The Road Of...Forgiveness

The Road Of Forgiveness.

     Last week I talked about Love. It's easy. It's a warm fuzzy feeling you get, you share it and its simple; but Forgiveness is much more complex. Yes, you have to give it to someone else, just like Love, but it requires a certain level of selflessness and the realization that everyone is sinful and that we all struggle to live up to the moral standards of the Bible.

    Heavenly Father, please help me to be Forgiving so that I don't harbor any harsh feelings toward anyone and that I will give up my anger towards people. I do not want my heart to be consumed by the bitterness that comes with an unforgiving heart. Thank you for your ultimate display of Forgiveness, for our sins, when you sent your Son to die on the cross.


   "Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."
Colossians 3:13

    This verse doesn't get any clearer. It simply states "so you also must Forgive" not, "if you feel like it and you are having a good day, go ahead and Forgive" No, you don't get to choose to Forgive it is something that has to be done. If you don't, it will eat away at you, causing tension, anger, bitterness, and strife. 

   "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
Ephesians 4:31-32

   I think this is one of the harder verses to come to grips with, because it is an on going thing. You don't just wake up one day and not be angry with some one. You have to consciously make the choice to not let your flesh take over. You have to ask, through daily prayer, for the Holy Spirits help to take control of your heart attitude. Forgiveness is something that I personally have to battle, and it is a process. 

  I hope that you will take the time to address people in your life, who you haven't fully forgiven. It isn't going to be easy, but it is right. Sometimes the hardest things in life are the adventures that mold us, painfully and change those areas that we wouldn't have been able to change if we were sitting comfortably.

The Road of...Love

The Road of Love.

     Lord, on this journey help me to understand your Love, so that I can demonstrate your gracious Love to the world around me. I am blessed by the immeasurable amounts of  Love that the Father lavishes on me, but I somehow fail to share that with others.....this is where I have majorly messed up. If my cup is overflowing with His Love how can I not also bless others by it?! 

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 
1 John 4:10-11


    This verse so clearly lays out the foundation for our necessity to Love one another! God sent His son as the propitiation (or sacrifice) for our own selfish sins and did this because he Loves us, so we must therefore pay it forward and Love others.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 

    This verse so clearly shows God's love in a tangible way. When have you been tired? Weary? We all have, Jesus Christ can restore your tired and broken body, give you strength. All we need to do is go to Him. 

    These verses are only some of the many that show God's Love for His creation. From these we can pick out key points as to how we can live out Love. 

1.Love one another, for real.
2.Show the Love in a tangible way.
3. Give Love through the gospel. 

The Roads We Take.....

The roads we take shape us and make us who we are, they form us into the men and women of God. I am going to be writing a series of posts on "The Road of.....Love, Forgiveness,Transformation, Being an Ambassador,  Etc." They will be about journeying along and experiencing God's power, discovering His word and living it out! 

The Cornerstones of Values...

      Values make us who we are today, they shape our actions and how we live. Take up your cross and follow me daily, that is what we are commanded. My core values to do this are Sacrifice, Christ selflessly gave his life up for our sins and sacrificed Himself for the world.Gentleness, in words and action Jesus taught His disciples to teach the Word and do so with a gentle loving heart. Discipline, to give up time and energy to glorify Christ daily. Worship, prayer, praise and dancing is the least I can do to worship my creator. A teachable spirit, to let the potter mold me into what He wants me to be.

Discipline, Worship, Sacrifice, Gentleness and a Teachable Spirit  

  Here are the simple identifications of how I have seen these values in the Bible:
     1.Discipline: Christ showed so much discipline in his life here on earth. He went up into the wilderness for forty days, gave up food and water just to be with his father. He willingly gave up of himself for others for his entire life.  Discipline lines up with all of the 5 roles, because in order to do any of the roles you must be disciplined enough to seriously follow Christ and serve others. I know that this is an area where I fall short, I want to be disciplined enough to always be in God's word, praying and lifting others up, but I too easily slip back into old habits of laziness and the lack of dedication. 


     2.Worship: The Bible tells us over and over again to worship the Lord with Gladness, praise Him with singing and prayer. Jesus was worshiped by the shepherds, tax collectors, children, kings, lepers and soldiers. How much more should I worship him, the one who saved my life from the grip of the chains of sin. To be a worshiper you much also be a servant or the one true King. I love singing praises to my King, but sometimes I forget that to worship is not only singing, but also prayer. Prayer is an area that I need to grow and learn more about. 

     3.Sacrifice: Jesus, the giver of life and everything. He gave up the greatest thing ever; His own life for our sins. It says in 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I think it is important to be a partner in the fight for the gospel to be heard and sacrifice daily for our King. I cannot  not even begin fathom true sacrifice, sure I have fasted, given up wearing certain clothes, watching bad movies, even go on a few mission trips; But when people across the world in India are being persecuted for their faith, I cannot imagine what it would be like. I pray that Christ would break my heart for what breaks His, bring me to my knees in prayer for the World, to remember what my brothers and sisters in Christ go through and to do something about it. 

     4.Gentleness: Perhaps gentleness isn't the grandest of values, but Jesus clearly tells us to be meek and gentle spirited. He himself was gentle and kind toward everyone, and especially the children. I believe that in order to be a partner and a communicator you must be gentle in both your actions and words, that doesn't mean not stating the truth but rather doing it in a non aggressive way. Sometimes that I, in order to be gentle and kind, I keep my true feelings and wants to myself instead of voicing them to others. This might not be wrong, but it is something that I should try and work on. 

     5.Teachable Spirit: Jesus Christ was always teaching, instructing and guiding his believers, so in order to be a Christ follower you must be teachable. Being a teachable teammate and servant helps you become more and more like Jesus. In Philippians 3 is says that “your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” Not that Jesus needed to learn anything, but he was a teacher and if you are teachable then you will also become a teacher. I love teaching other people about new things, watching them grow. I also love learning new things, sometimes I don’t like to be wrong. So if they are teaching me something that I think I already know I tend to not pay as much attention to them. This is a flaw because I am not all knowing and there could be something new that they are teaching.  

Belief Statement

    

 "Before the world was made, before I said my first words, took my first steps, God made me and designed me just the way I am. He knew that I would be a filthy rag full of holes, and yet he accepted me as I am and made me into who I am today- a beautiful child of God. He created me for a purpose and now as His child, His bride, His lover, I obediently choose daily to follow what he has for me. Through thick and thin, ups and downs I believe my savior will never give up on me, never lose hope and he will always rescue me from the grip of sin and destruction. He is the author of my salvation and my protector."
~Bronwyn Reeve

This is a statement that I have developed, because it is important to know what you believe and have cornerstones to fall back on and build your life on. What do you believe? How do you look at what God has done for you? I am God's lovely bride, and sometimes that is a bit weird to think about but it is true. God has taken us, fallen in love with us and is sworn to protect, guide, provide and care for. As you go through out the day think about what you believe in, dwell of the verses that convince us of our faith. Here is a verse which I love to ponder and meditate on. Romans 8:37-39 "No, In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers neither heights nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord"

Here is the official belief statement of my church:
God: We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

The Bible: We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition: We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God's saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

Jesus Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel's promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Work of Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church: We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living: We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God's Word, the Spirit's power, and fervent prayer in Christ's name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ's commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ's Return: We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Response and Eternal Destiny: We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen. 

The Road Less Traveled...

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

     I have lived in the same place for the past 12 years of my life, but that doesn't mean that my life hasn't led me all over. I have been out of the country more times than I can count on both hands, had hardships of the preteen & teenage years (yes I am still in them),  my walk with the Lord has been up, down and in-between and life, just like everyone else's life just happens. I have had the joy of having a few dear friends, that of which I can count on one hand. One of my best friends, whom I have known since I was 6 years old, moved away when we were about 12. Although we use to argue a lot, we had a special connection and were like minded in a lot of ways. We would romp around the country side in our prairie dresses making mud pies and riding stick horses. As we started to grow up we would do more and more things together, I was always asking my mom "Can I go over to Jessi's house?" I can remember, she would always ask me what I was going to eat for dinner that night if I called her house. I of course never knew because dinner was a spontaneous event in our house. It is funny the little things that you remember in life.
     The day Jessica moved away I was heart broken, my dearest friend was going to move 60 miles away! Little did I know that a year later she would move even farther. As the years went by our visits became fewer and longer in between. We grew older and our lives kept on going. Eventually we became accustomed to the fact of only being able to see each-other about once a year and rejoiced over those occasions when we did get together. This month we were coming up on not seeing each-other for almost 12 months and had decided that we needed to get together, because she is about to leave the country on her own adventure. Thankfully we made a day when it worked out and although we only got to spend 7 hours together, we made the most of them.

The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

by Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken, 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

 And sorry I could not travel both 

And be one traveler, long I stood

 And looked down one as far as I could

 To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 Then took the other, as just as fair, 

And having perhaps the better claim,

 Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

 Though as for that the passing there

 Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay,

 In leaves no step had trodden black

 Oh, I kept the first for another day!

 Yet knowing how way leads on to way

 I doubted if I should ever come back.

 I shall be telling this with a sigh

 Somewhere ages and ages hence:

 Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

 I took the one less traveled by,

 And that has made all the difference.