Forgiveness

Matthew18:21-22
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord ,how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered,I tell you not seven times but seventy-seven times!"

"Exercising forgiveness doesn't mean we have to pretend nothing happened. It doesn't mean we weren't deeply hurt by that persons actions. Nor does it mean that we have to continue trusting this person after his or her character flaws become evident.Forgiveness simply means that we let go of our need for vengeance so that we can live without the negative effects of that person's sin."- Shannon Ethridge(Completely Blessed)

"Conflict starts in our thinking"
"Focus on what's right not who's right"- Pastor Jays sermon(10/30/2010)

1Peter3:9
"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but WITH BLESSING, BECAUSE TO THIS YOU WERE CALLED so that you may inherit a blessing."

It is so easy to hold a grudge and I must say I am the best at it. It is definitely not something I am proud of, but it is the truth. And I must say family members are the easiest to not forgive one can hold something over their heads forever because they are family and it is expected that they will always be there no matter what we say and do. But that still does not mean that we don't hurt them by the grudges we are holding and by holding their past sins over their heads! Personally, I have done this to someone I love for a long time I have tried to make their life as miserable as possible ,by not allowing a relationship between them and I and them and other members of my family. I have constantly talked bad about this person and made sure that all her past sins were known and that they felt separated from everyone else. No it was definitely not right and something I am ashamed to say I did for so long! I knew it was wrong to being with but for years now I have tried to justify it by saying what they did to me was wrong, what they did to so and so was wrong, how they treat this person is wrong and their lifestyle is not something I admire or want to strive to be like but all those excuses are COMPLETELY WRONG!!!! Yes what they did was wrong, and how they treated others was wrong and the life they once lived may not be something I admired or strived for, but there is no excuse that can justify the behavior I expressed toward this person. I could have experienced such joy and blessings from this person over the years but I chose to cut them off from everything, I know it hurt them but I was also just hurting myself. I know they have gone through some hard things in life that I will never have to experience and I should have long ago just given their wrongs toward me and given them to God and forgiven them. I don't know what was going on in their life that made them do those things, but I should have been sympathetic toward them and tried to help them out instead of becoming bitter. All that said if I could take back the last two years and the wickedness I expressed toward this person I would. They did not deserve that and I am truly sorry for any pain I have caused them. I want them to know I forgive them and I hope one day I could be forgiven as well. I know we are now not who we once were and I hope God will bring us back together one day.

Big God

Our God- Chris Tomlin
Water you turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind
There's no one like you
None like you
Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes WE RISE
There's no one like you
None like you
OUR GOD IS GREATER
OUR GOD IS STRONG
GOD YOU ARE HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER
OUR GOD IS HEALER
AWESOME IN POWER
OUR GOD OUR GOD
Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like you
None like you
OUR GOD IS GREATER
OUR GOD IS STRONG
GOD YOU ARE HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER
OUR GOD IS HEALER
AWESOME IN POWER
OUR GOD OUR GOD
And if our God is for us
THEN WHO CAN EVER STOP US?
And if our God is with us
Then what could stand against?

Matthew 17:20
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and IT WILL MOVE. NOTHING will be impossible for you!"

Let Jesus be the object of my faith and my pursuit be only for him. So often i get caught up in striving to have more faith and i loose the aspects of who i am really striving to have more faith in, Jesus.I do struggle with having more faith and fully trusting God with ALL aspects of my life and not just with the ones i have control over but with things that have anything to do with my future , which i have absolutely no control over or idea of those are the hard things to give up like my future spouse,my future career,and the infinite number of things that have to do with my future and these are the things i have the least control over, the more control i have over something the easier it is to give it up to God because i can really say in my head that i have already handled it but by me giving those to him i am not showing my complete faith and really do I have control over anything no, because things could change in a second.I want to trust God with absolutely everything, his plans are far better than mine and his ways are so much higher than mine, it's just a matter of giving up my idea of the perfect life for his idea of what he thinks is perfect for me. He is stronger, greater, and higher than anything else in my life and i am completely trusting him with everything and if i am completely trusting him there is NOTHING that can come between God and his plans for me! Bring it on life my God already has a future planned out for me and i am going to trust he knows what is best despite the lack of control i possess, He has all control!

*At His Feet Devotional-Chris Tiegreen

I am a heir of Christ

So tonight at ROCS we watched the new Inheritances videos by Beth Moore, love her! She made some very valid points tonight that really made me think. First, she started off by encouraging us to think about the year that changed my life??? For me this is the year that everything in my life is going to change for the past 16 years my life has been consumed with school.Now as i prepare to graduate college this year all of that is about to change. Right now in my life is a period of change, so many things going on. Two more quarters left in school, deciding what i want to do with the rest of my life, do i want to attend graduate school? if so where? Do i want to stay in California or move out of state finally, will i ever meet the man of my dreams and get married,where should i apply for a future job? Am i ever going to get an internship? Is this interview on Wednesday going to go well? So many unknowns, but it does not matter because i have my eyes focused on God and letting him direct my every step. Second thing i learned from the video was that God has made me an heir in Christ and in 1 Corinthians 2:9 it says, "No eye has seen,no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him". He has something far better for me that i could ever imagine, now what i need to do is trade in my dreams for his phenomenal realities that he has to give me, so i stand here waiting for his perfect timing with my arms wide open to whatever he wants to give me, because it is far better than anything i could conjugal up. Third, your not having fun cause your a control freak and if you know me you definitely know that i am a control freak and its hard to let go, but i am learning that sometimes who really cares that they play panels are in a specific,organized order or who cares if my cd collection is out of whack because my lady antebellum cd is next to audio adrenaline, its not going to kill anyone and there are far more important things to consume my mind with like reaching one more soul for Jesus. Lastly, Psalms 16:6 ESV- The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;indeed, I have a BEAUTIFUL INHERITANCE! God has something waiting for me and all i have to do is accept it. So goal for the week is to figure out: 1) Because i know i have a beautiful inheritance awaiting me, how is that going to change my life this week? 2) How does one act who is waiting to receive their beautiful inheritance?