Forgive

Mark 11:22-26

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

²² Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ I assure you: If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.²⁴ Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for—believe that you have received^[a] them, and you will have them. ²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing. [²⁶ But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.]”^[b][c]

 It amazes me how we all remember this verse, but how many times do we go to God in prayer and  forget to forgive. The one thing that God has already given us we find it so hard to give to others. Something that we totally didn’t deserve or earn we totally expect others to plead and beg for from us. I find a lot of times that the other person doesn’t even realize they hurt me, yet I want that apology or something that shows they are sorry. I can’t expect a sincere apology from someone if they don’t even know that they have offended me.

 

Putting it behind us and moving on.

I have to be willing to be vulnerable and let someone that cares about me know that they have hurt me. Did you read that right? SOMEONE THAT CARES ABOUT ME. People that don’t love me and don’t know me shouldn’t hurt me. Now I’m not saying I haven’t ever been hurt by a stranger but what I am saying is I shouldn’t let a strangers opinion of me effect me in such away that I can’t go to my Heavenly Father with a clean heart. A stranger doesn’t know my struggles and they can’t feel empathy for me. They don’t have a relationship with me so they shouldn’t effect my relationship with God. Some of us need to stop being snowflakes by expecting more out of strangers. Not everyone was raised with “if you can’t say something nice don’t say nothing at all” or Matthew 7:12. Sad but true.

Someone who cares about me is someone who has been through it with me. Not those so called friends. Not the ones who follow you on Facebook and ignore you in person. Not the ones who say they want to be friends only to dip out on you as soon as things get hard. Those people may be closer than strangers, but forgiveness should be just as easy as it is for a stranger. So-called friends dare I say “acquaintances” know your name but don’t know your heart. They have a limited understanding of who you are. Your relationship has gotten only so far and there is no push to go further. These people are at a distance for a reason. Recognize those people and forgive them knowing they don’t know you and, frankly, you really don’t want them to know you or you would spend more time getting to know them. Not waiting until your hurt by them to stalk them on instagram and brood over them. In the word of Elsa “Let it Go” Don’t let unforgiveness toward these get in the way of your relationship with God.

For those who care for you ; “It’s time to talk.” If you need to be able to talk to those that care about you and tell them how you feel. You need to forgive. Most of the time I find that I misunderstood where they were coming from or that wasn’t what they were trying to say. Most of the time I find myself assuming the worse. I always hate it when I jump the gun and am completely offended over something I assumed and the heart of it was far from that. If I never open my mouth and I never ask the hard questions and become vulnerable to those that care for me, I hold onto that thing that separates me from them and that which separates me from God. Let Jesus bring Light to that seed of bitterness you are keeping in the dark. Let God help you rooted it up be.

So to sum this up.

1. Stop being a snow flake
2. Let go of the hurt from those who don’t matter
3. Communication will bring to light that bitterness which is in the dark.

You Can’t Deal with Your Demons and Put Angels to Bed.

Every night I get the blessing of putting my sweet grand-baby to bed. We turn on her worship music, I sing to her, she sings to Jesus, and the presence of God comes in the room. By the first song she is asleep. No problem, Yaya’s  work is done.

Tonight was not the case. Yaya was dealing with the disappointments of the evening. One thing after another seem to frustrate me tonight. Whether it was lack of sleep  or just the disappointments, I am not sure, but I was off. God knew it, I knew it , and Skylyn knew it. A simple putting-of-the baby to bed wasn’t simple. As I rocked her, I didn’t let go of my stress, instead I thought on it. I tried to deal with my issues. Before I knew it, the first song was over and I wasn’t singing. I was fuming and Sky was restless.

So, then comes the second song “Come on Yaya, focus. Sing…” I thought to myself. I sang, rocked, thought of issues, and Sky wiggled in my arm. I put her in bed; maybe it is just that she is too long for my arms and needs to stretch. I laid her in her crib, patted her and sang. Skylyn wiggles and looks up at me as if to say “Yaya, what is wrong, I am tired”.  I feel you Sky, I feel defeated. I wondered, “Why can’t I focus? Why can’t I get in His presence? Why is all this stuff in my head?”

God stopped me and said, “You can’t deal with your demons and put angels to bed.” I stopped everything and looked at her. Skylyn has only been out of Heaven for a little over a year, before then she was being formed in her mother’s womb and being touched by the Most High. I am holding the closest thing to Heaven and all she wants to do is feel God near to her as she sleeps, and her Yaya is blocking that.

My focus was on what I could do to fix my problems, I was not focusing on what God was going to do. I was holding the tension of the day (aka “dealing with my demons”) and trying to put my angel to sleep.

I picked up Skylyn looked her in the eyes and said, “Yaya is sorry, please forgive me.”, “God, take my stress, my worries, my hurts, I don’t want them.” I sat down we rocked, I sang, and the angel went to sleep.

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NLT

If you’re a young parent, let me encourage you in this way; let your stress, your anger, and your worries go before you put your kids to bed; you will be amazed at the peace you’ll feel as they rest.

 

 

 

 

This is not your home.

Hebrews 13:14New Living Translation (NLT)

14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

 

            I was born a midwest girl. Went to school there.  Met the love of my life there. Started a family there.  Allmost all

my family and friends are there. I was a Cardinals fan ad yes I bleed Blue. I know my way around without google maps.

This was home. THEN…..

Three years ago my husband  accepted a job in the New England  area. It was cold and beautiful.The  ocean air called to  you, but most of all God was calling us there. No question this was where we were suppose to be.

Earlier this year  I was longing to go home, back to the midwest. I wanted to see my niece that I had never met. I wanted to visit with family and friends. We didn’t have the money so I had to save. The home sick start to subsided  and things got back to normal. Then my mom called and told me she was having major surgery done. I had to go back home  I was needed. Mom got me a ticket and a couple weeks later here I am . As we drove to my parents house I saw all the familiar sites and smells. The next day we drove around and I saw my niece and other family it was nice, but……As we road back to my parents house in their convertible I  looked down  each of the streets, I  knew where each of them lead. With our new home google maps was my was my friend  or else I  was lost. It was then sitting in that car that it hit me, This Is Not My Home. It was as if I heard God say ” Don’t mistake that sense familiar  with the sense of home. ” Then he took it to the next level. “Don’t mistake this world that you live in and know so well as your home.”

We cling onto  things here on this earth. We build up our earthly treasures. We play keep up with Jones until we are broke. How much heavenly treasures are we storing up.? Are we preparing  ourselves for our eternal home, or is this life all that matters?

As I sit here in the midwest, I long for my home . I miss my kids,  I miss my bed, I  miss my animals,  but most of all I miss my love.  So it makes me think , do I  long for my heavenly home or am I  to comfortable  where I am?  Are you comfortable?  Are you storing up treasures in your heavenly home? Do you miss your love that gave his life for you? Don’t get comfortable,  because this is not your home.

Psalms 27 13-14

Psalms 27 13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! When you …

Psalms 20:4

Psalms 20:4 “May He give you what your heart desires
and fulfill your whole purpose.”

The  questions I have to ask is do you know your purpose? Not just your purpose, but your WHOLE PURPOSE. I remember when my  husband and I were young adults. We thought we knew what our purpose was. He wanted to be a concert pianist He loved music. Little did he know God would lead him to do worship in church and now a Senior Pastor of a new church.

I wanted to be a house wife and a Pastor’s wife. More of less anything that my husband needed me to be. Now that most of  my kids are married and I am that Pastor’s wife I wonder what is my WHOLE PURPOSE. I never thought we would be church planters, but we are. I never thought I would leave the midwest, more so my family, but we have. I find that with each door opening in my life and others closing my desires change. I realize more and more that I may never know my Whole Purpose.

i also know that I must keep my heart pure so I can trust the desires there of.

Dream big! i know I am not done. I have reached one goal in life it is time to get going and reach higher for the next.

Ready for the next step

We desperately

God is in the details.

God is and Artist. I love to be creative and I can tell when my heart is really into a project, cause I will take my time. If I am not proud of it , I will not bother to …

Two is better than one.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 
Two are better than one, 
because they have a good return for their labor: 
If either of them falls down, 
one can help the other up. 
But pity anyone who falls 
and has no one to help them up.

 

When I go hiking I love going with my family. The kids will run ahead and scream out the encouragements “Oh you got to come see this.”  or the occasional “Wohoo”, when they have made it up the hard part of the path. We will yell “Is it worth it” They scream back “Oh yeah come see.” Their encouragement helps me make it up the tough parts.  But it is my friend that walks with me that helps me through those tough parts, he is the reason I make it. He encourages, but more than that he warns me of rocks that I could trip on, cracks that I could fall in, and offers me a helping hand that pulls me up. He helps me get up when I am down.

In our spiritual life we too need someone to help us along. Not that we can’t do it by ourselves, but it makes the trail of life easier. Someone to encourage us to go on. But someone to warn us too. Someone one that says you know you should go talk to that person if they hurt you, or you know that is gossip you really shouldn’t spread that.  Someone who will be honest with you.  Someone who will pray with you when life is hard and you don’t think you can make it through. Someone who will pick you up when you have fallen away  and your not as close as you should be to God. 

Someone who labors together with you and that you trust not to tell you things that you want to hear, but what we need to hear.  A true co worker who wants to see the job done as much as you. Cause aren’t we all laboring together? Don’t we all want to see souls saved? Don’t we all want our brothers and sisters in Christ to make it to heaven with us?

If you have seen someone fall, your words of encouragement maybe the thing that helps them up. If you hear someone gossip, your words of corrections could help them not stumble and hurt someone else in the process. Your words of encouraging them to go talk to that one that has hurt them, instead of listening to them complain, could keep them from the pain of bitterness.

Proverbs 21:17 
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

 

You can’t Sharpen yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

Consider the Ant.

 

So as we were hiking I had to sit for just alittle and catch my breath.  I looked over to see this Ant. He is working hard to get whatever he is carrying to his home.  He is focused on his goal and no matter how I wanted him to move he kept going undeterred.  The thing he was carrying was the same size as him,but that didn’t seem to slow him at all. I sat and stared as he crawled over obstacles and maneuvered his way to where he was going. He didn’t complain about his load he was carrying. He never acted like it was too much for him. Matter a fact he carried it with confidence and acted as if “I am made for this”.

 

So this verse pop into my head.

Proverbs 6:6                                                                                                                     Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

 

How many times does God put a task before me and I act as if I can’t  or this is too hard? Do I complain about what I have to do? How many times has that ant have to go back and pick up the same thing from a different area? Does he say to the other ants I already brought you one last week do you really need another? No  he probably repeats that same trip several times with no complaint. Do you think he see the end result of his goal? Do you think he ask why am I doing this? Or how does this benefit me? 

When God give you a task do it.  Consider the ant.  That ant will receive his reward during the winter when he can’t collect what he needs. Will you not receive your reward too? Whether it be crown in heave, winning someone to christ , or….. you name it. God tells us to consider the ant, because even he sees the ants hard work and the end there of. If he considers the ant such a small creature hard work, won’t he consider your hard work?

 

Things that come to me as I hike.

One More Step

Today as we hiked by Jordan’s Pond in Acadia National Park God kept speaking to my heart.

In our days of ministry Kevin and I have seen some hard times. Times that nobody would have thought us weak if we wanted to give up and just take on a secular job and just let this all go. There was times I would look at Kevin and say this hurts. I would ask God why? I would cry and feel as if I couldn’t do this no more. I would think I wasn’t strong enough I don’t have the skills to do this. I was right I wasn’t strong enough, but God was. I didn’t have the skills, but God did. I had to put it all in God’s hand and say I can’t but you can.  I got up each day and made the decision to stay the course to fight the good fight. It was a hard road.

I would look back and say I made it through this or thank you God thats over. And just when I thought it was getting smooth and I could handle this, BOOOM another challenge another problem, another choice to keep going.

Today as I climb I felt that same thing. The path would be easy and I thought I could do it then BOOM it would get hard and I wanted to turn around.  I can’t climb this I don’t have the skills WHY am I doing this. This hurts.  All this and God opened my eyes to my life. And I realized just take “one more step” keep going.

Each step brought me closer to my goal . Just like each decision we have made has brought us here now. Each step made me stronger to take the next one. And before this day I had never climb a mountain, but now I think I can climb another one.

Life isn’t easy no matter where God has you. It will be hard. But your goal is worth it. Just take one more step. Each step brings you closer.  God is calling you and I know you want to be at that Goal now, but you have to take the steps to get there. I couldn’t fly to the top of the mountain like superman, although that would have been cool, I had to take the steps to get there.  And each step made me stronger. Just like each trial prepares you for the next and makes you stronger. All to be able to handle the task that God has for you.

In life God will give you the support you need to make it to your goal. He will provide you with the truth and encouragement to help you make it up that mountain to your Goal. Focus  on that “one more step”. Kevin encouraged me and told me you can when I just knew I couldn’t .God has given me him to help me even in my spiritual walk to encourage me and I for him.  We will keep taking that “one more step” till we reach the goal that he has for us.