Devotions on forgiveness from Gary Thomas’ book Embracing the Love of God

Peter van Breeman said, “When we really accept God’s acceptance and believe that it is without limits, then we can express our guilt.”

When we really know we are loved unconditionally by God then we have the freedom to explore our dark side. Otherwise we are paralyzed by the fear of rejection and keep our sins hidden. When we are able by God’ grace to bring our sins to the light, we see that they lose their power. That’s why the enemy wants us to keep from confessing and sharing our struggles with God or with one another.  The enemy tells us we are the only one who struggles or that we shouldn’t fall to temptation since we are Christians. But knowing and loving the Lord does not make us immune, for we all struggle with the conflict between the spirit and the flesh. It is good to know we are not alone in our struggles or we will end up hiding from the One who wants to heal and forgive us.  God is a forgiving God and at the heart of God is the desire to give and forgive.  NO matter what we do wrong, He is always there to welcome us back, forgive us and desire nothing other than our presence. His sacrifice on the cross frees us, and we need only to accept that forgiveness that cannot be earned.  He forgives us even when we don’t forgive ourselves or before we even ask.  Let us invite Him to begin working on what has been tripping us up so that we can live in closer union with Him.

Devotions from James Smith book, Embracing the Love of God

What does a Normal day look like when we are caring for our body, soul and spirit?

When we wake up we can turn our thoughts to the Lord first and thank Him for his grace, love, forgiveness, and care for us. This helps us get a view of the day from his perspective.
Secondly, we can ask him to direct our whole day- all our thoughts, words, and actions. This reminds us that we are not in control of our lives and enables God to nourish and shape us.

Thirdly, we can eat meals that are both nourishing and enjoyable, and allow time to exercise and play.
Fourthly, we can take time to be quiet and alone as well as to enjoy the company of others. Fifteen minutes of solitude and an evening of conversation with close friends will strengthen our spirits.

Fifthly, we will make a conscious effort to be aware of the Lord’s presence every few hours or so. Our day will include time set aside for prayer and lifting up needs.

Sixthly, we will exercise our minds by reading or studying something that stimulates and moves us. It might be a passage of scripture or even a movie that causes us to think on Him

Lastly, we try to get enough sleep as God does not intend for us to get exhausted. As we fall asleep we can pray, using the Lord’s Prayer or 23^rd Psalm as our guide. Then tell God we are grateful for the day and look forward to the next.

All these things add life to our years on this earth. Life is too short to work in a job we hate, to miss the spring blossoms, to neglect to tell our loved ones how important they are to us etc.  We will never have time to do all the things we want to do in this life so let us spend our time well.

Devotions from James Smith’s book Embracing the Love of God

Our body was designed to interact with the spiritual realm. When we do certain spiritual exercise (all of which involve our bodies) we nurture and develop our souls and spirits. This is called spiritual formation.  Spiritual formation is happening all the time, even when we are not aware of it. Each day our spirits are being formed. As we turn ourselves to God, engaging in activities and spiritual exercise, we will begin to reflect God in our everyday lives.
Six exercises that have a great effect on our lives are:

1. Keeping the Sabbath. This is when we take a day of the week, or an afternoon or two, when we schedule a time to do nothing.  It’s a time of abstaining from work which teaches us to live in trust and let God take care of us.
2. Solitude.  This is a time to withdraw from other people for the purpose of becoming more attuned to our inner heart. It makes us more sensitive to the world around us and creates a space for us to be still.
3. Silence.  This is a means of centering our spirit and quieting our souls.  By keeping a period of silence we become more focused on the things that we say without words.
4. Prayer.   Prayer is the most transforming activity we can engage in. God has given us this gift so we can commune with Him. We can take all our needs and concerns and questions and doubts to Him who welcomes them
5. Study.  Through study we focus our minds on Him and what is true, honorable, just, and pure. ( Phil. 4:8)  It is good to take a passage of scripture and memorize it and let it speak to our hearts.
6. Practicing the Presence.  This is an exercise that involves becoming consciously aware of God’s presence daily. We are often focused on many other things that God is far from our minds.  So when we take time every few hours to consider His presence, we open the window for God to be more a part of our lives.

Tomorrow I will share what a typical day looks like when we care for ourselves.

Devotions based on James Smith book Embracing the Love of God

Caring for ourselves involves nurturing our spirit, soul and body. The new self, the true self that we are in Christ, requires ongoing spiritual sustenance.  God has left us exercises and activities that allow spiritual life and power to flow through us.  Prayer, for example is a channel through which we receive this power and life, along with meditating on scripture, memorizing it, taking sacraments, fasting etc.  We also need to care for our soul which is the part of us that feels, enjoys, yearns, weeps, desires and wills. We must not neglect our emotions but rather pay attention to our feelings and passions and be sensitive to this part of our lives.  This requires that we give space for reflection and time for relaxation and enjoyment.  We need to live close to our hearts and pay attention to what we feel. When we enjoy the world around us and experience healthy pleasures we are caring for our souls. Since our souls and spirits are housed in our bodies we need to love and nurture them as well. That means eating healthy food, exercising, getting plenty of rest etc. If we take care of them they will reward us with the energy and vitality that allow us to experience more of life and extend the power of God to others.  Our bodies are the primary receptacles for the life of God.  I Cor. 6:19.   Because our souls are affected by what w do with our bodies, it is important that we care for them.

Tomorrow will share things we can to do that we might reflect His glory through our lives.

Devotions from James Smith book Embracing the Love of God

God cares for how we care for ourselves and this care for ourselves is not something selfish.  As we care for ourselves we are really allowing God to care for us. The very fact that he gave us a Sabbath day shows that He cares for us by insisting we rest our bodies and give space to our souls one day a week.

“God invites us to integrate His presence, His resources, His wisdom, and His power into our lives.”   He wants us to ask for His help in every aspect of our lives, especially when things are difficult.  He suffers when He sees us trying to work through painful times on our own. Caring for ourselves means allowing God to be part of our lives, and our part is to believe and to seek Him.  God created us out of love and He wants us to experience that love and stand before Him as a trophy of His goodness, grace and mercy.
Each of us came into this world for a single purpose: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Who are we that He should love us so much?  We are magnificent creatures, fearfully and wonderfully made. We are spiritual beings with souls and bodies and tomorrow I will share more on how to care for each aspect of these parts of our lives.

Devotions from James Smith’s book, Embracing the Love of God

How did we get the notion that if we believe in God  we will experience perfect peace and prosperity and avoid pain?  Life can be difficult no matter how much faith we have, but in the midst of our trials He is very present. When we are still we can hear His gentle voice reassuring us that we are not alone and He is there, caring for us.  Even when something terrible occurs, God is able to accomplish His purposes.  When we learn to really trust Him, we are at peace.  We are told to ask, seek, and knock. Sometimes we may feel He didn’t respond to our prayers in the way we have asked.” Martin Luther said we should never prescribe measure, manner, time, or place in our prayers because he believed that we should trust in God’s wisdom, which is higher than ours.”  God looks in our hearts to see what we really need. The answer may not come as we anticipate, but it will come and His answers are always better.  When we have to wait for His answers it is not because He is cruel but He wants us to grow. Waiting takes a great deal of faith, patience, and trust, and our soul is being shaped all the while.
God’s presence is with us and He is all we need in life. Heb. 13:6 “ The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”  We will never face a situation without the presence and care of God. He grieves with us and rejoices with us.  He will never leave us!

Devotions from James Smith book, Embracing the Love of God

The two most difficult people to forgive are those whom we can’t forgive because they are no longer with us and those who don’t care whether we forgive them or not.  We can still obtain complete forgiveness even if the person is no longer alive.  Forgiving those who do not want our forgiveness is hard because something inside of us wants them to desire our forgiveness. We’d rather they receive our forgiveness with gratitude.  We must remember it is not our offenders’ desire to be forgiven that prompts us to forgive, but it is our desire to be free. Their attitude should not dictate our behavior.
It is not always wise to have a face to face meeting with one who has harmed us as sometimes they may react negatively. But often it is the best course of action to meet with them when the person has asked for forgiveness or when we really feel the Lord prompting us to do so.  We can ask the Lord for guidance and discern when it would help.
Often forgiving others takes time. One indication that we have forgiven is when the old angry feelings surrounding the event have dissipated. Another indication is we actually find ourselves wishing the person well.  When we are immersed in God’s love and acceptance and forgiveness, we are drawn to forgive the sins of people around us. We lose our desire for revenge and find ourselves showing mercy. “Forgiveness is a gift God has given us to wipe away the sins of others, not only for their sakes but for our benefit as well. Forgiving one another sets us free form the stifling grip of an unforgiving spirit. The prisoners walk free, the evil is transformed into good, the pain stops, and life is ours to enjoy again.”

Devotions from James Smith’s book, Embracing the Love of God

The only way we can be healed of the things that have hurt us is to forgive. When we forgive a person, we set a prisoner free, but we discover that the real prisoner was ourselves. The healing journey involves discovering how much we have been forgiven. When we have a clear sense of God’s forgiveness it will lead us to forgive one another. In Eph. 4:23 Paul says, “forgive one another as Christ has forgiven you.”  If we do not forgive another, we don’t understand how much we have been forgiven. The healing journey also involves releasing a debt that someone has not paid and may not ever pay.  In fact, the payment is inconsequential. When we forgive we release the debt and are saying we are wiping out the deficit.  Forgiveness accepts the offender as they are.  It requires no future reformation of their behavior or it would not be forgiveness.  There are no strings attached to forgiveness.  The final element of forgiveness is allowing God to use what has happened as a means of growth for us. It can help us be more sensitive and sympathetic with people who go through similar struggles. God doesn’t send evil, but he uses our suffering as a means of growth and can make something more beautiful in our lives as he did with Joseph. More tomorrow.