Forgiveness...Finally! Part lll

      God wants you to see that He is, and has always been aware of your pain, your damage and the path it has brought you down so far. It is time to change the path and let God take you to healing waters that run deep.

       “God is the expert at addressing people in pain. Most of the Bible was written to hurting people.” Jim Berg tells us in his book Changed into His Image. We can’t hang onto the pain and be healed from it, and I believe that is the key to forgiveness—letting go of and receiving healing from the pain.

      He wants us free from hidden and stuffed anger, He wants us free from old hurts, and He wants us free to receive and offer forgiveness that lasts and sets us free to love those who have hurt us.

      Let’s look to Jesus our perfect example and the one who really and truly knows what suffering is, and yet the scriptures tell us that He looked beyond the pain, agony, and humiliation to the joy. There is joy to come, I promise you. God’s word tells us more about the suffering of Jesus and how His heart handled it.

      Let’s look at both the NKJV and the NIV translations as they are both important and tell us what this means. Hebrews 12:2,3 NKJV, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” And also the NIV says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Jesus did not consider the pain He was to endure more important or impactful than what the end result of His suffering would bring. He was persecuted and did die rather than to live without any one of us, because if He didn’t die we would. Jesus looked to the eternal purpose for His suffering and He wants us to do the same.

     When you are tempted to think that all your suffering is for nothing or it has caused you so much damage just look to Jesus who knew the joy of saving you was far more important than what He was about to suffer! The scriptures tell us to consider what Jesus did and let it be the perfect example to us and what we have endured or are now enduring and by His example we can go on and know that there is joy to come. He wants you to consider the joy set before you when you show the world that it is possible to truly change and become a new creation in Him. And He wants you to consider the joy set before you and others when you help someone who needs the specific help God has now equipped you to give. Also, let’s not forget the joy set before all of us—eternity in heaven with the very one who suffered to save us!

      We must release our pain to Him and let Him show us just how beautiful our (once ugly) pain and damage is with His light now shining on it.

      Realize the pain has a purpose, but its purpose is ultimately to bring you to God, to be healed and made whole and then the purpose takes your healing and now travels another path, it is now a journey to show others who are hurting how our Great God healed you and made you a new creation in Him. How healing and purposeful to know that He can and wants to use us and what we have already been through to help someone else. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (NKJV) tells us this, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Those verses tell us that we are to seek our comfort in and through Him—He is the “God of all comfort”, not just some comfort but all comfort. We are then to extend and give that same comfort to others who are now hurting. The reality that we need to be comforted is evident in the scriptures and it is not a “sore” subject with God as long as we are truly seeking healing and not just catering to and nursing our pain—let God cater to your pain as you let it go to Him. That may sound or seem strange, to let God cater to your pain, but remember it does have a specific, God-given purpose and He knows how to heal it and now turn it into His resplendent glory.

     We have to read and take hold of what the scriptures tell us about God, His plans for us, His purpose for us, His ways to obtaining those plans and purpose—then we can begin to let Him move and work in us, we can let Him have His way with us because He never means us harm. But in fact, He has an absolute perfect plan and we should enjoy letting God do whatever He will with us knowing that He has an eternal and kingdom purpose for all that we have been through.  

     Now that we can let go of the pain of our past and learn how to give and receive forgiveness the way God intended us to we need to consider and keep in mind a few things to help us so we are on the right track with restored, renewed and reconciled relationships.  First, let’s remember that none of this is possible without Jesus helping us. Second, obtaining forgiveness and extending it to others is going to take action on our part—we can’t sit idle and expect it to happen. The attempts done genuinely must also be done in our heart as well as our actions.

     Part of forgiveness and it being very real, active and lasting in us is that we not only learn how to effectively receive it, but also that we learn and understand how to effectively seek and ask for it from others. There is nothing worse than people attempting to make amends with each other and not doing it the way it should be done because what can happen are these sort of half- hearted apologies, “I’m sorry” you might say, “oh that’s alright” the other person says, but it is not alright and that is why there is an issue that needs to be forgiven, or (my least favorite) the no apology at all, let’s just act like nothing happened, and at least we are now speaking to each other again sort of pseudo forgiveness. Later when the first little irritation comes, boom, everything you ever did to each other explodes and now you are back to square one because all of the issues were not considered when they should have been. Get issues out and seek truth and healing for and from all parties involved.

     When we are truly seeking forgiveness and reconciliation we should do it genuinely and sincerely and we should ask for it in a way that seeks to restore a healthy and whole relationship, Jim Berg also reminds us of this, “I’m sorry or I apologize never address the matter fully. One can be sorry that something happened yet not assume any responsibility for it. ‘Will you forgive me?’ By asking forgiveness, a statement like this assumes full responsibility for the wrong and seeks a reconciliation between the estranged parties.” When we take the time to attempt restoration in a way that honors everyone who has been hurt we can be assured there will be true and genuine healing and in turn true abiding forgiveness.

     Genuine not looking back forgiveness is a gift from God. Human effort alone will not completely bring forgiveness.

      Even after forgiveness has been given or received, the devil will still plant thoughts in our mind’s towards those we have forgiven and vice versa. Remember, the mind is the battlefield and thoughts alone are not sin, it is what we choose to do with those thoughts that can birth sin. Don’t let thoughts of the offense or the offender keep haunting you, and learn to let things go. Satan will ALWAYS bring up our past, that doesn’t mean we have failed, it is a sign that we have succeeded. This is true concerning forgiveness also. The enemy wants you to hang on to hurt and offenses you have already forgiven others for, but don’t—just don’t, let them go and grab ahold of Jesus instead!  

     Let’s remember these verses in Ephesians 4:31,32 (NIV) when we are harboring unforgiveness and or trying to hold on to abiding active forgiveness, “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.”

     If we truly adopt a forgiving spirit in our lives we will be able to walk in this freedom Jesus died and rose to give us.

~

                                     

FORGIVENESS: The Reason For Your Pain...part ll

           

     I felt led to continue with what we were talking about on pain and forgiveness and how intricately they are woven together, as just this past week, I have had to experience and put into practice some of my own thoughts and advice on forgiveness, and I can tell you that forgiveness in its practiced and active state is powerful!  Being on the receiving end of it is powerful as well!

     When you know that you have deeply hurt or harmed someone close or important to you and they have chosen to forgive you (when you ask), and not hold it against you, it really allows for healing before things fester and get worse.  We all know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the hurt, but when we can imagine how deep or scarring our actions might be to another we are better able to see and realize we don’t want to cause pain, we want to be a part of the healing process, not the hurting process.

     In the last article I talked about forgiving people in our past who have really caused us some deep rooted pain and what we tend to view as damage—as in forever damaged, but the damage can be healed and made whole and that is exactly what God wants to do, and if we let Him do it, it will bring glory and honor to Him and His kingdom.

     Some of the problem in forgiving people who have hurt you in the past could be that the damage or abuse is still happening and or the only way it ended or will end is to distance yourself from that person or people.  This truly is a difficult situation as I have this issue in my own life and consequently don’t have certain people in my life who should be and who I ultimately want in my life.  I cannot at this time attempt to have them in my life as the relationship would not be healthy and or Christ centered. But, I do want to operate in active forgiveness toward them so that someday maybe there can be a healthy and Christ centered relationship between us.

     I am going to say something at this point and I want everyone to know that I am speaking to myself as much as anyone else—we all have pain, but we have a tendency to think or feel our pain hurts worse than someone else’s. The degree or depth of our own pain and suffering causes us to think sometimes that we have been hurt deeply enough that it somehow relinquishes us from forgiveness, both receiving it and giving it.

 

     There is nothing you have endured at the hands of any other person that could measure up to the suffering our Savior went through for us.  Nothing! This helped me when I started to really think about it—not only did Jesus endure the physical pain of being nailed to the cross, the brutal beating on His back (for our physical healing), not to mention, the emotional and psychological pain he went through, but He went through all of this KNOWING beforehand, the pain and agony to come!  If any of us knew the pain we were going to go through and we had a choice to not go through any of it, even if our pain could help or save another, we would say no thank you. He did not! Jesus is our example and He endured pain and suffering and He did it for us. Our pain is meant to help and heal another, if we let it!

Once again, this puts a different light on how we see our pain and I really believe that is the key to this active forgiveness taking up residency in our hearts.

  

     What can be a real beginning in this process of forgiveness is to remember that we are now new creations in Him, before we were born again and before we knew our Savior we were dysfunctional and unhealthy in our emotions and (probably) our bodies as well. That made functioning like productive and healthy people impossible, but now we are functioning and we are productive and we are whole by the power and the blood of Jesus.

     No more harboring bad or negative feelings or unforgiveness in our hearts. In the past, before I let Jesus show me that He would use my pain to help set others free, I couldn’t let things go because I hadn’t changed and every time my dysfunction (the scars of my past) caused me problems (almost always) I would revert to my past and blame those who have scarred me, but now I can say look at me, now that Jesus has changed the very core of who I am. I don’t want to dwell on the past anymore, I want to show the world that Jesus can do some serious changing us, if we will let Him. 

     I believe people think forgiveness just comes, you say it, and maybe you even mean it, but if you don’t become active it cannot become real and present in you and the life you now live as a new creation in Him. Now viewing or seeing our pain as damage is not the way to look at it—you are now equipped with the tools necessary to help someone else who is going through what you already have or may even still be going through. God wants you to understand that your pain has brought you to the point where you are now, and that God chose you to endure what you did so that you could be used by Him to bring someone else to that same point and place where you are now—forgiven, healed, whole and complete.

     What a different and glorious way to look at our past and the people who helped shape who we are today. And remember, the main person in your life now is Jesus and He says your past is important and not just because of the damage it has caused you, but also because it was meant to bring you to Him, and others to Him once you let Him heal you and forgiveness becomes active and real.  We can’t change if we don’t forgive or receive forgiveness.  I have to say, not thinking about someone or just not thinking hateful thoughts about someone (yourself included) is not forgiving, it is harboring and there is a big difference between the two. 

     Once we understand our pain and now how it directly relates to forgiveness for the people who inflicted or caused it, I think the next step is to ask God what role the person or people will take in your life now that real, true, deep and abiding forgiveness has begun. Maybe it won’t be any more than you really not harboring bad feelings and unforgiveness toward them, especially if they are not born again and not living their life for the Lord. But, it could be that you are the one who is going to help bring them to the Lord so you want to be in tune with what God wants for you and the other person.  Maybe for now it is active forgiveness in your heart and the relationship is going to come later, but you want active, living and abiding forgiveness in your heart and on ready. You will want a place available in your heart when that time comes. Remember, we control what goes in and out of our heart.

     Another thing that is helpful when dealing with the pain of your past and the people responsible is to think about a relationship with this person or people, think about what that would be like in its healthiest state, entertain thoughts of what it would be like to have a Christian, Christ centered relationship with them. If you find this almost impossible to do, try to remember that God wants them to make heaven their home just as much as He wants you there!  2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise…, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (NKJV)

      If forgiveness were an easy thing to do would Jesus have told us so many times that we must forgive or we will not be forgiven? I don’t think so. Again I will say, He is our perfect example, no one could go through what He endured for us and not only forgive us, but want a relationship with us afterwards and He wants us to do the same thing with those who have hurt us. We can only do that by abiding in His forgiveness, in and of ourselves we cannot.

     Sometimes when it is hard to get along with someone I remind myself that they are going to be in heaven with me so I better learn to not only get along with them, but I better learn to love them as well! Do we think heaven is full of people who just go around ignoring or tolerating each other? I don’t think so.

     Whatever we do is supposed to bring glory and honor to God and believe me when you extend forgiveness to someone the secular world would say doesn’t deserve it you bring Him glory and people want to know this God who could heal those kind of deep wounds. Let’s try to remember that the next time we are licking our wounds and wallowing in the pain of our past. 

     Jesus wants us living and abiding in the same kind of forgiveness He died to give us.

~

     

FORGIVENESS: Understanding The Reason For Your Pain

There are issues of forgiveness in my life--both receiving and reciprocating it. There, I said it, now let me explain…

      I know that forgiveness is a choice, but I believe that is the first step in a “process” of forgiveness. I don’t think you can just suddenly find a place in your heart for forgiveness that wasn’t already there. You have to clean your heart out and make room for this new thing of forgiveness, think about that for a minute, because you had something in your heart for whoever you need to forgive and if it wasn’t forgiveness and love then you need to get rid of whatever it was and make room for the “new” thing you are going to let fill your heart about that person. You also have to clear out a place of love for the person you have forgiven, and that is going to be a process, and you are going to need the help of Jesus. This is where that old cliché rings true, it is easier said than done. It is possible though, and we must forgive others as God has forgiven us.

     In Matthew 6:9 Jesus begins teaching how we should pray and in The Lord’s Prayer verse 12 He says, ”And forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Down in verses 14 and 15 Jesus tells us that if we forgive we will be forgiven; if we don’t forgive we will not be forgiven. I think forgiveness is a serious enough issue that it needs to be lasting and active in our hearts.

      I think people believe they have forgiven when, in fact, they have not.  Forgiveness is an issue with more people than would probably be willing to admit, but for those of us with addiction in our past we have a hard time because the hurt others inflicted on us is the very root of our being drawn to an addiction in the first place. We were seeking something we didn’t get from important, impactful people in our lives and the hurt made us look for it in an external way even though the hurt was not external, it was and is internal. This is why The Answer is Jesus inside of us!

       It can also be the reason we seem to forgive and to take it back.

     I have what I consider relapses in forgiveness. Walking in forgiveness and all its wonderful glory one month (week or day) and wallowing in the shame and guilt of my past, and the anger of those who have hurt me the next. In other words, giving up my own already paid for forgiveness and rescinding any forgiveness I have already given to those who have hurt me. Now, this is not physically happening (I’m not telling anyone I no longer forgive them), but it is something that is taking place spiritually in my heart. This is why I think that the process of forgiving works better than just choosing to forgive.

      It took time and a process to hurt you, and it took time and a process for you to become damaged and broken from that hurt so it makes sense that giving this over to God is a process. He can do whatever needs to be done in a split second, but He knows that we need a process in order for it to become effective, active and lasting.

     Even our salvation is a process. Philippians 2:12 (NKJV) says, “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” That part of the verse suggests to me that there is a process we will go through to “work out our salvation”. Our salvation is not a onetime thing it is a journey that we now travel with Jesus and the Holy Spirit inside of us and the destination is heaven where God the Father waits and longs for us. I do not mean that we can obtain our salvation through works, we cannot. I am saying that once we are saved it doesn't stop there, the journey goes on and there is a final destination.

     Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting we treat forgiveness as something we can give and take back and we are told that we must forgive even as our Father has forgiven us, but if we really do it in our hearts and not just with our mouths then it has to be done by understanding what the hurt has done and that it has caused the pain in our lives ultimately to bring us and glory to God!

      When we see that our pain even though caused and inflicted by someone else is the reason we came to God, we can, instead of holding anger and hate for them, actually begin to even be thankful to them, for without our testimony of what God saved us out of (the pain they inflicted) we would not know our Savior and we would not know the power of being set free and now the purpose of being used for His kingdom! 

     Everything with God and the “new” He does in us is supposed to change us from deep within so that we are indeed becoming “new creations in Him” and that what is happening in us is not only active and lasting so that we have an abundantly blessed life in Him, but that others see what He is doing in us and they can’t deny His power—at least in our life, even if they don’t want it for themselves. Someday they will.

                                                                                                           

      When Jesus went to the cross so that we could be forgiven it was not some light thing He just made a choice to do. First of all, that was the very reason He was born, to die for us, but as the time to actually give His life up for us was drawing nearer He asked God the Father if there was any way at all that He might not have to actually go through with it, Matthew 26:39 (NKJV), “He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” Our Savior, “fell on His face” in distress and sorrow over what was about to happen to Him so that we could receive AND give forgiveness. It is serious!

     So how do we obtain and maintain forgiveness in our hearts and lives? Well, here’s what God has been showing me in my heart.

      I am referring to forgiveness from and for serious life issues, I am not referring to, for instance, someone took your usual seat at church and you got irritated with them and since last Sunday you have been snubbing them, they probably aren’t even aware of it and you bringing it up now will likely, only cause serious issues between you both— besides, those are the kind of issues that should be a quick and simple choice to forgive, they don’t need a process, they have not caused long term damage, and forgive these right away so that they don’t become bigger issues. I am talking about forgiveness for someone in your life who caused you some serious and deep pain and what you think is long term damage. God will show you it is not long term damage anymore! He is about to set you free!  

     Let’s say you have now made a choice to begin the process of forgiveness—will the decision be to now love them or just not think terrible, yes even hateful thoughts about them anymore or will it be to not think about them at all?  I asked God, what is the answer here? My heart got this—of course you ultimately want love to reign in your heart and God will honor that you have begun the “process” of forgiveness, because your heart is now in the state of readiness to forgive.  

     Ask Him to begin to really give you a love for that person and an understanding of their damage and pain. Hurt people, hurt people.   Even if you are aware of someone’s issues in life and what kind of damage and pain they have endured you do not know the extent of how deeply someone might be or has been hurt. Only God Himself knows just how deeply we have been wounded because He is the one who is going to heal our brokenness. A good start is to ask Him to give you an understanding that those who have hurt and harmed you have also suffered at the hands of another.

     There is purpose in pain. Kahlil Gibran wrote in his book, The Prophet, “…And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say, ‘Nay, sorrow is the greater.’ But I say unto you, they are inseparable.” This is so true; we can’t enjoy the one without having experienced the other. We would not even know how to embrace joy if we had not endured sorrow.

     So if we can now look at our pain differently we can begin to look differently at those who were or are involved in causing or inflicting it.

     How boring and dull would this world be if there were no wounded people? Think about that, we all have pain and some degree of dysfunction in us and each one of us have a story to tell of how God is changing the pain of our past and making it into His beautiful story of redemption and creating in us the creations He always intended us to be. That my friend is exciting news—because we are part of God Almighty’s Destiny and there is nothing boring or dull about God and His plans! 

     Once we realize this we can begin to ask God the true purpose for the pain in our past because there is a purpose for it, I assure you that you did not suffer in vain. It is part of this wonderful plan that He has for your life and He will use your pain to heal someone else’s—that is just how God works. I don’t know about you, but that makes me (and the pain of my past) seem very special to God and His overall plan!

      I wanted to make sure that we all understand that forgiving as our Father forgave is the kind of forgiveness that will need His power active and lasting in us. He forgave us and offered up His Son for our forgiveness—not one of us could or would give up a child for anyone or anything!   

                                                                             

     I think we should talk more about pain and forgiveness, but I don’t want to overwhelm anyone—myself included. Remember I said in the beginning that I have my own issues with forgiveness so these are steps I’m taking and a process I am going through with some people in my own life. But, the good news is the Good News and Jesus is with me (and you) every step of the way.

~

Growing In God...Giving God What Is His

       “I don’t want to, or I don’t know how to give it to God. I want God to just take it from me.”  Oh, I have said those words so many times in my life.

      If we really think about it, we don’t want God to just take it from us—if we give something we have freely given it and we don’t feel a sense of loss, instead we feel a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction; however, if something is taken from us we feel a sense of loss and as though we have been wronged or an injustice has been done to us. God is not an unjust God.

        The reason we have to give it to Him is because, first of all, He is a gentleman and He won’t take it forcefully from us, and second, because that is how we grow in our personal relationship with Him. He wants to know that we are willing to give it to Him.

       Relationships are give and take, we all know that, but it must be a reality in our lives. We give Him our pain, our insecurities, our fears, our hopes and dreams too, and He takes those things we give to Him and in exchange He gives us His peace, His help, His guidance, His promises and His blessings.

 I’m learning that there is no sense at all in trying to build walls or have things in my life that separate me and God.  He already knows my heart and everything in it, so if I don’t give my entire heart to Him it is going to cause me problems in my walk with Him and in this new life He is creating for me. 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV) “...for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” He knows our heart and the intent of it at all times, and a wall does just that, it separates us from Him!

    

     Maybe we are struggling to know His plan for our lives, or maybe we are struggling to give Him our pain of being hurt in the past. For many there are issues of forgiveness. There is a spiritual battle going on and the enemy doesn’t want you to know that you can give everything to God. And not only can we give it to God, but we are instructed in 1 Peter 5:7 to give our cares to Him. Also, Psalm 55:22 (NKJV) says “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”  Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus is so serious about us giving Him our cares, concerns and worries that the last part of chapter 6 of Matthew is Him telling us that God our Father feeds and clothes everything in creation and that we are so special to Him that of course He will also do it for us, the very ones He loves the most.  But we must not worry and we must spend our time and attention furthering the kingdom of God. He wants us to look to Him for everything; He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

     Oh, so we give Him our worries and concerns and He gives us all our needs met, both spiritual and physical, sounds like a great deal to me!

     I still struggle with this. I still have a hard time with pushing on, pressing through, and walking in victory. And sometimes I feel like an infant who still needs to be weaned off the milk and start learning how to eat the solid food of God’s word and His ways. And yet, there are other times when I feel so grown in Him and full of Him that nothing could stop my progress.

      As with everything in life, and it is no different in this new life in Christ, there are highs and lows, but they are really what make this life exciting. Waiting and trusting in the Lord to see how He is going to help you get through this next step can (if you let it) start to become exhilarating as your thoughts and prayers go one way and His answers come in another.

     Remember, His ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV), “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” That statement and those verses used to confuse me and make angry—then I realized I wouldn’t want to serve a God whose ways were my ways—what a mess that would be. The reason for the confusion and anger was because I thought that meant He couldn’t or didn’t really know me, but just the opposite is the truth. It means He knows what is best for me.

     I know that even when I don’t think I am growing in the things of God that if I am just obedient to the Lord and what He is guiding and leading me to do, I will be able to look back on my life and see “God’s signature all over it” and realize that in fact I was growing and that was God moving.

     Growing in Him doesn’t always happen in the way we think it should.  Sometimes we come to realize we have grown in an area that we didn’t even know we needed to grow in. I love my Abba Father and that He does that for me, He knows me better than I know myself and He sees and knows what I need or don’t need long before I ever do...”For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”(Matthew 6:8 NKJV)

     I may not know what my need is and I may be seeking Him about or for one thing and suddenly I find myself in a test or trial I thought I had already overcome. That is when I sense the Holy Spirit—something wants my heart’s attention. My heart senses a need I didn’t know I had.

  

     

     That is what this new life is all about. Learning how to give God what is His. YOU.  You and everything about you is what God wants. You are His and He knows what is best for you and remember He has great plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11), and you can trust God.

      It’s like anything else in this new life with our Lord and Savior, we have to walk it out, we have to live in it or it will lose its effectiveness in our life.  We have to experience Jesus and our freedom through Him every day, all day long, if we don’t we will be opening ourselves up for the old patterns and behaviors, and we may begin to let go of the transformation God has already done in us.

      I have walked away from God before, it is not something I’m proud of, BUT GOD, uses everything we go through to bring glory to Him and to help us to grow and draw closer to Him and He showed me that even during that time He Never Left Me! I can even draw strength from my backslidden days—it helps me now when I am tempted to give in and give up. I can remember those days when I tried to do life on my own and how messed up it got, and I am able to remember and realize that I was not better off without God, I was in fact miserable. Praise God that He is forever married to the backslidden heart. “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord, “for I am married to you.” (Jeremiah 3:14 NKJV) He loves us enough to let us go if we think He isn’t the answer, and He patiently waits while we learn valuable lessons about trying to walk away from The Truth after having walked in it.

     One of the valuable lessons I learned was that I can get as close to Him as I want to, and I can also get as far away from Him as I want. He patiently waits for us to see that without Him we cannot do this thing called life, nor do we want to, now that we have known the power of truth. But, we must remember that yes He is waiting for us to come back to Him, but He knows that we are creating consequences for ourselves while we are denying Him. Galatians 6:7 (NKJV) “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” This is the thing, you have as you know, your free will and you can walk away from God because He always and forever loves us, but He will not force us to love Him. But walking away from Him can mean some very serious consequences or “reaping” even once we have come back to Him.

     My years away from Him were the years of my life that I went to addiction and tried to fill myself with the things that are temporal and people who never cared for or loved me. Those were years of sowing a life of sin that affected a lot of people in my life who are still suffering the reaping of my sowing. Like the quote says, “No man is an island entire of itself...” what we do affects a lot of people around us.

     Let’s live like we know we do affect others, and now instead of making people in our lives mop up the mess of our mistakes let’s shower them in the overflow of the blessings of God in our lives. They will take notice, I promise.

     Give yourself to God, give all of you to Him and don’t hold back because if you give everything and all of yourself to Him you will grow in God and that’s what this new life in Him is all about. 

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