Forgiving Is Hard

As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. Acts 7:59-60 (NLT)

Stephen was one of the people proclaiming the gospel and the awesomeness of Jesus after Jesus death. During one of those times, the people who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah became so angry and agitated they reacted with violence. They began to throw stones at Stephen and killed him.

Interestingly, Stephen was talking to God in his last moments. He asked him to receive his spirit and then he said, "Lord, forgive them." After that he died. The last thing he did was ask for their forgiveness. Jesus did the same thing. As he was being crucified, he asked God to forgive the people who were murdering him.

Sometimes forgiveness is hard. And sometimes the things we need to forgive others for are because of horrific acts. But God still asks us to do it. I am reading a book called Grace is Greater by Kyle Idleman. In the book he says two things that struck me:

Second, I wonder if Jesus and Stephen both prayed that God would forgive their murderers, instead of just offering forgiveness themselves, because ultimately what matters most, what people need most, is God's forgiveness, not ours.

Third, I wonder if maybe Jesus, and especially Stephen, prayed God would forgive them because in that moment they didn't have forgiveness to give. I said forgiveness isn't simple; it's difficult and maybe even impossible on our own. Perhaps Stephen couldn't muster up the grace to say, "I forgive you" to the men who were killing him, so instead he prayed that God would, which is what they really needed anyway.

We all know forgiving someone who has truly hurt you is hard. And sometimes we don't have it in us to do it on our own but, if we pray and ask God to forgive them and to heal our hearts, he will get us around to the place where we can forgive. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you discount what was done and throw the consequences to the wind, it means that you give it up. You give it up to God. You give it to him for your own peace and your own healing. And you stop the damage that is being done to you by becoming whole again.

It is still hard but oh so worth it.

A Minute In It - Time to Rest

A little time in the Word every day changes you. Sometimes, it is wonderful to read God's promises and just rest knowing that he's got this.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Did You Faith Today?

Look at the proud!
    They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
    But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. Habakkuk 2:4 (NLT)

What does that mean "The righteous will live by the faith"? I've heard this said many time. I now wonder if people who say that have been through anything really trying to their soul. It's easy to spout it off. Much harder to live it.

So, not being sure what I thought of this, I went to the source. This is how this conversation went in my head when I was asking God about it.

God, there are so many things upside down right now. All of a sudden we have all these things to deal with that are keeping us from normal. Not that we were ever normal but, I'd really like to get back to the not-so-normal life that we live without these added stressors. Will you please talk and lead so we can follow?

What if you talk and I don't hear? What if I miss what you said? The problem is sometimes I doubt that I am even hearing you. Did I miss something? Did I inadvertently write off what you said and not obey?

Ahhhh.....but that then makes this all about me. That thought totally negates your power. It does away with your ability to show up in dreams or burning bushes, in flames in a furnace or through ravensor talking donkeys or any way you please.

Father God, you are bigger than my perception. You are bigger than my hearing. You are bigger than my problems.

After that little conversation with God, I realized that maybe living by faith was remembering that it's not about me. Maybe living by faith means remembering that God is who he says he is and that he holds the world (and all my little problems) in his hands. I like the way the Message puts it.

Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—
    full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God
    through loyal and steady believing
    is fully alive, really alive. (MSG)

.....through loyal and steady believing is really alive. Today, I choose to let go of my problem focus and focus on God. I am going to faith (the act of believing). And tomorrow, when my faith seems small, I am going to talk to him again and faith again. And by letting go and believing, I can be truly free.

Soul Food

Oh boy, that's a problem.
OK, I won't think about that right now, I'll think about this.....wait.
That is stressful. I can't think about that.
I'll think about this. Uh oh. Thinking about that drives me crazy.

Ever have those times where it feels like every aspect of your life is a mess?
Ever look from home to work to health to finances and wonder how every little piece of it seems to be falling apart at the same time?

Well, you and I are not alone. I don't know anyone who isn't struggling with something.

I have a girlfriend who is dealing with health problems and her dad just had a serious accident.
And I know a mom who is worried because her daughter just enlisted.
And another lady whose daughter is thinking maybe life isn't worth living.
And the dad who is raising a daughter on his own because his wife died of cancer.
And the young couple who miscarried.

What do you do when it seems like every where you turn seems to be turned upside down?
Let God speak to your heart.

For the days when it seems like tomorrow is too overwhelming to handle.
"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

For the days when you can't possibly share your burdens with anyone.
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

For the times when you feel that you are alone.
What's more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. Genesis 28:15 (NLT)

When you feel like what has to happen to make this work is impossible.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God." Mark 10:27

And always, always remember you are loved.
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

What Were You Expecting?

“You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.” Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. Acts 12:15-16 (NLT)

Peter was in prison. An angel came, spoke to him and led him through the halls of the jail to freedom. After he was outside, the angel disappeared. Peter, realizing what just happened, went to the home of some of the church members he knew were praying for his release.

As he knocked on the door and spoke, the servant girl got so excited she left him standing outside and ran to tell the group who were inside praying. They didn't believe her! They actually told her she was out of her mind.

How often do we do this? How often do we pray and ask God for something and then move on as if he's not going to answer our prayers? How often do we keep going about our business like nothing new is going to happen? Somehow we are going through the motions but missing the best part of prayer....the excitement of expectation!

The Bible is very clear that if we pray, God answers. Shouldn't we be expecting him to answer? Shouldn't we pray and look, waiting to see what he is going to do? When we were talking about this in a Bible Study group, one of the ladies used the analogy of waiting for a delivery (assume pizza here because it is her favorite food). If you make a call to have pizza delivered and you really want that pizza, you keep looking out the window for the driver. You get the plates out, the napkins, your drink. You prepare for the food and you wait expectantly, knowing it will arrive.

It should be the same in our hearts with God. When we pray, we should prepare for him to answer. Now he may not deliver the answer exactly as we worded it (which is a good thing) but he is working on an answer and we should be expectantly looking, preparing and waiting to see what it is.

How would our lives change if we were always looking for what God was doing? How exciting would it be to live each day watching for God to show up? Most of the time he is showing up but we miss what he's doing because we are so stuck in our mundane that we lose sight of his extraordinary.

Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3 (NLT)

Living The Dream

And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.” Acts 26:32 (NLT)

As you read through Acts you get to the end where it talks about Paul's journey. Paul had traveled all over talking about this favorite passion, Jesus. No matter where he went or what he did, he shared Jesus with everyone he met.

Paul was in Jerusalem doing just this when the folks from the local synagogue became angry because he was sharing that he was called to share God's love with the Gentiles (non-Jews). Apparently, they were a little prejudice. It caused such an uproar that the Roman guard got involved, arrested Paul and beat him trying to get the truth of his crime out of him. Paul played the "I'm a Roman citizen" card and the beating stopped.

Paul was taken to be tried by the Governor. The Jews were plotting in the background to get him back so they could kill him. Paul appealed to Caesar - probably to save his life. I read the text above saying Paul would have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar and I thought "Maybe Paul spoke too soon. God could have protected him from the Jews. He could be free!" That's what we all want, right? To be free?

Freedom was not Paul's goal.....On Paul's journey to Rome to meet Caesar, he had multiple opportunities to share his love for God. He talked to Felix, Governor of Caesarea, and his wife. He shared God's love with Festus, Felix's replacement. He witnessed to King Agrippa. On the ship to Rome, he talked to the sailors and other prisoners sharing with them that God told him not to be afraid because he would safely arrive in Rome to talk to Caesar. On the island where they were shipwrecked, he showed God's power when he didn't die from a deadly snake bite and when he healed a ton of the islanders. And then he got to Rome where he was put under house arrest. There the book of Acts ends with these verses:

For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him. (vs 30-31)

Living in the middle of God's plan doesn't always mean the road will be smooth. More than likely it means that the road is going to be very uncertain and down-right difficult at times. But it also means that you will get to share God's love and power. It means that as you walk this path with him, he'll be there with you, walking beside you the entire way. It means life will never be boring, it will be an incredible adventure. And it means you will get to share the desire of your heart, Jesus Christ, with everyone you meet. But be warned, it is not for the faint of heart.

Crazy Love

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:14-15 (NLT)

When I first came across this text, I applied it to discipleship. You know, no matter where you are, who you meet, no matter what you are doing, look after each other. Offer God's Grace. OK. I can do that. Then this weekend, I attended a family wedding. 

It's been a really long time since this many of us has gotten together and still some of us were unable to attend. We were missing a couple of my nieces, my daughter and some cousins. As we all began to arrive, we greeted each other with hugs and joy.  It was really nice.

As I watched my family, these verses popped into my mind. Our family has history. In reality, after some of it we might not want to be in the same room with each other. But what family doesn't? I don't know of any family that doesn't have something they look back on that causes sadness or anger. 

And then I started thinking about each of us individually. We all have history. There is someone in our life that has caused us pain AND there is someone that we ourselves have caused pain. None of us are exempt from sin. None of us have escaped hurting someone or being hurt. 

In verse 14 it says "Work at living in peace." Living in peace doesn't just happen. It's something we work at. It is something we choose. And in verse 15 looking after each other is something we must choose as well. Can we look at the history we carry and write someone off? Sure. But that is not what God wants. He wants us to look at the mess and share the Grace he has so overwhelmingly offered to us.

He wants us to do what he does. He looks at us, looks at our mess and he chooses us. He offers us love over and over and over again so that none of us fails to receive his grace. That is the only example we need to follow.

As the music started and my family filed onto the dance floor to be crazy, act silly and laugh together, I was thankful for family and I was especially thankful for God's grace. This is one woman who is a recipient of God's grace...over and over again. For this I will be forever grateful.

Minute In It - It's All About Love

A little time in the Word every day changes you. Take a few minutes, read these verses and substitute your name where ever it says the word Love or It.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

What do you think?