70 x 7 rule

I have been doing a study on forgiveness for the book I am currently writing. Because of different circumstances in my life, I have learned a few things about forgiveness. For instance, did you know that forgiveness is a choice?

That's right!
 It is up to me, it is my choice whether or not I will forgive someone who has hurt me. It is not up to that other person but me. Choices...we are all faced with them each day, but how many of us wake up each morning and contemplate who we will forgive this day. In the Fathers Prayer, it says, "Forgive those who trespass against us." So I know I have to make a choice.

But we have to choose wisely!
What if we choose poorly? What if the offense is far too great to forgive? Are we suppose to still forgive it?

MATTHEW 18:21, 22 “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."

In order for us to understand and grasp hold of the 70x7 rule, we must understand the power of God's forgiveness. We must recognize that we are forgiven through His shed blood and He is faithful to forgive those who ask for forgiveness and repent of their wrong doing. Not once, not twice, but 70 times 7!

God has already made up His mind ... He chooses to forgive you, if you will accept it. Who will you choose to forgive today?

Please give me some feedback for my book. I am looking for your insight on forgiveness for my devotional book that I am currently writing. I may not be able to use all of the comments received, but will use as many as possible. CLICK HERE to answer the question..."Define forgiveness and what is the hardest thing for you to forgive?"

Losing my marbles

Imagine if each day lived was like a jar of marbles. At the end of each day, you removed one marble from the jar. It would only be a matter of time before the jar would empty out.

No more opportunities.

I wonder if life was truly like this and we had a jar of marbles to indicate how many more days we had on this earth...would we spend our day differently? Would there be things that we would be sure we did or said before taking yet another marble out of the jar?

I would hope so.

Paul said in Romans that it is time to awake from our sleep...

"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now salvation is nearer than when we first believed." (Romans 13:11)

Each of us has a limited time on earth
No-one knows the hour that we will be called home to be with Him. Death will come for each us, none us know for certain exactly how many marbles we have in our jar of life. It is up to us that we live each day, each moment, each opportunity like it could be our last.

Once the opportunity passes and night becomes day again - it is gone, and cannot return. It is imperative that we understand that TODAY is the day of salvation - for some of us will not have tomorrow. Some of us are already down to our last marble in the jar.

Life is short.
Opportunities are limited. What will you do with the rest of your days ... serve Him or lose your marbles?

THANKFUL THURSDAY...can you hear the wind?

Last weekend, a huge burst of wind kicked up. It seemed like it just came from nowhere. I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden you could hear the whistling of the wind, the leaves on the trees were swooshing and anything that lay on the ground was now swirling around in mid-air. It felt like we were about to be swept away.

It was really odd. One minute it was calm and the next it was like a wind monsoon!

Wind can be like that. You never know when it will pick up and you never know in which direction it is going to blow. Last week's sudden burst of wind reminded me of what Jesus said to Nicodemus...

"Do not marvel that I said to you 'You must be born again.' " (John 3:8)

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:9)

I am fascinated with windmills. A few years ago when we were in Amsterdam, we got to see real windmills. Their vastness was totally amazing to me, but even more amazing is the fact that without the wind, windmills would just be useless. Windmills are designed to be propelled by the wind, without the wind blowing, windmills are powerless.

We, as Christians, need to be like windmills. We must be empowered by the Holy Spirit and like that big windstorm we had recently, we may not know which way His wind will blow but we must be sensitive to it.

Without His Wind, we are powerless! Aren't you thankful for His Wind? Today is THANKFUL THURSDAY and we join our grateful hearts with LYNN today. Lynn is our TT hostess for the month of October.

I NEED HELP FOR MY BOOK: I am currently writing a devotional book and I am looking for some testimonies about FORGIVENESS. I would appreciate your input...I may not be able to use every ones comments, but will try to use as many as possible. GO HERE to give your feedback.

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...things that weigh too much

It seems that once something goes wrong or even might possibly be wrong ... our minds run wild!! It seems to me that when an illness comes upon me, my mind begins to run backwards about what triggered the illness and before I know it, I am fast forwarded to working thru every horribly possible scenario, right up to the point of dirt being thrown onto my casket. I know that I am not alone, many of us get swallowed up in our vast scope of daily worries!

"The moment we are born, we begin to die."

Sounds like an oxy-moron to me, but it is true. From the very beginning, with the first breath we take, we begin an adventure that will eventually lead to our death. If we are not living, we are dying. There is nothing we can do about it, we have to just trust God.

Worrying is the same thing. There is nothing we can do about it - so why not just trust God?

In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question; "What is the last thing that you worried about?" The top 3 responses were:

1. 28% of those voting said they worry about finances.

2. Another 28% voted and said their children.

3. 14% voted and said they worry about their health and the economy.

There is no question about it, we are worriers! Sometimes the weight of the world is just too much too bear, but we should not be surprised at the things that happen that cause us such worry. The Bible says we are not guaranteed a life free from pain or illness. When sin entered the world, it brought with it pain, disease, illness and death. None of us are free from this - we are ALL under the curse that resulted from Adam and Eve's sin in the garden of Eden.

JOHN 16:33 "In the world you will have tribulation."

Jesus never said it would be easy. Instead of asking, 'Why, God? Why me?" - pray this way, "God, what do You want to teach me?"

The Apostle Paul had a painful, lingering condition. He referred to his pain as a "thorn in his flesh." Paul struggled with his thorn, so shall we struggle with ours. Paul prayed and asked for his thorn to be removed, but God's response is exactly what we need to hear today as we feel heavy burdened with things of this life ...

"My Grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9)

When we as Christians suffer, it is always an opportunity to  trust God and give Him glory! When we trust Him, His peace will overfill our mind and our soul.

What weighs heavy on your mind today? Lean upon Him and allow His strength to lift the weight of the world off of your shoulders.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart." - Proverbs 3:5

"Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." - Psalm 2:12

A PIECE OF MY HEART...a stone of sodium

I looked out my front door to see what the commotion was about. The neighborhood dogs were all barking, almost like in unison. It didn't take me long to see what all of the racket was about. Someone was out walking their dog.

It appeared there was more "stopping" then "walking" going on.

The poor dog on the leash was totally distracted by all of the barking dogs. It appeared the poor fella did not know which way to go. To the right or to the left. In his confusion, he just stopped dead in his tracks. The human at the end of the leash tried to get the dog to budge, with no prevail.

As humorous as I thought this picture looked, I realized how very NOT funny it is when this happens to us humans. Truth is, many times we can be walking the straight and narrow pathway and BANG...something pops up in front of us that totally distracts us from following God's lead. We hesitate, should we go to the right or to the left?  Many times when we take control of the leash, we end up going the wrong way or worse yet, we just stay at a standstill.

Staying at a standstill is not a good place to be.
Look at Lot's wife. She did not follow God's lead and ended up being at a permanent standstill. She became a pillar of salt!

GENESIS 19:26 "But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."

God was leading Lot and his family to a better place, to a place of safety and of new beginnings. Lot's wife was not looking forward, she was still focused on the past, on what she was leaving behind. Maybe the story of Lot is not so much about disobedience as it is for us to see the importance of not staying in our past. We must trust God for our future and allow Him to take control of the leash while we are on this "walk" of life.

If that dog would have just trusted his owner, he could have quickly gotten past the barking dogs. No doubt the human would have taken him down a safe path. When we relinquish the control back to God, He will not lead us astray. But if we don't trust Him, we jeopardize the possibility of becoming a stone of sodium. A pillar of salt.

Will you look to your future? or are you going to look back?

this has been a piece of my heart today;

A letter to my readers!

Dear family, friends and followers of my blog;

Thank you for following my blog and for your constant support and encouragement. Who would have thought that God would stir in me a new found passion when I started blogging several years ago.

But He did, and I love to share His love and encouragement thru my writing! As many of you know, I am currently writing my first devotional book. I am so excited about this while at the same totally scared! But God has it all under control and in His hands, I place each page that is written.

I cannot do this alone!!

 I already have God with me, but I also need YOU! In my devotional book, I will be covering several "life" topics and there is no better way to express God's power and love than thru personal testimonies. In my devotional book, I will be highlighting testimonies from people just like you! So get ready to share with others what God has done for you!

Currently, I am writing the chapter of "Forgiveness". Please leave me an answer to the following question in the comment section:

 "How do you define forgiveness? and please share with the readers the one thing that you find the most difficult to forgive."

Please include your name, blog site and email address with your response. I will not be able to use every one's comments in my book, but I will use as many as I can.

Thank you for your support and love;

LACED WITH GRACE...I need a drink

Today I have shared a few thoughts over at the LACED WITH GRACE devotional site. Today's devo is entitled, "I need a drink!". CLICK HERE to read it!

You may want to check LWG out daily ... we have a team of talented and spirit-led writers sharing from their heart 5 days a week! It is a daily blessing of hope, love and encouragement!