Recently I celebrated the big “5 - 0” and with that joyous occasion came new medical procedures one must endure. I had to cleanse my system so that my “test” would be successful. As I was going through this process God spoke to my heart during my morning devotions and I was reminded of another cleansing, or detoxification I had to go through several years ago. I was going through a Bible study, at the same time as this physical cleansing, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom titled, “Seeking Him Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival.” How like Him to work through my body and soul at the same time.
As I worked my way through the study, mentioned above, there were several quotes along with scripture that just struck me and caused me many moments of pondering. Nancy and Tim tell a story about a woman and her husband and the lesson they learned regarding forgiveness. One of the statements in this story that struck me was, “I learned that forgiveness was not something I could do on my own, but that Christ could forgive through me.” I found this so true as I reflected on my past and the forgiveness that I had to choose to do. On day 2 the key point in this study was, “We cannot avoid being hurt and wronged by others. Therefore, we cannot avoid the need to forgive others.” During my separation and divorce I had a year of professional counseling to help me come to terms with all that had taken place over the past 23 years of marriage and 39 years of life. My counselor had me do an exercise that to this day I know helped me take the major steps of forgiving. He had me pray and ask God to help me remember as far back as I could all the hurts that I had been dealt in my life and to write each one down. Then go back through them and ask God to help me feel the emotion that went with that hurt. The last step was to seek Him to show me if there was any unforgiveness in my heart toward the person who had been involved. It was such an emotionally draining time. In the end after I was cried out and spent I had such a peace about me. I felt clean and renewed. Day 3 brought out that, “God is sovereign over the hurts others inflict on us and will use them for redemptive purposes if we let Him.” I can look back on the past 10 years and see how He has used those hurts I suffered to minister to others and point them to the Source of healing. Day 4’s key point was, “Forgiveness means that I fully release the offender from his debt. It means fully cleaning his record. It is a promise never to bring up the offense against him again (to God, to others, or to the offender himself).” [See Romans 12: 17-21] There was a time when I would have thought this impossible or wrong! To me this meant that I would have to forget the injury, say what was done was okay, but I was wrong. That isn’t what this is saying. Please know and understand that I know there are some things that are really hard forget, especially when it was done to you. I believe God doesn’t expect you to forget them like He promises to forget our sins [Psalm 103:12, Hebrews 10:17, Jeremiah 31:34]. My precious husband, Charlie, tells me when I struggle with this that it is like a book in the library of life. You’ve read that book and you know it is on the shelf. As each day passes you no longer pick it up, open it up and read it. Later on, you don’t even touch it as you walk by, then one day you realize that it is in your peripheral vision. It is there, always will be, but never again will it haunt you. That’s what God’s forgiveness through you does, it allows you the freedom to not be chained to the pain any longer. You don’t throw the hurt in the face of the accuser, trying to make them feel the same pain they caused you. There are some things that are best to forgive and move on not worry about trying to reconcile the relationship with. These are areas it is best to meet with your Pastor or a Christian counselor on for solid Biblical guidance. This area of forgiveness was the hardest for me to face. Forgiveness in these times is truly a day at a time choice. C.S. Lewis says, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. This is hard;…how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, ’Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves.” Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Oh that the pain of our lives can be offered up to Him as a sweet fragrance to His nostrils as we choose to forgive. Another key point on day 4 was, “Forgiveness is not forgetting. It is a transaction in which I release my debtor from the obligation to repay his debt.” When my husband left me and the truth of all that had taken place in our family’s life started surfacing I had to deal with some ugly things that came to life. God showed me during those months that I had a decision to make. Was I going to choose to forgive him for what he had done or was I going to hang onto the bitterness that was beginning to grow inside of me. I was scared to let it go because I felt if I did then I was saying what he did was okay. I was scared to hang on to it because I knew it would mean separation from the only One who could help me. “Bitterness robs us of joy and peace. It hijacks us, taking us places we never wanted to go, doing things we never wanted to do, and making us people we never wanted to be.” – Bill Elliff I realized that when I released him and his actions toward us to God then he was no longer my responsibility and I could be free to move forward in His plan for my children and I.
God took His love and mercy, and through my forgiving my ex for all he did I was able to detoxify my heart and my whole being. I felt life within my vital organs and all of my body that I hadn’t felt in months. Even looking back at that moment in my life I get rejuvenated by the knowledge that God loves me so much and wants what is best for me. I am so thankful that His grace has cleansed me from those hard feelings that made me not just physically ill but spiritually sick.
When was the last time you “detoxed” your spiritual system. Is there someone you may need to forgive, maybe it is even just yourself? Don’t hang onto any more crud, purge it from every part of your being and feel the rejuvenation in your heart the way I did in mine.
“To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you.”
– Author Unknown
Quotes in italics from “Seeking Him Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss & Tim Grissom with Life Action Ministries
Moody Publishers, Chigaco
As I worked my way through the study, mentioned above, there were several quotes along with scripture that just struck me and caused me many moments of pondering. Nancy and Tim tell a story about a woman and her husband and the lesson they learned regarding forgiveness. One of the statements in this story that struck me was, “I learned that forgiveness was not something I could do on my own, but that Christ could forgive through me.” I found this so true as I reflected on my past and the forgiveness that I had to choose to do. On day 2 the key point in this study was, “We cannot avoid being hurt and wronged by others. Therefore, we cannot avoid the need to forgive others.” During my separation and divorce I had a year of professional counseling to help me come to terms with all that had taken place over the past 23 years of marriage and 39 years of life. My counselor had me do an exercise that to this day I know helped me take the major steps of forgiving. He had me pray and ask God to help me remember as far back as I could all the hurts that I had been dealt in my life and to write each one down. Then go back through them and ask God to help me feel the emotion that went with that hurt. The last step was to seek Him to show me if there was any unforgiveness in my heart toward the person who had been involved. It was such an emotionally draining time. In the end after I was cried out and spent I had such a peace about me. I felt clean and renewed. Day 3 brought out that, “God is sovereign over the hurts others inflict on us and will use them for redemptive purposes if we let Him.” I can look back on the past 10 years and see how He has used those hurts I suffered to minister to others and point them to the Source of healing. Day 4’s key point was, “Forgiveness means that I fully release the offender from his debt. It means fully cleaning his record. It is a promise never to bring up the offense against him again (to God, to others, or to the offender himself).” [See Romans 12: 17-21] There was a time when I would have thought this impossible or wrong! To me this meant that I would have to forget the injury, say what was done was okay, but I was wrong. That isn’t what this is saying. Please know and understand that I know there are some things that are really hard forget, especially when it was done to you. I believe God doesn’t expect you to forget them like He promises to forget our sins [Psalm 103:12, Hebrews 10:17, Jeremiah 31:34]. My precious husband, Charlie, tells me when I struggle with this that it is like a book in the library of life. You’ve read that book and you know it is on the shelf. As each day passes you no longer pick it up, open it up and read it. Later on, you don’t even touch it as you walk by, then one day you realize that it is in your peripheral vision. It is there, always will be, but never again will it haunt you. That’s what God’s forgiveness through you does, it allows you the freedom to not be chained to the pain any longer. You don’t throw the hurt in the face of the accuser, trying to make them feel the same pain they caused you. There are some things that are best to forgive and move on not worry about trying to reconcile the relationship with. These are areas it is best to meet with your Pastor or a Christian counselor on for solid Biblical guidance. This area of forgiveness was the hardest for me to face. Forgiveness in these times is truly a day at a time choice. C.S. Lewis says, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. This is hard;…how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, ’Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves.” Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Oh that the pain of our lives can be offered up to Him as a sweet fragrance to His nostrils as we choose to forgive. Another key point on day 4 was, “Forgiveness is not forgetting. It is a transaction in which I release my debtor from the obligation to repay his debt.” When my husband left me and the truth of all that had taken place in our family’s life started surfacing I had to deal with some ugly things that came to life. God showed me during those months that I had a decision to make. Was I going to choose to forgive him for what he had done or was I going to hang onto the bitterness that was beginning to grow inside of me. I was scared to let it go because I felt if I did then I was saying what he did was okay. I was scared to hang on to it because I knew it would mean separation from the only One who could help me. “Bitterness robs us of joy and peace. It hijacks us, taking us places we never wanted to go, doing things we never wanted to do, and making us people we never wanted to be.” – Bill Elliff I realized that when I released him and his actions toward us to God then he was no longer my responsibility and I could be free to move forward in His plan for my children and I.
God took His love and mercy, and through my forgiving my ex for all he did I was able to detoxify my heart and my whole being. I felt life within my vital organs and all of my body that I hadn’t felt in months. Even looking back at that moment in my life I get rejuvenated by the knowledge that God loves me so much and wants what is best for me. I am so thankful that His grace has cleansed me from those hard feelings that made me not just physically ill but spiritually sick.
When was the last time you “detoxed” your spiritual system. Is there someone you may need to forgive, maybe it is even just yourself? Don’t hang onto any more crud, purge it from every part of your being and feel the rejuvenation in your heart the way I did in mine.
“To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you.”
– Author Unknown
Quotes in italics from “Seeking Him Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss & Tim Grissom with Life Action Ministries
Moody Publishers, Chigaco
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