I woke up this morning feeling such a strong emotion of forgiveness, and the Lord put it on my heart to speak about it.
We are living in a time where there is so much uncertainty in this world. The things we see going on day by day, and the actions of others around us or in general, shows there is such a lack of God and spiritual awareness.
This was all designed intentionally by the enemy to get everyone off track, and to stay on the broad road to a place where we do not want to be eternally. Hell.
Jesus is Coming Back Soon
One thing we do know is that Jesus is coming back soon, and we all need to get right with Him before He does come. No one knows the time or day of His return, but we can discern the season. We will all be in the judgement seat one day. We need to be prepared at all times.
I know there are so many Christians who are so excited for Jesus’s return, which I am too, however, not everyone is ready for this. Maybe you are ready, but is your family or loved ones ready? This is something I have struggled with.
Everyone wants to be taken out of here, but have you done everything that you can to bring others to Christ and show them the way?
Are we being selfish that we as Christians just want to be taken out of this world to go home to be with Jesus, without making a larger effort to help bring others to Him?
Are you 100% sure that these people are going to the same place as you?
Have you forgiven them?
Do they know that they need to forgive others?
Pray for your Loved Ones
I am praying daily for my children and my family members for their salvation, and that God leads them to forgiveness. So that they can forgive others, for their sins to be forgiven. I know there is only so much that we can do, and it is not our duty to save people. That is God’s responsibility, but we can spread that seed and pray for them and try to reach others.
Forgiveness plays a huge part in coming back to Christ. It says in Matthew 6:14-15 if we forgive others, our Heavenly Father will forgive us.
Matthew 6:14-15
If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Unforgiveness
Living in unforgiveness is a sin.
Jesus died for our sins, and He bought and paid for us with a price. It was the ultimate sacrifice of love.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have to do our part and ask for forgiveness of our sins. We can’t just assume He is going to forgive us, no matter what it is that we do, without asking, and then continue on doing the same things He has already forgiven us for.
If we want our sins to be forgiven, we must go to Him with a humble heart and repent of our sins and turn away from them. In the process of asking for forgiveness, we must also forgive others who have sinned against us or hurt us. When we do that, it doesn’t mean that we need to go directly to the people and tell them. It doesn’t mean that we need to forget what they have done either.
We do this from our heart. Release any bitterness and unforgiveness and give it to Jesus. Forgiving and letting go is for us. It is for us to heal. So many people do not understand the importance of forgiveness. Many are holding onto things of years and years of baggage they have been carrying with them. It was never yours to carry. We need to unload that baggage and heaviness and give it to Jesus who will help and heal us.
When we hold onto unforgiveness and have bitterness, we are creating an opening for demons to come in and torment us. I didn’t understand this before coming back to the Lord, however, I knew that we needed to forgive, but I didn’t necessarily practice it. I didn’t understand the true importance of it, and why it needed to be done.
Forgiving Others Heals Us
Not only does forgiving others allow for Jesus to forgive us, but it also frees us. It breaks us free from this bondage that we created by holding onto things that were never meant for us to hold onto.
REPENT means to turn away from, to change your way of thinking in the mind and heart, and turning to God’s way of thinking.
Matthew 18-32-35
“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “Thats what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
According to Matthew 18:34-35, it is also a parable that Jesus speaks about a servant that did not forgive a fellow servant, and because of that he would be tormented until he paid his debt. Meaning, until he forgave the fellow servant from his heart, God releases tormentors, and they now have a legal right over you when you refuse to forgive and let go. They will torment you until you forgive and release bitterness.
Don’t Allow Bitterness and Unforgiveness to Consume You
There are people being tormented right now and have been for years upon years due to holding onto unforgiveness. I can clearly see it now. This results in people being bitter, angry, prideful, it can cause sicknesses and diseases, reoccurring pain or problems that just won’t go away. It’s a dangerous spiral downward and it just causes everything to become worse for you.
I have seen this happen with my own family members. It’s something that I started seeing more than twenty years ago. But I didn’t realize this was due to unforgiveness, until I came back to Christ. A family member thought they were just dealt a bad card in life, and this is just how their life was meant to go. They thought they were meant to be angry, bitter and sick, and that is just who they are.
No. It’s not who they are, but that is what they have allowed by becoming bitter for things that have happened to them in their life. It saddens me because I don’t want them to continue on like this. I have tried talking to them, I have planted seeds, I pray for them daily. I just need to allow God to work in the way that He does and pray that He opens their eyes and their heart, and releases them from this. There are so many people that are going through this. We really need to pray for them.
Forgive and You Shall be Forgiven
When I was first coming back to the Lord, He showed me that I needed to forgive. It was like He brought me through a timeline, and I needed to go through people starting from a very young age. One by one and forgive them from my heart. I could only do this with the help of the Lord. He brought to memory the things and people I needed to forgive and let go of. It was not an easy task, nor was it enjoyable bringing up hurt from the past, however it was necessary because I wanted to heal, and I wanted to be forgiven, and I didn’t want to be tormented.
Forgiveness is a Daily Process
This wasn’t just a one-time thing either. It’s a daily process. We need to be forgiving and asking for forgiveness each day. Some hurts are much larger than others and can take longer to release. As long as you are actively working on it, God knows your heart. He showed me it’s like peeling layers from an onion. Some hurts go so deep, we can’t get it all at once. It takes time, but He will work with you.
You will know you have completely forgiven a person when you no longer feel anger towards them, or bitterness, or any kind of resentment. You don’t need to forget it, but you now have a release off you, and it allows you to heal.
Jesus Heals
Jesus really heals and changes your heart. This morning I was awakened with this strong emotion on me. I was talking to Jesus, and my ex-husband came up. We didn’t have the best relationship when we were together, and even some time after. I had hate and resentment towards him, and I have since forgiven him, but something still came up for me this morning. It made me very emotional, and all I could feel was just love for him. I still feel it right now. He is the father of my children. Yes, we may be divorced, and I may not agree on everything he says or does, but at one point I did love him, enough to marry him and have children with him.
Things may not have worked out, and they didn’t because we were not properly aligned. I didn’t seek God when I was looking for a husband. I asked God recently why things didn’t work out with him, and He told me that his path was not the same as mine, and that he would hinder what it was that God called me to do. It still hurts because sometimes I feel that I let my kids down by bringing them up in two separate households. Not having the “family dynamic” that God wanted.
You Gain Spiritual Growth
This was the path that God brought us down, and it’s what is best for our spiritual growth. He knows best. My point in sharing this is, I have forgiven him, and I see how it has changed my heart and how I look at things. It has changed the way I see my ex-husband, and even the way I talk with him now.
I see and feel the release, the healing that Jesus is doing. I see the growth I am gaining from this, and how much closer I am getting to Jesus. That is what we want. Closeness and relationship with Jesus. When we lay it all down at His feet, He will help us and heal us.
Forgiveness is Freeing
Forgiveness is a huge part of salvation. The heaviness that is released from you is so completely freeing. That is what Jesus wants to do is free us. Give us freedom from this bondage and chains that have held us back for so long.
Give it to Him. Let it go. Forgive from your heart. Ask for forgiveness from God. Show others how important it is to forgive. Love one another. That is what God tells us in the Bible, and He is very strongly putting that on me now.
Love One Another
Show love and compassion and pray for your loved ones salvation. We go through this life in just a moments time. Life is too short to hold onto unforgiveness, bitterness or anger.
John 13:34-35
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Seek the Lord in all that you do. He will meet you where you are. I know this is not an easy topic, but it is necessary to speak about. With love.
I pray this encouraged you today. <3
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