Forgiveness

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Matthew 6:14-15 NIV
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.

Could unforgiveness be standing in the way of healing? 

Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV  

Surely he took up our infirmities

    and carried our sorrows, 

yet we considered him stricken by God, 

    smitten by him, and afflicted. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions, 

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

How does your body heal from a deep wound? If it is to heal properly it needs to heal from the inside out, otherwise the outside of the wound will close up and the inside will fester and infection will form causing the wound to open up again. To properly heal a wound you need to completely clean it out and allow it to heal from the inside out allowing the wound to knit together and close properly.

The physical mirrors the spiritual. 

If we are sick and come to God for healing and we are not healed then maybe one of the reasons could be that we are harbouring sin or unforgiveness in our heart. We need to clean up from the inside in order for our physical body to be healed.

Now this isn't the case for all people, for God sometimes says, 2 Corinthians 12:9 ...“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ”...

If you are seeking physical healing and you haven't been healed yet, then examine yourself to see if you need to forgive someone or maybe you are holding on to sin that needs to be repented.

1 Corinthians 11:27-31 NIV

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.

This is by no means extensive but only part of the healing process. 

Blessings,
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One Step at a Time

Luke 22:31-32 NIV

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“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

How many times has Satan asked to sift me, to sift you my friend. :s This little verse makes my stomach turn sour. This is something Satan does to us, he gets permission from God to put us through the ringer. O how thankful I am that we have Jesus interceding for us, praying that our faith in Him would not fail.

Failure in our walk with Jesus is a given, it is going to happen at one time or another but this doesn't have to be the defining of our characteristic walk with Jesus. With Peter's intense, thorough repentance and the help of the Holy Spirit interceding on his behalf, he was able to be used tremendously by the Lord. We must never consign ourselves or anyone else to the pit for letting our Lord down. Our God is gracious and compassionate in forgiving us totally if we are truly repentant. God will also use our failures to better equip us to serving others in the family of Christ.

John 21:15-19 NIV

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
   “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
   He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
   Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Just look at how Jesus forgave Peter. He forgave him fully 3 times for each time Peter denied Jesus. Jesus reinstated Peter back into the family and gave him jobs to do and commanded him to "Follow Me!"

Jesus forgives us in the very same way, fully. But, we must be fully repentant and willing to change our ways and serve Him completely. 

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I have failed my Lord many times but I know He forgives me and is working in my heart leading and guiding me. I also know that I will fail Him again for the closer I walk with Jesus desiring His ways, the more Satan is going to attack me and want to sift me. Praise God the Holy Spirit is always interceding on our behalf.  

Please continue to lift Beth and Ryan up to God during this painful time in their life. Ask God to come in and overwhelm them with His love and peace.





Following Jesus one step at a time.
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Building up or Tearing down

Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 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. 

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I use to, (before kids and RA), work with hard to handle, 'dangerous' horses and I was quite good at getting a hard to handle horse to submit. The reason a horse will be labeled 'dangerous' is because these are the type of horses that would rather fight than flee. If you have a 1300 pound horse fighting you the outcome will likely be either a wounded trainer, or most often the case is a battered and abused horse which then becomes very dangerous because they would rather fight then submit under almost any circumstance. These are the horses that I thrived in working with and I had huge success in dealing with 'dangerous' horses. Why? Because I used Ephesians 4:29-32 and converted these words into horse language. Yes, you read this right, horse language. :) I could take on one of these massive beasts and gain their trust, getting them to do anything I asked them to do all in a matter of a few months. How, by TLC (tender loving care). Telling them in body language NO you don't act like that and YES you do act in this way when they show even the slightest movement towards what I asked. You cannot bully a horse with the fight tendencies but you can convince them with positive actions that what you ask is beneficial to them in the form of rewards. The same is true for people. 

When someone corrects with harsh degrading words our tendency is to fight back and rebel instead of correcting our ways. If you pull your brother or sister aside and gently correct them with positive up lifting words yet still letting them know what they have done is wrong then the results will pull towards a self correction in attitude and repentance of the sin committed and a willingness to do what is right. 

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When Jesus was on the cross He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”. Luke 23:33 NIV  Again after He rose up He showed Himself to the disciples He said,  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  John 20:22-23 NIV


Jesus wants us to forgive and build each other up in the Lord. These are some of the very last words He spoke before He gave up His life and then again they are some of the very first words He spoke when He had risen and shown Himself to the disciples. Forgiveness is hard especially when someone close to you has hurt you. But it is the forgiveness and trusting again that allows us to become free.

One of the horses I owned was a very dangerous filly who almost killed someone by kicking them in the chest and collapsing their lung. She was labeled dangerous and was going to be shot. God led me to her and I begged the owner to let me buy her. He was only willing to agree if I could prove to him that I could work with her in front of him. If I could show him that I could handle her then he would sell her to me. I had only 1 week to spend with her before I had to show him I was able to handle her. By the time I had to perform in front of her owner, I was able to have her follow me around the arena, pick up her feet and make her back up, which is huge trusting feat in a horse with fight tendencies. He agreed to the sale and wished me luck. I ended up calling her Majestic Warrior, for she had a fighting heart that was so big. Eventually War would do anything I asked of her because she trusted me and if horses could forgive, I believe she forgave people for the wicked abuse she suffered at the hand of a cruel owner.

Forgiveness is the key to healing physically and spiritually. When we hang onto hatred, fear, anger, mistrust and so on we cannot heal. God also tells us that if we do not forgive then He won't hear our prayers. Our hearts need to be clean in front of God, we need to confess our sins to Him even the little sins that we think are not important, you know that little white lie you told? Yea that one. :)

James 5:14-16 NIV 
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Every abused animal that I have ever worked with turn out to be some of the nicest animals ever, willing to go that extra mile because of kindness shown to them. If this happens with mere animals can you imagine what would happen when kindness is shown to  people? I believe there would be more people giving their lives over to Christ if we did as the Good Book said, love your neighbour as yourself. After all we sure do take care of ourselves. 

Pray, in all things ask and talk to God, repent of our sins, (all of them), ask for forgiveness, forgive those who have hurt us, even though they really don't deserve it or continue to hurt us. Then, I believe, we will experience the freedom that God has for us.


Praying and praying,
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