Our Thoughts and Emotions - Part 2 of 3

Art and Text by Christina A. Morley

Nothing heals a wound like forgiveness. God says that we should forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. All of us have done wrong and have hurt others in the process, so we all need forgiveness. When we remember that God freely forgives us, we can obey Him by doing the same.

Sometimes the wounds inflicted go so deep that we might not feel the people who hurt us deserve forgiveness. We harbor negativity toward them because we want them to pay for what they’ve done. This negativity seeps into our being like a toxin, but we only end up hurting ourselves. The more we suffer emotionally, the more we suffer physically.

Whenever we think the other person doesn’t deserve forgiveness, we ought to look back at the cross. Jesus endured a brutal crucifixion in order to accept punishment for mankind’s sins. He took the penalty of every injustice that we ever felt with each blow. That horrible event was God’s just punishment for all sin, so there could be forgiveness for everyone.

He knows how we feel. He fully understands our weaknesses, our struggles, our hurts, and our pains. He doesn’t take the wounding we’ve received lightly. Yet, He also knows that the answer to any wounding comes through forgiveness. Sometimes, we need to forgive ourselves too. When we don’t, we are declaring that God’s judgment on Jesus was not sufficient suffering to pay for our mistakes. Forgiveness helps the hurting heart to heal and the hardened heart to feel.

Sometimes it helps to remember that hurting people hurt others. This doesn’t excuse their behavior, but does explain it. Something went wrong in their lives, and then, they acted out of their own emotional mess. We have the opportunity, on the other hand, to make the right decision regarding forgiveness so that this messed-up cycle stops with us.

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The Blood – Part 3 of 3

The blood makes us acceptable to Father God. Every time we take communion, we remember the blood of Jesus and the price He paid. The wine, or juice if you prefer, represents His blood and the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus taught that whenever the believers shared a meal together, they were to partake of this communion. For the early church, it was a regular occurrence presented in a natural way.

I’m concerned that church traditions of today have stifled this privilege by over-spiritualizing and over-restricting when and how we should partake of communion. We must be careful that our sole purpose for keeping church regulations is not to offend those who implement them. God is not so easily offended. What offends God is when we step away from worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth.

I believe that children are also meant to take part. Children born to a believing parent are under that parent’s spiritual covering. A child’s participation can be even more whole-hearted than our own. Jesus said that we should let the little children come to Him. He also said that the only way to receive the kingdom of God was like a child (Mark 10:13-15). We can learn about untainted faith from a child. In light of this, we need to be careful that our church rules don’t limit the children in expressing their faith.

Through Jesus’ blood, we become part of God’s family. Jesus is the firstborn, which makes Him our big brother. We might not look the same and we might not talk the same, but our redemption through Christ’s blood is the same. We are, therefore, all of the same stock. God has sealed us and set us apart by His Spirit.

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The Blood – Part 1 of 3

The previous posts introduced the topic of spiritual warfare. This series introduces the spiritual protection and promises that are wrapped up in the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for us. His blood is crucial to a Christian’s life.

God teaches us that blood is the life-source of every living creature and human being. For example, God gave women the potential to carry life. A necessary component to making that possible is our monthly menstrual cycle. Once an egg has been fertilized and travels to the uterus, this monthly flow ceases. The stored-up blood is now busy supporting life in the womb. In a similar way, Jesus gave His blood in order to support life. We had no life before we believed in Jesus. In fact, the Bible says that we were all dead in our sins. Now through His blood and by His Spirit we who believe in Him have received new life.

Also, when a baby is born it comes out of the womb covered in blood. The blood is not the baby’s, but its mother’s, “shed” on its behalf. This is a picture of how Jesus shed His blood voluntarily on our behalf so we wouldn’t have to pay the penalty for our sins. Who would have thought that something as natural as pregnancy and birth could remind us of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice?

Those who put their trust in Jesus not only have forgiveness and life because of Jesus’ blood, but also protection. There is an illustration in the Old Testament of how blood was used as a covering. When Moses and the Israelites were still in Egypt, they had to cover their doorposts with lamb’s blood. God instructed them to do this in order to protect their firstborn sons from the destroying angel. The blood from the lamb would protect them against God’s judgment on the Egyptians. Any family that chose to obey this command would be spared, including Egyptian families. This required their faith and obedience.

Today we don’t need to paint blood on our doorposts, because Jesus’ blood was shed once and that was enough. However, if we are led to, we can apply oil to anoint people, homes, doorposts, etc. for protection, healing, commissioning, and blessing. We do this as an outward sign of God’s presence and of our faith in Jesus’ finished work at the cross.

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Spiritual Warfare – Part 2 of 4

When Adam and Eve sinned, they unknowingly relinquished to Satan their authority on earth. But now, through the work on the cross, Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He now sends us out into the world with that authority. We just have to learn how to walk in it.

Satan has two major goals. His first goal is to keep as many people as he possibly can from following the Lord. His second goal is to keep those who do follow the Lord from ever reaching their full potential. As with combatants in any battle, Satan not only has goals, but he also has strategies.

This is not the time for us moms to be spiritually asleep. God’s people are perishing for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Ignorance is no excuse. The Bible warns us to be always alert, prayerful, and wise.

One of Satan’s best strategies is to try to distract our focus from the real battle. The real battle is not against people, but against evil spirits. When we get tangled up in resentment, jealousy, anger, and hatred toward others, we lose the battle. We also end up wasting a lot of energy and a lot of negative emotions. To win this kind of war, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, remain in His word, keep on praying, and keep on flowing in His love and forgiveness.

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Thankful in Light of Our New Covenant – Part 2 of 3

The moment we believed in Him He took our unrighteousness and gave us His righteousness. The more we understand this, the more victorious we’ll be in receiving true freedom. It’s crucial that we get this truth. It’s what makes true Christianity different from all other religions. Every other religion has rules and regulations to follow in order to reach Paradise, Karma, Reincarnation, or whatever their goal may be. However, no one can achieve God’s standards on his or her own merits, and with Christianity that’s just the point: we all fall short of God’s standards and need a Savior.

Christ’s blood makes us right with God and transports us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. This New Covenant is better than the Old because God guarantees it no matter how we feel about ourselves or to what degree we’re able to keep His commandments. Even though we’re imperfect, we receive Jesus' one-time sacrifice to pay for all our past, present, and future sins. Righteousness no longer has anything to do with us, because it has everything to do with Him.

One simple prayer of faith makes us right with God and forever allows us access into His presence. With that prayer, He gives us new life by His Spirit. However, we still make mistakes. That’s because our old nature is at war with the new. The old nature wants to do everything its own way, contrary to God’s way.

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Discovering Your Potential - Part 5 of 5

Most people will not champion you beyond their idea of what is possible. Therefore, you have to be willing to go where others refuse to follow. Many people are trapped in boxes of their own making. They feel either threatened by or jealous of anyone who ventures beyond their limited understanding. They take comfort in surrounding themselves with others who are doing the same.

Christians are not exempt from this kind of thinking. We are all tempted to hold on to what is familiar and to build our walls around that. When we ask the Holy Spirit into our lives, we aren’t immediately set free from the temptation to think like this. We still need to renew our minds by studying the Word of God, and we must develop our spiritual eyes, which are eyes of faith.

Sadly, sometimes it’s the Christians that will fight the hardest to prevent us from being who God intended us to be. However, our fight is not with people, but with evil forces (Eph. 6:12). We must look past our hurts and forgive those who try to stand in the way.

The right path to take is sometimes less visible and less traveled, but the trials we face along the way can only make us stronger. At the right time, God will open doors for each of us as we remain on course and in step with Him.

That doesn’t mean that life is always going to be exciting. The task, whether great or small, should be done with excellence. When we have the right attitude even toward the mundane we’ll experience more release in our lives. If we are faithful in the smallest things, God will bless us with bigger things (Luke 19:17).

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Poem - To be a Christian

To be a born again Christian
Requires one act of honest confession
Receiving Christ’s forgiveness brings total redemption
It’s the only way for true restoration
God and man finding reconciliation
Accept this offer of Christ’s salvation
And in Him become a new creation
From there begins the work of sanctification
In heaven is our final destination
Where we’ll receive complete transformation
Amen!

by Christina A. Morley

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