The Basics of Forgiveness

 

Forgive- Webster’s New World Dictionary defines forgive as:

(1.) to give up resentment, or the desire to punish, to pardon.

(2.) to overlook an offense,

(3.) to cancel a debt.

I once heard that, when we forgive someone for something, we do it in order to help ourselves get over or through a hurtful condition.

When we ask Jesus into our hearts, we ask Him to forgive us for our sins. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask: “Forgive us our trespassed (transgressions) as we forgive those who trespass (transgress) against us.”

Also, I read where a person can forgive and it be on three different relational levels. I am sorry, I don’t remember the source.

1.) Forgive and forget, letting the relationship continue as nothing has happened.

2.) Forgive but be wary of a recurrence of the transgression. This may keep the relationship cordial but not like it was before.

3.) Forgive but sever ties with the other person. Sometimes we have to do this in order to go on with our lives.

When the hurt is serious, we can approach God and ask Him to forgive that other person for us. I personally know He does this when we ask Him.

                                                                         

Blessed Mary

 

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For He who is mighty has done great things for me,

And holy is His name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.

Luke 1:49-50 (NKJV)

Verses from the Magnificat of Mary.

Mary, the future mother of Jesus, sang praise to the Lord. In context to our passage, Mary recognized herself as a lowly being. (1.) She realized that future generations would call her blessed. (2.)

She recognizes that the LORD has done something special in His decision. He also recognizes that the LORD will be merciful to all those who keep His commandments forever.

Mary took this task seriously and rejoiced that she was chosen by the Lord to bear and raise His Son.

Present day, should we not all take on tasks as working for the Lord? We have scripture that tells us we should. However, do we truly believe that we work for Him?

Ephesians 6:6-8 --not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

Colossians 3:23-And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

Mercy, Not Sacrifice

 

Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew 9:12-13 (NKJV)

Words of Jesus

Our Lord has been criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners. His accusers, the Pharisees, did not accuse Jesus to his face. They asked the disciples.

The disciples approached the Master, He told them that He was here to minister to those who were sin-sick, not those who were living rightly.

In today’s world, it seems those who recognize their sinfulness are the ones who listen to Jesus and His Father. Conversely, those who believe they have done nothing wrong are the hardest to reach for Christ.

Just today, I heard of a young teenage girl who has been "grounded" by her parents. They did this to protect her. Later, I realized that a lot of what we see going on in this world has resulted from a lack of discipline in the families. I can only pray that more parents see the need to discipline their children.

As Christians, we have to pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit and let Him lead us in the way we should approach those in our world when we see they are hurting, have done wrong, and guide them if that is how God directs us.

A Day of Remembrance

 

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The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their cry.

The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them from the face of the earth.

Psalm 34:15-16 (NKJV)

A Psalm of David

When one who follows God, truly obeys Him, He listens to his or her petitions. God guides them through those circumstances.

However, the LORD looks askance on the pleas of those who do evil. He removes the evil-doers from the memory of those who live on our earth.

Today is the 22^nd anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster, also known as 9/11. It is a melancholy time in the United States. There were too many taken to remember each one individually. We remember them as a group and their families.

However, we do not remember the perpetrators. They brought evil to out nation by their nation’s and their religion’s disrespect for human life.

Prayer:

Help us, Father, to remember those who were taken unexpectedly that morning and especially those who chose to keep this disaster from escalating. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen

God, Rich in Mercy

 

” But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV)

God has made us alive because of Christ. He rescued us from the sins of our trespassed and will give us a place in heaven when our time here on earth is over.

God showers us with mercy, His great love, and His grace.

When Jesus returns to earth, God will bodily raise those who have lived for Him, giving them each a resurrected body that will be reunited with their spirits.

Our son was born with a birth defect that caused him not to run “like the other boys.”

One evening when he was in either kindergarten or first grade, he asked me, “Mom, when will I be able to run like the other boys?”

I thought for a second and answered him, “When Jesus comes again.” I believed it then and I still believe it all these many years later.

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Several years ago, we started attending a different church. There we met a man who, several years before, had been in an accident on his motor scooter. This was his second accident that summer. He was a quadriplegic. At the time we met him, he lived with his mother who, with help, took care of him.

This man was unable to do anything physical. However, he could pray and pray, he did. He would call me from time to time and we would talk and then we would pray for each other. When he prayed for me, I felt prayed for.

When God called him home, I wrote a poem about him. My first thought when I heard of his passing was that “Heaven is Richer Now”. That was what I entitled the poem. Our pastor at that time read it at his service.

August Reflections

 

Writing

Other than writing my blog entries, I have not really done much writing. I have tried to work on something to submit to a Christian magazine. One asks for three photos to go along with the story and a photo for the bio. These have to be a certain dimension (dpi). I don’t have a working digital camera and my phone does not cooperate with me. I want to get this story down perfect (as close to it) soon. I found a fourth magazine that doesn’t sound like it is a paying one but as the saying goes, “Gotta start somewhere.”

Geodes and Cattails

Jim traveled down to his home area by himself early in August. His best friend, Tom called him and said that his sister’s great-grandson and the preacher’s boy started “a business”. They had collected Geodes and were going to sell them. Right before this, Jim had asked me if I would like some Geodes for my rock garden. I thought they would add some color to it. Geode information

When he came back, he had some Cattails that I put in a bud vase and set them on my antique library table. They have lasted all month long.

Reading

I had a book come to me in the mail. It was from the Voice of the Martyrs. The title was WHEN FAITH IS FORBIDDEN by Todd Nettleton. Mr, Nettleton travels for Voice of the Martyrs. It is a devotional book composed of 40 short devotions, each telling about the lives of persecuted Christians.

New Compression Sleeves

We made the trip to Indy to purchase my new compression sleeves. The store’s prices were far more realistic that what my insurace received claims for. So I waited as long as I could before getting new ones. One week later I could not find one of the two sleeves. I felt uneasy. I kept praying and praying. I have to hand wash them at least every other night. Since I could not find the second one, I decided I needed to hand wash the one I was wearing. Jim heard me in the bathroom and asked if I was hand washing my stuff. I found myself telling him that I had misplaced one of the sleeves. He told me it was on the hanger I hang on the shower rod. I looked and there it was. Moral of this story is: I need to look up more often.

Heat Wave

Yes, we had one. It lasted into the fifth day. I had not been out of our house since right before the Friday before it started. We had a reprieve on the last Sunday of the month and that following week.

Feeling Rather Guilty

I read a friend’s blog, jeanettelevellie.blogspot.com. Her entry about her being in Uganda visiting a school she helps support. The people there were very glad she and four other women were there visiting. My guilt stems from my not being able to do visitation or taking devotional thoughts to residents in a nursing home or leading a Bible study at a retirement community, Before COVID and my health issues, I did these things. Please pray for me that I might be able to do at least one of them again.

How a Friend Sees Forgiveness. Part Two

 

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This entry is the second part of the One Word Assignment for August.

What does my word mean to you?

Forgiveness means to let go and forget the “trespasses”.

What do you think is the opposite of my word?

If I don’t forgive others the pain and guilt are more of a burden on me than on them.

Do you think about this word rarely or often?

Often

Where does this word pop up in your everyday life?

In my thoughts.

Can you give me suggestions for better experiencing or practicing this word?

Driving on the roads. Being patient with working/talking with customer service people that being patient and forget when they

are busy.

This friend recently had a wreck and totaled her car. The day I asked her these questions was the day she found out she could pick up her new car.