Part 2 of Forgiveness....the Duty of a Christian

Remember...these are my NOTES for my opportunity to share at the Salvation Army.....If any of you would like to come and give me some moral support, I would LOVE that.  I will be posting the date once I get it!!!!!

Point 1: Know that forgiveness is for YOU. On many levels.

   *Level 1: The obvious....He forgives you. Of it all. Yes...of it ALL. Get that.

   *Level 2: It's for your well-being. (Emotionally, Physically, Spiritually, Mentally)

          - As I considered this point, I got another picture in my mind. (Sounds weird, doesn't it?) It was of me....holding a tiny little animal. It was a gross and vile looking little thing. Yet, I was petting it, loving it, protecting it. And I understood that this nasty animals name was 'Unforgiveness'. The problem is....this animal bites.  But it bites YOU, not your offender.

          - Sometimes we believe that holding onto unforgiveness works more to our advantage than being healed of it. But unforgiveness will NOT allow us to have the life we want.

   *It will however, allow us to live a life of torment. Again, on many levels.

          *Emotionally: Unforgiveness can cause bitterness, depression, anger, fear, resentment, etc

          *Physically: Unforgiveness can cause high blood pressure, disease, heart problems, etc

(These ailments can derive from other sources as well - but we all too often overlook the effects of our inner turmoils on the human body.)

   *Jimmy Evans quote: "The poison of unforgiveness damages the vessel it is stored in worse than anything you can spit it on. It's killing you. The most self-loving thing you can do is forgive."

Point 2: Know that forgiveness is for THEM. (Your offender.)

   *Spurgeon quote: "He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust...he overlooks 10,000 of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks 20,000 in his own case."

(Warning: We forgive people unfixed...before they act like they deserve to be forgiven. However, forgiving doesn't mean we go back and expose ourselves to abuse. Sometimes, we have to forgive from afar. In addition, if you are married and experiencing any type of abuse or danger....get to safety and seek wise, godly counsel.)

   *Sometimes our forgiving them - will eventually bring them to salvation. Seeing a heart change in us - can, at times, make them seek the Heart Changer, themselves.

   *Matthew 6:9-15 (The Lord's Prayer.) Notice verse 12: 'Forgive us our debts...as we have also forgiven our debtors.' And then notice verses 14 and 15: Look what Jesus decided to expound upon. He could have explained any part of the Lord's Prayer - but He chose to dive deeper into our topic. Forgiveness is for them...because it circles back to you.  Your forgiveness, depends on your forgiveness.

   * We can't withhold grace from others and get it from God. Life without grace from God is torment. (See emotional and physical ailments mentioned in Point 1.)

Point 3: Know that forgiveness is FROM HIM.

   * We have a tendency to think, "if only my offender would show true repentance....then I could fully forgive." Or sometimes we think, "If only I could give them a piece of my mind...then I could fully forgive." Both...are lies. The sting of what our offenders have done to us - will usually overpower their remorse (or your revenge) for it. Our offender, no matter what, can't make us forgive from the heart. The only way to reap a harvest of forgiveness is by His power alone.

   *Revisit Chapter 10 of Hosea. The whole chapter is about the Lord's people having false hearts...having thorns and thistles in their fallow ground. Verse 12... is God's prescription for His people. It's His council for those with hard hearts.

   * He is capable. He is capable of healing our hearts, of helping us extend forgiveness to those who don't deserve it, of breaking up our hard ground and reaping a harvest of forgiveness in us. US....broken, wounded, afflicted, tainted women like you and me.

I am so looking forward to sharing this with the women at the Salvation Army . It's an honor to serve them and I am so thankful that God is giving me the privilege to do this.  I am so humbled to think that He TRUSTS me enough to share HIM with others!!!!  May He spur us onward in faith and in forgiveness. His Best to each of you!!!!

Forgiveness....the Duty of a Christian

Sometimes we strangle ourselves and we aren’t even aware of what we are doing.

Years ago a tree was dying in my parent's yard, and my Dad couldn’t understand why.  There weren’t any parasites, it had been getting plenty of water and sunlight.... But  still it was dying.  As my Dad began to dig the tree up he noticed that it's very own root was wrapped around itself.  All twisted and tight and blocking goodness. He was able to unwrap the root somehow and as the weeks past we noticed that the tree was thriving.  In fact, nearly 35 years later, that tree is still living in the front yard of my childhood home.

So, as I think about this tree - how its own appendage of sorts wrecked havoc on its life.  How on the surface - the vicious tangled mess went unseen but under the dirt- deep down, compressed and silent - the tree's very own ways just about caused its own demise.

In that tree - I see this woman.  Me.

Hello, friends!!  I mentioned in my previous post that I had been writing notes for my speaking opportunity at the Salvation Army, so I thought that  I would scribble out a blog post containing some of my notes on the top that I have chosen-Forgiveness - and I'm here to deliver. I'll post half of my notes today and half on my next post -for lengths sake.

The story above was my intro. May the Lord stir all of us into a deeper, more real, more meaningful and steadfast walk with Him.

(I will ask you in advance to forgive the randomness of these notes. What I have written was meant to be spoken….so it may not flow the way I am hoping it does when I actually share!!!!)

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*I too have a root that threatens to strangle me....it's called unforgiveness.

*None of us would have to go far for material on this topic. We all know pain. We all have wounds. And we all need healing.

*Unforgiveness has a harvest. It's a diseased and a corrupted one...but it has a harvest.  However there is Good News.  And what is that Good News? Forgiveness has a harvest, too - a good, fruitful one.

*Hosea 10:12 - Sow for yourselves righteousness. Reap steadfast love. Break up your fallow ground. For it is time to seek the Lord - that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.”

       - 'Break up your fallow ground' - that's what we need to start doing right now.

       - 'Fallow' in the Hebrew is 'niyr' - it means hard, untilled ground, yes - but iti has NOT been tilled YET, but it still is tillable!

       - Notice how the Lord provides. He tells us in the first lines 'sow righteousness, reap love' and then He says, 'seek Me....and I will provide the ability to do that for you, child.'

       - His power alone is the only way we forgive....from the heart. The Forgiver Himself, alone.

*I began prepping this talk by asking, "God, what do you want to teach me about forgiveness?" And I instantly got a very clear picture in my mind:

       - It was the front of my body....with my torso opened up to expose my heart and belly.  And I understood that the heart and belly I saw were healthy. And the Lord whispered, "Kim, I want you to know forgiveness HERE. In your depths. In those places only I can see and only you can feel, child. Through and through. And by the way, the only way you can have this is by ME."

       - Forgiveness is a heart issue.

*Luke 6:37-38: Judge not and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

       - Notice the word 'lap'. That's the ESV version. The NKJV uses the word, 'bosom'. Both words are translated from the Greek word, 'kolpos'. (Now keep in mind the vision the Lord gave me before I ever cracked open the scriptures on this topic.) The word 'kolpos' means: the front of the body between the arms. Is the Lord not confirming that He yearns for us to know forgiveness in. our. hearts? In our inner most places? Indeed, He is.

 I find this so very amazing….just like God to plant His thoughts into our minds so that when we are reading and studying His Word, that we have this wonderful confirmation.  I think of it as His conversation with me….and friends, that is so special!!!

*Luke 6:45: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

     - Notice the 'of the heart' in this verse....the Lord speaking it yet again.

     - Before we can mean forgiveness in our faces, before we can speak it with our mouths, we have to mean it in our hearts.

     - God's calling everyone to forgiveness - from the heart. He's made it clear.

*At this point you may be thinking, "Okay, I get it. The Lord wants us to know forgiveness in the deep...in the heart. But what does this look like? How do we go about doing this?"

Good question.

Won't you check back real soon for part two? To find out what God has revealed about this whole forgiveness challenge? Oh, please do. Because He has done some revealing, friends! Until then, seek His face and you'll find it.

My Request for Prayer

I have a simple request….please keep me in your prayers.

Ya see, I was asked to call The Salvation Army on behalf of my ABF ( Adult Bible Fellowship) class at church, as our class wants to get involved on a regular basis with an outreach ministry of some kind.  So, I called the Salvation Army and after talking with the lady there for over 30 minutes she asked me if I would be willing to come and be a part of a time of sharing with the women who are at the Center for Hope.

I felt lead to accept her invitation and guess what I'm speaking on....forgiveness. Come to find out...the Lord has a lot to say on this topic. To me especially, it seems :)

(If you don't want to be messed with in a certain area - don't teach on it. God knows the only way you can effectively, lovingly, and humbly speak something - is if He has spoken it to you - and you have been in need of it.)

And let's just say - He has been doing a lot of speaking.  A LOT!!!

So kind friends, as I prepare for this opportunity - would you go to the throne with me in prayer? Oh - I do need for it to be lifted up. Forgiveness is a deep, unworldly, anti-cultural thing. It's a serious thing. A God thing. And so prayers lifted up on behalf of all the ladies attending - is much needed. And prayers are never wasted on this lady, either.  Heaven knows that I need all the prayer support I can get.  But then we all do, don’t we?

I have been writing my notes for several days now, and will most likely post them here, in case anyone happens to read them, and can offer suggestions for making what I want to say better.

Love and grace and laughter and joy and peace and contentment and faith and warm hugs to you all.

"The call to follow Christ always means a call to share the work of forgiving men their sins. Forgiveness is the Christ-like suffering which it is the Christian's duty to bear." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Oh, Lord, we all need your help with this!!!