Tag Archives: forgiveness

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.

Reaching Out In Unity- He Said

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“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me ­ so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” – John 17:22-23 (NIV)

Listen to Reaching Out In Unity

A former neighbor called this week. Turns out my friends Kim and Beth aren’t speaking to each other… again. For the past several years they’ve argued over Kim’s loud music, Beth’s complaints to the town board, Kim’s kids playing in Beth’s front yard, the government’s role in health care, abortion rights, immigration and on and on. Whatever the issue, I always know where Kim and Beth stand-on opposite sides of the fence.

This time their disagreement was over money. Beth claimed Kim owed her $230. Kim was sure she’d paid the bill. She had. She’d paid me $230 for work I’d done months ago on a project initiated by Beth.

I hung up thinking; I ought to just pay Beth the $230 out of my own pocket. Maybe then they’d stop fighting. But would they? Even if I settled the accounts for them, would it matter?

Christ claimed our unity, love and forgiveness would be a sign to others that we were His-that the sacrifice of His Son for us mattered to us. But does it?

A few hours later I met with another friend, Suzie. She’s a missionary in Romania. Suzie told me of all the miracles she’s seen, the healing of broken bones, deaf ears opened, the sudden disappearance of cancerous tumors. Then she said, “But you know, even in my city, despite God’s outpouring of love, we’re divided. There are other churches that won’t speak to us because of doctrinal differences. Imagine how confusing it is to those outside the Church when those of us inside the Church are arguing like this.”

“No need to imagine,” I told her. “I see it every Sunday.”

I sent Beth a check for the full amount, asking that she respect our friendship enough to allow me to pay the debt of my other friend and her neighbor. Now it’s up to them to resolve their differences. I pray that they will. I pray I haven’t wasted my money.

I pray God hasn’t wasted the life of His Son, either.

One Minute Meditations for the culturally challenged and spiritually stuck. Daily devotions from the perspective of one man and one woman, delivered online and by email that inspire you to move beyond the “busy-ness” of life into an intimate relationship with God through an interactive friendship with the Father. Christian Devotions takes Christ from the heavens and places him in your heart.

I’m sorry, Opa! – Kevin Spencer

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“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” II Timothy 2:24

“I’m sorry, Opa.” My 5 year-old grandson looked up at me wide eyed. In each little hand he held a piece of my wife’s prized German antique. It was a little ceramic Oktoberfest teddy bear, wearing lederhosen and clutching a small mug of beer. At least it used to clutch the mug of beer. Now the arm that held the mug was in one of Caleb’s hands, and most of the rest of the bear was in the other.

The little bear was an artifact that had come from Bavaria with Charlotte, given to her by her grandmother (in German, her “Oma”), and because Charlotte also collects bears, the little Oktoberfest bear had always had a prominent place on her étagère.

Perhaps too prominent, because it also attracted the attention of Caleb who, despite being warned repeatedly that it was not a toy (“If it’s not mine, don’t touch it. If it’s not mine, don’t touch it.”), had given in to temptation and picked it up—and promptly dropped it. Hitting the floor, it had broken into at least three pieces.

This is where I wish I could write that I reacted with forgiveness and compassion and used the incident to teach Caleb a valuable life lesson. That isn’t what happened. I reacted with anger. Anger at being disobeyed and anger at the loss I knew Charlotte would feel. With a face flushed with a growing rage, I yelled and gestured and stomped and, yes, Caleb got a spanking. Three hard slaps on his little backside. Tears rolled down his eyes and between little gasps he repeated “I’m sorry, Opa.”

I left the sobbing little boy sitting on his bed to think about what he had done and stomped out of his room. In the hallway outside his room was a full-length mirror. I glanced up as I went by and saw myself, my face filled with anger and rage and on the jagged edge of self-control. I recoiled in shock. I knew that face. Knew it well. I had seen it more than once when I was Caleb’s age. From Caleb’s room came one more half-whispered, “I’m sorry, Opa.”

My heart broke. I knew what it was like to be punished in anger, had been terrified of it, and here I had done the same thing to that dear little boy. Stumbling to my bed, I fell to my knees and bowed my head. “I’m sorry, Father,” I prayed. “I’m sorry.”

Our Father is slow to anger. He doesn’t raise his voice, or stomp, or shout, or even take us over his knee. His is a gentle teaching, His Word a guidepost in the way we should go. I pray that I can learn to follow His example, that I can learn to be slow to anger…because I don’t ever want to see that face in the mirror again.

“I’m sorry, Opa.”

* * *

　
Kevin Spencer lives in Tennessee with his beautiful wife, Charlotte, and grandson Caleb. A former prodigal son, Kevin is now trying to use the gifts God gave him, and by the grace of God has a life far better than he ever deserved. Read Kevin’s devotions

Landing in “Grace”-land – She Said

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“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23

Listen to Landing in “Grace”-land

One, two, three, four, five, six…I count the steps in my head every time I start down them. I started counting steps when the kids were little, after our son took a tumble.

Cameron was six when he fell. He stood at the top of the stairs in his Under-roos and matching Scooby-Doo socks, smiling and laughing. Tim stood behind him and I was at the bottom. I sat my load of laundry on floor and turned just in time to see Cameron’s feet slip. Horror stricken, Tim grabbed at him trying to grasp any part of his tumbling body. I did too, but missed. Cameron flipped twice, somersaulted down the stairs until he hit the wall, smacking his head against the railing.

Unconscious, we scooped him up and rushed him to the ER. The doctor examined him and sent him for x-rays. “You say he fell down the stairs?”

“Missed a step and his feet just flew out from under him. I tried to grab him but was too late.”
“Well, we’ll keep your boy overnight until the swelling goes down, but I think he’ll be fine.”
I miss steps, too, and when I do I feel as though I’ve disappointed God. It seems the harder I try to be what God wants me to be, the more I trip and stumble—the more I feel I’ve let God down. My friend scolded me yesterday, told me there was no way I could let God down.

“You can’t disappoint Him. He loves you too much. It’s like saying your disabled son disappoints you—it just can’t happen.”

I thought about that. A lot. And then I realized he was probably right. We can’t really disappoint God. He loves us too much. He knows we can’t always match up to His perfection. He understands I fall short of His glory. Our weakness and “fallings” are made perfect in Christ. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to steady my steps. The day I quit making the effort, is the day God cries.

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Yes, we sin and fall short, but there’s no way we can let God down. Not when Christ is lifted up.

When you stumble and fall, remember the place you land is called “grace,” so take His hand and stand in “Grace”-land.

Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and co-founders of ChristianDevotions.us. They co-write the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host BlogtalkRadio’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.

Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9822065-4-6
Price: $9.95

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