Forgiveness can be tough, but it is necessary.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:59-60

We have all been wronged and we have all wronged someone in the past.  Maybe our sister said some mean things, maybe we made an inappropriate comment about someone’s weight, maybe someone used their position of authority to make your life harder than necessary.  We could go on and on.  The point is that it happens, every day.  How we choose to deal with it is what’s really important.  Not only that, but also how quickly we forgive them for their actions or how quickly they forgive us is really the thing that we need to look at. 

Stephen CHOSE not only to forgive those who were literally attempting to kill him while they were in the act, He asked God to forgive them as well.  That’s true faith and someone who is great at forgiving. 

Think about the last time you were wronged by someone.  Was it really important, did it alter the direction of your life? Did what they do really cause so much damage that you couldn’t move forward?  I’ve been there, or at least I thought in the moment.  Then later God showed me how their actions were something that I could learn from, or because of what happened my life was altered in such a great way.  I couldn’t see it at first though.  How quick did you forgive the person that wronged you?  Did you have the courage to do it instantaneously or did it take days, weeks, months, or even years?  Who were you really hurting in the long run by not forgiving them right away?  YOURSELF!  That’s right by choosing to hold a grudge you were only hurting yourself. 

Now let’s turn the table.  When was the last time you wronged someone?  How did you feel afterwards? How long did it take them to forgive you?  If they harbored that grudge for a long time, did you finally give up and stop trying to right the wrong?  I know that I have, it just wasn’t worth my time to worry about why they were still upset.  On the same topic, were you able to forgive yourself?  Personally, I have done some very UN-GODLY things in my life that I am down right ashamed to talk about.  There are things that I still struggle with forgiving myself for, even after 20+ years.  Don’t forget to forgive yourself for your transgressions.  Don’t let them happen again, but forgive yourself it’s the only way that you begin to heal.

I know that there are some of us that are reading this thinking about one particular incident where we just can’t forgive that person.  I’m asking that you try, praying for god to soften your heart and theirs, pray for god to come into your life in a way that will allow you to let go of the pain.

Forgiveness is a powerful tool; we just have to use it. 

Lord, we come to you today with many different emotions.  We are thankful that you gave us the power to forgive others and ourselves for any mistakes that might have been made.  God we ask that you come into our lives and place your hand on us; you open our hearts to possibilities and opportunities that come with forgiveness.  We pray that you guide our words and thoughts daily so we don’t hurt anyone.  We know that through you anything is possible.  We know that we can move mountains through you.  Help us to see that by not forgiving others we are only hurting our relationship with you.  We ask that you open our eyes and our hearts so that we forgive with the same compassion Stephen had.  Lord we thank you for everything and everyone that you have placed in our lives.  We are thankful that you are involved in every aspect of our life. Thank you for your son, and the sacrifices that he made for us.  Thank you for all the wisdom about forgiveness that you share throughout the bible.  We do ask that you help us to forgive quickly, and that you help others to forgive us quickly.  Help us not to harbor grudges against anyone.

Thank you for your guidance and wisdom

Amen 

Everything happens in God's timing, not ours.

Acts 1:7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

I find it quite hilarious that I found this verse tonight as I was reading to our kids.  When I woke up this morning I sat up in bed and said, “Oh crap, I don’t have a devotional to send out!”  I worried about it for a while, prayed HARD for god to help me write a great one right now so it wouldn’t be too late.  Now here I sit 8:30 typing away without having any issues coming up with the right words.  God it is truly your timing, not ours.  We would like to thank all of you who are reading this and say we are sorry it was late, but we KNOW that God allowed this to happen to prove his point that everything happens in his timing, not ours.

So often I find myself looking to God and saying, “It would sure be nice if you could make this happen now, like right now.  Or “hey there big guy how about you tell me when this is going to happen so I can be prepared for it.”  Wouldn’t it be nice to know when certain things are going to happen in our lives?  Like when we will find the perfect spouse, or when our first child will be born, or maybe when we will either land the perfect job or start our business?  Those things might be nice to know but it’s not in God’s plans to divulge every detail to us.  And for good reason too.  We would find a way to mess it up. 

On the flip side would you really want to know the worse details like, when your child will pass away, or your friends, or whoever?  Would you want to know when you were going to get a horrible boss, or horrible coworkers? 

I’m glad that God doesn’t share his timing with me for a couple of reasons.  One is that it allows me to live life without knowing when things will happen.  It helps me to look for answers in him and his word when times are troubling.  It allows me to give him full glory when times are great.  It allows me to love unconditionally.  If I knew when I was going to have issues with management would I stay at the job or start looking right away?  There’s a good chance that I would start looking and then I would miss the learning experience that God was setting right in front of me. 

Lord we come to you late today and we are thankful for the opportunities that you have presented us with.  Even those opportunities that we don’t see as “great” ones.  We are thankful that everything is in YOUR time and not ours, because we know that you are teaching us every second of every day if we allow you to.  God I would like to ask one favor for the entire world, that is that you continue to keep your time.  You know what is best, help us to understand that you are in control and you are here to help us.

Thank you for everything that you have done and will do for us, Thank you for YOUR timing.

Amen

How is your Body Image?

When ever you feel unloved,

unimportant, or insecure,

remember to whom you belong.

Ephesians 2:19-22

Does your body make you feel unloved, unimportant or insecure?  Please take a moment and let me remind you that you were created in Gods image.  You are perfect exactly the way you are.  This does not mean to ever stop being the best person you can be, or continue to better yourself and grow.  This simply means that you are who you are and that is the perfect person you can be.  This is who God wants in this world right now.  We all have those moments when we feel less then perfect.  You may have woke up this morning and your pants fit a little tight.  There is two ways to handle this feeling.  You can sink lower in your self image, metaphorically put on a pair of sweats and crawl back in bed with a donut, or you can make a change right then to love your body and do the best you can to make it look and feel amazing.  Now this is important so listen closely.  The perfect body is yours!  Not your neighbors or your favorite TV star, Yours.   Listen to your body and only put into it what makes it feel fueled and good.  For me this is simple foods with little to no preservatives that are easy for your body to digest.  Of course I would say that adding exercising is a good idea.  If you are able to add this to your schedule then of course yes.  I know we are all busy and it is not always easy to exercise, but your body will love you if you are able to add a little in once in a while.  I encourage you to start with 5 minutes.  After that 5 minutes then make sure you think “wow” I got in a little exercising today.  It doesn't matter how much you do, but how you think about it.  I can run for an hour, but if I’m negative about it the whole time, did I win?  No, in fact it will be that much harder to start the next time you have time.  As you can slowly add more until you find the perfect time and intensity for your body.  Body image is what we make of it.  Ladies, if you want a “bikini body” then put on a bikini!  BAM! Done.  If you wait for your neighbors body you will never feel good about yours.  God made you perfect for you.  Guys, if you want to rock a slick look then go for it.  Confidence is sexy and a healthy body image is empowering and joyful for you.  When you love your body then God feels that love too.  There is always little things we can do to improve ourselves and I encourage you to do that in every part of your lives and never stop.  Our bodies may be giving us subtle or not so subtle signs that we need to follow in order for us to feel the best we can, but our minds and how we see ourselves has a lot to do with our body image as well.  Please remember that God loves you, thinks your important, wants you to embrace who you are and who you were created to be.  So the next time you feel unloved, unimportant , or insecure, remember who you belong.

Please God be with us this week and help us to love our bodies and see them the way you do.  Help each one of us go out today and tomorrow feeling confident in knowing that this is the perfect us.

How do your decisions today effect others tomorrow?

When the king made the decree that no one in the kingdom could not pray to any God or person other than the king for the next 30 days he didn’t think about how it effect his beloved friend and adviser, Daniel.  Daniel was faithful, and the men who convinced the king to issue the rule knew that Daniel would continue to pray to God for guidance.  What they didn’t realize is that God was allowing to happen for a reason.  So he could be glorified. 

What decisions have you made that effect others lately?  Did you say something that you could take back? Maybe you forgot to drain a hose and it froze then your spouse went to use it and it was full of holes?  We all make decisions everyday that effect others. There is no way to make a decision that wont affect someone else. 

The question I have is when was the last time you prayed before making a decision?  When was the last time you prayed before you went into a meeting, or made a call?  I am guilty of trying to rely on my own wits a lot, just like king Darius did.  Then just like king Darius I try extremely hard to make it right but fail and have to depend on God.  That’s what God wants us to do, lean on him all the time.  The bible doesn’t say that the king prayed earnestly but I would guess that he prayed all night long to God.  God was generous to Daniel because he found that he did not do anything wrong.  I would also say that he was generous to the king by saving Daniel. 

Lord we pray today that you guide our every decision.  We know that you work in ways that we may never see.  We know that everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t understand we know that you do and that is good enough reason for us.  God as go through our day we hope that your spirit will guide us.  Allow it to guide us through our every action, allow us to give you full control of our lives.  God we are thankful that you are involved in our lives and that you help us.  Lord we thank you for all of the abilities that you have giving us.  Thank you God. Thank you.

Amen