You might be wondering what could bring on such a flood of emotion. The answer is simple, yet complicated.
It all started as I entered my "meeting place" and went through the normal routine of candle lighting, situating lights, getting comfortable in my chair...then I began thanking God for His goodness. After a few minutes of praise, I picked up the devotional calendar to change the date and this is what I read....
This is not the first time I've read these words! This devotional calendar has been a part life since 1991, a baptism gift from a loving mentor and friend. This verse has been read and re-read, studied, taught, and preached...but today, it became like a waterfall of rushing water...washing me clean!
I though about the violets that cover a section of the "forest" in our yard in the spring..so many that trying to avoid crushing them as you walk is nearly impossible...Dad and I walked through them many times and he never failed to mention how much he like them. We would crushed a few, in spite of trying to avoid them, but I can't remember the fragrance...yet...it was there...covering our offending shoes with a sweet aroma. Even as we broke them, they showered a sweet smell our way, and we didn't know it.
This causes me to think about the forgiveness of God, a precious gift...and there are times that I know I crush His heart with my own unforgiveness, yet HE forgives me...and while I may "know" it, I fail to detect the sweet aroma of HIS love for me. In this moment of feeling so loved, I dared to ask this questions..."who do I need to forgive?" He was waiting on that question.
And for a few moments, time stood still in my "meeting place" as He showed me...and from my heart, a mighty river of forgiveness flowed as I spoke the word "forgiven." Listen, I THOUGHT I had already let it go! In this quiet time of devotion, a time of coming to the Father to seek His will, in an attitude of prayer...HE had a plan to remind me that freedom comes when we forgive one another, just like HE has forgiven us.
I'm sure that my words have not done justice to the beauty of this moment. Maybe you are smiling or thinking, "oh, that's nice" or something like that...or maybe, just maybe, you sense what my words failed to express...and in this very moment, you are finding freedom...it sure can be complicated...but sometimes, it just this simple "forgiven" uttered from a pure heart...and those who have crushed you might not catch the aroma...but it is there...
Here's a prayer I re-discovered this morning. These are the words of the Apostle Paul but they are for you and me today...
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant YOU, according to the riches of His glory, to BE STRENGTHENED with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that YOU, being rooted and grounded in love, may BE ABLE to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that YOU may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV)
I though about the violets that cover a section of the "forest" in our yard in the spring..so many that trying to avoid crushing them as you walk is nearly impossible...Dad and I walked through them many times and he never failed to mention how much he like them. We would crushed a few, in spite of trying to avoid them, but I can't remember the fragrance...yet...it was there...covering our offending shoes with a sweet aroma. Even as we broke them, they showered a sweet smell our way, and we didn't know it.
This causes me to think about the forgiveness of God, a precious gift...and there are times that I know I crush His heart with my own unforgiveness, yet HE forgives me...and while I may "know" it, I fail to detect the sweet aroma of HIS love for me. In this moment of feeling so loved, I dared to ask this questions..."who do I need to forgive?" He was waiting on that question.
And for a few moments, time stood still in my "meeting place" as He showed me...and from my heart, a mighty river of forgiveness flowed as I spoke the word "forgiven." Listen, I THOUGHT I had already let it go! In this quiet time of devotion, a time of coming to the Father to seek His will, in an attitude of prayer...HE had a plan to remind me that freedom comes when we forgive one another, just like HE has forgiven us.
I'm sure that my words have not done justice to the beauty of this moment. Maybe you are smiling or thinking, "oh, that's nice" or something like that...or maybe, just maybe, you sense what my words failed to express...and in this very moment, you are finding freedom...it sure can be complicated...but sometimes, it just this simple "forgiven" uttered from a pure heart...and those who have crushed you might not catch the aroma...but it is there...
Here's a prayer I re-discovered this morning. These are the words of the Apostle Paul but they are for you and me today...
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant YOU, according to the riches of His glory, to BE STRENGTHENED with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that YOU, being rooted and grounded in love, may BE ABLE to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that YOU may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV)
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