“Hear my prayer, Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.” Psalm 86:6-7 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
Are you struggling to forgive someone? Does it seem impossible? You can do it. God will help you. Remember this: Unforgiveness will destroy you, not them. Even science know that.
There is an enormous physical burden to being hurt and disappointed … Forgiveness, however, calms stress levels, leading to improved health.”
Karen Swartz, M.D., director of the Mood Disorders Adult Consultation Clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital
We can forgive others when we understand the depth of God’s forgiveness of our own sins. Crucifixion is the most brutal kind of execution. Yet Jesus pleaded with the Father to forgive them. He suffered heart-breaking rejection at the cross, yet He loved and forgave those responsible.
They crucified him and Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23: 34
Nothing we have to forgive can compare to His example of forgiveness. He suffered and died so that we would be forgiven for all the sins we have ever committed and even the ones we will commit in the future; He asks us to forgive others in return.
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25 NIV
Paul knew that the sin of unforgiveness would give the devil a foothold.
The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians, “I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:10-11)
Our obedience to Christ protects us from the devil’s schemes. You may not find the power to forgive within yourself, but through Christ, you can. Forgive as an act of your will. Your feelings will eventually change. The first step is to tell God that you forgive this person.
Meditate on God’s promises, instead of meditating on the injustice. The more time you spend in His presence, in His Word, in prayer and meditation, the less that injustice will have power to hurt you.
Those who won’t forgive show they have not accepted the fact of their own sinfulness and need for God’s forgiveness.
Thank Jesus for what He has done for you. It will destroy the power of the wrong to upset you. Peace and joy is already given to the child of God; God’s Word reveals how to live in it. We must trust and obey. When we choose to forgive, we begin to heal.
I will admit, I have had to forgive some pretty big things, but God has forgiven me of some pretty big things as well. I have experienced things that were hard to forgive, but whenever those things cross my mind I refuse to think about it. I consciously begin to think about something else. Sometimes that can be difficult. Ask God to help you.
There is only one way to forgive the unforgivable, and that is with God’s help. These Scriptures will strengthen and empower you to do it.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:21-35 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Read my page Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
“From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.” Psalm 61:2-3 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God.
Dwight L. Moody
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by bill wegener on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.” Psalm 34:7 NIV Read full chapter
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV Read full chapter
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Jeremy Stewart on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” Psalm 111:10a NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Mark Harpur on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
God’s Word is our “Manna from Heaven”.
“Manna from Heaven” has become an idiom of the English language. It means “An unexpected benefit or assistance, especially when it comes at the time when it is needed most.” For example, “Unable to pay my bills, the stimulus check was like manna from Heaven.”
Manna sounds like the Hebrew for “What is it?” The Israelites discovered the manna but didn’t know what it was. Apparently they had never seen anything like it before. The Scripture describes it like this:
“Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.” Numbers 11:7-9 NASB
“The house of Israel named it manna, and … its taste was like wafers with honey.” Exodus 16:31 NASB
God provided what they needed to for sustenance, but they had to do something first. They had to prepare it. I always thought of manna as being loaves of bread floating down from Heaven. But in reality, they had to take the manna and grind it, and then cook it in a pot or bake cakes with it.
How does this apply to us today?
God has graciously given us His Word and that Word is the Bread of Life. This means that although God has given us His Word (the Bible), we have to take it and do something with it.
We must read and study it daily. It is our “daily bread”. The Holy Spirit will speak to us daily through His Word. Our daily devotion in God’s Word infuses us with strength and encouragement.
If we leave our Bible on the shelf, we leave our daily bread on the shelf. What a tragedy to leave the manna on the wilderness floor when it’s what we need to sustain us!
“Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.” John 6:35 NASB
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 NASB
From John 1:1, we know that Jesus is the Word. Jesus also declared that He was the bread of life.
There are many lessons that can be derived from the provision of manna. To me, the most important one is that God’s Word is our daily bread. Jesus taught us to pray,
“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)
How can we receive our daily bread (sustenance) if we are not in the Word? Do we grumble and complain, as the Israelites did, tired of the manna and wanting something else? God’s Word is our guide. It will sustain us in every situation.
The Psalmist wrote,
“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18 KJV
“I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.” Psalm 119:15-16 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
“And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” Revelation 5:8 NIV (emphasis mine)
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Samuel Martins on Unsplash
realchristianwomen.blog
Real Christian Women 