Want to Feel Closer to God? Forgive.

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."   ...Romans 5:25

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Joyce Meyer says whenever she asks her audiences if they're mad at someone, always 80% of the crowd raises their hands.

That's thousands and thousands of angry Christians and it's not even counting those folks not in her meetings.

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins"   ... Matthew 6:14,15.

Held-onto-anger ruins things: Our closeness to God. Our relationships. Our health--mental, physical, emotional. 

Unforgiveness spoils everything. It hangs-on like a low-grade fever and we are never really free. And we never walk the path of joy God meant to keep our strength renewed.

So today I would say let go. 

Let go of anger about immigration and guns and stricter gun laws. And the President. And terrorists, WalMart, Facebook and all things unfair and cruel. And bad neighbors or parents or traitor friends or the fact that you couldn't go to college. And money woes, awful co-workers, job losses, family deaths, war, failure, sins, nasty weather and how God disappointed you and the loss of your one great love ...

"... because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."   ... James 1:20

Let them go. That is, if you want to stand closer to God, so close, you can feel His warm breath upon your neck.

Yet what if God has called you to do something about any of those things? Then get out there and do something! Something God-led-awesome, wonderful. With God leading you, marvelous changes will surely happen.

But start from the home base of obedience and compassion. Not anger. Begin right to finish right.

Complaining and sharing angry statuses at Facebook or in emails, reopening other wounded hearts God's trying to stitch closed? And being eaten away by the anger inside your own stomach? Those are not valiantly fighting God's enemies. Carrying great compassion for others and asking God to help us understand--that will recreate our world, love being the most powerful thing.

Today, forgive. Let this be the Springtime you walk in your garden unencumbered with harsh thoughts, knowing instead, the presence of Jesus matching your steps with His.

Knock down the brick Unforgiveness Wall between you and God, run to Him, cling to His arm, then move forward, together ... and you'll soon find yourself and your world very, very changed.

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Acts 3:19

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord..."

Oh, those times of refreshing! And how wonderful that they can take place in the center of any bad time, God being the God of the opposite world.

"Be wholly joyful..."

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Aww... if you like farms and baby goats, you'll like this little film.