Verse of the Day: If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. John 13:17
Memory of the month: Isaiah 41:13 For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Today's reading: EXODUS 7-8 MATTHEW 15:1-20
The Right Questions
A writer posted some questions that I would like to address. He speaks at marriage seminars and is well respected and published and is a great speaker. Three of his questions had elements that jumped up at me and so God had my attention.
The first question with a problem for me:
"Are you forgiving people who hurt you"?
God has been teaching me over and over that people cannot hurt us-we allow ourselves to be hurt. That is not to say that their intentions were not bad or that their words or actions were not meant to be hurtful. We should live with forgiveness in our hearts, i.e., "forgive me as I forgive".
The problem for me here is that pain from words and actions(excluding physical pain) can only be painful if we allow it. This is hard for most people but must be addressed. It is awful to be insulted and it hurts deeply but Jesus suffered so we would not have to. So how do we get there?
How do we arrive at the place where words don't hurt? It takes a lot. It takes a lot of prayer and meditation. It takes getting hurt by words enough to realize that Jesus does not want us to be hurt and has already given us the grace we need to learn how to block the words and be still and rest in Him.
We must take the thought(the hurtful words or deeds) captive(2 Corinthians 10:5) and stand as Jesus stood. He endured all the cursing, slapping, beating, spitting, and slander and this is not to mention all the slander that He endured before the crucifixion for three years.
Again, all we control in this life is our own mind. Yes, we must forgive, but we do not have to carry pain from attacks. So, look to Jesus and learn how to use Him as your shield and be at peace. We wear shoes to protect our feet-put on the whole armor of God to protect your heart.
The other two questions go together:
Are you loving your wife, even if she is not very loveable right now,
Are you respecting your husband, even if he is not very respectable right now,
Here's the problem: answers to both questions bring up the sin of judgement. What right do I have to say my wife is not loveable right now? God says that she is always loveable. My role is to love-not judge-to see with the eyes and heart and mind of Christ and know that, whatever it is I may think is unlovable about anyone, it can be no greater than my own shortcomings.
A song says, "Dead men ride the highest horses"-meaning we only hear the good things about the deceased at funerals. As true as that is, why does it have to be so in our own minds? Why can't we dwell on the good stuff now? Is this not what Jesus said-"Love your neighbor as yourselves"? This is not a suggestion for special times. This is a commandment for all times.
I read a lot of different writers and get a lot from the readings-but-we are to try all things by scripture. Don't just read blindly but read after asking God to let you hear what He wants you to hear. Don't just read with your own intellectual prowess, which may be great, but yield to the wisdom of the universe. Ask God. Don't listen to me-listen to what God makes stick to your spiritual ribs. Learn things of God.
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven,
Forgive me for not listening to You as I hear earthly voices around me. I want to see deeply into Your heart.
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