God speaks to us through Prayer and His Word

Prayer needs are plentiful and grace is available

God’s grace is made available to all of us. God speaks to us. We need to be listening. In praying, I thought how great the needs are and how long the “list” becomes. Having a great need within our own families, how can we have time to pray for all the needs we know of. Then the question, “If I pray for those outside my family, will God not take care of my family?”

God can deal with hardened hearts

After prayer, I proceeded to read Romans 11. I do not want my family members to have God allow their hearts to be hardened because of refusing to follow the way of faith. (vs.7) People do not fall beyond recovery. (vs.11) God is able and still desires to give them salvation. Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, was meeting the needs of people outside the boundaries of his people and still holding onto the hope that his own would come to know the Truth. (vs.14)

God can deal with pride

If God cuts one, a branch, off because of unbelief, do not be so arrogant in your being grafted in to think that He will not also cut you off if you do not continue in your faith. (Col 1:23) Do not boast in those branches that were cut off seemingly for your sake because they were not. It was because of their unbelief and if they turn from their unbelief, “God is able to graft them in again” (vs.23) and how much more willing will they be to “be grafted into their own olive tree”. (vs.24)

We can always learn from others

One can be called a thriving olive tree and with one roar be set on fire and its branches broken. (Je 11:15-17) What would this look like in today’s world/church? Is not history recorded in the Bible to help us know how to live today? (Ro 15:4, 1 Co 10:6,11) We try to teach our children because of what we learned from our mistakes. Can we learn from the mistakes of others that are recorded in God’s Word?

God’s mercy is available to each of us

Because of our disobedience, not one of us can boast and we are all in need of God’s grace and mercy. (vs.30-32) So much to understand and never understood. (vs.33-34) We have nothing to offer Him but yet He gives us what we don’t deserve. (vs.35) Glory to God forever. Amen. (vs.36) God speaks to us. He will speak to us through prayer and His Word.

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People Do Hurt People

What are you to do with that hurt?

We come to expect that we will be hurt by others at some point in our life. When the hurt comes from “God’s people”, the wounds seem to go deeper. Either way the wounds can cause eternal consequences if not handled properly. These consequences can be experienced by the ones getting hurt or those doing the hurting. We can find ourselves on both sides of the fence at different times of our life. People turn away from God when God’s people misrepresent the true character of God. Don’t allow others to have that power to turn you away and don’t be that person that causes another to turn away.

If your feel you have been hurt by another person, prayerfully answer these questions from Wounded by God’s People by Anne Graham Lotz:

• Where are you in your healing journey?
• Do you remember what your life was like before you were wounded?
• How did you get to this place?
• How is the way you are reacting today going to help you tomorrow?
• Do you want your life characterized by the result of remaining focused on “them” while being blind to your own pride, arrogance, anger, resentment, name-calling, vengeful digs, schemes for revenge, or vicious gossip disguised as prayer requests?
• Are these attitudes working for you and making you happy?
• Do they give you a temporary sense of satisfaction but then disintegrate into a desire for even more revenge? And more misery?
• What are you living for? Instead of living your life to the glory of God, are you driven by a desire to get even, vindicate your actions, prove someone else wrong, justify your opinion, expose the other person, get your own way?
• Consider carefully…do any of these desires truly honor God?
• When was the last time you put your head on the pillow conscious of God’s sweet peace and joy flooding your heart? If your can’t remember, could it be time for you to give your attention to considering your own part in the wounding?

“You might distinguish between forgiveness as letting go of my right to hurt you back and reconciliation as that which requires the sincere intentions of both parties” John Ortberg

Someone needs to make the first gesture to reconcile. You can and probably should make the first gesture but also be aware of any attempt that they may be making to reach out to you. It only needs to be a small gesture. In time, there may need to be an honest conversation in which both listen to each other’s story. Often times the problem was miscommunication or misinformation. No matter who is found to be wrong, the apology and forgiveness need to be spoken. Death to pride is the key to having broken relationships reconciled.

If a person has wounded you or has been wounded by you and you have offered forgiving words or gestures to reconcile the relationship and they reject your effort, take it to Jesus. He understands. He made the ultimate gesture and was rejected. Jesus can heal you even if reconciliation does not happen.

Death to pride and position is the key for reconciliation when a wounder seeks forgiveness. It is necessary to be Christ like.
• Be approachable as Jesus is for you.
• Love those that have rejected you as Jesus loves you.
• Initiate the contact as Jesus does for you.
• Extend forgiveness to them before they ask for it as Jesus does for you.

We can’t force reconciliation or change someone’s heart or mind. The Lord can, therefore we should pray and wait, looking for opportunities and open doors.

No person should have so much power to cause you unpleasant attitudes or to cause any separation between you and God. Take it all to God in prayer.

Jesus always makes the first gesture to reconcile. Are you responding to His gestures? Are you in a relationship with Him and responding to His leading?

Don’t let anyone have the power to keep you from all God has for you. When we don’t have the strength to let go on our own, God will give us the strength that is needed. Let Go!

• Let go of bitterness toward those that caused you to view God differently than His true character. Get to know Him yourself.
• Let go of confusion and fear. These are not of God.
• Let go of your desire to justify and explain yourself. God is your redeemer.
• Let go of your emptiness. He has a plan and a purpose for you. He will fill your cup to overflowing.
• Let go of your desire for revenge. Vengeance is the Lord’s.
• Let go of your hardened heart toward those that have rejected you. Jesus understands. He was rejected like no other.
• Let go of your loneliness. God is the God of the fatherless and of the widow. He is your God also when there is no one else.
• Let go of resentment over the way others have treated you. Consider how Jesus was treated.
• Let go of the injustice. God is Just.
• Let go of unforgiveness toward those that have hurt you. Unforgiveness will hurt you more than them. Forgive as the Father has forgiven you.
• Let go of the hurt. God is your healer. He came to bind up the brokenhearted.
• Let go of the anger toward God for allowing your wounds. Those wounds will bring deeper faith and spiritual fruit. God is more concerned with your character than your comfort.
• Let go of your life dreams and embrace what God has for you. He will give you the desires of your heart.
• Let go of the past to move forward. God has a future for you.

Let go. Give it to Him.

Are You Refusing To Accept Any Free Gifts?

Christmas is a time of gift giving. We buy gifts for those we love whether they deserve them or not. They don’t do specific things to earn them. We just want to make them feel good and want them to know we love them. God offered Christ as a gift to everyone that would believe. He offered His Son freely that we could feel good about who we are and to know that we are loved. It is a gift we don’t deserve. We can do nothing to make ourselves worthy of God’s gift. He wants to give us His Son so that we can benefit from all that He has to offer.

We cannot benefit from the gift’s rewards unless we accept it, open it, and use it as it is intended. We can only feel the love when we have a relationship with the giver and can accept the gift honestly and resolve the things that have kept us at a distance. Christ wants to keep giving and giving. Once Christ is a part of our life and we continue to give Him all our broken pieces, He continues to give to us like we could never have imagined.