God wants us to find our way back to him

There’s Got to Be More

Do you ever have the feeling that you are chasing something in life that won’t fully satisfy you? Pay attention to that feeling. It’s from God.

We’re not just talking about substance abuse issues, although drinking and pursuing other addictions are certainly ways of chasing something futile. But we’ve also known a lot of “good church people” who sit in a service every week—or who preach from a pulpit to those people—who feel themselves to be far from God. They’re “successful” or “put together” or “righteous” on the outside, but they’re missing God on the inside. They keep busy with religious practices and work, school, or family, but it just isn’t enough. They long for God to feel real to them.

That longing is the first spiritual awakening for all of us finding our way back to God: “There’s got to be more.”

When you long for a love that is deep and satisfying, when you want to give yourself to something that will truly make a difference, or when you seek answers to life’s most difficult questions, you are looking for God. You’ve really got two options: you can keep searching to fill these longings on your own, or you can look to the One who gave you those longings in the first place.

Our longing for real love goes all the way back to how the human race was made in the first place. God intended that we experience his love both directly from him and through others we relate to in a healthy way. What we long for, God doesn’t just have but actually God is. He is love and he pursues us with love.

We’ve heard it said that every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is really looking for God. If you are knocking on the door of some self-destructive behavior or relationship, you might actually have arrived at an important point in your journey back to God. Why? Because the disappointment you inevitably feel in cheap substitutes will make you wonder where you can find real love. Will you open yourself up to letting God fill your longing to love and be loved?

What do your activities this week suggest about what you think will satisfy you?

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Forgiveness frees you from anger

Forgiveness Frees Us from Anger 

Unforgiveness is holding a list in our heart demanding people to personally account to us for what they have done. Unforgiveness involves anger. Unforgiveness involves a desire for vengeance. Unforgiveness involves bitterness. We need to be willing to release the people in our hearts for their sins against us. Sometimes, Christians misunderstand the Scriptures that say that a person should repent when we rebuke them. These people say, “I will forgive when the offender repents.” There are other Scriptures, however, that require us to forgive regardless of the other person’s attitude.

Jesus said that we are to be like our Heavenly Father. He sends rain on people who are just and unjust. The Lord also makes the sunrise for the evil and the good alike. God is kind to everyone. Forgiveness should happen in our hearts whether people ask us to forgive them or not. Forgiveness is all about our hearts. This is where we are to release the people who hurt us. 

After all, we cannot ultimately forgive people for their sin before God. This is their debt to the Heavenly Judge. Only God can forgive people for their sins against Him. We are to release people from our personal vengeance. We cannot harbor bitterness in our hearts. Our attitude towards others should always be redemptive. 

In this way, forgiveness is actually empowering. It allows us to take control of what has been done to us, and it empowers us to release the offender. It frees us from our anger and a desire for vengeance. When we forgive, we free not only our offender but also ourselves. We can now walk in freedom from the negative emotions that held our hearts hostage. We are no longer responsible for vengeance. God is. When we forgive, we hand our offender over to God. 

When we forgive, we say that the individual no longer owes us anything. What the individual did against us is now a matter for them to settle with God. If the person repents, God will forgive this individual just like He forgave us. Since we no longer owe God for our sins, we cannot hold anyone else as our debtors. Now, it is for God to decide whether to bring vengeance on the person who hurt us. The Bible says that revenge belongs to Him. We can now walk in the freedom that He gave us to forgive and be forgiven. 

More on Forgiveness

Forgiveness Frees Us from Vengeance

Jesus tells us to forgive our brothers if they sin against us. Moreover, He tells us to forgive a person seven times in the same day, if they repent before us. Of course, if a person sins against us again and again and asks for forgiveness, after a while, we start doubting such individual’s sincerity. However, Jesus tells us to keep forgiving because He raises the standard high. We are obligated to forgive because of how much was forgiven to us. 

Think about the biblical story of Joseph. His brothers did a horrific thing to him. They sold him into slavery. He had been a slave and a prisoner and went through awful circumstances before He became the second-in-command in Egypt. When his brothers finally met him again, he had all the right to execute vengeance against them. But he forgave. He even wept when he saw his brothers, despite everything they had done against him. Joseph had a different perspective of the events that happened to him. He knew that his brothers meant what they did for evil, but God meant it for good. 

One of the ways we learn to forgive is by understanding the sovereignty of God over all the events of our lives. Nothing is accidental that happens to us. It does not mean that God approves of everything that happens to us. It does not mean that God smiles over everything that happens to us. We have to acknowledge the reality of evil in this world. Joseph told his brothers, “You meant it for evil.” He did not underestimate the evil done against him. However, the beauty of being loved by God, which is described in the Scripture, is that God is at work in our lives making all things work together for good. 

When we love God and are called according to His purpose, God is able to take what is meant against us and use it for His glory and for our eternal good. We need to maintain such perspective. This will help us to keep our hearts soft even in the face of things that people may do to destroy us. When Joseph forgave his brothers, he said, “Am I in the place of God?” He refused to take vengeance. The Bible tells us that vengeance belongs to God. When we forgive, we acknowledge that. We are not qualified to execute vengeance on various situations. God is. 

Submit to God

Submit First

Submitting to the Lord is our first line of defense when fear rears its ugly head. And guess who loves it when we live in fear? Our spiritual enemy. Fear is his playground. 

Thankfully, we have a plan of attack. God has given us a spiritual dress code in Ephesians 6:10-18. We must be fully equipped with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit and a prayerful heart. Once we’re appropriately clothed, we can heed the words of James, the half-brother of Jesus:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NIV

Before we start rebuking or resisting the devil, we must ask ourselves if we’ve fully surrendered and submitted to God. Submitting to God means fully abandoning our lives to Him. With our spiritual armor fully in place and prayer in our hearts, we’re yielding to the One who has the ultimate authority. We’re given the strength to resist the devil when we surrender our entire lives to God. And then guess what happens? The devil flees.

Yet, what we often try to do instead is first resist the devil or rebuke him, when we have yet to really submit to God. Resisting the devil is hard when we haven’t submitted our will, our ways, and our wants to God. Submitting to God is not only the first step, but our submission to God is actually us resisting Satan at the same time. 

We have the tools at hand. Let’s take steps toward fully giving our lives to our good God, for when we do, the devil has no power over us. 

Romans 3 vs 23-25

Mathew 5 vs 44