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Forgiveness is such a difficult process that so many people walk away from situations harboring resentments that they end up ignoring rather than truly letting go. In the Lord’s prayer, there are the words, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…“{Matthew 6:12 [show] and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
} What Jesus was inferring was that we are to ask God to forgive us in the same manner that we forgive others. This goes without saying that if we refuse to offer forgiveness then we essentially are refusing to accept it as well.

Thoughts to Ponder

As you go about your week, consider the people who have been placed in your life throughout the years… anyone who has caused you pain. Do you still hold the hurt in your heart? Do you still catch feelings of anger or bitterness when you think of them, or when someone says their name? Are those memories still vivid in your mind? If so, chances are you haven’t forgiven them. Begin praying for God to deliver you of those feelings… and to help you let go of the pain so that you are able to move forward with the process of forgiveness. Keep in mind that people are not always going to ask for forgiveness – and quite often, you will find that they may not even care whether you’ve forgiven them or not. Many times, your transgressors will deny any wrongdoing. However, your ability to forgive them doesn’t affect their own righteousness. It affects your own. Just because it may have been a while doesn’t mean you’ve let it go… Letting time and distance take their course has nothing to do with the natural process of forgiveness.

Prayer

Father God, please touch my heart and allow me to recognize the negative emotions I’ve let penetrate my spirit in connection to the hurtful relationships of my past. Friends have wronged me, Lord. Associates have sought to harm me. People I trusted with my love have destroyed my trust and now I am looking to You to mend my brokenness and help me to rid myself of the bitterness, anger, and resentment that I have opened my heart to. I’ve ignored myself for so long while inadvertently fostering a spiritual environment that has let those feelings grow and thrive subconsciously. I commit myself today to letting go and giving those things to You, knowing that Your hands can repair me and make me whole. It is my mission to be pleasing unto You and to open myself to forgiveness as I learn to forgive those who have trespassed against me and love them as You have loved me in spite of myself. I pray that You also bless those who have abused or misused me in my life - that You show them the error of their ways just as You convict my spirit and that through You they find salvation. In Jesus’ precious and perfect name, I stand before Your throne in prayer. Amen.

Ephesians 4:26 [show] Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, (ESV)
tells us in no uncertain terms that while it is natural to feel angry, God expects us to be strong enough to control our anger and not allow it to cause us to fall into sin or succumb to sinful temptation. Being human is a test in itself. No matter what, the trials we face are always going to seem to amplify our weaknesses – or at very least, expose them. The reason for this is that we are attacked at our weakest points. The devil would be wasting his time trying to make you struggle in areas you are strongest! In keeping with his own cowardice, he manipulates the heart of man by causing us to struggle in our weakest points – where we are most vulnerable and most likely to break! The positive thing about trials, however, is that when we handle them correctly, they have the potential to cause our weaknesses to actually strengthen us! By resisting the temptation trials present in our lives, we become stronger!

Temptation is anything that forces us to decide which is right or wrong when considering two or more reactions to any situation. When someone provokes us to anger, that temptation can be emphasized by pride, insecurity, resentment, or even pain – once all of those emotions begin to flow through our hearts, something toxic happens in our spirits and the result can be quite damning! It is essential that we often remind ourselves that the battle is not between ourselves and our offenders (those who come against us); nor is it between ourselves and our offenses (the wrongs in our lives). The battle is between the spirit that dwells within us which desires only to do right, and the flesh that is influenced by the world around us and can be corrupted into confusing the divide which separates right from wrong to the point that we learn to justify wrongs by making exceptions to God’s rules. As fleshly creatures, it is much easier for us to acknowledge the role others play in our offenses than it is for us to accept responsibility. We blame provocation for our responses, justifying our wrongs by blaming them on the wrongs others have done against us! This process goes completely against the concept of forgiveness and in the end we only hurt ourselves…

While our reactions – and our emotions – may be understandable or even reasonable in the circumstances we face, that doesn’t make them acceptable to God, nor does it make them justifiable. We undermine our own righteousness when we allow our responses to be dictated by the motives or intentions of others. These habits also prove that others are in control of our behavior. We relinquish the power we have over our OWN lives when we become too weak to resist the temptation to sin in our anger. Are there people in your life who seem to routinely bring out the worst in you? Why do you believe that is? You will do yourself a great service by using those experiences to practice Godly responses and consequently develop patience, self control, and strength in the process!

Jeremiah 21:2 [show] "Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us." (ESV)
“Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”

King Zedekiah wanted Jeremiah to go to God on behalf of his people, hoping for a miracle. The problem with this was that the king wanted to be delivered… to be rescued by God out of the troubles facing him and his people – the people of Judah – without changing the behavior that had removed them from God’s protection to begin with. God’s response? In no uncertain terms, NO! God told Jeremiah to reveal to Zedekiah that not only would He not be helping them out of this turmoil, but would actually be fighting against them, showing favor to their Babylonian attackers as they advanced on Judah.

Jeremiah 21:5 [show] I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. (ESV)
“I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in anger and fury and great wrath.”

What had the people of Judah done that was so terrible to have angered God in this way? The biggest issue was idolatry. In their times of trouble, they had not turned to God – they had, instead, turned to God-substitutes. When you are troubled, do you turn to God? Or do you turn to God-substitutes and end up trusting in money, people, or other worldly/tangible factors to make you feel secure? Have you begun feeling as though God has been answering NO to your prayers? Have you begun to feel as though God is fighting against you instead of showing you favor?

Perhaps, like Zedekiah and the people of Judah, you have been hoping for a miracle from God without seeking His face… Perhaps you have been expecting Him to rescue you while putting your trust in those who are able to give you an audible answer rather than trusting the promises God already made through His written Word. Don’t continue on this path. Change the behavior that removed God’s protection from you to begin with, then seek His face and ask for His deliverance.

God’s desire is not to allow harm to come to you. In fact, just the opposite – God’s desire is to bless you, to cause you to prosper, and to lift you up for His glory. Many times, the things you go through are simply methods of weeding people out of your life so that you can focus on God and build your trust in Him – often, in order to do that He must strip the trust you have in people by letting you see how miserably they will fail you and let you down.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 [show] For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (ESV)
“For I know the plans I have for you [...] plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you [...] and will bring you back from captivity.”

Don’t allow yourself to be destroyed by your own ways. Evaluate where your trust truly lies and if your faith is not solely in God, begin breaking the binds the world has placed on your heart; begin to recondition your mind and your spirit to focus on the strength that comes from the Lord; rejoice in the trials that cause you to look to Him as your help.

God never wants to tell you, “No.” You are His child – He wants you to delight in Him so that He may give you the desires of your heart! {Psalm 37:4 [show] Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
} God wants to open the floodgates of Heaven and send blessings into your life in such abundance that you won’t even know what to do with them! {Malachi 3:10 [show] Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (ESV)
} It is up to you to accept the offer of abundance in life… what are your actions and motives telling God? When our children seem to be stubbornly rejecting our guidance and authority, the best thing we can do is to allow them to fall so that they are able to learn to appreciate our protective role in their lives. God is doing the same with us!

Romans 15:1-2 [show] We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (ESV)
“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.”

As you go about your week, keep in mind that when we are strong, we are supposed to carry the burdens of those who are weak. The strong aren’t always strong and the weak aren’t always weak. There will be times when you are one; and times when you are the other. Be sure that you stand in your place today, either carrying the burden of another in their time of need or allowing yourself to let go of your burden if you are feeling overwhelmed.

Thought to Ponder: There will be times in your life when you are weak and look around only to find that there is no one willing to bear your infirmities. Those times are blessings – because they cause you to look to God to lighten your load! The trial of your faith develops patience… and increases your faith in God as you realize He will never let you down.

Prayer: Father God, as we begin this week, please help us to remember that You never purposed us to be alone. You always intended for us to lean on You and to be there for one another. Lord God, it’s so hard to realize that there will not always be people standing in support of me in my troubles; but I am so thankful that You have never left me and will never forsake me. Thank You for that reminder today, Father God, and thank You for carrying me when I’ve lost my strength. Lord, I ask that You give me opportunities to glorify You by placing in my path those who are in need of a Word from You – those who need someone to help lighten their load. Father, please accept me as Your willing vessel and touch my heart so that I may be a pure and effective witness, attesting to Your grace, mercy, and love! In the preciously perfect name of Jesus, AMEN!

Psalm 18:49 [show] For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name.
“Therefore, I will praise you among the nations, O Lord. I will sing praises to your name.” {David sung praises to God when he was delivered from his enemies & from the hand of Saul.}

Give thanks today for what God has allowed you to overcome – for all the ways you’ve been blessed and for every situation He has delivered you out of! It’s easy to lose track of how good He’s been when the devil’s attacks are successful at redirecting your focus to the storms raging around you… when that happens, you forget God’s power, mercy, and protection. It is in those times that our faith is tested and we must begin to praise God through our trials, believing by faith He will deliver us, provide for us, protect us, comfort us, and transform us from the overwhelmed to the overcomer!

Life doesn’t promise to be easy, but God’s Word tells us there is a blessing in trusting Him through the battles that rise up in our paths. There are benefits in rejoicing through our trials; there is safety in His everlasting arms! No matter what you’re facing, sing praises to God now and He will make His power in your life evident according to your faith!

“If you are always planning evil, you will earn a reputation as a troublemaker.” – Proverbs 24:8 [show] Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer.

As you go about this week, concentrate on your motives and intentions in all that you do. Evaluate yourself and be honest about your thoughts and feelings in relation to the things going on in your life.

Thoughts to Ponder: Are you reacting with ill motivation? Are you creating conflict for others as a means of moving yourself into a better position? Are you planning against others out of spite, revenge, or even jealousy? Are you delighting in the misfortune of those around you? If you find that your motives and intentions are not always of a pure heart, search yourself and determine why you feel as though these methods are effective, beneficial, or acceptable. Once you understand why are you acting in this manner, try to figure out how to catch yourself when you are making trouble for others – purposely or unconsciously – and stop yourself from acting this way in the future.

Prayer: Father God, I give Your name reverence and I come to You with thanksgiving in my heart recognizing all that You have done in my life. Lord, please forgive me for things I have done with bad motives. I know that harboring ill will toward others and planning – or even wanting – bad things for them reflects a spirit of contention and displeases You. Please create within me a clean heart and help me to purge myself of the desire to take part in – or even wish to see – the downfall of another person. I rebuke the temptation to act as a planner of evil, or to find myself being regarded as a troublemaker because of my actions or desires. I thank You for loving me in spite of myself, Lord, and for forgiving me as I forgive others. In the preciously perfect name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.