Forgiveness

Forgiveness is not only about releasing others for what they have done to us.  It’s also about accepting others for who they are to us.

In Matthew 6:14-15, directly following The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus warns:

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.

We forgive others; God forgives us.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t change how we feel about those who trespass against us. We hate them.  And, so long as we hold on to hatred, we are trapped.

I am blessed with enthusiasm. At the core of my enthusiasm is an appreciation for the people God places in my life. Yes, sometimes they trespass against me, and sometimes I return the favor.

However, I have learned to accept others for who they are to me: namely, God’s agents in my life.  I don’t always like or appreciate the role they play, but I trust that their presence is part of God’s plan, even in the most painful circumstances.

God is shaping and molding us daily into the people he created us to be.  Forgiving others softens the clay.

Kevin Bibo

He sees you

Everyday, when I’m sitting in the parking lot of our son’s school waiting to pick him up, I always watch for him to come out.  The bell rings and within mere moments, a sea of Junior High students come flooding out.

It never fails, no matter how many kids there are encompassing where he is walking, I can spot our son in a heartbeat.  My eyes go straight to the child that belongs to us.

So the other day, as I sat there looking for our son, I wondered if the same is true of God for us.  When God looks at humanity, and especially His children, does He too see us no matter what?  Does He see the ones that belong to Him, and even more so than that, does He see each of us individually?

Yes.

And not only does God see us, He knows each one of us personally and completely.  And unlike my or my husband’s limitations on how much we can watch over our children, God is limitless and never takes His eyes off of us. I find great comfort in that.  We are never alone or forgotten.

 

King David wrote of this truth in Psalm 139:1-11:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Dina Pugh

Seek God

I’m looking out the window watching the sun go down and the light slowly fade.  Another day is coming to a close.  And in just a handful of hours, the dawn will break again and a new day will begin.

Life.

A continuum of sunrises and sunsets filled with ever changing moments of joy, sorrow, pain, excitement, peace, worry, and the list goes on.  Life can get messy.  Life can be scary.  And I think we all can agree that life can be hard.

What do we do when our plans don’t go as planned?  What do we do when there are more bills than money to pay them?  What do we do when we, or a loved one, are told it is cancer?  What about the news channels that drone on and on about our increasingly violent world? Where do we turn?  Or better yet, whom do we turn to?

 

We turn to God. We seek God.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Starting in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus was teaching the disciples and those gathered around Him a host of life principles, truths, and admonitions.

In chapter 6 verse 33, He was speaking on the subject of worry.  Jesus was teaching the ones gathered around Him back then, as well as us today, to not worry.  To not let our minds focus on what the day brings or doesn’t bring.  To realize that God knows our needs, both physical and spiritual and He promises to take care of us.

Jesus gives beautiful illustrations of the Father’s love, care, and provision to the least of His creation and explains of how much more value we are to Him than they.  And so if God the Father cares so much for the birds of the air and the flowers in the field, how much more so does He pour out His love for the ones He created in His own image?

So let us all strive to begin each day with a single-hearted devotion to God and the desire to seek Him first in all things.

Dina Pugh

Wisdom

God is the source of wisdom. Job 28:28 explains, “And he [God] said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"

Job understood. Even when attacked by Satan; even when his “friends” gave him questionable advice; even when his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” Job understood that God is the source of wisdom.

We all have “life experience.” Sometimes (maybe most of the time) we do not

learn from our mistakes, because we make them over and over and over again.

We cry out to God to save us from ourselves. Mistakes are not the source of wisdom.

We all endeavor to improve the quality of our lives. Often we take action without fear of the Lord, without prayer, without asking God for direction. We head out on our own, not really understanding our circumstances. Action is not the source of wisdom.

Job openly laments his circumstances and demands a response from God. God answers him out of a whirlwind! God says, “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?”

Job covers his mouth. God is the source of wisdom.

Kevin Bibo

Happy New Year!

I don’t know about you, but for me, this time of year is always bittersweet.  The closing of one year and the beginning of another is both happy and sad at the same time. 

As the previous year closes, I can’t help but take stock in what has transpired over the last twelve months. 

Just like in years past, I was given a remarkable gift.  In fact, not just one gift but 365 of them! What did I do with all those gifts?  Did I use them to their fullest?  Or did I squander them because I believed I would always have more of them to make up for any ones wasted.

 

When I look back and consider all that happened in my life this past year I, and all of us really, need to remember one thing. Life is not about me and it’s not about you. It’s not about the material possessions we have or we don’t have. It’s not about our health, wealth, happiness or lack of.  

Life is not about us. It’s about the One who created us. The One, “who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.” (Isaiah 51:13) The One in whose book holds the number of our days. (Psalm 139:16)

And what does our Lord ask us to do with these numbered gifts? He tells us Himself: Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

So did I fill my 365 gift-days with love for my Creator and fellow man? Hopefully more so than not. But this new year brings with it another opportunity to try again! To take each day as it comes, to not take it for granted but treat it as the gift that it is.  

A gift given to receive God’s love and to give love in return. To lay down self and put on Christ. To press deeper into God through every happy, sad, difficult, joyful, painful, uneventful, wonder-filled day that lies ahead.

Dina Pugh