30-Day Spiritual Challenge – Day Nineteen

Becky Cain30-Day Spiritual ChallengeLeave a Comment

THE 30-DAY SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE: Read Psalms 103:1-5 out loud and meditate on it daily for 30 days – June 1-June 30th. (It is okay to begin today)

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Photo:usa-internationalevents.com

Photo:usa-internationalevents.com

Psalms 103:2-3a says, “2 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits—
3 Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities. 

Today’s blog is a continuation of “our Forgiveness Benefit Package.

Remember a part of our benefit package is:

  • Having every one of our iniquities…all of our iniquities forgiven. Woo Hoo! I’m forgiven!
    • Qualifier: To receive our benefit of being totally forgiven, we must forgive others in order to receive forgiveness.

UNFORGIVENESS CAUSES PROBLEMS IN OUR OTHER RELATIONSHIPS!

When you walk in unforgiveness towards someone, did you realize that it can put a strain on your other relationships as well? A dear friend of mine who I will refer to as Olivia had a husband, who I will refer to as Ralph. Olivia and Ralph were high school sweethearts and got married straight out of high school. Ralph cheated on Olivia. Thankfully there were no children involved. Throughout the marriage Ralph played mind games and was emotionally and verbally abusive. The end result was divorce.

Fast-forward in time and Olivia fell in love again and was about to get married to a wonderful gentleman, who I will refer to as Charles. My husband counseled Charles that he may have to put a sign around his neck saying, “I’m not Ralph” and reminded Olivia that she would have to remember Charles was not Ralph. Why do you think my husband counseled Charles and Olivia in this manner? Because unless Olivia had truly gotten rid of all the unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness that comes with a cheating and abusive spouse, Charles could reap what he had not sown.

The truth is when we are holding on to unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness, it makes us a harsher person to be around. Ever heard of the kick the dog syndrome? A man named Luke had “kick the dog” syndrome. Luke’s father was verbally abusive, belittling and overbearing.

In fact Luke and his siblings would refer to the abusive father as “the iron fist”. The hard part about this scenario was Luke’s father was a Christian man who later became a Pastor. Luke had a tough time coming to grips with how a man who raised him to go to church and who was a Christian could be so abusive.

The problem with Luke’s unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment was whenever Luke’s wife would say anything that remotely reminded Luke of his father; Luke would lash out at his wife – the “kick the dog” syndrome. Luke became verbally abusive and belittling towards his wife and would punch holes in their walls.

Whenever Luke spent any time with his family, Luke’s wife would watch the abuse towards her escalate. So the sin of unforgiveness can be passed down generations. Only God and Luke’s father knows what caused him to become so abusive. This is why it is so important for you to rid yourself of any and all unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment! You are harming yourself and harming others.

Now for the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say. Luke began seeking God by reading his Bible and listening to the Bible every night for several months. God set up a church service where the guest speaker was reading Luke’s mail, so to speak. Luke felt like the guest speaker must have been following him around because the speaker described Luke’s double life to a tee. The speaker said, “One minute you are raising your hands and praising God in church and the next minute you are screaming to your wife in the car to gag the kids!”

God gave Luke an ultimatum. God told Luke you can have your pride or your freedom. You see Luke had grown up in this church. By answering the altar call he would be admitting that he wasn’t the holy person all the pastors and people thought he was.

Thankfully Luke chose freedom, answered the altar call and was even re-baptized in water where he shared his testimony! Luke’s wife and children received a new husband and daddy! We serve an awesome God!

Photo:www.skywriting.net

Photo:www.skywriting.net

I hear the Holy Spirit saying if you will take one step towards Him, He will come running to you. His arms are held open wide to forgive you, cleanse you and wipe away the tears and pain you have been and are suffering with. Choose life and freedom today! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain in Jesus Name!

 [A Psalm] of David.

1 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits—
3 Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;
5 Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!

 

Walking in FREEDOM!

Pastor Becky Cain

www.Trans4mationChurch.com

www.MarriageExperts.org

 

 

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