April 18, 2024

You Love Me Anyway

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

The question was raised
As my conscience fell
A silly, little lie
It didn’t mean much
But it lingers still
In the corners of my mind

Still You call me to walk
On the edge of this world
To spread my dreams and fly
But the future’s so far
My heart is so frail
I think I’d rather stay inside

But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
Yes, You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
How You love me

It took more than my strength
To simply be still
To seek but never find
All the reasons we change
The reasons I doubt
And why do loved ones have to die

I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway

See now, I am the man who yelled out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground
Yes then, I turned away with a smile on my face
With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night, I still called out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my life

You love me, yes You love me
How You love me
How You love me
How You love me

Sidewalk Prophets
written by Ben McDonald, Dave Frey, Mark DeLavergne

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Some days are so hard that you can barely put one foot in front of the other. You really want to stay in bed and pull the covers over your head and let the world pass you by.  But even on these darkest days, there is a Father Who loves you so very much and He created you, just to spend time with you.  In fact, He knew that you wouldn’t be perfect and that you would have these days.  He even sent His only Son to die in your place so that you could spend eternity with Him.

Every sin that we would ever commit has already been paid for…with love. Every lie that had ever been told has been forgiven…by love. Every wrong has been redeemed…by love. When you think that all is hopeless, God whispers to you, “Beloved, you are Mine and I love you…”

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
Jeremiah 31:3

So as you listen to this song today, I pray that you feel loved and adored by your Heavenly Father!

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Let us pray: Dear Lord, thank You for loving us and for wanting to spend time with us.  Thank You that no matter what we do or think or say that there is no end to Your forgiveness for us.  Your grace is sufficient and free and when Jesus came to take our place, Heaven became our home…and, oh, how grateful we are.  Lord, wrap Your arms around those who are hurting today, whose hearts have been broken.  Give them comfort and joy and peace in the midst of their circumstances. We love You and praise You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Drops In The Ocean

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I want you as you are, not as you ought to be
Won’t you lay down your guard and come to Me
The shame that grips you now is crippling
It breaks My heart to see you suffering

‘Cause I am for you
I’m not against you

If you want to know
How far My love can go
Just how deep, just how wide
If you want to see
How much you mean to Me
Look at My hands, look at My side
If you could count the times I’d say you are forgiven
It’s more than the drops in the ocean

Don’t think you need to settle for a substitute
When I’m the only Love that changes you

Open your heart
It’s time that we start again
Open your heart
It’s time that we start again

Hawk Nelson
writer(s): Jon Steingard; Jason Ingram; Matt Bronlee

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798,251,012,325,216,135,654,464,101,128,..
3.425 x 10^25

Are you able to read either of those numbers?  I’m not.  I have no concept of how many that is.  So, what do those numbers represent? They are the two most common answers to my Google search…”How many drops are in the ocean?”  And those are just best guesses based on scientific formulas.  Here is how the Bible answers that question:

The God of glory thunders— the Lord, above vast waters….
Psalm 29:3b HCSB

He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
Psalm 33:7 NLT

Here is the ocean, vast and wide….
Psalm 104:25a NLT

Others went to sea in ships, conducting trade on the vast waters.
Psalm 107:23 HCSB

Vast, undefined, unfathomable—the drops in the ocean are beyond measure.  That is how much Jesus loves us.  Better yet, that is how many times He forgives us!  The Scriptures say:

..for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins.
Isaiah 38:17b NLT

…for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
Jeremiah 31:34b NASB

Truly and solemnly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men…
Mark 3:28a AMP

ALL our sins are forgiven.  Not some…not several…not just certain ones…but ALL!  They are remembered no more.  The HCSB version of Isaiah 38:17 says “You have thrown all my sins behind Your back.”  Out of sight and out of mind.

Think about it this way…

Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day
and each time turns again and asks forgiveness,
you must forgive.
Luke 17:4 NLT

Let’s pretend that is the standard Jesus uses toward us…. So 7 times a day for 365 days equals 2,555 times we are forgiven in 1 year.  I am 55; so now let’s multiply 2555 times 55.  That would equal 140,525 times I have been forgiven so far in my lifetime.  (And I know that estimate is WAY TOO LOW!)  I cannot imagine forgiving any one that many times.  Yet I am loved and forgiven so much more than that.

Ephesians 5:2 AMP tells us “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.”  Romans 8:31 NLT reminds us “God is for us, who can ever be against us?”  1 Thessalonians 5:9 declares “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us.”

God is for us, not against us! He is:

– with us (Isaiah 8:10)
– bearing our burdens and carrying us each day (Psalm 68:19)
– with us; He is our leader (2 Chronicles 13:12)
– will fight for us (Nehemiah 4:20)

That’s how far His love can go for us.
That is how much we mean to Him.
That’s how deep, how wide His love is for us.
More than the drops in the ocean

The Resolution for Women Chapter 7 Weekly Review

Weekly Review

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Jeremiah 31:34

“I will forgive their wrongdoing,

and their sin I will remember no more”

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Here’s Christi with our Weekly Overview

AND our Burning Ceremony!!  Be sure to watch!!

 

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It’s time to sign this Chapter’s Resolution:

My Forgiveness

I will forgive those who have wronged me

and reconcile with those I have wronged.

__________________________________

Your Signature

I’ll see you again on Sunday with next weeks lesson schedule!

Have a GREAT Weekend!!

The Resolution for Women: Internal Injuries

Jeremiah 31: 34

I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.”

In the few pages of this lesson, Priscilla challenges us to stop for a moment and take a look inside ourselves. As women, when we don’t WANT to deal with our hurts, frustrations, anger and bitterness, we tend to stay busy or focus our attention on everyone else. Priscilla begs us to STOP today…. right now…. and begin to look inside.

If you don’t feel like forgiveness is an issue for you right now, bless you! Hebrews 12:15 is your verse to stand on so that you can continue to see to it that “….no root of bitterness springs up causing trouble.”

You may be currently walking through a season where you are walking through each day with a happy face on like you don’t have a care in the world, but on the inside you are in turmoil and hardly living. Dear sister, if this describes you…. please know that THIS is not what God intends for your life! As much as you try to hide your pain, hurt and bitterness, it is slowly seeping out all over your body and will soon, when you least expect it, spew over into every part of your life.

On page 130 Priscilla writes:

“Instead of working so hard to keep the focus and spotlight on everyone else- both those who’ve hurt us as well as those who make us feel better and forget all about it- let’s be willing to drag out these grudges we’re holding and harboring, these heavy containers  of unforgiveness that never stop leaching poisons  into our system.”

Are you ready to be on your way to healing?

Are you ready to really LIVE?

Well…. then its time to get real and let God into these places where we have been so intentionally keeping Him out.

Priscilla also gives us some wonderful scripture to reference as we begin this journey:

Passages on forgiveness:

  • Mark 11:25-26- making reconciled relationships a regular part of our praying
  • Matthew 6:14-15- how our unforgiveness of others relates to God’s forgiveness of us.
  • Hebrews 12:14- the blessing that flows from pursuing peace with everyone.

Passages on bitterness:

  • Ephesians 4:31- the only good thing to do with it is to get rid of it.
  • Hebrews 12:15- what bitterness can so if it’s not pulled up by the roots
  • Proverbs 14:10- all we can ever expect from hanging on to it.

 

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Your Assignment:

Prayer fully consider: Who, if anyone, are the people you harbor unforgiveness toward? How have you seen this affect your life?

Please share what the Lord shows you with us in a comment below….

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Let’s Pray:

Lord, this journey is not easy and we recognize that we cannot do this without You and Your supernatural intervention. Thank you for this precious gift we are able to unlock through the redemptive work of Your Son. Be with each of us today, Father, as we dig deep within and prepare for surgery on our internal injuries to be healed once and for all to be able to be our very best for Your glory! Show us what YOU want us to see, Father. Help us become vulnerable to these areas of our life that we have been hiding in order to not be robbed of this healing you have for us any longer. We thank you in advance for what You will do., In Jesus’ name we pray, amen <3

Now it’s time to go back to your Facebook Online Bible Study Group to see what your Daily Activity is!!  I’m guessing it’s going to be a fun one!!  If you are not currently in one our FB OBS Groups, and would like to be, please send an email to:  GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com, and we’ll be glad to add you!!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

Read all about Craig’s Resolution for Men Journey here: www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com

Resolution for Women: Forgiveness

The Lord has shown me that this week is going to be LIFE-CHANGING for some of you, as you reach out to Him and open your heart to what He has to say about forgiveness in this weeks lessons in The Resolution for Women.

I would like to share some statements about forgiveness from Priscilla, in this section of this book:

  • forgiveness of your sins is something that Christ suffered a terrifying death to give you.
  • the capacity to forgive yourself is personally impossible.  You can’t do it.  Nobody can.
  • the bible doesn’t tell us to forgive ourselves.
  • you know it’s the right thing to do, even if it’s the last thing you feel like doing.
  • a wounded heart cannot open up either to fully love or receive love.
  • forgiveness is a miracle.
  • only one power, one invisible force, one miracle can clear away the eroding illness that robs you of peace and love and the enjoyment of life.
  • only God can alter your pattern, quicken your step, expand your reach, and get you out of those circles
  • forgiveness is designed to rescue you, while bringing with it the added by-product of extending the impact of your grace toward those you love.

“Just as the Lord has forgiven you,

so you must also forgive.”

Colossians 3:13

Forgiveness is something that we must offer others, as He has so wonderfully, abundantly, and outlandishly poured it out on us.

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Your Assignment Today:

On a piece of paper, draw a line down through the center, to make two columns.  On the left side, list the names of those you know you need to forgive.  On the right side, list the sins you personally have committed.  Take that list to Jesus.  Sit at His feet today.  Speak out each name that you have on your list, and each sin that is listed.  Ask the Lord to speak to Your heart about each one, and how you can release them to Him.  This may take you all week, but do this every day if you need to.  Add to the list each day, if needed.   But we are going to have a BURNING CEREMONY at the end of this week, and we are going to take that list and BURN IT at the foot of the cross, as a symbol of our forgiveness for each one, and HIS forgiveness toward our sins.

Let’s Pray:

Father, I lift each person who is reading this blog today.  I ask You Lord, as they read this chapter, and this blog, each day this week, that You bring them one step closer to freeing them through the act of forgiveness Lord.  Whether it’s an act of forgiveness toward another person, Lord, or through them asking You to forgive them for their own sins.  I pray that each persons heart will be prepared and ready to receive from You, Lord.  Reach down deep into their hearts.  HEAL their brokenness Lord.  HEAL the wounds  that have kept them in bondage all this time.  HEAL the pain they have carried for so long, Lord.

I pray for FREEDOM to come to each person this week, Lord.  I pray for the chains to be broken, that have held them captive for so long.  I pray for the prison doors to break forth, and each person to step out of that prison that has held them captive to unforgiveness, for so very long, Lord.

I pray for Your healing Lord to come forth.  I pray for Your anointing to flow over them, and cover them from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet, Lord!  Release them Lord!  Release them as they CHOOSE to forgive this week.  As they CHOOSE to make forgiveness a priority in their lives, Lord.  Forgive them, Lord, for the sins that they themselves have committed, also.

I thank You now, Lord, for the work You are doing in each heart.  I thank You for the healing You are bringing forth this week.  I thank You in advance for the lives that YOU are changing this week, In Your Precious Name, AMEN!!!

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Now, it’s time to go back to our Facebook OBS Group, and see what Megan has in store for us this week.  This week is YOUR week!  If you do not belong to one of our Facebook OBS Groups, and would like to, please email us at GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com, and we’ll be happy to add you!

I will be lifting you in prayer this week.  I KNOW God is going to set YOU FREE!  Expect that from Him, as you read each lesson in this weeks study!

Be Blessed & Be a Blessing to Someone Else Today,