Blessings
On Sunday, my dear friend shared a dream she had where her mother was nurturing and caring and kind and loving. She woke up feeling so good and so loved and then demonstrated that nurturing love to her own daughter. I told her it was a picture of God and the way He cares for her but that it was also how God wanted her to see her mother because that is His 'full intention' for her - as Kerry Kirkwood would say. As I was saying it I knew it was a picture of how we are all to look at others in our lives - especially me - instead of rehearsing the pain of the past we should be releasing the blessing of Father's full intention for the people in our lives. My friend and I were both blessed just last week by Kerry speaking about being a blessing and not a cursing. For more info on this, visit www.trinityfellowship.com - and be blessed!
I have been pondering this for a few days and He has been slowly revealing more to me. As He spoke into my friend on Sunday, He was saying: "Look at your mother like I look at her - seeing her complete in Christ - living in the fullness of all I created her to be - then, you will be able to respond to her with love and care for her and love her completely and fully. Instead of seeing and experiencing the pain of her shortcomings, you will be blessing her with My love and releasing her to learn how to love completely, too."
So what does that look like in my life with the people that cause me pain or that I'm unable to fully forgive or fully love or fully bless? Being so very human I have made sure Father knows that I am not very good at this blessing thing and will require Him to do it through me - and that there are even times when I don't want to do it… so I need Him to give me the desire to bless as well. And this morning He said: "Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time." James 2:12-13 The Message. And from John 8 He told me that He wants me to be free - it is His rule that sets me free. Which is what Ps. 19:7-11 tells me, too. Follow His ways and be free - be released in the fullness of His blessing - AND be released to be a blessing to others as you walk in obedience to His commands.
That is the calling and the covenant He made with us in Christ - to be blessed AND to be a blessing. And if we are in Christ, we do what Christ did and Paul tells us what that looks like in Eph. 5:1-2: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." We must give ourselves over to love - to live and love like Christ, giving up our lives - giving up our rights, our desires, our feelings, our hurts, our expectations, our agendas, our pride, our boundaries, our protection, our fears - and we trust Him to continue to love us and bless us as we are obedient to Him. Then we become a blessing of love to the world that so desperately needs to know His love.
This brings to mind some steps of obedience I have been learning in recent months. The first is to trust. I Corinthians 13:7 says that love always trusts. I have come to learn that doesn't mean that if I love others I must trust them, too - it simply means that I must love others and trust Father God to take care of me as I do. My love for others has nothing to do with my trust of others - only my trust in a loving and faithful God. And second - I must forgive. Matthew 18:21-22 says I am to forgive over and over without stopping. It doesn't matter how many times someone hurts me or does something against me - I am to forgive. I have come to learn that doesn't just mean when they come to me and confess or just when the deed is done or just when I learn of their shortcoming. It means I am to forgive no matter what and keep forgiving every time my flesh or the enemy reminds me of the sin against me. Forgive over and over. For that is what God does for me. And third, I am to 'forget' just as David says He does in Psalm 103:12 - as far as east is to west is how far He has removed our sins from us. I have come to learn that doesn't mean that it is erased from memory - but that it is forgotten as a wrong. It means it is not held as a judgment against me. God has forgiven my sin and sees me as righteous and holy because I am in Christ. If I am forgetting the sins others have committed that have hurt me, then I am not holding those sins against them, but seeing them righteous and holy - free from my judgment, hurt, anger, and bitterness. Even if it is deserved.
I am so thankful for a God who loves me even though He can't trust me. I am so thankful for a God who forgives me over and over, no matter what. And I am so thankful for a God who does not hold my sins against me. So very thankful. I want to be like Him so I can show others how amazing He truly is.
Father, help me to be a blessing to others as I learn to walk in Your love. Give me the faith to trust You fully as I do. Teach me to forgive no matter what. Show me how You no longer judge me for my sin so that I can learn to let go of my judgment of others. And then I will not only be so very blessed by You for my obedience, I will release blessing into the lives of everyone around me. I want to be a blessing as You have blessed me with Your love and salvation. Remove my fear and let my hands be strong!
Zechariah 8:13 As you have been an object of cursing among the nations, O Judah and Israel, so will I save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.
Amy
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