Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Abounding Hope:Week 7--Forgiveness Releases Blessings


Forgiveness Releases Blessings

"After Job had interceded for his friends, God restored his fortune—
and then doubled it!" Job 42:10 NIV
After reading all about the sufferings of Job, we delight in the restoration of his fortune and his family.  But we like to ignore what God commanded Job to do before His mercy arrived.  

God told Job to pray for his friends (Job 42: 8).  But these men had done much to wound Job.  It is implied that Job's blessing hinged on the prayer he prayed.  Once again, Job's faith was demonstrated in forgiving these men.  His life revealed the power of these truths:

"Until you totally forgive them, you will be in chains yourself.  
Let them off the hook & actually pray for them!  

When you sincerely ask God to truly bless that person,
 you pass into the realm of miraculous & supernatural!"
RT Kendall (Total Forgiveness book here or here

Seeking God's best blessings for those who have wronged us, even done permanent damage to the relationship, requires faith.  Faith that says I can trust God even when I can't trust that person.  

Saying "I can't forgive them or don't have to forgive them"--that is the devil keeping you in bondage & holding you in torment!  The devil knows that blessing follows forgiveness and he hates it when God shows love to us.  The devil wants to hurt God by poisoning us with unforgiveness.  

Blessing follows faith when we obey God's commands. 
And Jesus Christ gives us the most important commands: 

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind". 
This is the first and most important commandment.
The second most important commandment is like this one. 
And it is, "Love others as much as you love yourself."
Matthew 22:34-40 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Loving God requires faith.  And loving others always involves forgiveness.  Think of how often we "let ourselves off the hook" or "chalk it up to a bad day".  If we can love ourselves enough to not hold grudges against ourselves, then we must do the same for others.  No. matter. what. they. have. done.  

A few years ago I had to live this message.  I had been falsely accused of some pretty horrible things.  The person attacked my character, integrity and credibility.  But God reminded me that this was not the time to defend myself.  It was time to give mercy.  Because hurting people, hurt people. So I prayed.  I sincerely asked God to overwhelm this person with the amazing grace and love of God.  And I asked God to bless them with supernatural provision.  

It wasn't easy at first. But each day it got easier and didn't clench my fists as long! {keeping it real!}  I could feel a release from the chains that tried to hold me captive!  And God's blessing was like the wind in my face on a sunny day's drive with the top down!! 


The gift God has for you can only be released by totally forgiving them from this point forward!" RT Kendall

Do you need mercy?  Do want greater measure of God's blessing?
Who do you need to forgive?  Who do you need to pray to be blessed?

Written by Angela Smith
WCW Director

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do we forgive to get?
Or do we just forgive?
Job had no promises of being blessed. He just obeyed. Period. Just because he loved God.
Who is truly our focus? God, for just who He is? Or God, for what He can do for us?
Do we look to see if there's truth to what is said to us, or do we just assume we are innocent because we didn't like how God was speaking to us or who He was using? Do we respond in love or fear? Are questions asked of us that we are too afraid to dig deep enough to answer honestly? Do we assume things and not probe deeper into the situation? Do we get hurt easily, thinking the devil is after us, when it's God wanting to help us? Do we need to repent of our own reactions, instead of getting our religion on and "forgiving"someone? Is forgiveness on our checklist but not in our relationships?

Anonymous said...

maybe we should all try doing this instead of focusing on people to forgive.

"When you've done something wrong, admit and be sorry. No one in history has ever choked to death from swallowing his pride"
www.PositiveOutlooksBlog.com

Anonymous said...

“Sometimes if the person who hurt or wounded us is an authority figure or perhaps known to be very “godly”, we may say to ourselves, “I didn’t see this. I didn’t hear this. This could not have happened; therefore, it didn’t.” But the truth is, sometimes the people we admire the most can do the most hurtful things to us. And it is of no value to pretend we didn’t see it happen.”
Total Forgiveness R. T. Kendall page 29 Kindle edition

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