Tag Archives: forgiveness

Wildfire – Laurinda Wallace
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Gossip Burns like a Wildfire

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. James 3:5-6 NLT

Wildfire! It’s a frightening word in the Southwest before the summer rains start. One Sunday afternoon my husband and I watched a small fire to the south of our home, causing smoke in the mountains. It was miles away but the following Sunday we were staying with friends– evacuated from our home just four days after the fire started.

For twenty-four hours we had no idea if our home was gone, damaged, or still standing. We knew several homes had been destroyed a few miles west of us. Emergency shelters filled with evacuees and pets while firefighters battled high winds with tinder dry conditions. The fire raged, threatening the city limits where we stayed.

Whatever started the massive fire was small in the beginning. It might have been coals from a campfire, a cigarette tossed into the brush, or an intentional act. It’s the same with our speech. A careless word can ruin a reputation in a short time.

I’ve been the victim of such careless gossip and it hurts. Sometimes gossip is piously mentioned by couching it as a “prayer request.” Other times we do it to ourselves. Before you know it, a reputation is ruined. A life is set on fire.

A fire is easy to start, but hard to put out once it has fuel. It’s the same once we have a reputation as a gossip, a liar, or a big talker. It took firefighters nine days to get any amount of containment, but it had already destroyed thousands of acres of beautiful mountain woodlands, over fifty homes, and several businesses. Our favorite hiking places won’t recover for years but by God’s grace, our home and neighborhood were safe. Lives were changed dramatically because of the fire. Some will never be the same.

Before you make that sarcastic comment about someone, keep truth as your focus and your tongue in check. Think about the wildfire.  Don’t start a fire of ruin for yourself and others.

Laurinda Wallace lives in the beautiful high desert of southeast Arizona with her husband David. Besides being the office manager for her church, she is a freelance writer and has published numerous magazine articles and devotionals. She is currently working on a mystery series set in her hometown area of Western New York. Laurinda and her husband have two grown daughters and twin grandsons, who are amazing miracles of God’s grace.
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Take One for the Team – She Said
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Each strike...He took for the team.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NIV

“No worries,” our Christian Devotions Speak UP! radio host teased. “You guys have beautiful weather down south and here in Michigan…it’s freezing. I’ll take this one for the team.”
I had to chuckle as we bantered with Scott about the warm spring weather we’d experienced in the south while he…well…weathered the weather. At least it’s just weather, I thought. It could be something terrible, something unbearable.

I’ve heard this phrase a lot recently. In fact, I’ve even been told …take one for the team. Most of the things I have to take are fairly simple when I compare them to Christ. I consider myself more than fortunate, especially when I look abroad at the conflicts, hunger, and pain. But when I think about sucking it up and taking one for the team, nothing compares to the beaten body of Christ. No one “took one” like Him.

Peter lopped off a guard’s ear when Christ was arrested. Jesus healed the man then took one for the team.

Pilate challenged Christ: “Why have you come?”

Jesus replied: “So that you might know the truth.” He was handed over to be crucified and Jesus took another one for the team.

He was beaten. Spat on. Verbally abused. Yet He said nothing, and still He took one more for the team.

As Jesus hung on the cross, He found the strength to forgive a criminal and plead for those who carried out this horrible deed. Christ took one more for the team. And not once…not once…did He look back.

I’ve prayed relentlessly for guidance and direction in the choices I make and the dreams I pursue. There have been moments when the weight of responsibility seemed more than I could bear. In a sad attempt of comparison, I felt the worry of my inability, the judgment of my inadequacy, and the sting of those who circle like vultures waiting to attack. And nothing comes close to what Christ felt as He hung on the cross, weighted by my unborn sin.

For every strike of the hammer to the nail…Christ took one for the team.

I’m not sure where you stand or what you’ve experienced but I can promise you, Christ has already taken “one for you.” By His wounds you are healed. Accept His gift.

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Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and cofounders of ChristianDevotions.us. They cowrite the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host Blog Talk Radio’s Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! along with Scott McCausey. Eddie and Cindy travel and speak at conferences across the country and they are available to speak at your church or conference. Contact them at cindy@christiandevotions.us.

 

 

 

Do you sense something vital missing from you relationship with your spouse, children, and God? Try He Said, She Said: A Devotional Guide to Cultivating a Life of Passion. This compilation of 54 devotions includes scripture verses, space for journaling, individual prayers and words of wisdom from two of today’s funniest and insightful Christian authors. This heart-warming collection of stories will inspire you to reach for the true source of joy: a life lived for and through God. These deeply personal devotions offer biblical insights and spiritual truths from the perspective of one man and one woman.

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Earthen Vessel – Robin Farnsworth
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But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. II Corinthians 4:7

“If the cancer comes back, you will die.”

My oncologist sure didn’t mince words. And being a nurse, I knew what he meant. I’d seen it many times over the years. But chemo? My body still hurt from the surgery a month earlier. My hair would fall out. Then radiation.

Lord, I am just so tired!

I looked out onto the pewter sky that seemed just a shade lighter than the dirty streets surrounding the hospital. It was cold out yet I could see a front door hanging from its broken hinges, children playing in the street with trash blowing past them. Where was hope? Hope was heaven….no trash, no sickness. I thought of loved ones waiting there for me and our glorious reunion. So many times I’d yearned for my heavenly home, especially after my son’s death in 2002. My heart ached for him, for another place. I considered giving up.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Funny God should use the frailty of mankind to send forth His message — sometimes as the torch of revival, but usually as a smoking flax. A small ember that ignites the next soul, setting another heart ablaze. After the apparent failure of the cross, the disciples returned to fishing, broken and confused. Then Jesus taps them on the shoulder, saying, “Excuse me, but you have this treasure…” and then, after they had been fed and filled, “Now go!”

These earthen vessels, no matter how young and fit or broken and bruised, are just that, vessels (or clay jars another translation says). Clay jars were used to carry water, to bring life to those who thirst. My purpose became clear.

I turned from the window and felt the conviction of God’s hand upon my heart. My thoughts had been selfish. If I left, who would tell the story He’d given me to tell?

However crazy it seems, our God in heaven, the creator of all things, the great I AM, has chosen us, a peculiar people, to bring this treasure, His son Jesus Christ, to a dying world, to the gray streets outside. Earthen vessels like you and me, not a choir of angels.

“Okay,” I said to my doctor. “Let’s do it.”

When decisions press down, push back toward the God who can take all things into control.

Robin Farnsworth is a wife, mother, grandmother, registered nurse, and most importantly, a child of God. She has served Christ in many capacities over the last twenty-three years: as a pastor’s wife for five years, through music, in women’s Bible studies, and in writing and directing plays. In 2002, Robin’s world was shattered when her oldest son, Spencer, was murdered. He died giving his life to save another young man. Choosing to forgive her son’s murderers and to walk in faith, Robin loves to share her testimony of God’s grace, redemption, and hope. Robin resides on Cape Cod with her husband Calvin. She is currently freelance writing and working on a memoir. She loves serving God in her local church and taking trips to North Carolina to see her two sons, her daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters. To contact Robin or request her as a speaker at your event, she can be reached at: givingglory2him@gmail.com.

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Life Happens – Andrea Merrell
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And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 KJV

“When the going gets tough, the tough” . . . back off, give up, and quit. Ever been there? What happened? Life happened!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve gone through times and seasons where the stuff of life felt so overwhelming I wanted to resign—escape—find a little corner and never come out.

In the late 90s I had a year that started out traumatic and then got progressively worse. After an emotionally explosive church situation which devastated my family, there was a trip to New York that resulted in a serious illness with hospitalization and weeks of recovery. Then I had surgery for something totally unrelated to the other illness, along with a myriad of other problems, mishaps, and chaotic events. In the midst of it all, my teenage son and daughter were drowning in a sea of drug and alcohol addiction and I felt like I was going under with them.

That was over fifteen years ago. Now, as I look back to one of the darkest times in my life, I can see God’s hand of protection and provision. He truly worked all things together for good by taking what the enemy meant for evil, turning it around, and bringing growth and blessings into my life. I saw firsthand, His forgiveness, His deliverance, and His healing. I experienced His love, His grace, and His mercy, even though I didn’t recognize it at the time. God restored everything—my health, my joy, my peace and, best of all, my kids. My family was knit back together with powerful cords of love. Because of everything that happened, I grew stronger—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And, the best part of all, I can now take what I learned and help someone else who is experiencing the stuff of life.

There is a song that says, “Life is hard, but God is good.” I have found this to be true, all the time, with NO exceptions. God didn’t promise our journey would be problem free. He said tests, trials, and tribulations would come, but He promised to be right there with us, making a way of escape.

I’ve learned, when life happens, if I will shift my focus from the problems to the Provider . . . God happens.

Won’t you let Him happen in your life today?
Andrea Merrell lives in the upstate of South Carolina and is a freelance writer and editor with a passion to help others see God’s Word as practical and relevant for ordinary, everyday life. Andrea is a staff writer and Associate Editor for www.ChristianDevotions.us. She is a contributing writer and copy editor for www.DevoKids.com. Her work has been published in Spirit & Heart: A Devotional Journey, Faith & Finances: In God We Trust, Faith & Family, The Write Life, PEN Points, and Extraordinary Answers to Prayer. She also writes for www.cornerstonegreenville.com. Visit her website at www.andreamerrell.com.

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Before You Know It – Doug Norquist
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Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Before I knew what was happening, it was over.

I had been waiting at a red light. The next moment, my car was “totaled” and within minutes an ambulance was taking me to the hospital. With the exception of a few bruises and sore muscles (plus the need for another car), I was fortunate. Change one or two details in the scenario, and my life would have been altered – or ended – irrevocably.

We never know what might happen in the next second. All we can predict is life will be short compared to eternity. This brevity and unpredictability of life stands as background to the psalmist’s prayer: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The psalmist knew when we remember our earthly life is finite, we think more clearly and live wiser.

Here are some questions that can help us to “number our days aright.”.

* Do I remember that life is short and death is always coming? Or am I in denial?

* Do I remember that unexpected things happen to everyone but God? Or have I been deluded into believing that if I plan well and work hard, I can control my destiny?

* Is there anything wrong I can set right? Do I need to ask (or offer) forgiveness? Do I need to make restitution to anyone?

* Am I investing my life in transient things, or in eternity? What place does God’s Word take in my life? What about worship? Service of others?

Finally and most importantly, have I given my heart to Jesus? He has come to bring us eternal life in fellowship with God who loves us. We will never do a wiser thing than asking Jesus to be our Savior.

Ask Jesus into your life where days become eternity.

When Doug Norquist isn’t busy with his life as a pastor, he enjoys writing, composing, playing the piano, birding, walking in the woods, and gazing out over Lake Superior. He misses his grown children and granddaughter in the Pacific Northwest, but enjoys the Empty Nest with his wife in upper Michigan.

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Comfort for the Comfortless – Heather Spiva
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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles… 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV

Oh boy, I thought to myself. I messed up big time.

It was bad enough I had to deal with the consequence of my action, but worse to have to look at my mistake and see that the hot water I was in, was because of me.

Sometimes, no matter how I try, my fleshly self finds a way to sin. My choice (and its result) hits me square in the face and I have no option but to repent – not only to the one I offended, but to God. These times I feel my worst; as if I couldn’t get any lower.

This is when God taps me on the shoulder and reminds me of his compassion. In order to move forward and not drown in the murky mess, I must lift my eyes to focus on Him; focus on His love for me even if and when I mess up and don’t think I deserve that love. He reminds me His love is unconditional. He cares so much for us that He even sent his own son to forgive our sin.

This comforts me through my trials, remembering God’s love and unending mercy, I can begin each day anew, thankful for a fresh start; ready to act like Jesus, and resting in the promise of his love in everything I do. It also reminds me to forget about my past. Once God forgives me, the sin is forgotten.

Look to God and find all the comfort you will ever need to refocus your gaze, renew your mind, and regain a Godly perspective in all things.

Lord, thank you for your unending mercies. Thank you for understanding my trials and tribulations, my mess-ups and flubs, so that I can learn from it all and be more like you. Amen

Heather Spiva is a freelance writer who lives in Sacramento, CA with her children and firefighter husband. When she isn’t writing, she is reading and when she’s not reading, she’s enjoying (or trying to, anyway) the crazy and joyous atmosphere with her two rambunctious boys.

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Do What Is Right – Norma Thurston Holtman
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I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel….” Philippians 4:2-3

The words stung like a whip striking out of nowhere, biting and tearing at my heartstrings. What had I said to deserve this? A seemingly innocuous comment had provoked a harsh and unexpected response and my first response was to strike back.

Just as I began to formulate my answer, the phone rang. On the other end I heard the voice of my sister—my “loyal yoke-fellow.” She listened to the angry words I had planned and said, “Remember what Dad would have said. No matter what anyone else does, it is your responsibility to do the right thing.”

I was reminded of these two women in the Philippian church with the unpronounceable names, Euodia and Syntyche. These Christian women worked hard alongside Paul for the sake of the gospel but they must have had an ongoing dispute that affected other people enough for him to address it publicly. Agreeing with one another in the Lord means to set aside our own feelings in order to do what pleases Him — to make God and His kingdom the priority.

With my sister’s help, I formulated an answer that addressed the circumstances and the angry response. I offered to pray for the person who’d hurt me, and thanked them for a recent kindness I’d planned to ignore in light of their hurtful words.

It wasn’t easy—doing the right thing seldom is. But when we do, there’s satisfaction in knowing God works through us to ease a hurt we don’t even understand. Try it. I guarantee it will change your heart attitude and allow you to grow. It helped me. Look at your differences with others and do the right thing.

Norma Thurston Holtman is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom. She is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband make their home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long-time Bible study leader, she writes a weekly devotional for her church’s website. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and an aspiring novelist. She desires to use her writing to bring glory to God and encourage fellow believers. Her devotionals can be found at http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com.
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Redemption – Vanessa Denniston
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In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 1:7 New International Version

Aside from redeeming S&H Green Stamps, I have not thought too much about the word redemption, and exactly what it means. As a child it would be my job to lick and paste the green stamps into little S&H Green Stamp books. Where there were previously empty squares, now stood rows and rows of slightly askew stamps. Sometimes there were large groups of stamps, or just small clumps of twelve or eight, and sometimes just a small duo to fill a page.

When the books were filled, redemption day would come. We’d go as a family to the Green Stamp Store, and trade our filled booklets of stamps for something special; a toaster, a set of mixing bowls, or decorative clock.

Yet, while considering the idea of redemption, the very core concept that our Lord would die for us in exchange for our own eternity, never made a connection in the circuitry of my brain until now. My own life is like those little stamps—pages of years gone by, whole and good, filling pages with completeness and easy joy. Then there were the fragmented times when I was disconnected waiting for the Lord to move me, to complete me, to fill up the page. There are chapters in my life that look just like one small stamp at a time, standing slightly outside of the squares on the page.

Redemption day will come. It is still a promise, but it will come. Our book of life will be traded for eternity with Jesus. My life of worthless paper stamps will be traded for the riches of God’s grace. The treasure is far greater than the small offering I provide. It doesn’t even make sense that something worthless could be redeemed for something so grand. Yet, each stamp, each page, each chapter of my life means something to Jesus. They represent my hope, my continuation, my fragments, and my joy. I become closer to redemption, one small stamp at a time.

Are you ready for redemption day?

Vanessa Denniston is a writer specializing in corporate, business, and non-fiction genres with over 20 years experience in the marketing and communication area. She has worked in corporate video and training productions working with several key advertising agencies and production companies in the San Diego area as Director and Producer. Most recently she was Communications Manager for a mega-church in South Carolina. Vanessa’s special niche is integrating several media platforms including printed media, video, web, and sales training into a unified and comprehensive message that resonates with the target market. She has an MBA from Capella University. Vanessa now resides in Greenville, South Carolina and has two grown daughters.
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Frozen – She Said
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frozen

Frozen

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…Colossians 2:13

Listen to Frozen – She Said

The entire tree was frozen. I peered through the kitchen window at the limb that hung heavy with ice and for a moment I thought, that’s me.

It was 16 degrees outside when the mix of rain and sleet began. The thick slush dripped from the sky like caramel from a spoon, sticking to every branch and twig, every plant, every blade of grass. As the temperature rose, the slush became snow. Before long, everything was covered in a clear, thick coating of ice. A moment in time was captured, encapsulated in a frozen frame…dead and cold.

I pulled my jacket tight as a chill worked its way through me. That was me–caught–suspended in a frozen picture…dead in my sin. There was little to do but stand and stare as the coating of ice thickened around the branches.

I also watch as my own sin wraps itself around me, freezing me into an impenetrable prison.

No one likes to think they sin. It’s easy for me to turn my head away from the little things that seem insignificant, yet bear the same equality. Sin is sin. I travel through days oblivious to the sin that binds me. If I don’t recognize it then it can’t possibly be a sin. Right?

I pushed open the door and broke a frozen twig from the tree. Twisting it in my fingers, I realized I was as dead as the brown wood inside the frozen casket. I’d made mistakes… sinned. Was there, is there, any hope for a sinner like me? It was a slick path out and even worse back. How can anyone break free when each step forward means sliding further backward?

Sometimes the weight of sin bears down so hard it seems I’ll be crushed. Yet just as I am ready to succumb, the ice cracks and drops away. I’m warmed by the presence of a loving and forgiving God. He makes me alive again.

People say they forgive; they don’t. Their unforgiveness slips in with little jabs or short remarks. They silently look for wrongs, insisting on keeping me frozen inside. Yet the most amazing thing…God, being who He is, forgives not just one, but all my sin. He forgets then wraps His loving arms around me and breathes new life into me.

There is none greater than the mighty love of God. He sent His son so that I might be made alive again. He freed me from the prison of sin. Christmas comes once a year but the gift of Christ is endlessly available.

Reach out to Him. Let Him break the frozen twig of sin. You are alive in Christ.

Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and cofounders of ChristianDevotions.us. They cowrite the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host Blog Talk Radio’s Christian Devotions Speak UP! along with Scott McCausey. And now you can catch them each Friday evening at 7 p.m. on He Said, She Said Radio . (Call in number, 646-929-0706 ). They travel with Christian Devotions Ministries teaching the art of writing devotions at writers’ conferences across the country. Eddie and Cindy are featured in Faith & FINANCES: In God We Trust – A Journey to Financial Dependence. Read Cindy’s devotions

Reaping the Wild Oats – Lochlanina Tobey
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Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature,  from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8

The Wild Oat plant, Avena fatua, also known as Oatgrass, produces seeds with projecting “awns.”  When moistened by humidity these projections turn the seed and drill it into the ground to ensure germination. In addition, Wild Oat seeds can go dormant, waiting for optimum growing conditions before sprouting. One plant can produce 60 to 2,000 new oats.

We often hear the excuses about “just sowing a few wild oats,” but we forget–God forgives us our sins but he does not remove the consequences of those sins.  Like a noxious weed seeding itself in our garden, our wild oats have a way of hanging about and causing trouble long after the deed is done.

When we sow one wild oat seed — the consequences are 60 to 2,000 weeds infesting our gardens.  Our wild oats, our sins, will bury themselves in our lives and in other people’s gardens too.  The consequences of our sins are reaped by ourselves and by those around us.

We are forgiven our sins, but we still endure the earthly consequences.  We sow and we reap wild oats.

The good news is that when we sow the seeds of the Spirit, we reap the rewards of the Spirit.  I know which I’d rather have in my garden.  What are you planting today?

Lochlanina Tobey uses her degree in English composition from Messiah College as an excuse for writing and teaching poetry. Her most recent prize winning poem, The Finality of Rain appears on UtmostChristianWriters.com. In 2008 she trained with CLASServices, Inc. as a professional Christian speaker and feels blessed to minister as a leader and speaker at women’s retreats. Read Lochlania’s devotions.