Confusion about forgiveness

“By clearing away some of the confusion about forgiveness, we lay the foundation for our own freedom.  The stone wall encasing our hearts can be broken, freeing us from our rocks of resentment.”- June Hunt

June Hunt begins Chapter 3(“Stone Her!  Stone Her!  What Forgiveness Is, What Forgiveness Isn’t”) of How to Forgive by citing John’s account of The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11).  June states that this passage of Scripture is filled with  “the heart of compassion and the hope of forgiveness.”

No one, in truth, desires to be like the stone throwers in this story.  However, when we won’t loosen our grip and let our stones fall to the ground, we become just like those stone throwers.  Even though we want others to drop their stones, we are quite reluctant to drop ours.  June stresses that this reluctance is based on a misunderstanding of what forgiveness is and is not.

Ms. Hunt explores seven misunderstandings about forgiveness.  The first misconception is discussed today.

1.  Forgiveness is not a natural response- but rather supernatural.  So many people try to muster their own strength and determination when it comes to forgiveness.  They try to do it alone.  But they continue to seethe with resentment and rage because they haven’t entrusted their lives to Christ, allowing Him to give them His strength to forgive.  We need both Christ’s presence and power in order to forgive.  Forgiveness isn’t natural.  It only happens when we surrender to God’s will and tap into His strength.

Today’s question: Do you have any confusion about forgiveness?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Forgiveness and reconciliation”

 

Confusion about forgiveness

God fights for you

“God Fights for You” is the concluding chapter (16) of Glory Days.  Max Lucado describes how Joshua was in dire need of God’s protection as the children of Israel ventured into the Promised Land.  Brutal and bloodthirsty enemies inhabited Canaan.  Joshua’s men were untested in battle and his leadership was unproven.  Despite those odds, God guaranteed the conquest.

Pastor Lucado writes that God gives us the same promise.  The writer of Hebrews quotes the words of Joshua 1:15 in his epistle:

“For [God] has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?” “- Hebrews 13:5-6 (NRSV)

Max notes that the last question, by itself, is a troubling one. What can anyone do to me?  We know the answers- lie, deceive, downsize, etc.

Scripture, however, asks a different question, prefacing “What can man . . .” with the words “The Lord is your helper . . .”  The Greek word for “helper” in this passage, Max states, is boetheia, from boe (which means “a shout”) and theo (which means “to run”).  In other words, when you need help, God runs with a shout.  And God not only stays with you, he fights for you so you can live the Promised Land life.

Max concludes:

“This is your inheritance: more victory than defeat, more joy than sadness, more hope than despair.  These days are Glory Days.”

Today’s question:(from the study guide): In what ways is God already pulling you out of a wilderness and helping you cross over to your Promised Land life?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Back in the box”

Tomorrow’s blog: the Annotated Bibliography of Glory Days

 

God fights for you

Arise, shine!

David, age 5, visits Santa.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”- Isaiah 60:1

“The question is not, ‘Do you have a problem?’  The question is, ‘Does the problem have you?’ “- Joel Osteen

When I reminisce about second grade at Northeast School in Evergreen Park, Illinois, three distinct memories surface.  The first two are sitting in a circle singing “This Old Man” while waiting to go on a field trip to the circus and attending Miss Wilson’s wedding at the end of the school year.  Walking upstairs to the school library, located in an enclosed balcony at the back of the cafeteria/gym, for testing by the school psychologist is the third.

According to my mother’s most certainly apocryphal account, I was quite the chatterbox and Miss Wilson suspected boredom.  One question the psychologist asked was, “Which of these substances is the hardest?”  I answered, “An egg.”  My second grade brain reasoned if chicks could take nearly an hour to hatch in the Museum of Science and Industry’s incubator, an egg shell must be the hardest substance on earth!

Hard times prompt that age-old question: Why?  Laura Story points out that asking “why” can be an important help in processing grief.  However, focusing too intently on life’s whys is like running on a treadmill- one never seems to get anywhere and the end product is exhaustion.  The Message, in its paraphrase of John 9:3, provides the solution:

Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question.  You’re looking for someone to blame.  There is no such cause-effect here.  Look instead for what God can do.”

Arise, shine!  Ultimately, it becomes beneficial to stop asking why and seek ways to bring glory to the Heavenly Father.  Hope provides the foundation for revitalizing faith.  John Ortberg differentiates two types of hope:

“Hope comes in two flavors: hoping for something and hoping in someone.”

As a kindergartener sitting on Santa’s lap, my wish was for something.  Decades later, the purifying fire of adversity has forged a faith centered on hope in Jesus.  Even on the day of His birth, something about Jesus had a way of forcing people to take a stand.  Centuries ago, Blaise Pascal said:

“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”

Arise, shine!  Your light has come!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHNTeX0eOIk

 

 

 

Arise, shine!

A landscape of joy

“Anyone who can be in a landscape of joy while maintaining immunity to it hasn’t come to the end of himself.”- Kyle Idleman

Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 6 of The End of Me by observing that the miracle of the paralyzed man’s healing should have a happy ending.  The Pharisees, however, make sure this miracle story ends on a sour note.

Even though the Pharisees had just witnessed a miraculous cure, their shortsightedness causes them to nitpick the fact that the man lifted his mat on a day of rest.  As Kyle quips, “the Pharisees wanted to make a citizen’s arrest for unauthorized use of a bedroll.”

Pastor Idleman encourages us to experience how good the good news really is.  He states we:

“. . . should see that someone else’s victory over hopelessness is our own victory, because Christ has brought the same liberation to every single one of us willing to say yes, to stand, to walk.”

God’s favorite time for us to ask for help is . . . now!  God not only has no time limits, He has no limits at all.  No matter how long our desert, land between time, God’s favorite time is now.  Kyle concludes:

“It’s not too late and never has been.  And there’s never been a better time, a more perfect time, than the present moment.  That’s always the one in which he wants to meet you.”

Today’s question (from Kyle): What are your thoughts on the idea that the more helpless you are, the better?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Disqualified to be chosen”

 

 

 

 

A landscape of joy

Our level of emptiness

“The measure of filling we receive is in direct proportion to our level of emptiness.”- Kyle Idleman

In Chapter 5 (“Empty to Be Filled”) of The End of  Me, Kyle Idleman begins by boldly stating that God loves to fill empty things, whether it’s a widow’s jar (2 Kings 4) or a measure of hope.  All jars begin with emptiness, receiving what is poured into them.  Pastor Idleman describes what it’s like to come to the place of emptiness:

“. . . I’m sure it wasn’t part of your plan.  Life has a way of pouring us out, and it has nothing to do with what we wanted or expected.  Life takes away . . . a home.  A job. . . . At some point, we’re left holding what feels like a whole lot of nothing, and we hold on to it with clenched fists.”

Our emotions are raw.  The worst emotional state of all is emptiness itself. But, Kyle asks, what if that emptiness signifies God has us right where He wants us?  Kyle asserts that when life takes away, God gives.  We’re in position for the ultimate blessing in life, “a close encounter with a loving heavenly Father who has in-depth, sweeping plans for blessing us in ways we never imagined.”

Yet, as Pastor Idleman will explore next, there is a major difference between a jar that is full and a jar that is filled.

Today’s question: How would you describe your state of emptiness following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Question: full or filled?”

Our level of emptiness

Innocent as doves

“Be . . . as innocent as doves.”- Matthew 10:16

“What the world needs is not simply isolated outward deeds but transformed character from within.”- John Ortberg

John Ortberg concludes Chapter 6 of All the Places to Go by discussing the final dimension of wholehearted threshold crossing: “Be . . . innocent as doves.”  Pastor Ortberg observes that doves are to the bird world what sheep are to the animal world.  Doves are considered quite innocent.

John emphasizes that we must allow God to work on our character.  The main thing we take into the world is who we are, not the things we do.  The author reports that when author and teacher Brennan Manning was ordained a priest, he was given this blessing, focusing on the innocence of a child:

“May your expectations all be frustrated,

May all your plans be thwarted,

May all of your desires be withered into nothingness,

That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and can sing and dance in the love of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Pastor Ortberg notes that on the third day Jesus went through the final open door that led to death’s defeat and the triumph of hope.  While none of the Gospel writer recorded how Jesus crossed that threshold, John believes Jesus didn’t limp or trudge wearily.  John thinks Jesus hopped, and may be hopping still!

Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, how is your character being transformed from within?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The truth about you”

 

 

 

Innocent as doves

The path for your victory

In Chapter 6 of Waiting on God, Charles Stanley offers these words of support when we are especially disheartened during times of delay:

“As you submit to the Father during this difficult time, He provides for you, makes you all you need to be, bends other people’s hearts toward you, and sets the path for your victory.”

At this point, Dr. Stanley notes that we question why God doesn’t change our circumstances, allowing us to suffer and wait.  After all, we know that God is with us in our darkness and is all-powerful, but things seem to be at a stalemate.  Here we need to remember this second point as difficult times persist:  The Lord has an important purpose for the seasons of adversity you face (author’s emphasis).

Especially when we see a glimmer of hope, a way out of our land between, postponement of that hope can make a normal person question everything.  Disappointments can plunge our soul into despair.  Dr. Stanley notes that these are times when we decide whether we truly believe in the Lord or whether He’s simply an idea we cling to.

Dr. Stanley offers five reasons why the Lord allows us to experience dark times.  The first is presented today.

1.  To firmly mature and establish your trust in Him when there is no visible evidence of His activity.  As our faith progresses from little to maturing to perfect, we become confident that the Lord already has accomplished what He has promised.  The wonderful blessing we’ve eagerly anticipated will be even more meaningful because we’ve clung to Him through every trial and setback.

Today’s question: What has strengthened your trust in God during your time of adversity?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “My Lifesong”

The path for your victory

Anticipation and Electroburgers

“Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.”- Psalm 5:8

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off.  You sit still and trust the engineer.”- Corrie Ten Boom

I raced up the steps to the Roosevelt Road Station of the North Shore Line in the Chicago Loop, hoping the next scheduled train was the stylish and comfortable Electroliner.  There it was, resplendent in its trademark salmon and turquoise color scheme!  I waited with anticipation for the doors to open so I could rush to my favorite spot- a single seat opposite the motorman, with an unobstructed view of the tracks ahead (right front window).  Along the way, familiar landmarks like the Great Lakes Naval Training Station signaled that the Hennings were getting closer to Milwaukee.  In open country, the Electroliner reached speeds of 85-90 mph.  And no ride on the Electroliner was complete without a pilgrimage to the dining car for the unsurpassed, beef tenderloin Electroburger!

Anticipation and Electroburgers.  An unbeatable combination!  Each step of my journey on the Electroliner brought increasing levels of excitement.  Ruth Graham observes that anticipation is built into us in her book Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There:

“Our Creator made us to anticipate.  The act of anticipation is hardwired into the universe and into us. . . . We must learn to cultivate anticipation.”

Anticipating God’s plans, Ruth adds, means expecting God to show up in our tomorrow and to actively do His work.  To step boldly into God’s purpose, we must have hope.  We recall what God has done for us in the past so we can move forward with confidence, affirming the words of the psalmist David: “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation (Psalm 5:3).”

The anticipation of God’s plans we prayerfully cultivated prior to our ministry downsizing or vocation loss may seem impossible to resurrect.  Yet, our hope can be revitalized, revisioned, and transformed, as Ruth Graham encourages:

“If you just can’t see how God would ever want to affirm you or use your life, let me assure you that God does want to use you.  He is a restorer.  He is a redeemer.  He is a grace giver.  That’s who He is, and you are not exempt.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sG94EKGDcU

 

 

 

 

Anticipation and Electroburgers

God"s timing and wisdom

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”- Ephesians 3:20

As Charles Stanley continues Chapter 1 of Waiting on God, he states that “learning to be directed by God’s timing and wisdom- not our agenda- is one of the most important lessons we ever learn as believers.”  And one of God’s most effective tools for teaching us to wait on Him is time.

Yet, Dr. Stanley points out, while we are waiting on God it’s human to feel frustrated and anxious because we don’t have control over our circumstances.  Something or someone else seems to be impeding us from enjoying what we believe will make us happy.  Furthermore, we may view God’s delays as a waste of time- we’re doing nothing and missing opportunities while God ignores us.

Dr. Stanley states this is not the case at all.  Waiting on God’s timing and wisdom, he notes, has four components.  The first component is discussed today.

1.  The Lord is not neglecting you and has not forgotten you.  Every single moment, Dr. Stanley emphasizes, God is working in the unseen on our behalf.  As St. Paul writes in Ephesians 3:20, we can’t possibly conceive how God is working out everything for us.  Even if we could see it, we wouldn’t understand it.  Our responsibility is to set our heart on Jesus, trusting our life is safe in His hands.

Today’s question: What has enabled you to give up your perceived control and place your trust in God’s timing and wisdom?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Anticipation and Electroburgers”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Intimate fellowship with God”

God"s timing and wisdom

The lie of "never"

“From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.”- Isaiah 64:4

Charles Stanley’s latest book is titled Waiting on God: Strength for Today and Hope for Tomorrow.  Dr. Stanley begins Chapter 1 (“How Long, O Lord?”) with the observation that the word never can “stir the deepest fear in the bravest heart.”

1.  I’ll never find a job.

2.  This will never get better.

3.  The Lord will never answer my prayer.

Dr. Stanley asserts this is the lie that begins with our sinful nature, a lie designed to decisively put an end to all our hopes.  When we buy into the lie of “never” it’s like driving nails into the coffin of our deepest hopes and dreams.  The author goes on to describe the challenge of waiting on God:

“It’s the ability to keep hoping when the nevers of life bombard us- when the minutes and hours, days and years, tick away without any answers to our most passionate pleas at the throne of grace.  It’s the faith to hang on to the Father on the long road, when human reason tells us to give up.”

Dr. Stanley adds that we can know for certain that God is working, even though we may not see it.  Furthermore, the Father has an awesome plan for us.  But He also has a very specific schedule.  Dr. Stanley concludes the only “never” we should focus on is that God never will let us down.

Today’s question: What “nevers” have characterized your thinking following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “God’s timing and wisdom”

The lie of "never"

What about me?

“When we don’t forgive, something dies.  Something moves closer to the edge of death.”- Sara Horn

As Sara Horn begins Chapter 6 (“Holding On to Hurts”) of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, she stresses that when we continue to harbor resentment and hatred toward those who have wronged us, something dies within us- hope, trust, mercy, compassion.  All of these are qualities we need and cannot afford to lose.

Sara states that we need to turn the white noise off by confronting and addressing the ever-present question we implicitly ask when we talk about our hurts: What about me?  Sara explains that this is the question that:

” . . . rests on our hearts, whispered in our minds, sometimes written in jagged, crooked letters in journals and diaries, and sometimes when we just don’t feel like anyone hears us anymore, we scream it from our lips or softly say in tearful prayers, What about me?”

We are unlikely to get an answer to this question, Sara adds, because we never can reach full satisfaction when our goal ends in us.  Our question needs to be rephrased.  “What about me?” must become “What about Him?”

As Christians, theoretically we know the benefits of following Jesus.  Often, however, the draw of our hurts is stronger.  Sara concludes with this caution: Our hurts do not trap us.  We trap ourselves with our hurts.”

Today’s question: Following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, what opportunities have you had to serve God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Holding on”

What about me?

Initiate the healing process

Following the conclusion of Chapter 4 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, Sara Horn offers five ways to initiate the healing process.

1.  Recognize God’s truth over your own.  Sara states that dwelling on our scars adds doubt, fear, and plain old lies into our hearts and minds.  She emphasizes that “this is not (italics mine) the time to shy away from knowing and reading God’s Word.”  God won’t leave us by ourselves to deal with our scars. But we must ask Him for His help and trust Him.

2.  Recognize what’s happened to you and what needs to happen going forward.  While we have no control over what already has been done to us, we do control our response and what we do to move forward.  Our choice is not dependent on our own strength and mind, but on God’s strength.

3.  Understand that scars signify healing that’s already started.  Sara encourages us to look beyond the scars to what God has in store for us.  Don’t limit God!

4.  Learn something from your scar.  Learning from our scars requires humbling ourselves.  1 Peter 5:6-7 promises that God will lift us up at just the right time.

5.  Trust God.  Sara notes that this concept sounds simple.  Yet trusting God can come with a lot of fear and hesitation.  Sara provides the antidote: “Surrender your scars.  Let God use them for his purpose and ultimately for his glory and our joy.”

Today’s question: Through God’s power, what steps have you taken to initiate the healing process?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Blame the Other Guy”

 

Initiate the healing process

Big Hurts- Bigger God

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”- Hebrews 12:15

As Sara Horn concludes Chapter 3 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, she notes that Abraham had a heart change in his relationship with Lot.  Previously, when in Egypt, Abraham had lied to Pharaoh about Sarah being his sister- when in fact she was his wife.  Yet in the problems he faced with Lot, Abraham chose generosity and selflessness.  He trusted God to take care of him.

Sara emphasizes that it is only when we listen to God’s voice that we’ll find relief from the things that hold us back from forgiving or giving.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must be willing to trust God enough to surrender our will to His.

Sara tells the story of a friend who prayed for the opportunity to be a mom.  Eventually the friend and her husband adopted a little boy from Russia.  They eagerly anticipated all the normal childhood milestones.  Then the little boy was diagnosed with a severe form of autism, and the parents realized those dreams were not to be.  Their desires got traded for God’s desires.  Big hurts- bigger God.  Sara concludes:

“But God is bigger than those hurts, and stronger, and able to take your hurt and do something beautiful with it.  He heals.”

Today’s question: How have you been intentional in giving over your hurts to God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Letting go of bitterness”

 

Big Hurts- Bigger God

The foundation of walls

Today Sara Horn continues her discussion of five potential white N-O-I-S-Es in our life, covering the remaining four noises.

2.  Other people’s opinions.  Sara points out that, as much as we value our own opinions, we want to know what others think.  The problem arises when we don’t like those opinions or we’re unsure what to do with them when they don’t integrate with ours.

We also run into difficulty when we accept other people’s opinions as truth rather than as thoughts we have a choice to accept or dismiss.  That establishes the foundation of walls God doesn’t want in our lives.

3.  Inconsiderate friends and family.  Due to the nature of family relationships, family members may say things to us they would never say to a friend, fellow church member, or a stranger.  We must be careful that such slights or undeserved remarks don’t stay with us, creating a low hum that always is in the background.

4.  Stingers.  These are words said to you as a child that you’ve never forgotten.  They are the harshest of the white noise and the genesis of a deep-rooted resentment you are unaware of because you’ve lived with it for so long.

5.  Elevated problem.  This is a combination of other noises.  Because the hurtful comments or ongoing conflict grow quickly and the pressure of this noise feels enormous and constant, it feels impossible to let go.

Today’s question: Which white noise or noises has drowned out the sound the Lord wants you to hear?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Bought at a price”

The foundation of walls