I had found myself this
morning overwhelmed with negative feelings from a recent slight. As
I cried out to the Lord asking for help, He reminded me that I
had been teaching recently, that we humans have this unique ability
to think about what we are thinking about. And in my mind’s eye I
then imagined myself looking down on me wrestling with resentment. I
then chose to think about things that are pure, lovely etc., etc.
(Philippians 4:8). As I did this the feelings started to lift. For me
this was relatively quick, but I have had a lot of practice taking my
thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), I have needed to. You see one
of my addictions was obsessive thinking, and in the beginning it was
much more of a struggle to take my thoughts captive than it was this
morning. But reaping the consequences of my addictive obsessive
thinking was one of my wake-up calls.
The writer to the
Hebrews warns us that we must take care that we do not fail to
receive the grace of God “lest any root of bitterness springing up
cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).
You see resentment and bitterness are poison. And first and
foremost we poison ourselves with our negativity, but we also poison
those around us whom we love. And at the time of my wake up call I
certainly needed His grace to overcome my addictive obsessive
thinking, and still do at times. So this morning I asked Him to help
me receive His Grace. It’s all about forgiveness of course, and
depending on the hurt, and the length of time we spent resenting,
receiving His grace is either easier, or harder. And for most of
us, forgiving others, and getting rid of our resentment is a process
that we need to practice, practice, practice.
Father, You tell us to
be kind and compassionate one to another, forgiving one another just
as You forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). We need to forgive Father,
because over and over we need to be forgiven, and unless we
forgive, You will not forgive us (Matthew 6:15). But Lord we also
need to forgive for our own sake, because life does not go well when
we sit in the prison of bitterness and resentment. So this morning
Lord, I’m asking for Grace for myself and all those reading this
blog, Grace to forgive from the heart. And we will give you the
honour, and glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen
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