 satraps who should be [in charge] throughout all the kingdom, ²And over them three presidents--of whom Daniel was one--that these satraps might give account to them and that the king should have no loss or damage.³Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.⁴Then the presidents and satraps sought to find occasion [to bring accusation] against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault, for he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him.⁵Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion [to bring accusation] against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.⁶Then these presidents and satraps came [tumultuously] together to the king and said to him, King Darius, live forever!⁷All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have consulted and agreed that the king should establish a royal statute and make a firm decree that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.⁸Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be altered.⁹So King Darius signed the writing and the decree.¹⁰Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.¹¹Then these men came thronging [by agreement] and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.¹²Then they came near and said before the king concerning his prohibitory decree, Have you not signed an edict that any man who shall make a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed or repealed.¹³Then they said before the king, That Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, does not regard or pay any attention to you, O king, or to the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.¹⁴Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed [over what he had done] and set his mind on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the sun went down to rescue him.¹⁵Then these same men came thronging [by agreement] to the king and said, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed or repealed.¹⁶Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, May your God, Whom you are serving continually, deliver you!¹⁷And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that there might be no change of purpose concerning Daniel.¹⁸Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting, neither were instruments of music or dancing girls brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.¹⁹Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions.²⁰And when he came to the den and to Daniel, he cried out in a voice of anguish. The king said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, Whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?²¹Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever! ²²My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions' mouths so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent and blameless before Him; and also before you, O king, [as you very well know] I have done no harm or wrong.²³Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel should be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no hurt of any kind was found on him because he believed in (relied on, adhered to, and trusted in) his God.²⁴And the king commanded, and those men who had accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives; and before they ever reached the bottom of the den, the lions had overpowered them and had broken their bones in pieces.²⁵Then King Darius wrote to all peoples, nations, and languages [in his realm] that dwelt in all the earth: May peace be multiplied to you!²⁶I make a decree that in all my royal dominion men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for He is the living God, enduring and steadfast forever, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed and His dominion shall be even to the end [of the world].²⁷He is a Savior and Deliverer, and He works signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth--He Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.²⁸So this [man] Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

            Today as I rode to the store, I heard the words can your life shift the atmosphere?  When I got home I immediately began to search the scriptures for what could constitute one being deemed an individual who could change the atmosphere.  As I began my search I thought to myself, “Who in the Bible could be considered a game changer, someone that could enter a situation that was unfamiliar to them, and maybe even uncomfortable and effect change just by the way that they lived their lives before people.” As I read scripture after scripture I heard the name Daniel, I went to the book of Daniel and began to read, as I read I was reminded that Daniel was just such a person.  Ripped from His land, enslaved, his name changed and his surroundings changed, but the one thing that remained unchanged was the heart to please God and the worship Daniel maintained for God. Nor did Daniel allow his attitude and his respect or treatment of people to be affected by his situation.  He remained steadfast.  He not once allowed his atmosphere to force him to conform, even down to what he would and would not eat.  Daniel stayed true to the God he served and the commands and dictates of the one he served that was his life.

            It is funny when we stay true to God we will be set up for attack, we will be scrutinized, misunderstood, feared, ostracized and persecuted.  Even in the midst of Daniel’s persecution, being set up and accused he remained obedient to God and to serve with honor.  He did not complain nor did he waiver because Daniel understood something that many times we forget; that God can and will deliver.  When we stand for Him, He will stand for us.  When we are willing to suffer for His name sake and still give Him the worship He deserves He will show Himself mighty and strong, He will make our enemies our footstools and God will bring us into a place where those same people that tried to destroy us will come to see who He really is and who we belong to.  He will allow our life and our sacrifice to change the atmosphere in which we enter. 

            Today as I received a text from a sistafriend the fact that my life was not my own was reaffirmed and that if I stand for God, he will change the atmosphere around me. If I am obedient to do what he says for the life that He has given me to steward that He will alter the most ridged of situations and He will make the stoniest of hearts around me flesh, He will cause every high thing to come down and every situation to be under my feet.  He will cause those who have and do persecute me for His name sake to bless me and to see that truly “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”  God can take us to heights that no man can place us and He can restore unto us all that man said we could never recover and takes us beyond.  For if we honor Him, He will shift the atmosphere because of us!

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Tuesday 03/27/2012)

Teach Me How To Love

2 John 1:5-6 Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁵And now I beg you, lady (Cyria), not as if I were issuing a new charge (injunction or command), but [simply recalling to your mind] the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. ⁶And what this love consists in is this: that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments (His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching). This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love [guided by it and following it].

            It has always been interesting to me that people can say I love you and be impatient, quick to give up, hurtful, mean, inconsiderate, and suspicious and in some cases just hateful.  During those times, I have said to within myself if this is what love feels like I don’t want people to love me. I have found that human love can be one of the most hurtful, harmful and painful experiences of one’s life.  I guess when these behaviors have been exhibited I have asked is this really love at all?  I guess that would depend on who has taught us to love, or whose definition of love we have learned and choose to exhibit.  We love according to what we rely upon and what is the biggest entity within our lives.  The way we love depends upon who our teacher is; who has become the one who instructs our lives and educates us in the art of loving.

Human love is however is different from the love of God.  God’s love is sacrificial and it believes the best even when it sees the worse.  Human love is a love that is self-centered and self-serving; it will often see the worse even when the best is presented.  We are quick to claim love, but we are not really loving as God has commanded us to.  We are applying human love even when we are in Christ.  In more than a few cases it is hard to see a difference in the love given by a Christian, and one given by someone who does not confess or believe in Christ.  We are supposed to love one another in a way that is guided by the commandments of God; it is supposed to be evident in our living and in the manner in which we treat and respond to others.  Our love should be a reflection of who our Father is.  But instead of making it clear who we belong to by the way we love, we confuse not only people we encounter but many of us are confusing close friends, family and even God.  We say with a loud voice that we belong to Christ, but yet our attitude towards loving people is far from a reflection of God.  We are determined to hold on to our old nature and the nature to which we were born naturally. But when we are in Christ, we should love from the place that connects us to God, which is our spirit, but many of us cannot do that because our flesh is stronger than our spirit.  When we submit ourselves to God and He really becomes our Lord and truly our Savior we will allow Him to guide our loving and the way in which we express love and represent Him through our loving.

Many of us need to be retaught; many of us need to switch teachers and switch who is the authority in our lives.  If we love God, our love for people should exhibit the love that we share with God.  It should be

clear that God is in us and the authority to which we defer as it concerns loving.  Allowing God to teach us how to love will always result in us having to put our flesh, emotions and opinions under subjection to the Word and Will of God.  When we allow God to teach us, we will face our test and love will be the answer to every question on that test.  What is the lesson we are supposed to learn concerning love, that as God loves us we are supposed to love others, we are supposed to be the walking testament that tells the story of God’s unfailing love here in the earth!