To Be GREAT In God!
To be great in God, one must be a servant
(R)est In Him
(E)ncourage Others
(A)cknowledge Him
(T)hankfulness
Lesson #1 Guard Your Heart
I saw a quote the other day that said, "Do not depend too much on anyone in this world because even your shadow leaves you when you're in darkness".
This sounded so much like me. When I read that, something rose up within me and an attitude shot out in my thoughts like, "yea, you can't depend on anyone out there!" But then, God began talking to me about this. I didn't even want to have to depend on people because of the fear of them leaving, hurting or disappointing me. I was tired of being hurt and disappointed all the time, until God began to teach me that I had the power within me through Him to not ever allow hurt and disappointment to affect me anymore.
For us to love as God loves, we have to always take risks. Yes, God does want our full dependence to be on Him, but He also will place people in our path for a purpose, whether it be for a long period of time or for just a season. And if we refuse to acknowledge them, we may cause them to miss out on a great blessing and an opportunity to learn of and experience the love of God through us. We also can miss out on what the Lord has for us and what He may be trying to teach us.
We cannot allow our past hurts and disappointments from people to keep us from letting others in our life. We must keep ourselves prepared for those times of disappointments that may come. Believe me, they WILL come because none of us are perfect.
I've hid from people for a long time because of the fear of getting disappointed or hurt. It has caused me to miss out on some good friendships I could have had. It caused me to miss out on some Divine Appointments set up by God where a person could have been encouraged, a life totally changed or even receiving encouragement for myself.
The Scripture I have applied to my life that has helped me so much is Psalm 4:23 "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it comes the issues of life."
Hurts, disappointments and offenses are going to come but you do not have to receive them. It all starts with a thought. Take every thought captive and cast them down before they even have a chance to take root. (2 Corinthians 10:15) Keep your heart guarded and when disappointments and hurts come from people, don't receive it. Don't let it settle in your heart. You have the power through God to stop it! Give it to Jesus, forgive, move on and love them anyway. If you do that, I promise you it will keep you on the right path with God and it is also very liberating!
Guard your heart because it determines the course of your life. What you allow in your heart eventually shows on the outside through your actions. A large part of guarding your heart means learning how to control your thoughts, your words, disposition and general outlook.
Now, the answer for past hurts and disappointments that you have already allowed to settle in the heart is to FORGIVE. If you do not take care of your heart, instead of your life affecting others in a good way, it will start infecting others in a bad way and begin destroying your own life. (Hebrews 12:15)
Some believe that forgiveness has a price but believe me friend, to NOT forgive will cost you so much more. We wonder sometimes how we can forgive someone who has not shown true remorse, but you see, forgiveness comes from an open heart and without condition or it does not come at all. We cannot wait to forgive when we feel like it because that feeling may never come. We must CHOOSE to forgive, for it breaks satan's power over us in that area and God's healing touch is free to move.
We achieve inner health only through forgiveness - the forgiveness of not only others but also of ourselves. Sometimes I find that it is hardest to forgive self. Having the ability to forgive is an admirable quality. Choose to forgive so the healing can begin and the pain can die. Be determined today to live to forgive because I guarantee you friend, that you are going to be hurt many more times in your life than you can imagine. Do your best to stay prepared by guarding your heart!
For us to be a servant which makes us GREAT in God, we must be able to love others as God loves and it is impossible to do if you are bitter and harboring unforgiveness in your heart. When hurts and disappointments come, guard your heart and let forgiveness flow!!
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and realize that the prisoner was you!!
Affirmation of forgiveness: I choose peace! I live forgiven! I forgive that I may live!
Guarding my heart,
Connie Schmoll
(Feel free to share with others but please make sure my name stays with the writing)
If you are viewing this from email, visit the site to listen to the song "7 Times 70" by Chris August
"7 Times 70" by Chris August.
No comments:
Post a Comment