Sometimes, we have to move away physically for our hearts to heal.
At other times, we just stay on but let our hearts move on in forgiveness.
Sometimes the pain goes away.
At other times we learn to live victoriously in spite of the pain.
We can’t run away from every monster in life. Sometimes you have to kill that monster and take back your treasure.
Something wonderful happened to me this week.
The Lord told me to forgive some people who’ve hurt me so badly
and to go meet them and pray for them.
You could think it’s that easy, but I spent a sleepless night just imagining
how I will have to go down to those people who owe me
apologies, tell them I forgive them, then pray for them.
But I finally swallowed my pride and timidity and did just that.
When I began to pray with one of them, she just broke down to tears…especially when I
mentioned that I’m releasing her from the prison of my heart so that she can get blessed.
I just realized how much hurt I had been causing by keeping them in the prison of my heart.
At the end of it all, I felt so good, free and joyous. They too.
I challenge you to do same. Do not hold that person in the prison cell of your heart any longer. Do not even wait for God to say so.
Release them, pray for them and you will get blessed yourself.
It’s good to know God is not keeping someone in bondage because I, His servant have refused to forgive them.
Remember Jesus said, whom we forgive He will forgive too.
When you’ve been abused, mistreated, used and dumped
It takes courage, the willingness to forgive
And the desire to live again
To give out your heart another time.
That’s why we must never exert pressure on people
To open up their hearts to us.
We deserve openness and genuineness in every relationship
But we must give people the time to change,
To heal and to willingly open up again.
Trying to force it out of them can be counter productive
NO matter how much you love them and want to be with them
Just be gentle enough to let them loosen up naturally and at a pace
That is comfortable for them.
They may really be in love,
But still needing time to get on the rails
Do not be impatient when they seem reticent
Let the rose unfold naturally.
Love and Blessing, Gretiana
They’ve been times I almost gave up.
There are times I feel like throwing in the towel.
Very often I’ve wanted to do something really stupid…
But then I thought of how it will affect my son,
How he will live to suffer the effect…
Then I decided to choose the better option,
Even if it was the most difficult.
That is how God deals with us…
Because of His son He forgives you even when He shouldn’t,
He answers your prayers when you don’t deserve it,
He forgives you when you mess up,
He promises great things for you that you can not pay for
BECAUSE OF HIS SON.
What will you give to God this season BECAUSE OF HIS SON?
Give Him your whole heart, your worship and trust.
That’s the least you can do BECAUSE OF HIS SON.
This is a very unusual thing to say to anybody isn’t it? Not so when life has wiped off laughter from your mouth and you need to learn how to laugh again.
I met a man some time ago and we sat down to discuss about our Christian faith. I soon noticed that he had a very unusual way of laughing. When he laughed, he would cover his mouth with his hand and bend his head as if to hide his face and then he will laugh as though he were buying it in ounces. It was as if he was afraid to use too much of the scarce laughter available in the world. It was as though he didn’t have a right to it… he looked pathetic in his gestures.
When I got to investigate this phenomenon I soon realized this man has gone through so much in life that he had forgotten that laughter is a gift from God. To him, the good things of life, even things as natural and accessible as laughter were not his by right. unconsciously he wanted to apologize for using it. He laughed as though he was stealing someone’s laughter.
You may find this strange. You may be saying ” I am not like that, I can laugh freely … Let me find out from you. When you go to the market or the mall what section automatically attracts your attention? Do you always want to go for the cheap and the ugly even when the nice stuff is cheap and accessible? And when you finally find enough courage to go to the nice stuff you feel so unworthy of it and you walk as though you are going where angels fear to tread. It is possible poverty has messed up your mind the way it did mine. If our man needs to learn how to laugh, you need to learn how to go for the good things in life.
I am a survivor, a survivor of sexual abuse, rejection, poverty and hatred. This started at birth right through to my teenage years. It really messed me up. When Jesus saved me and started teaching me through His word that I was not what the world said I was, it was not easy for me to accept my new identity in Christ. I have heard too many abusive words that simply programed me as a disaster waiting to happen.
Sexual abuse led to low self-esteem and no self-value. I did not have respect for my body, consequently I gave it away cheaply which led to more sexual abuse. You know the vicious cycle that follows. I was searching for love but from the wrong places due to the rejection I has suffered; but all those men wanted was my body and nothing more. They did not care about my heart condition. I lived a secret life of fear, suspicion and mistrust because I always expected someone to hurt me. I became defensive in everything I did, becoming very tough and difficult to get along with. This led to more rejection since no one understood the root of my problems. I lived a double kind of life.
Poverty messed me up too. When God started blessing me it was not easy for me to accept that I can have enough money in my pocket. Whenever it happened, I saw it as unusual and this pushed me to want to spend it all at once and go back to my familiar state of poverty. I bought so much junk and cheap stuff it became a bore as it took up so much breathing space in my life. I just could not handle money.
Relationships were a nightmare. I just expected people to hurt, abuse and betray me as in the past, consequently I could not easily trust people. The worse of it is that even in the church were I expected to find solace, some unscrupulous brothers and sisters added some vinegar to my wounds. It took God Himself to wipe out the hurt. I learned the hard way to love everyone but to trust God alone because He alone is perfect.
Why am I saying all of this? It is not to provoke pity for me. God has healed my wounds already and is still committed to healing those I will ever receive. I want you to know that there is healing in Christ no matter what you have been through. Ask of God the divine capacity to forgive, forget and live your life like nothing bad ever happened to you. I still remember the day I went up to the man who had sexually abused me for years during my childhood. I did not go there to yell at him, take him to the police or to throw my anger in his face. I simply told him that I had forgiven him and that he should seek God’s forgiveness so as to live a fulfilled life and make heaven. Only a healed heart can do this.
Do you need to go up to someone today and do same? do not hesitate another day… your total healing depends on that sometimes. Please my dear friend, forgive and move on with your life. And above all else know that God loves you dearly and wants the very best for you. Never doubt it another day. Some day you will read my full story in a book and you will know that there is no limit to the depth God will go to save and heal the last the lost and the least.
What do you see when you look back on your life and the years you have spent on earth? Wasted years, ignorance and its consequences? No matter what your life is or has been, thank God you are still alive, thus there is a possibility to make amends. God’s grace surely covers up our times of ignorance, but requires that we repent and be transformed (Romans 12:2) Now that you have come to the knowledge of the truth, there is no need crying over things you can never change, “oh if only I knew, if someone had told me…” The truth is, you cannot turn back the hands of time and you cannot even wipe off the chapters of your past.
One day I told myself, if only I could be conceived anew, I will give my life to Christ right from my mother’s womb, so that by the time I step into this world, I will be a Holy Ghost-filled, tongue–talking born again child of God. But that is never going to happen so I have learned to live as best as I can , forgetting those things that are behind and reaching for the best which is yet to come. No matter how good or bad your past has been, it cannot be compared to the things God has in store for you. You are still alive, you still have it all.
THE LABEL
What is your label? What does the world call you? What is your reaction to it? Have you settled for it or do you have the guts to walk out on it? The Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 had a turn around. She said “no” to the label of emotional instability when she listened to and believed Jesus’ words. Mary Magdalene rejected the etiquette ‘possessed woman’ when she ran to Jesus for help. When Jesus showed up in the life of the woman at the synagogue, the label ‘bent double’ became a thing of the past.
God knows what label the world has given you. Maybe they call you barren, prostitute, accursed, bastard, etc. Rest assured that this is not what your Daddy calls you. However, He is looking to see the attitude you will put on as regards this appellation. Are you mean or complacent enough to add your signature to it or will you run to Him for a change of name? The choice is yours. However, it is not what the world says about you that matters. It is what your Creator says. He formed your inner parts. He knows the gifts and potential that is hidden behind your weaknesses and failures. He alone is qualified to label you and I assure you that if you knew what He thinks about you, you will shout for joy.
VOICES FROM THE PAST
Who are those voices speaking from your past? They know too much about you, your family lineage, where you were born, whom you grew up with, what you ate, wore; in short, a bit too much about you. Basing their intentions on the few details they have about you, they think they are qualified to name your babies. Luke 1:58-59 says the neighbors of Elizabeth and Zachariah thought of a better name for John the Baptist because they thought they knew so much about this family. Such people think you should marry X and not Y, go to such a school and live in such a house. They know what type of services your bank account can purchase.
Some of these voices are even crueler. They try to use your past failures, errors and weaknesses to humiliate, mock ridicule and limit you, keeping your head permanently bowed down. But I have good news for you. Your heavenly Father never consults your past to determine your future. He does not even consult your former neighbors, friends and acquaintances because their report about you will be tinted by prejudice, jealousy and blatant wickedness. (The heart of man is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). God has chosen to use the base things of the world for His glory. Do not let them stop you. Tell the devil to get behind you because the dream in you is too big to be killed by some faint voices from the past.
Child of God, if you still keep relationships with such voices from you past, make up your mind to break away from them this very moment. Get connected to people who can see beyond your past, who can mentor your dream or help you dream up a glorious future. Refuse to be dominated by that voice from your past.
WHO DO YOU RESEMBLE?
(Genesis 1:26-27)
We are created in God’s image. We are created to be a reflection of God’s personality (holiness, love, power, peace, joy etc.). We are not created in the devil’s image, so we must never be a reflection of his nature (sin, poverty, weakness, fear wickedness etc.).
The next time you are walking down the street, ask yourself whose kingdom you are advertising. Do onlookers see the glory of God in you or the shame and reproach of the devil? I have learned one lesson, a very important one. Never let people read your problems on your face. No matter what you are going through, ask of God the Grace to have a ‘clean front’. You are created to glorify God, refuse to be a mobile billboard for the devil’s publicity.
THE HEALING ARENA 