forgiveness

Forgive As You Are Forgiven

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Many of us have something or someone in our life or in our past that stirs us up quickly.  Just the mention of that situation or person begins to increase our blood pressure and we feel the tension increase.  The bitterness and anger is only hurting us, we need to move through the pain and frustration to the other side, we need to seek to forgive.  To be clear this does not mean someone else is getting a pass for something that was wrong and hurtful, rather it is declaring that you are not going to allow that issue or problem to define your attitude going forward.  To forgive is to let go of the past and the pain and to embrace the new and the possible.  This is a process and takes time and God is ready to guide us and hold us up through it all.  Amen.

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“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.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 in Badlands National Park in South Dakota)

The Grace Of God

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We have been saved…the battle has been won.  Jesus Christ gave of Himself to save us and to reconcile us back to God.  We are not made to do life alone, God our Creator made us out of His love and His Son sacrificed His life because of His love for us and the Holy Spirit is guiding us through our days with God’s love.  We haven’t earned it, we don’t deserve it.  It has occured because of the mercy and grace of God our Father.  He is not a distant figure in the sky looking for ways to punish us for every mistake, He is doing everything for our good, not according to our plans rather according to His.  We would do well to turn towards God and thank Him and seek to grow our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 while traveling through northern Colorado)

Humility

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I don’t know how it works…I don’t understand…I don’t have the answers…accepting things even when we don’t fully understand them.  This can be a hard thing.  Even just reading the first three statements above can feel uncomfortable.  To know the basic understanding of something is the first step.  C.S. Lewis in his writings has spoken about it in this way…when we are tired and hungry, eating a meal will do you good.  This is the basic understanding.  Understanding how food nourishes the body using vitamins and proteins within the food is not necessary knowledge to know that when you are hungry a meal will do you good.  Similarly, he continues, knowing and accepting what Christ has done to save us is the basic knowledge of faith.  Understanding how it fully works is not required to know that Jesus Christ loves you and died to save you.  When we can accept that we will not fully understand everything all the time, we can still go and do the right things for the right reasons.  I pray we are humble and faithful in our every day lives.  Amen.

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“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

Proverbs 11:2

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 along Beartooth Pass in Montana)

Forgiveness

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To begin to seek a new nature, to desire to be different than we have been, to seek kindness and compassion and a servant attitude…first we must turn toward Jesus Christ on the Cross and confess our sins.  Be humbled and speak the wrongs we have committed against others, in our thoughts, our actions and our words.  We all have to go through this step on our faith journey and more than one time…we live in a fallen and broken world filled with sin and evil and none of us can stand up to it alone.  God knows this and He sent His Son to take the judgement we all deserve so that we can be reconciled to Him when we are willing to admit our faults.  Confess and be forgiven, this is part of God’s plan for you.  Amen.

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington)

Relationships

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Communication…kindness…compassion…courage…commitment…time spent together…love.  There are so many things that can get in the way of this list of characteristics that support a strong relationship.  The world feeds us self-focused ways of living and that is exactly the opposite behavior needed for a strong relationship, yet people wonder why relationships are so hard?  The key to perseverance is building a relationship on a solid foundation.  That foundation is love.  More than a feeling, love is about behaviors and attitude…Jesus Christ has provided the example of love for us to follow and if we are willing to surrender self and live in this love we will begin to see our relationships get repaired, renewed and restored.  I pray we all seek the guidance of the Lord for our relationships.  Amen.

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“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.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

(This photo was taken in March of 2013 at the Botanical Garden at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Accept One Another

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In our broken and fallen world, it seems everybody is a judge of someone.  One of the principles of being kind and having compassion is rooted in the fact that we as humans don’t know everything we think we know about other people.  We are not created to judge one another…we are created to bear the Fruits of the Spirit to one another.  There are several examples in the New Testament of how Jesus treated those that the rest of society had cast aside.  We would do well to follow His example.  I pray for the wisdom and courage to accept others for who they are and who God created them to be.  Amen.

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“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accept on another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

Romans 15:5-7

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 at Sapphire Point near Dillon, Colorado)

Grace

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This has been defined as the unmerited favor and love of God.  It is because of the grace of God we can be saved.  Along our faith journey we will trip, we will stumble and we will get knocked down by sin and the sinful nature.  It is not a matter of if this will happen, rather it is about when it happens how do we choose to respond?  God’ grace provides us a way to get back up, to keep trying to do better.  The bible is filled with examples of people who stumbled significantly in their lives, we are not alone in our mistakes.  Jesus Christ came to save them and to save you and me.  No matter what the struggle is, no matter what level of darkness you feel like you are surrounded by…God’s grace is for you too.  He loves you and He sent His Son to give you the way back to Him and His love for you.  I pray we trust in God’s grace and love to guide us in overcoming all obstacles and for His way to lead us in our lives.  Amen.

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“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:10

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 in White Sands National Monument in New Mexico)

Living In The Light

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Choose to be optimistic…choose to have gratitude…be thankful…appreciate all that you have been blessed with each day.  Some days you may feel like there is not much to be thankful for, yet I encourage you to seek something to have gratitude about receiving or having available.  The more you practice gratitude and thankfulness the easier it gets.  The world is full of good things and good people…we have to want to see them.  This is about changing our perspective and our attitude, not about the world and others changing things to fit our wants and desires.  May we be filled with the light of Christ in our everyday interactions.  Amen.

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“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.”

Ephesians 4:29

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 near the border of South Dakota and Minnesota)

Freedom Found In Forgiveness

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Learning to forgive someone for something that occurred in the past…this is a tough thing for many of us.  It is not in our human nature to forgive.  We usually struggle because we are waiting for the other person to earn our forgiveness, however, as we read in the Scriptures, our forgiveness for our sins was not nor will it ever be earned.  If God was going to wait for us to show we deserved to be forgiven for our sinful ways…well just look around you at the world and the behavior of people…sin rules this world as much or more now than it ever has.  We do not deserve to saved from our sins and yet God sent His Son to suffer and die for us, to pay the penalty for our sins so that we are forgiven and our relationship is reconciled.  We can learn to forgive and break free from the anger, the hatred, the finger pointing that keeps us stuck in a cycle of violence and hurting each other.  Forgiveness means we are not going to let the hurts of the past control our future behavior…that is exactly what God has done for you and for me.  I pray we can each pick one relationship that we know needs our attention and seek to forgive, so that we can be free from the hurts of the past.  Amen.

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“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32

(This photo was taken in April of 2016 on a lake in central Minnesota)

Redeemed

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Saved…recovered…reclaimed…restored…changed…forgiven…set free.  The price has been paid for our sins.  Jesus came down from heaven and suffered to save us from the defeat of death in sin.  We are loved by God and that love conquers all things in this world.  We are reconciled with God and can pursue His will for our lives.  Sharing a song by the group Big Daddy Weave entitled “Redeemed”

I pray for God’s love to wash over the burdens in our lives and strengthen us in kindness, goodness, compassion and forgiveness.  Amen.

Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave

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“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

(This photo was taken in October of 2018 at City Park in Winterset, Iowa)