“Yield now and be at peace with Him;
Thereby good will come to you." ---Job 22:21
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Maybe you've noticed this at the end of every post:
"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15
It's my sneaky reminder. Go staying mad at anyone--even President Trump--and we'll never experience daily consistent joy. Call it disappointment, righteous anger (that never leaves) or whatever--Life will never be joy-filled within our unforgiveness.
God won't allow it.
"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love.
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." --from 2 Peter 1.
Or like I wrote at Facebook:
Because of their unforgiveness, Christians who still hate President Trump are now blind to the changes God's made in him.
God has changed our President these past 4 years. (I've heard pastors/evangelists say they gathered around him while he prayed the sinner's prayer.) If he's not changed rocket-fast enough for you, how quickly did you grow once you found God? Hmmm?
Unforgiveness is pride in disguise. It is, as the verse above says, 'forgetting that we have been cleansed from our former sins'.
It's throwing the first stone. Feeling justified in making a direct hit.
Pride births unforgiveness and pride always comes before a great fall--often deep, blinding deception is that fall.
Unforgiveness poisons, shrivels a life God intended for beauty, joy and wonder. God chooses to not forgive us if we don't forgive others.
Unforgiveness, pride, blast with a hammer all the light and joy God longed to stream down upon us, leaving us in black blindness, instead. Nothing is worth losing closeness with God.
Nothing.
Have unforgiveness? Let it go. Let. It. Go.
Oh, and this post is not just about feelings toward our President. Each of us must watch out for unforgiveness toward anyone with whom we are close.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil." ---Ephesians 4:26, 27
(Four years is an abhorrent amount of time to hate our President. A total mockery of 'do not let the sun go down on your anger'.)
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I've kept a sort of scrapbook post about what President Trump has done for our Country. Scroll down for a long list I copied and pasted. (If you can only think of 2 or 3 things, you are way, way behind!) シ
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Here is a lovely tiny vintage farmhouse. Wow. Love everything about it.
And I'm still addicted to music reactions at Youtube. What a joy to watch young folks discover (and enjoy) music from our long ago era!
I especially loved JayVee's reaction to Yesterday Once More (my very favorite Carpenter's song!). Listen with headphones if you can; it makes a difference.
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"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15
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6 comments:
Amen! I cannot believe the hate-filled speech I hear everywhere on the news, online, in person. I have started turning lots of things off and I'm enjoying the silence.
Blessings,
Betsy
Sometimes we forget that leaders are human. Sometimes I wonder why anyone is still willing to be President!
I enjoyed the tour of the country home. Wish my floors shined like hers! 😊
Thank you for posting the video. I forgot how much I loved listening to the Carpenters. That young man made me smile. 😊
Betsy--yes! There's so much hate. And personally I believe that's why it's more important that we share and share our voices with words of godly love and truth. So many times I'd like to hide here, but aside from the occasional 'vacation' to rest my mind, God asks that I stay informed and keep speaking light-filled words into the darkness. It's not hard and if He asks something of us He pours grace upon it--if we'll hold out our hands and receive it.
Pam--so true! It's so easy for me to see that God Himself keeps our President standing and safe--I just wish everyone else could see that as well. We need to keep praying, right?
Rebecca--so glad you liked the country home tour. It was obvious how much she loved her home and surroundings, right?
Robin--Yes! The Carpenters were the best. I remember so many of their songs as a teen--they'd come on the radio and I'd turn it up as high as I could get away with. :) I still love their music today just as much!
Thanks so much, Everyone,for commenting! Blessings, Debra
I'm so far behind in reading the blog posts but am still reading when I can get to them and I will get to every single one of them no matter how far I get behind. There's too much good stuff to take a chance on missing anything! (Too true!)
Loved this post, the forgiveness message which for a Christian is essential (well - it's essential for ANYONE who wants to get into Heaven but as Christians, we have to forgive because otherwise, what kind of an example are we setting, ya know?!)
The Carpenters - loved them as a teenager and like you said Debra, I love them just as much today.
Have an awesome day!
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