Hello friends. I’m reminded about this vision that I had during our corporate prayer time over a year ago.
The climate in our country and communities has been so divisive because of the upcoming election and their many ads. It’s almost impossible to not get offended. Please keep a close eye on your heart and if it feels bitter or cynical, please ask for prayers from your pastors or church friends. God will answer that prayer since it’s His desire and will for us to live together in love and unity. I also advise you to not speak or communicate much until you feel less bitter and cynical in your heart. I just don’t want you to make mistakes with your words and cause a big problem in your life and relationships.
Do not give up on praying and wait for the Lord to show up in your situation and relationship. Do not flee from your church community. It’s your safe space.
Here is the devotional that I couldn’t find last week. It made me smile and brought joy when I read it again. I hope it encourages you too.
https://260journey.com/there-is-a-guarantee-youre-going-to-make-it/
Speaking about joy, I heard an excellent message about joy yesterday. Please listen if you need joy. It’s a necessary ingredient for our journey in life. Here it is:
Here is a FREE 2025 promise calendar if you want to ask for one:
https://store.worldchallenge.org/products/promise-calendar-2025
In my Bible reading plan, I just read the book of Obadiah. This time reading through this book, I was led to look into the history behind this book. Here is a summary about this book. My biggest takeaway is that pride is very bad and dangerous. Please do whatever you can to stay humble in this difficult and divisive time in our country. For me, I have to ask for prayers from trusted friends in the church community.
Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2023
Subject: Vision received during prayer + Praying Woman – Lord, help me to be a forgiving person.
Hi ladies, here is the vision that I received at last Wednesday’s prayer meeting. As I think and pray more about this vision, I really believe it is from the Lord and it is a warning for all of us. Please pray about this vision after reading. Also, below email is the third chapter of the Praying Woman book.
Vision received on 1/29/23 at the prayer meeting:
While a mom friend was praying fervently for our children, schools, country and the world; I received this vivid vision. I saw a shiny, big, long, powerful sword coming down from heaven and the sword swept across a massive field of a wheat farm. Though I couldn’t see who had the sword in his hands, I have a feeling that it one of the mighty, warring angel of God. Both wheat and chaff were growing side by side. In case you are not aware, when a wheat grows into maturity, it naturally stoops its head downwards while the chaff continues to grow straight up. In early stages, it is unclear which seed is a wheat and which is chaff. As they grow, you can clearly see which one is wheat and which one is chaff. The wheat’s head stooping downwards is a reflection of its humility and dependance on God, while the chaff standing straight up is a reflection of its pride and self-sufficiency.
As the large sword was scooping across this wheat farm, I saw the sword chopping off anything that is too high in its height. The wheat whose heads are stooping downwards as it should be, are spared from the sharp blade of the sword. Chaff are too tall, and their heads come off.
There is another thing that I saw in my vision that I thought was remarkable and full of God’s grace and mercies. For the “chaff” family members, friends, people that we have been praying for; these chaffs had a special heavy weight around their heads so that their heads were forcibly bent lower to miss the sword’s blade of judgement as it crossed the field. I think the heavy weights can be circumstances or situations or relationships that make life very challenging for the chaffs. As painful as it is to watch your loved ones going through difficulites, perhaps it is God who is allowing this to happen in order to spare their life and soul.
I wish I can tell you that this year 2023 will get easier and better. No, I don’t think it will. I really hope I am wrong. Like you, I’m still tired and traumatized from years 2020, 2021, 2022. Whatever is coming up for 2023, we will make it through as long as our hope, trust, and refuge is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I feel the Holy Spirit asking me to share with you more of my skills and strategies learned in the battlefields of my faith journey with Jesus in last 12 years. There were so many!! I will do my best.
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2018 5:53 AM
Subject: Praying Woman – Lord, help me to be a forgiving person.
Hi ladies! Attached is the next chapter from the Power of the Praying Woman book by Stormie Omartian. It’s a very important chapter so please read this carefully and prayerfully.
One reason that I still like to do my quiet time at early mornings is because I can quickly hear God’s whispers regarding any unforgiveness in my heart taking root. Because I know how utterly destructive this sin is; and it grows quickly, silently and deadly like cancer cells.
Please search your heart on this matter with God, and it’s a wise thing to ask a godly person to pray for you if you struggle in this area. God gives grace to the humble.
In my first two years following Jesus Christ, this was the main thing that we worked on. I would always hear very loud and clear what actions I must make to restore relationships. Even ones from our small town. I remember saying to God once, “Don’t you not care about my honor?! This is embarrassing!” God challenged me with the verse from 1 Peter 5:5. I resolved that I wanted His grace more than my pride and honor. Whether I felt like it or not, I listened and obeyed. Then I left the consequences to Him. Today I’m enjoying peace and rest in all my relationships and along the way I have learned to not be so sensitive and to be a forgiving person. Praise God! Please read and pray this chapter carefully.
(It is fun to read what I wrote in May 2018. I remember exactly what God asked me to do to repair a relationship with someone from my town. It is embarrassing some things that your parent asks you to do as a young child. Likewise, now that I have matured more in Christ, I see the wisdom behind God’s direction.)
1 Peter 5:5-6
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
Today’s devotional from Rick Warren’s ministry on this same topic:
Don’t Give Up: Refuse to Be Bitter – Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope
Power of the Praying Woman book by Stormie OMartian
CHAPTER THREE
Lord, Help Me to Be a Forgiving Person
My mother was an abusive person while my father wasn’t. When I became a Christian, forgiving my mother was the obvious thing to do. It wasn’t until years later that God revealed my unforgiveness toward my dad. When a Christian coun- selor I was speaking with about the unrest and frustration in my soul asked me if I had any unforgiveness toward my dad, I said no. Why would I? He wasn’t the abusive parent. But when the counselor told me to pray and ask God to show me the truth, a lifetime of rage, anger, hurt, unforgiveness, and tears flooded my entire being. Down deep I felt my dad never came to my rescue. He never rescued me from my mother’s insanity. He never came and let me out of the closet she had locked me in for so much of my early childhood. I didn’t realize how much I blamed him for allowing my mother, who he knew was severely mentally ill, to treat me with such cruelty and abuse. When I forgave him that day, I felt peace like I had never known before.
Often we don’t recognize the unforgiveness that is in us. We think we are forgiving, but we really aren’t. If we don’t ask God to reveal our unforgiveness to us, we may never get free of the paralyzing grip it has on our lives. A big part of making sure our lives are clean and right before God has ot do with forgiving other people. We can never move into al God has for us unless we do.
An Excellent Choice
I know “hate” is a very strong word,and we hate to use the word “hate” about anything. And we certainly hate the thought that we might actualy have hate for another person. But that’s what unforgiveness i s the root of hate. When we entertain unforgiving thoughts, they turn ot hate inside of us. Jesus felt so strongly about this that He said, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). He also said, “Whenever you stand praying, if you have any- thing against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).
Now let’s get this straight. When we don’t forgive, we are con- sidered murderers without any eternal hope who shouldn’t expect God to forgive us until we have forgiven others. I’d say that if it’s between forgiving and not forgiving, forgiving seems like the bet- ter choice.
When we choose not to forgive, we end up walking in the dark
(1 John 2:9-11). Because we can’t see clearly, we stumble around in confusion. This throws our judgment off and we make mistakes. We become weak, sick, and bitter. Other people notice all this because unforgiveness shows in the face, words, and actions of those who have it. They see it, even fi they can’t specifically identify what it is, and they don’t feel comfortable around it. When we choose to for- give, not only do we benefit, but so do the people around us.
Family First
It’s very easy to have unforgiveness toward family members because they are with us the most, know us the best, and can hurt us the deepest. But for those very same reasons, unforgiveness toward one of them will bring the greatest devastation to our lives. That’s why forgiveness must start at home.
Lord, Help Me to Be a Forgiving Person
First of all, it is very important to make sure you have forgiven your parents. The Bible is crystal clear about this issue. The fifth of the Ten Commandments says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LorD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). If you don’t honor them it will shorten your life. And you can’t fully honor them if you haven’t forgiven them.
When I made the decision to forgive my mother, Idid it because I wanted to obey God and move into al He had for me. It must have worked because look how old I am. But forgiving her once did not mean that I never had to worry about it again. There were layers and layers of unforgiveness that had built up in me over the years, and I found I had to forgive her every time one of them surfaced. Actually, I had to forgive her every time I saw her because she only became worse as the years went on.
Just because we confess our unforgiveness toward someone one day doesn’t mean we won’t have unforgiveness in us the next. That’s why forgiveness is a choice we must make every day. We choose to forgive whether we feel like it or not. It’s a decision, not a feeling. If we wait for good feelings, we could end up waiting a lifetime. If we have any bitterness or unforgiveness, it’s always our fault for not choosing to let it go. It’s our responsibility to confess it to God and ask Him to help us forgive and move on with our lives.
We also need to ask God to show us if we have any other family members we need to forgive. We don’t tend to think of ourselves as unforgiving people. Irritated maybe, but not unforgiving. But we have to remember that our standards are much lower than God’s, and therefore we often don’t see where we need to forgive. Ask God to reveal any unforgiveness you have toward a family member. You are going to be miserable until you get it resolved.
When You Can’t Forgive
Forgiveness is never easy. But sometimes it feels downright impossible in light of the devastating and horrendous pain we have suffered. If you have a hard time forgiving someone, ask God to help you. That’s what I did regarding my mother, and by the time she died, I had absolutely no hard feelings toward her. If you can think of someone whom you find it hard to forgive, ask God to give you a heart of forgiveness for them. Pray for them in al the ways you can think of to pray. It’s amazing how God softens our hearts when we pray for people. Our anger, resentment, and hurt turn into love. Don’t worry, however. When we forgive someone, it doesn’t make
them right or justify what they have done. It releases them into God’s hands so He can deal with them. Forgiveness is actually the best revenge because it not only sets us free from the person we forgive, but it frees us to move into all God has for us. Our forgiving some-one doesn’t depend on them admitting guilt or apologizing. If it did, most of us would never be able to do it. We can forgive no matter what the other person does.
Sometimes incidents happen in our lives that are so devastating we can go for years without realizing the depth of the bitterness we have because of it. Sometimes we don’t forgive ourselves for things we’ve done, and so we give ourselves a lifetime of punishment for whatever we did or did not do.
Sometimes we blame God for things that happened. Ask God to show you if any of these things are true about you. Don’t let unforgiveness limit what God wants to do in your life.
Whatever It Takes
Four hundred and ninety times! That’s how many times we have to forgive a person. Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to sev- enty times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). You may be able to think of someone you have to forgive 490 times a day, but the point si that God wants you to forgive as many times as it takes. He wants you to be a forgiving person.
Lord, Help Me to Be a Forgiving Person
Jesus told the story of a man who was released from a large debt by his master. But he turned right around and made his own poor servant go to prison for not paying him a small debt. When the master heard about this he said, “I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fel- low servant, just as I had pity on you?” The master was so angry that he delivered that man to the torturers until he paid all that was due to him. Jesus said, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matthew 18:32-35).
This is very serious. We who have received Jesus have been for- given a large debt. We have no right to be unforgiving of others. God says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). If we don’t forgive, we will be imprisoned by our hatred and tortured by our bitterness.
Everything we do in life that has eternal value hinges on two things: loving God and loving others. It’s far easier to love God than it is to love others, but God sees them as being the same. One of the most loving things we can do is forgive. It’s hard to forgive those who have hurt, offended, or mistreated us. But God wants us to love even our enemies. And in the process of doing so, He perfects us (Mat- thew 5:48). Its’ always going to be easy ot find things ot be unforgiving about. We have to stop looking.
God wants you to move into all He has for you. But if you don’t forgive, you get stuck where you are and shut off God’s work in your life. Forgiveness opens your heart and mind and allows the Holy Spirit to work freely in you. It releases you to love God more and feel His love in greater measure. Life is worth nothing without that.
My Prayer to God
Lord, help me to be a forgiving person. Show me where I am not. Expose the recess of my soul so I won’t be locked up by unforgiveness and jeopardize my future. If I have any anger, bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness that I am not recognizing, reveal it to me and I will confess it to You as sin. Specifically, I ask You to help me fully forgive (insert anyone you need to forgive). Make me to understand the depth of Your forgiveness toward me so that I won’t hold back forgiveness from others. I realize that my forgiving someone doesn’t make them right; it makes me free. I also realize that You are the only one who knows the whole story, and You will see justice done.
Help me to forgive myself for the times I have failed. And if I have blamed You for things that have happened in my life, show me so that I can confess it before You. Enable me to love my enemies as You have commanded in Your Word. Teach me to bless those who curse me and persecute me (Matthew 5:44- 45). Remind me to pray for those who hurt or offend me so thatmyheartwillbesofttowardthem. Idon’twanttobecome hard and bitter because of unforgiveness. Make me a person who is quick to forgive.
Lord, show me if I have any unforgiveness toward my mother or father for anything they did or did not do. I don’t want to shorten my life by not honoring them and breaking this great commandment. And where there is distance between me and any other family member because of unfor- giveness, I pray You would break down that wall. Help me to forgive every time I need to do so. Where I can be an instru- ment of reconciliation between other family members who have broken or strained relationships, enable me to do that.
I don’t want anything to come between You and me, Lord, and I don’t want my prayers to be hindered because I have en- tertained sin in my heart. I choose this day to forgive everyone and everything, and walk free from the death that unforgive- ness brings. If any person has unforgiveness toward me, I pray You would soften their heart to forgive me and show me what
I can do to help resolve this issue between us. I know that I cannot be a light to others as long as I am walking in the darkness of unforgiveness. I choose to walk in the light as You are
in the light and be cleansed from all sin (1 John 1:7).
GOD’S PROMISES TO ME
Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
LUKE 6:37
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory
is to overlook a transgression.
PROVERBS 19:11
Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. MATTHEW 5:44-45
He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1JOHN 2:11
If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. MATTHEW 6:14-15
Journal of Faith 