As I have been deep cleaning our belongings, as in going through every last piece of paper in the house and getting rid of ALL things broken/not used/not needed/doubles/, I have come across a lot of my writings from over the years. I posted a picture yesterday on my personal Facebook page of how to spot a true writer and it was a photo of a story I started on a torn piece of cardboard that I pulled out of a box of bills. It was always my dream to be a writer and I never realized I was doing it all along. It was something I did and tucked away inside my messy life.

I also came across things I had written down about my future. Some of those things I am glad did not come to pass. Others are dreams I still hold on to. I’ve been reading and listening to the CD’s from a book/box set a friend gave me by Terri Savelle Foy called “Imagine Big.” She talks of imagining your life the way you want it and actively pursuing it. These are not new ideas to me but it certainly has put a fire under me. If you want to be better at football, you practice. If you want to be better at playing the piano, you practice. If you want to do anything better, you practice. As you practice, you improve. As you improve, you achieve. As you achieve, you create new goals. Get the picture?

I want to live better. How do I do that? I practice. How do I practice? I dream. I write down the dream. I look at the dream. I pursue the dream. It’s not magic. It’s not witchcraft. It’s creating a goal, writing it down and pursuing it. Habakkuk 2:2 tells us to write the vision, pursue it and it will come to pass because of our faith. Faith is believing in things not yet seen. Faith is knowing without physical proof. You have to believe first then it will come to pass. You have to know that you know, that you know.

With this box set my friend gave me is a workbook designed to write your dreams down. It allows room for a picture, a space to write the goal, a space to record the progress, a place to put the date you wrote it down and the date it came to pass. I’ve done this before.

During my schooling through In Christ International Bible College, we were asked to keep a prayer journal in one of the classes. We were instructed to apply this Biblical teaching. Ask according to God’s will and you receive. I cut out pictures with my prayer requests. I drew pictures. I was specific. I found scripture to back up what I was asking God for. I held Him to His Word. Those things came to pass. My husband wasn’t even so sure about it at first. We were just really getting a hold of this teaching so I put it in motion. The very first thing I put in my prayer journal wasn’t even for me, it was for him. At the time, he was still working on getting his Geology degree and driving a beat up 2000 Ford F150 that already had a second engine in it. This was the year 2014 so this truck had seen better days. We were trying to hold out until after he graduated before getting him a new vehicle. Frankly, the poor truck wasn’t in line with our will. One evening, instead of praying the truck would get him back and forth to school and work another day, I asked him, “What is your dream vehicle?” His first response was, “something we can afford.” I said, “No. That’s not what I asked. Again, what is your dream vehicle?”

You know it took him almost a week to tell me because he felt guilty for wanting something nice? He’s an awesome man with a huge heart who would go without to see someone else go with. I had to fight to get an answer out of him. I begged him, “If money were no object, what vehicle would you drive?”

So, a week later, he sent me a picture. It was an orange Subaru Crosstrek and he said he wanted one with a rack on top. December 1, 2014 I printed that picture out, pasted it into the prayer book and wrote down the vision which included the means to pay for it.

The first part of January 2015 we walked into the Subaru dealership and they didn’t have an orange Subaru Crosstrek. So what did we do? We ordered one! We ordered him his very own car. Subaru. Orange. Crosstrek. That car was built from the beginning, in the factory, with his name on it. It was manufactured and shipped across the seas with his name on it. It was stuck at port over off of California because of the strikes that were going on. Go ahead, google it. Port strikes March of 2015. It was supposed to be to him in six weeks which would have put it middle of February but because of the strike, his car didn’t show up until a month later in the middle of March once the strikes were over. You know what happened during that time? An increase in our income which allowed for the payments we would have on his car. A couple months after he got his car, I took a test drive in it and liked it so much, I went and got one! We found a rack a few months later at an excellent price for his car. I ended up trading in for a silver Crosstrek, the one that I really wanted. There’s an entirely other twist to that testimony to be shared later. Now we are believing to have both cars paid off by the end of the year to complete the prayer and vision I wrote down in 2014. With God, ALL things are possible.

To us, believing God for a good running car with a great warranty seemed impossible at one point in our life but because we exercised (practiced) our faith, believed in His Word, put our faith in motion, we received. There was an earlier time in my life where believing God for $20 for gas seemed impossible. If we can believe God for a car (the impossible), what other impossible things can we believe God for? We have huge ministry dreams. Without exercising our faith in something small like a vehicle, how can we believe God for big things like a successful ministry that is much more important?

If I showed you my prayer/dream book right now, you would laugh. You would tell me I’m crazy. You would not have the faith I have in those things coming to pass. I’m okay with that. I don’t need your faith, I just need mine and My God. I don’t say that to be facetious. I say that to show you that YOU can believe God for your hearts desires too. You don’t need someone else to believe for your dreams. You just need you and God. If you can get others to believe with you, great! If not, keep on keeping on! Eventually others will get on board.

We have to read His Word to know His will. I’ve yet to read anything in His Word that denies me anything. Repeat that. I’ve yet to read anything in the Word that denies me anything. His promises are yes and Amen. His Word is freedom. His Word is Truth. If I have a right heart, my needs and wants will line up with the Word so ask and I’ll receive. I know too many Christians who struggle with this and refuse this even though it says it right in the Word! I already know some would look at this and say we asked for material things, how dare we! Well, material things are at the very bottom of God’s list. If we can be faithful in our money, He can entrust us with more. Until we change our thinking about finances, we will continue to struggle. God provides, my money doesn’t provide. If he feeds and shelters the birds how much more will he take care of me? That’s an entirely different topic I’ll save for another day.

I know too many Christians who say “Well, if it be God’s will…” and they say it because they have no idea what His will is! I know what my God wants for me. He wants me healthy and whole. I said basically the same thing in my post yesterday but evidently someone needs this today. He wants me full of joy. He wants me prosperous. He wants me rejoicing, praising and worshipping Him because it gets my eyes off my problems and brings revelation and freedom from the things that try to hold me back!

He doesn’t just want this for me, He’s your Father too and He is no respecter of persons. That means He wants this for ALL.

My husband and I are believing God for big things. Each morning we pray together before we eat. As we eat breakfast, I read aloud from a daily devotional. I created a secret board on Pinterest (had no idea you could do that until this week) and I have saved images representing those things we are believing for. This morning, we scrolled through those images together. We have our dreams and goals written down in a notebook as well. We are exercising our faith. We are putting to use what God gave us: His instruction, His Word, His promises.

God told me last November that 2017 was going to be our year of Jubilee. It doesn’t look like it right now in the physical but we are putting our faith to work. We are standing on His Word. We don’t care what the physical looks like. At the end of 2017, we will be able to testify and say, “Look what God did!”

We are excited about our God given dreams. We are speaking them out. We are focusing on them. We are watching them take shape and form and tending to them.

Your doubt, your fears, your negative talk and unbelief stops God from fulfilling your dreams. You can’t say you are going to be a star basketball player then sit on the sidelines, do nothing and talk about what a terrible basketball player you are. It will never work that way. Neither does faith.

Exercise your faith! Practice your faith!

Habakkuk 2:2

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

 

Matthew 19:26

26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

We go through seasons of struggle and these seasons can be any length of time – a day, a week, a month, sometimes years.  A common phrase we hear and sometimes say ourselves is, “it just seems to be one thing after another.” I pay close attention if I find myself saying or thinking this.

If I have reached the point of thinking that it’s one thing after another, I have usually lost my joy in the situation. I don’t know of a single scripture that tells believers they should be sad and in doubt over anything. I can name lots of scriptures that tell us to count it all joy and rejoice, praise and worship regardless of what the situation is.

Pffffft.

Do you know how hard it is to have joy when everything is going wrong? I’ll be honest, when I’m having a rough go of things and someone says to me, “you should be rejoicing”, I want to karate chop them in the throat just enough to stun them and see how they go about rejoicing over it. Don’t do this, it’s not nice.

The truth is, they are right. The Word is right. The Word is Truth. No matter what our situation is, we always have reason to rejoice. We may not be able to find happiness in the situation causing us stress but we can find joy, peace and happiness in Jesus. This is where we must work on adjusting our thinking.

If someone tells me to “count it all joy” it’s because they have listened to me complain about something. If I’m complaining about something, where is my focus? It’s on the problem. Where does my focus need to be? On Jesus. Duh.

They are helping me redirect my focus back to Him when they say count it all joy. If we focus on the Word and the promises of God, how can we not have joy? His promises are Yes and Amen! His promises are to bring me to an expected end, not my destruction! He wants to prosper me, not destroy me! I hear people say all the time, “If it be God’s will.” READ YOUR BIBLE, YOU’LL FIND OUT WHAT HIS WILL IS. It’s for you to be healed and whole, it’s for you to have peace, joy, happiness. It’s for you to prosper. You can’t find a scripture that says “God wants you miserable and sick.”

Sometimes to get to our victory, we have to clean out the junk. Cleaning out the junk isn’t always fun but if we focus on what is waiting for us, we will find joy in cleaning out the junk. Cleaning out the junk means finding our joy.

How do we focus and get our joy back? We speak of it. Stop talking about the problem and talk about the outcome instead – God’s got this! The best is yet to come! I see a turnaround coming! I have the victory! Jesus is Lord! The devil is a liar! All things are being worked out for good!

Karate chop the devil in the throat, not the person who is sowing Word into your life.

Get happy! Find your joy! Speak it out! Seriously, stop with the fear and doubt, that doesn’t come from God. My husband and I have been working on this in regards to a situation that has been ongoing for a few months. We struggled to find joy in the situation until this past weekend. Our conversations about it would start out saying things like “everything is going to be fine” and then it would turn into “what-if’s” and by the end of it, we were both in doubt and stressed out.

This weekend was different. There was excitement about the dreams God has given us. There was hope. There was joy! Our conversations didn’t focus on what was happening right now, our conversations focused on what was to come. We had to redirect our focus to find our joy. There was a different atmosphere in our house and things started “clicking”. Count it ALL joy. We are going through a transition right now that is leading us into the dreams that God gave us. Why shouldn’t we have joy about that?

Where do you need to redirect your focus? Where do you need to find joy? Get in the Word and study the scriptures that back up your dreams. Take your joy back! Throat punch the devil!

 

John 16:33 (KJV)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

My favorite book of the Bible is Job. I read this entire book, all 42 chapters, probably 9 years ago or so. It was life changing. I’m in a season where I need to read it again and will be starting a reading plan this evening to do so.

The season I speak of is a season of God being silent in my life. Not only is he being silent in my life but also in my husband’s life. We have found ourselves growing frustrated and doubt keeps trying to creep in. We have asked God some big questions and are trusting we will hear from Him. He’s been silent in regards to these questions where we have asked for direction and guidance so we have been at somewhat of a standstill. To make it even more frustrating, I received a word at the end of 2016 that 2017 would be our year of Jubilee. Right now, it doesn’t look that way at all.

I have to remind myself that faith doesn’t go by what it sees, faith goes by what it knows. I know God’s Word. I know His promises. I know His plans for my life are to prosper me and not for my destruction. So why then, is it sometimes so hard to stand on that Word?

Because the enemy doesn’t want you to. It’s that simple. As soon as you step up onto the Word, the enemy will leg sweep you, or at least try. This is why we have to put on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).  “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” – Ephesians 6:11.

I’ve watched myself start out strong in this season with an attitude of faith and I’ve watched myself decline into worry and fear and struggle to keep my faith. My spirit knows the truth – that everything is working itself out for good and for God’s glory – but my flesh and my mind…talk about double-mindedness.

We’ve been waiting for months on answers to our questions and God has been silent. This morning I was thinking about Job and how God was silent when he went through his trials. God was still there, watching, observing, keeping an eye out for His servant. I know God is still here in our situation, watching, observing and keeping an eye out for us. I know our jubilee is coming. I detest that I reached my breaking point and became angry about our situation even though I know His Word. I’ve had to repent for some things. I’ve had to make some adjustments. I’ve had to build my faith back up and constantly remind myself of His Word and promises and rebuke every thought of doubt and fear. I’ve had to bind what needed binding and loose what needing loosing…

…And God is still silent…

This is why I’m reminded of Job. My husband began training last November to compete in Highland Games competitions. It takes great strength and technique to compete. He goes to the gym almost daily and we consider the gym membership as an important part of our budget because he takes this seriously and we know it is a means for a ministry outlet. We only have certain foods in the house and stick to a pretty strict diet with the occasional “treat meal”, as my friend Joy coined it instead of “cheat meal”. He had his first competition this past weekend and did well considering the length of time he’s been training and minimal experience with these very specific events. So he spent four months training for his first competition. He focused. He trained. He did everything he knew to do.

He could have given up on the days that his muscles were sore. In fact, he may not have even started considering last year he was looking at back surgery (healed by God instead!) and some people said it wasn’t a good idea for him to do this. He could have given up out of fear. He could have given up watching the other competitors and how well they do. He could have just said it wasn’t worth it. He would have never known how far he could go or how well he would do on his first try. He would never have seen where his weaknesses are and what he needs to work on so he can do better next time. He never would have been able to learn from the seasoned athletes beside him on the field who showed him techniques and gave advice on how to improve his form.

This morning I thought of Job. A man who was the most righteous of all God’s servants. God was silent and watched while Job struggled. Why? He was training him, strengthening him, giving him more even when he had less. Job broke. Job questioned. Job had to repent. Job had to readjust. Then Job was blessed. Blessed beyond ways he had never been blessed before.

God is silent in our lives right now. I broke. My husband broke. We questioned. We had to repent. We had to make some adjustments. We had to get back up and put on the armor of God. We wait on His voice. We wait and we have faith because we know His Word. We know His promise. We know His truth. This is still our year of jubilee.

Job 42:12 (KJV)

So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:

 

 

Lately, listening to people talk about their struggles and worries, they seem to fear satan more than they fear God. The fear we are to have of God is not the same type however. There is an awe-inspiring fear we are to have of God and who He is. I hear many people talk about being “attacked by the enemy” and how “he needs to go” but I don’t see many of them doing anything about it. Should we fear satan at all? The Bible tells us not to fear, many times.

 

There seems to be a defeated attitude when situations in life come at us. I am guilty of this as well which is why I’ve noticed it so much lately. I know God has been talking to me about my attitude and my words. Until we see things in other people, we have a hard time recognizing it in us (Matthew 7:3-5).

 

When things don’t go our way we may start out with “well, that is just a door that is closed” and go on about our business. Then, another “door” closes, and another, so we start to doubt ourselves and maybe even start to doubt God’s love for us in the sense that we think we are being punished for something. When things get really messy, we may become angry and yell, “Why?”, at God.

 

The enemy doesn’t have to do much to trip us up. In fact, many times, we are tripping over our own feet. What do I mean by this? I mean that we don’t read the Word enough to know what our thoughts actions should be when the enemy attacks. There is a reason we are to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and a reason we are to keep a constant relationship with Him. If you aren’t hanging out around the Word you may easily be influenced by doubt, fear and worry.

 

Here is the one thing that keeps my head on straight when life starts coming at me like a bully on the playground: Genesis 3:14-15.

 

Those two verses will get my thinking in line and here is why. When God dealt with the “serpent” in the garden, He made him to crawl on his belly and eat dirt. Snakes don’t eat dirt. Worms do.

 

I recently had a conversation with some who are well versed in the Word and this was a revelation they had never thought of before. It made me meditate on this. How many of us walk around thinking of the enemy/satan as a snake, a serpent, a roaring lion? We think of the enemy as something scary. He’s not. It’s only in our thoughts that we make him scary. That’s how we trip over our own two feet. We aren’t reading God’s Word enough and standing on it. His Word says I am victorious and to fear not and that He will never leave me or forsake me. I can either spend my days crying and running away from a worm or I can stand on the Word of God with the worm crushed beneath my heel.

 

 

Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Who Are I Am? I know, that isn’t good English. Who are I am? This thought has been on my mind a lot lately. Mainly because I’ve been shifting towards a career change. I know what my degree says I am. I know what I’ve said I am. I know what my jobs have said I am. I know what my resume says I am. I know what others say I am, but who are I am? I keep saying what I want to be, what I want to do, but I don’t say that I am those things.

In Exodus God said “I Am That I Am.” Evidently He didn’t know English either, but He knew who He was.

God spoke, He created. He created us. He created the animals. He created the sun, the moon, the stars. He created all…with His Words.

He said “I Am” and He was.

How often do we release a sentence from our tongue starting with “I am…” and how do you finish it? The tongue has the power of life or death (Proverbs 18:21). How often do our words bring death, whether to our personality, our career, our self-worth, our future, and how often do our words bring death to others and their dreams or goals?

Do we watch closely enough the things we speak? God said He is I AM. Christ said he is I AM. If Christ lives on the inside of us, who do we say we are?

I am a follower of Christ. I am an excellent wife to my husband. I am an excellent friend. I am successful. I am victorious. I am debt free. I am a writer. I am a poet. I am an author. I am happy. I am healthy. I am. I AM.

 

I am in Christ and Christ is in me. It is through Him that I can do ALL things.

 

 

Exodus 3:13-14 (KJV)

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

John 8:58 (KJV)

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Matthew 16:13-20 (KJV)

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

Mark 8:29 (KJV)

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

 

“Are we there yet?”

The famous words spoken by every impatient child across the world on any road trip, whether it be five minutes or five hours, due to their lack of direction and space-time continuum. Even as adults, our GPS tells us how long until we arrive at our destination and we usually have an idea of how long of a drive is ahead of us before we take off in our cars.

As a child, we lived in a suburb of Detroit. Many times, our weekends consisted of visiting family that lived in the same area or near-by. I was able to determine how close we were to whichever house we were headed towards by noting my surroundings. There was a particular neon sign near my grandparents’ house, an arrow pointing to the building it was attached to, that when I saw it, I knew we were very close to their home. Sometimes, if my mom or dad took a different route, I would first ask, “Where are we going?” and when they answered, “Grandma and Grandpa’s,” I would then ask something along the lines of where are we or how close are we?

There was always an excitement when I knew we were almost there. Anticipation if you will. Maybe I would get to see my cousins. Grandma better not be out of cookies. If she is, I hope she has pudding pops! I wonder if Grandpa is going to have the baseball game on the radio. He always does. It’s soooo boring!

I love the sound of a baseball game on the radio now. It makes me smile.

There were times we took long trips to my other grandparents’ house. They lived in North Carolina. That was a long drive from Michigan and provided many opportunities to ask the question, “Are we there yet?”

Even that trip however had its road-side markers giving me an idea of how close we were. Obviously we made the trip quite a few times. I knew when we went from flat land to mountains we weren’t in “Kansas” anymore. As I grew older and started reading, I was able to follow the signs on the side of the road telling us how much further to the next main city. I would map out the cities in my head and keep a mental picture of our trip. This was back when GPS didn’t exist and the Rand McNally Road Atlas was your best friend. I still carry one with me to this day. Map reading is a good skill to have.

My parents, along with every other parent in the history of time, eventually became tired of the same question on these road trips and you could hear the frustration growing in their voice with each answer. We didn’t care though…kept on asking, “Are we there yet?”

My dad, when he became frustrated, would answer with, “We will be there when we get there. Stop asking.”

I’ve been thinking about this over the last week or so because my husband and I are in a season of having to wait patiently, on God, and some days we aren’t so patient. We know He is taking us somewhere, advancing us from where we are at, and I find myself every day asking “Where are we going? How far is it? Are we there yet?”

This doesn’t mean spatially. It means spiritually, emotionally, mentally. Our faith grows with each season we are in. God advances His people. He carries them through to bigger and better things. When we feel lost or as if we don’t know where we are going, we need to lean on Him. He guides us, directs us and carries us through. As my husband recently commented, “Patience is a rough dirt road when you’re used to an expressway.”

How true those words are.

I’ve seen parents plan a trip to Disney in secret and surprise their children by not telling them until they actually arrive. The child is naturally going to ask, “Where are we going? How far is it? Are we there yet?” Once they get there however, the excitement and joy are like nothing else.

Sometimes, God is taking us somewhere like Disney and wants it to be a surprise. Maybe He doesn’t want to hear all the questions. Maybe He wants us to grown in our trust and faith in Him. Maybe He knows we would take a detour and arrive too late or too early if we knew where we were going.

The best road trips I had as a kid were the ones where I fell asleep and woke up as we were arriving to our destination. I’m sure those were the best for my parents as well. I’m going to be patient in this season, sleep peacefully, and expect a pudding pop to be waiting on me when we arrive, wherever God is taking us.

 

Psalm 4:8

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

 

Have you ever approached a construction zone and they gradually take a lane away causing all the vehicles to merge until it becomes one lane? It takes caution to do this. The people must slow down as to not cause an accident by running into each other. The drivers have to keep an eye out for the construction workers and avoid a man vs. car situation. Everyone crawls along until they get through the “bottleneck” and break through to freedom on the other side where they can go full speed again.

There are times in life where it feels like there is pressure on us from all sides pushing us towards one direction. That direction may seem like it’s for our demise because as we are being pushed, it’s uncomfortable and our patience runs thin. We want to get through to the other side so we can go full speed again. These are times to slow down, pay attention and be watchful. God is doing something. He is working things out for good. He is getting ready to let you go at full speed again but there are some repairs and improvements that need to be made first. Don’t rush the process. Don’t get a speeding ticket. Don’t run anyone over. Don’t crash the car. Be patient. Trust Him. Listen to his voice and guidance.

Deuteronomy 8:18 (KJV)

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

 

As we go through life,  we enter in and out of relationships. Friends, family,  significant others. Some relationships last,  some do not. 

Whether they last or not,  at some point on some level,  the other person will hurt us,  great or small, intentional or accidental. Knowing this,  we must also realize that we will hurt them,  great or small, intentional or not.  

How do we handle this?  Many times we will let ourselves hurt and let,  what is many times a misunderstanding, put a wedge between us and the other person. It creates a break in the relationship. Eventually that wedge grows and hurt is added to it so it is actively breaking as we continue down our path. Many times the wedge will become so large that the relationship is finally broken. Satan has won. 

Break,  breaking…Broken. 

How do we repair a broken relationship? First we must forgive the other person. Next we must forgive ourselves. Then, we can apologize whether we think we need to or not because truth is, we (me or you) are not perfect.

You cannot control how someone else acts or responds in a situation but you have control over yourself and walking in the God kind of love covers a multitude of sins, theirs or yours. 

When you find yourself in a situation where you have every right to be angry with someone because they have hurt you deeply,  and you are able to forgive them and love them regardless,  only then will you begin to understand the love God has for us. Only then,  will you begin to understand the amount of love it took Jesus to follow through with the plan God had for his life. 

Could you willingly give up your life for not just one person but for a world of people that are against you?  For people that hate you,  people that turn their backs on you, people that would save a murderer over you,  people that would save a thief over you, people that would rather spit on you than tend to your wounds?  We’ve disregarded people for less than any of these offenses. 

Jesus chose to. He loves us enough to cover all of our sins.  He forgives us before we know we even need to be forgiven. He could have walked away. He could have turned his back on us. He didn’t. 

We are broken and he knew going to the cross,  giving up his life, he gave us an option to be fixed. 

I encourage you today,  forgive those who have trespassed against you,  the same as He has forgiven our trespasses. Meditate on His love and let it envelope you. 

John 3:16-17 (KJV)

For God so loved the world,  that he gave his only begotten Son,  that whosoever believith in him should not perish,  but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.