THE INNER ROOM - "Learn and Grow - to Maturity". Please read the OP. - Page 91

Bondman · 06-06-2008, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetSurrender

Thank you, BM. I am not online as much, but I do read them. Thanx for the last lesson and I too am awaiting the next part. I'm praying for your strength. Love you, Bonnie

Thankyou for praying, sweetie! Praying for you also. Much love!!

Fluffy · 06-06-2008, 05:03 AM

Fluffy · 06-06-2008, 05:08 AM

Oops! Sorry! Slow dial up! I meant your welcome for the FWD I sent you!

SweetSurrender · 06-06-2008, 05:09 AM

That's OK, Fluffer! I'll take it as my reply also!

What is that new profile pic of? I can't figure out if it is fire or what.

Fluffy · 06-06-2008, 05:34 AM

Yep, its just flames. I tried to change my avatar to something else, but I got the wrong graphic in there, and I am on a different computer, so the original graphic is gone. The graphic I WANTED to put up doesnt want to change to jpeg so I can get it on photobucket....(gripe gripe gripe groan groan whine....)

So how was your day?

Criada · 06-06-2008, 12:49 PM

I have a question.....
Forgiving others is not something I have ever struggled with...
but how does one forgive oneself?

Bondman · 06-06-2008, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Criada

I have a question.....
Forgiving others is not something I have ever struggled with...
but how does one forgive oneself?

Here's a reply I gave to someone who told me they'd sinned badly and was finding it very hard to forgive themselves:

That can be very hard. It may help to read this message. Once you see clearly that GOD HAS TOTALLY FORGIVEN YOU - on the basis of Jesus' sacrifice for you - then you can start to forgive yourself!If you think of it this way: if ALMIGHTY GOD HAS FORGIVEN ME, THEN WHY SHOULD I STILL HOLD SOMETHING AGAINST MYSELF? Pretty silly, hey! - but VERY understandable!!

You flunked out, you can't undo it, God's forgiven you - so INSTEAD OF SPENDING EMOTIONAL ENERGY "FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF" USE THIS ENERGY TO BUILD YOURSELF BACK AGAIN!! Make sense??

That's all in the past now, and cannot be changed. So please leave it there! Time now to gather yourself again and use all the abilities God has given to you, to learn from this, and grow forward. No experience in life is ever a waste for the true Believer - he can USE it to become better and stronger in Christ in time to come.

Hon, if that doesn't help - as it possibly won't - please PM me to say so, and I'll aim to do a message expanding on above.

Tons and tons of love n HUGS!!!

- BM

Bondman · 06-06-2008, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffy

Yep, its just flames. I tried to change my avatar to something else, but I got the wrong graphic in there, and I am on a different computer, so the original graphic is gone. The graphic I WANTED to put up doesnt want to change to jpeg so I can get it on photobucket....(gripe gripe gripe groan groan whine....)

So how was your day?

Doesn't photobucket accept other extensions than .jpg - like .gif or .bmp? Maybe try one of them?

(What do you mean that it won't change it to jpeg? What's the extension it has that won't change, and what's it's size?)

Bondman · 06-06-2008, 03:57 PM

Message #87

THE WONDERFUL PATH OF FORGIVENESS - Part 2

...continued from Part 1

When someone really HURTS you, that can be sooo hard to forgive, right? Is this harder than when someone has badly WRONGED YOU? I'm not sure. For most of us, NONE OF IT IS EASY ANYWAY! And it seems to me that forgiving is something you have to actually LEARN - sure don't come NATURAL to us sinful humans! But the great thing is that the more you forgive, and the more you learn how to do this, the easier it DOES get! That's my experience anyway.

Okay, in the 1st Part I was talking about forgiving someone (actually more than one) who'd seriously hurt me - and with His help working hard to get to the point where I could forgive them, actually succeeding in doing this, and feeling really GOOD as a result. Man, I just LOVE the blessings God favours us with when we've done what He wants! Can make you feel just soooo fantastic!

BUT... I believe it was quite a pile of time afterwards that one day the Lord was suddenly saying, "But you haven't finished yet, have you!" I was quite nonplussed until some more light came. I'd FORGIVEN them, sure, but He gently brought me to ask myself this SO important question: "YES, BUT DO I LOVE THEM?" Whoa!!! I was shocked to have to face that I mostly didn't! Goodness, WHY had I not seen this before? I'm truly not sure. But whatever the reason, immediate ACTION was clearly needed!!

PROBLEM:

Pretty soon I saw that forgiveness had actually been the EASY part! I'd always wanted to forgive, and had done so. But here I was squarely facing that I didn't really LOVE them, and what's more, I could NOT see HOW I COULD!!!... ALL of THAT HURT, and over such a long period... You know how I'm always telling you that the Lord is waiting to HELP YOU with "the impossible" - well, the trouble was that back then I hadn't quite 'got' this clearly! But He helped me anyway!! And this is what He led me to do:

I sat down and considered each person one by one. I was VERY aware of their faults! - ever noticed how good we are at seeing clear as crystal THEIR faults, but NOT our own! - but what I set out to do was write a list of the GOOD THINGS about them! With a couple of them this wasn't too hard. But I knew the ones that WOULD be hard! When I came to them, I had nothing to write!! More prayer. Slowly one thing came, then another. I may have found only about three for the most difficult person, BUT I HAD A LIST - short as it was - OF THEIR GOOD POINTS!! I HAD A LIST!!!

I WANTED TO LOVE THEM, RIGHT!! So I then used this LIST to seriously and prayerfully THANK the Lord for who they were, and for their GOOD POINTS. WHILE DOING ALL OF THIS I RESOLUTELY BLOCKED MY MIND FROM HAVING EVEN ONE NEGATIVE THOUGHT ABOUT THEM! I prayed for them, and for their good. I found that by this stage of things God had somehow moved in me and I genuinely could want the very best for them! Amazing!! I finished, and not too long afterwards realised THAT I REALLY DID LOVE THEM!!! And I've FORGIVEN and LOVED them ever since! And THAT, dear ones, is GOD!!!

- BM, with his Love

COMMENTS, QUESTIONS WELCOME!

Fluffy · 06-06-2008, 07:28 PM

Oh,now Bondman, I do believe this is your best message yet! So often we are told "forgive forgive" but not told what to do afterwards! We are so much like sheep, we have to be told step by step because it doesnt come naturally to us. We just dont know. We want to, but dont even know the right questions to ask sometimes!

About Criada's question, forgiving yourself I think is harder than forgiving others. Like artists are their own worst critics, so are christians their own worst judges. We feel like we should have known better. We are doubly at fault because it is ourselves. We feel like we are being RESPONSIBLE and really paying for it when we keep beating ourselves up over it. We feel like we HAVE to pay for it, because it was OURS. But we dont. Jesus paid it all. This is a lesson that you have to learn, sometimes over and over again, before you 'get it'. Its a process that takes time, and takes learning how wide, how deep, how strong God's love is for you. It takes learning about God and your relationship with Him.
Keep seeking Him and His Word. Keep learning about His Grace and His Goodness, His Mercy and Power. It will come.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode