2 Timothy 1:7 “God gave us His Spirit. And the Spirit doesn’t make us weak and fearful. Instead, the Spirit gives us power and love. He helps us control ourselves.” ~NIRV

Every day, we believers wake up and start our day trying to walk our journey as righteously as we can. We find that sometimes it can be a very hard thing to do. When we get cut off in traffic. When we are trying to buy something in a store and the cashier is rude. Or when our co-worker or supervisor seems to take it upon themselves to make our day a little harder than usual, life as a Christian can be challenging. It becomes harder to perform in the righteous ways we are instructed in the Word to act. Our responses to some of these distractions are not always good.

How about those situations where things are not necessarily impossible under our own power; but because of the pain we have been through, inflicted by someone close to us, we refuse to forgive. With all this in mind, let us, as Christians, reflect for a moment. Looking at situations like these we know that our responses, should we take the wrong actions, are not the behavior God would approve of. So, what do we do?

Well, thank God for His grace, mercy and forgiveness because God knows that it gets hard for us sometimes. This is why He gave us the Spirit as a gift. Our Spirit is the gift that helps protect us from ourselves. “He helps us control ourselves…” This is to help give us the strength we need to stay righteous. Our Spirit grows strong every time we feed it the Word of God, so let's get a couple of 'spoonfulls' of scripture right now. For example, let’s look at Ecclesiastes 7:9. It says to not become angry, because anger lives in the hearts of foolish people. Truly God’s children, believers in His Son, are not foolish people, so we should not show actions that would indicate us not being God’s children.

And in Matthew 6 verses 14 through 15, a scripture of pure nourishment for our Spirits is written. We know that God loves us so much that He has forgiven us by sacrificing his One and Only Son. At the same time, reading the text in Matthew, it basically says that it is our ‘duty’ to forgive. Not a choice, a duty. “If we forgive others, God will forgive us. But if we do not, He will not forgive us for our offenses.” Those who have stacked up offenses against us, should be forgiven by us, just as God has forgiven the offenses we have stacked up against Him. In other words, if God did it, then we must do it.

So, it doesn’t matter if we get cut off in traffic, or if we meet an obnoxiously rude cashier, or even been hurt pretty badly by someone close to us, our actions should show others God in us. In spite of what we are going or have been through. Don't worry about if you can forgive or not. The action of doing the right thing comes from the strength of the Holy Spirit, given to us by God. The gift from our Father, Who has forgiven and accepted us as His children.

May God continue to bless and protect you as you journey in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen

Joshua 24:21 “But the people Said to Joshua, ‘No! We will serve the Lord.’ Then Joshua said, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves. You have said that you have chosen to serve the Lord.’ ‘Yes. We are witnesses,’ they replied. ‘Now then,’ said Joshua, ‘throw away the statues of the gods that are among you. People from other lands serve those gods. Give yourselves completely to the Lord. He is the God of Israel.’ ~NIRV

“I am sorry.” These words usually come after one has betrayed another. Whatever the hurt, pain or struggle, an apology has been laid on the table. Next comes forgiveness. When that is given in response to the apology, a very important thing happens next. The covenant. This may come in many forms that will confirm the commitment that what has happened will never happen again. Rules are put in place and boundaries are set so that the covenant can remain intact.

This is important because the one that was hurt, if placed in that same situation again, that relationship may be damaged beyond repair. In other words, a wife may forgive a husband for his transgression, when he apologizes and commits to being loyal. But if he breaks that commitment again, the consequences could result in a ruined relationship. This is how we as believers need to look at our personal relationship with God. When we come to Him, we confess our sins. We acknowledge our transgression and we accept responsibility for the consequences. But when we know that Christ died for our sins, then our apology comes in our actions as we live godly lives. Our commitment to being loyal to God in his commands and will for our lives, seals that covenant with God.

This is what takes place in Chapter 24 in the book of Joshua. After Joshua presents the act of idol worship to the people and its consequences, the people respond by saying they will worship the Lord. Many may have recognized their shortcomings and recognized the error of their ways. Joshua told them to get rid of those things that keep them from being loyal to God and to give their all to God only. He tells them that as they speak, they are witnessing to themselves and others. In other words, in their right minds they acknowledge their willingness to be loyal to God and God alone.

In doing this the covenant is renewed. Joshua makes it clear that because our God is a forgiving God, we need to be sincere on our part of the covenant. Because our God is gracious enough to forgive us of our mistakes and bad decisions, He is merciful enough to give us another chance. This is an opportunity to show that we are grateful for His grace, and this time we need to be sincere about our renewed commitment to God’s commands and direction. In other words, God will always do His part. We are totally responsible for ours.

​May God bless and keep you loved and protected as you journey in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen