Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Gifts and forgiveness



"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love Him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." I Peter 1:3-9

Thank you Lord for our gift of Salvation! We just wrapped up Christmas (pardon the pun) and it has me thinking abut gifts. Within a couple weeks after Christmas, most new toys are sitting there in a corner, already old. Everything is cleaned up and not a trace of the celebrations left. But, God gave us a gift that continues on everyday!He gave us the ultimate gift... eternity in heaven. All we have to do is accept it. We have to have faith and believe that He has offered us this gift. A gift that cannot be bought or earned by us. It is a gift offered by God's grace. It is a gift that we will always have provided that we believe, repent and accept it. Accepting God's gift does require that we acknowledge that we are sinners and ask for forgiveness. God will always forgive us our sins when we repent. In turn, He commands us to also forgive others when they sin against us. Not once in a while, or if the offense is not too bad. But all of the time, no matter the hurt it has caused. He forgave the worst in us and expects us to forgive the worst in others.

My challenge today is for you to reach out to someone who hurt you. Someone who you have been holding onto the hurt and anger toward for far too long. It is a great step of faith to simply forgive the hurt and move on. When you forgive someone, you let go of the bitterness and anger toward that person. It is more than just saying "I forgive you". It is an action that shows love. It shows God's love through us. It is a love that can change people's lives. It will free you from the burden of the hurt and anger. You may not realize how anger and bitterness towards someone can affect other areas of your life; other relationships.


Today, I rejoice in the most precious gift I will ever receive. Thank you God, for my salvation! Help me to share this Joy with others and be an encouragement to them and a light for them.

Blessings!

~JaAnna









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