The Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.” The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: “The Lord! The Lord! a God who is compassionate and merciful, very patient, full of great loyalty and faithfulness, showing great loyalty to a thousand generations, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion, yet by no means clearing the guilty, punishing for their parents’ sins their children and their grandchildren, as well as the third and the fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:5-7 CEB
Pray
Father my soul and how You view me is most important to me. I know that in order to be forgiven by You, I must forgive others. Father I do not want my sins to be visited upon my children and grandchildren for generations to come. I want to free myself from the bondage of sin. I want to free myself from the weight of others sins against me. I want freedom through forgiveness and atonement.
It is You, not them, why I live each day. It is You, not them, that I turn to for my needs. You are my center and my all-in-all, not them Father. You are my Father Mother, and Your love is all that I need, so I release this weight that I keep holding on to, so that I can be free to receive what You have in store for me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Reflection
Forgiveness is difficult when you’re the one doing the forgiving, but we don’t understand why our sins aren’t quickly forgiven. I’ve mentioned numerous times over the past 5 years that I have been doing my Breaking Bread messages, that I have had to forgive others as well as ask for forgiveness. I’ve had to forgive to be forgiven by God. I’ve had to forgive myself for my sins so that I could accept that God had forgiven me. I have been abused, used, neglected, overlooked, and downright disrespected by people over the years, and I have found a way to forgive each and every one of them.
Someone very close to me betrayed me repeatedly over the years and even recently, and even in my contemplation to distant myself from them, I know that no matter my decision, I will have to still forgive them. Even though they hurt me deeply, I know that I will still have to forgive them sooner than later. Because tomorrow is not promised, I have had to find something good and redeeming inside of them each day, so that each day I could release the negativity that was brewing within me. Each day I had to release the control that the enemy had over me. I had to find a way to get closer to forgiveness so that I could live with peace and joy within, so that I could gain God’s favor and forgiveness, and so that generations to come would not be negatively impacted by my sin.
We cannot ask and expect God to forgive us if we are not willing to forgive others and ourselves. Not forgiving is another victory for the enemy, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not trying to give that ‘thing’ even a millimeter of success in my life. No victory for satan will come at my expense. It can hitch a ride on someone else’s back, but it’s gonna have to get the heck off of mine. Get behind me satan!
I must forgive this person who has harmed me. I must forgive this person for doing to me what even a total stranger had no power and access to do to me. I must forgive this person, not for them, but for me!
God will deal with this person as He sees fit. That is no longer my concern.
God has great things in store for me, I feel it, I believe it, and this person’s transgressions against me and my inability to let go of the pain caused by them, will not block my blessings. I am stronger than that. I am braver than that. Their weakness will not be mine. Their shortcomings will not be mine. Their selfishness will not consume me. Their narcissism will not block God out of my life or blot out God’s Light. My self worth is not tied to them. My sense of being is not tied to them. They are not who I live to serve and please. They are not why I do what I do each day. They are not why I get up and work hard each day. They are not the source of my smiles and laughs.
They are not my center.
God is my center!
He is my beginning, middle, and end.
When I wake each day it is God that is on my mind. It is Him Whom I thank. I live for Him. Without Him there is no me. I serve His children for Him, not for me, not for anyone else, and especially not for the person who has harmed me. When I am in pain, it is God who I seek. I turn to God for healing, not man. When I am excited, it is God that I praise for bringing me great news or an abundance of joy. When I am lost or confused, it is God that I ask for guidance. When I have questions, it is God where I turn. God is my source. He is my power. It is God that I seek to please, not man. So I must forgive so that I can please God.
I forgive the person who has hurt me.
Questions of the Day
1.What is the first thing that comes to mind when you read today’s message?
2. Who has harmed you that you know you need to forgive?
3. What is holding you back from forgiving them?
4. What will it take to forgive them?
5. Knowing that your next minute is not guaranteed, what would you do if you passed away before forgiving this person?
6. What if they passed away before you forgave them?
7. Do you realize that you don’t necessarily need to be in contact with the people who have harmed you to forgive them? You just need to release the burden and exclaim from your heart that they have been released from you through your forgiveness of them. God knows your heart. Does knowing this help you in your decision to let go, forgive, and let God mend you?
Feel free to share your answers, prayers, comments, and reflections in the comment section below. You can also send me an email at: breakingbreadwithnatasha@gmail.com
Please also feel free to share this post with others. We’re never quite sure who needs to hear and see what, and when! It would be awesome if whenever you run across a prayer, message, or scripture that moves you, you would kindly share it with the rest of us. You can post it on this blog or send me an email.
Love always,
Natasha
Copyright 2013-2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Some Rights Reserved. All Prayers and Reflections are Copyright Protected by Natasha Foreman Bryant, unless otherwise noted. Prior posts from 2009-2013 are copyrighted under the name Natasha L. Foreman. breakingbreadwithnatasha.com
Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible,
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.(www.Lockman.org)
Scripture taken from the Common English Bible®, CEB® Copyright © 2010, 2011 by Common English Bible.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The “CEB” and “Common English Bible” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Common English Bible. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Common English Bible.
Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
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