Hi,
I trust you are all doing GREAT and living one day at a time while enjoy life in the process. I found a couple of very long but also very helpful, heart-rendering and mind-renewing quotes on forgiveness. If you have ever dealt with unforgiveness in your life at any time (or you are presently going through that phase) and you take the time to look at these quotes and honestly assess your life and life choices, you will realize that the person you'll be setting free when you make a conscious decision to forgive is...YOU!!! I particularly love the quotes below
"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." (my personal favorite
)"Forgiveness is God's invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And he invites us all to forgive each other."
"Gandhi was right: if we all live by 'an eye for an eye' the whole world will be blind. The only way out is forgiveness." (The same goes for 'a tooth for a tooth'. That means the whole world will go TOOTHLESS
)"He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven."
"God is the original, master forgiver. Each time we grope our reluctant way through the minor miracle of forgiving, we are imitating his style. I am not at all sure that any of us would have had imagination enough to see the possibilities in this way to heal the wrongs of this life had he not done it first."
There is nobody or nothing that is worth you having to spend the rest of your life in misery or bondage to the evil forces of unforgiveness and revenge and all the other forces of evil and remember that THE TRUTH always has a way of LIBERATING YOU and SETTING YOU FREE. Two wrongs can never make things right. That sense of power you usually feel (it is that false sense of power is actually 'the root of bitterness' and is no power at all) when you make a choice not to forgive someone is actually a lie from the the pits of hell and if you are honest with yourself you will realize that it only keeps you in bondage, leaves you with a victim mentality or superiority mentality for as long as you hold on that hurt, offense or unforgiveness and steals your spiritual power/authority while the person you either hate or choose not to forgive or are vengeful towards may have forgiven you, moved on with his or her life and even be living a FREE and LIBERATED LIFE. If God forgave us for all the terrible things we have done in our lives and keeps giving us another chance even when we mess up over and over again and run back to his loving arms, who are we then to choose not to forgive someone for something the person may not even know that he or she did? Just a little food for thought.
Even for those that have been abused, raped or molested in anyway by people you thought and expected should have known better (without pretending that there is spiritual perspective regarding abuse, it is glaring that most ABUSERS have been abused themselves, are broken and messed up people and these people NEED HELP. Or does it make any logical sense for a man or woman to abuse or sexually molest his/her own child or for a man to wake up one morning and decide that his life's goals is to become a RAPIST and a SERIAL KILLER or for a priest to become a pedophile? It doesn't make any logical sense yet it happens.), though it is usually difficult because of what the person has stolen from you (especially your virginity and innocence) and from your life and you can't even start to imagine forgiving that person (especially if the person is a family member, in the place of any form of authority in your life, or someone you still get to see all the time), you still have to make a choice to forgive that person so that 'YOU' can be set free and God's healing and restoration power can flow into your life.
Matthew 6:14-15 (The Message)
14-15"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.
Joyce Meyer (click on the links for Joyce Meyer's Testimony http://www.joycemeyer.org/AboutUs/AboutJoyce/ and http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/Joyce_Meyer060707.aspx, Paula White (click on the link for Paula White's Testimony http://www.cbn.com/700club/Guests/Interviews/Paula_White063005.aspx)and Donnie McClurkins (decided to add a guy to this list
. Click on this link if you will like to read about his testimony and healing from sexual abuse that led to a life of homosexuality http://www.exodus.to/content/view/570/149/) to mention a few (who were all molested by family members at young ages) are living proof of people who made a choice to forgive those who molested them (and even ended up leading their abusers to Christ) and today God is using them and their testimonies to reach out to people that have gone through something similar and to be a blessing to millions all around the world (I've personally been particularly BLESSED by Joyce Meyer's Ministry which has helped in my own emotional and spiritual health/growth). I used this example because though I am not a lady (I've found healing from sexual abuse and molestation are usually harder for ladies), I have seen and heard especially from my personal research/testimony and even testimonies from a couple of people I know; both men and ladies that were sexually molested in their childhood, how it affected their whole childhood, sexual orientation and even their marriage for those that eventually got married without dealing with the hurt/offense and how God was able to help heal them when they made a choice to LET GO and LET GOD take control. You'd be shocked that this is still very prevalent in the world at large (its even gotten worse because of the worldwide moral decadence yet things like this are hardly talked about in most churches) and especially in Nigeria and other African countries where issues like sex are not usually discussed in public or within families and are seen as a TABOO or a 'NO GO' zone. You'll be shocked about how many men and ladies (it is not restricted to ladies alone because I know of men that were abused by older ladies or older men when they were younger/naive or men that were physically/verbally assaulted by their spouses. Men don't generally talk about this because of their egos but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It is more prevalent in ladies though because they are usually seen and portrayed as 'SEX' objects and the weaker vessels) have been abused at a time in their lives and have kept it secret for fear of letting anyone know yet allowing it to inwardly destroy them and the devil using it to keep them in continual bondage) and can tell that being molested can leaves a permanent scar for life (which can be healed though by embracing the truth allowing it to set you free), and is one of the strongest reasons some ladies choose to walk in unforgiveness.Your pain and disappointment can end up becoming a testimony and if you believe in the God that can turn any situation around, the God of RESTORATION and the God that can make every impossibility possible, He will definitely turn your situation around and it will end up becoming a blessing in disguise. Though the enemy may have meant it for evil and was looking for ways to mess you up and trap you from childhood, EVERYTHING always end up working together for GOOD for them who LOVE GOD and are THE CALLED according to God's purpose (Romans 8:28). The God that we serve is a God of another chance, HE LOVES YOU and He forgives EVERYONE (even people that by human standards are UNFORGIVABLE) who repents of their sins and run to his loving arms. Though the principle that 'we will definitely reap what we sow' and that 'GOD IS ALSO A JUST JUDGE' is VERY TRUE that should never be the conclusion of the matter and also not my emphasis at this time either. The conclusion is that GOD IS LOVE; there is a WAY OF ESCAPE that comes from genuinely repenting, confessing your sins and allowing him to change you FROM THE INSIDE OUT and God will give you a REGENERATED SPIRIT and also give you THE HOLY SPIRIT to lead you and guide you in ALL THINGS when you come to him just as you are, Give you life to Christ and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit(food for thought). Let me point out here that forgiving someone doesn't necessarily mean continually tolerating the person's evil or negative actions towards you or any form of abuse (be it physical, sexual, verbal or emotional) and BALANCE is always the key to LIFE. If you are in any form of 'life threatening' abusive relationship, PLEASE break out of that relationship or seek some form of help/protection until your abuser gets help. Don't put your life in danger because you love someone that is abusive. The best way to show him/her that you actually love them is for you to help them recognize their abusive nature and what it is doing to your relationship. If they also really love you in return, they will be willing to do anything to save the relationship including seeking for help. I heard the points below preached in church recently and it was so profound that I will love to share it with you too.
Satan has access and enters into our lives through three major access points (there are other ways though)
(i) Unforgiveness
(ii) Wrong ways of thinking
(iii) Stealing from God
This was very helpful and I just thought I should share it with you as a food for thought. Remember that you always have and will always be the Architect of your own destiny, your life will always be ruled by the choices you make and you have to learn to always be responsible for your actions (as opposed to blame-shifting or faultfinding). There is a wrong picture that has been painted of God for centuries as a magician or Santa Claus and that everything good or bad that happens to us is always God's will. What I have seen in my own young and short life that I have lived (I'm still very young, continually learning and allowing the holy Spirit to lead and guide me and also learning to 'THINK' for myself
) is that this pictures stops us from taking responsibility for our own actions and always either looking for someone or something to blame or to be responsible for our actions (God, the devil or anyone else except myself) or just look at everything that happens in my life as God's will. What a load of foolish ideologies and faulty paradigm. Human beings naturally resist change (we love our comfort zone); We find ourselves strongly criticizing anything we don't understand, are afraid of, or that does not conform to our present belief system (hence why Christianity is the most widely and strongly criticized 'lifestyle' you can think of to the extent that some people even go to the extra length of studying the bible only with the motive of discrediting Christianity and looking for every loopholes they can find in Christianity so they can justify why their own belief system is right. How sad. Apart from the forces of evil in action in blinding people's eyes, I guess its because people don't want to accept the truth or just want to continue justifying living a sinful lifestyle, trying to redefine right from wrong and doing the things which they already know and have been convicted in their heart is wrong thereby deadening their conscience. Even some Christian 'Religious' beliefs are guilty of this not to talk of outside the walls of Christianity. Remember you have a choice though when it comes to what you choose to believe and the choice is yours alone to make. I don't believe in any religion or belief system that tries to force you into their way of thinking or belief system and like I keep saying, on the long run and on our death bed, we will be responsible for our life choices or actions whether we choose to believe it or not).Our flesh always want to take the path of least resistance (hence why it takes strong discipline to exercise and be physically, emotionally and spiritually fit); we unconsciously always want to look for someone or something to blame for whatever happens to us and we are very quick to be judgmental, point fingers or find faults in others (the principle of seeing the speck of dust in our neighbor's eyes forgetting about the log of wood in our own eyes
). The worse of it all is when we place our 'total' trust on another man/woman or someone we constantly look up to for all the answers to our questions (Unfortunately, most of the times, we elevate our religious leaders or other form of leadership/authorities in our lives to this position of being our God and savior and also rather unfortunate is the fact that some of these leaders unconsciously take up that role and expect you to take every word they say without reason for yourself
. This is proof that POWER INTOXICATES and ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS. A REAL LEADER is truly a SERVANT AT HEART) forgetting that the person is also human too and every human being on this earth has a strong potential to guess...MAKE MISTAKES, disappoint or fail. One thing people tend to forget is that people operating in the five-fold ministry are also human beings like us. They just carry a unique God-ordained anointing and every miracle they perform is an operation of God's anointing and not by their own physical power or abilities. I strongly believe and choose to respect every form of Authority I am under (especially Godly Authority), I believe in wise counsel and in the FIVE-FOLD ministry but I've seen it abused in so many ways and instances that in this time and season you can't afford not to have the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you in all truth. Is it now a surprise when several people wake up one morning to announce their claim to the whole world that they are GOD and you still see so many people who believe them and are staunch followers? How do you think Lucifer became the Devil? The anointing and responsibility he was given got to his head - A little food for thought.Isaiah 14:12-17 (New Living Translation)
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13 For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.
14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’
15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.
16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17 Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’
The Late Kenneth E. Hagin (one of the greatest Bible Scholars, Man of God and of faith, and one of the greatest teachers of all times) stated in a couple of his books that "A Major shortcoming among many believers is that they don't do much thinking or studying for themselves. Instead, they just follow what somebody else said". This, based on my own past experiences and what we tend to see on a daily basis is very true. To think there was a time I took everything I heard on the pulpit or in church hook, line and sinker, forgetting the place of the Holy Spirit in my life as a witness to the every truth from God's word and to also 'THINK' for myself and search the word for myself too
. Thank God for wisdom and for recognizing that I should be like the Berean Christians who always went back to the word to confirm if what they heard in church was in line with the word. I'm not saying you should now start arguing with your pastor or those in Godly authority over you about everything you don't agree with (that on the long run doesn't edify the body of Christ; leaves room for strife and division; creates the impression that you think you know better and only amount to being rebellious/prideful and not respecting God's call and covenant upon their lives) but allow the Holy spirit to be a witness in your heart to the truth that is being taught and you should also have the responsibility of going back to the scriptures for yourself to see if what he or she said is true or not like the Berean Christians were known for. You can't afford to be deceived by every wind of doctrine that is flying in the air if you want to live a fulfilled, complete and purpose-oriented life."You have heard me say it before. I've said it for fifty years, and I am going to keep on saying it. Don't accept something just because I said it or someone else said it. Study the Word of God for yourself and see if that's what the Word of God actually says. Then you're not following what Brother Hagin said or someone else said. You are following what God said." -Quoted by the Late Kenneth E. Hagin in his book 'Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage' (little wonder he was recognized as one of the wisest men that ever lived in our generation, impacted and left a landmark for this generation and generations to come; his numerous books are found in almost every region of the world and you can tell that he lived a FULFILLED life in Christ
).Titus 3:8-11 (The Message)
8-11I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone. Stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over genealogies and fine print in the law code. That gets you nowhere. Warn a quarrelsome person once or twice, but then be done with him. It's obvious that such a person is out of line, rebellious against God. By persisting in divisiveness he cuts himself off.I've also heard a pastor once state that: "Man is MAN and no more, but God is GOD and no less. Man will fail but GOD NEVER FAILS". God has assured us in his word that HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US (Deu 31:6, Deu 31:8, Josh 1:5, Heb 13:5 to mention a few scriptures). It is easier to forgive a person that offends you when you don't put that person in a position that is meant for God and God alone or create unnecessary and unrealistic expectations on that person (nobody on this earth can fill God's place in your heart and even God does not set unrealistic expectations on you. How much another human being
) and also walk in love towards every person when God's love flows strongly in our hearts and you abide by his word and principle. SELAHAlso remember that your CREATOR sees and knows it all (He sees the motives of our hearts) yet his unfailing loving kindness towards you is better than life itself (Psalm 63:3). The more you seek him and seek to live your life based on his LOVE, WORD, WISDOM and PRINCIPLES, the more He will reveal himself to you and give you a better understanding/revelation of who you are, what you were created for and why it is very important to place your total trust and confidence on him and him alone. His word strongly assures us that if we seek him with all our heart, strength and might, we will find him and as we draw nearer to him, he draws closer to us too. This shows us how everything is dependent on the choices that WE make since he gave us a FREE WILL to choose between RIGHT and WRONG (Have you ever asked God why He didn't make you like a robot so you can obey him completely without having a choice or a free will? I know I have
). His grace is always more than sufficient enough for you and a word is enough for the wise.Revelation 3:20-21 (The Message)
20-21"Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That's my gift to the conquerors!
Love you, KEEP THE FIRE OF LOVE BURNING and ENJOY LIFE since it is your Godly heritage (John 10:10). As long as there is LIFE, THERE IS HOPE but once you stop believing, learning and hoping, you start decaying which eventually leads to death. Imagine how this this world will be if everyone made a choice to THINK FOR THEMSELVES, CHANGE FROM THE INSIDE OUT, WALK IN LOVE AND FORGIVENESS and live a LOVE LIFE!!! Also imagine how Liberating life will be if you make a conscious decision to THINK the right thoughts, get rid of wrong and faulty thinking/mindsets/paradigm and ENJOY LIFE in the process too. WOW!!!
. It is a fact that we can't do this based on our own strength, physical abilities and technical know-how but his Grace and mercy is more than sufficient enough for us, and he is has given us ALL THINGS that pertains to LIFE and GODLINESS. Again as long as there is life, THERE IS HOPE and It is not too late until it is too late. Please don't wait until it is too late.Romans 12:1-3 (New Living Translation)
A Living Sacrifice to God
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Philippians 4:8-9 (The Message)
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Galatians 5:22-27 (New Living Translation)
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Love Always,
Eskor
Ps
If this ministered to you, please share this with your friends and loved ones too. It might just help save a life. What you free receive, FREELY GIVE!!!
Fifty Quotes on Forgiveness
If you'll like to check out the fifty Quotes on Forgiveness, click on the link below.http://www.iloveulove.com/wisdom/50quotes.htm
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Let my heart be the vessel of God's Love. Let my thoughts be the blossom of God's Love. Let my words be the expression of God's Love. Let my actions be the fulfillment of God's Love. - David RidgeRELATIONSHIPS, not achievements or acquisition of things, are what matters most in life...BUSYNESS is a great enemy of RELATIONSHIPS - Rick Warrenhttp://eskoredem.blogspot.com/
.
. That is one of the greatest gifts God has given us and it beats the attitude of grumbling and complaining anytime, any day. The scripture rightly states that 