ABUNDANT LIVING KEY #5: FIND FREEDOM . . . FORGIVE!

Have you ever thought about how much freedom comes with the act of forgiving someone?  

Here we are with the key to the next door, which is the letter "F":  Find Freedom . . . Forgive.
Add the letter F to the last four.  Anyone ready to give the phrase a try?  You only get one chance, however!  So you may want to wait until you are certain.

Bible verse for the week:  "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions (sins) from us."  Psalm 103:12

"We cannot put off the act of forgiveness indefinitely and still honor our Savior, who went through inexpressible torture to make forgiveness available for us."  (The View From Eternity)

Are you having any trouble getting your vehicle up to speed?  We need to talk about one difficulty that can hinder our journey along the Road of Abundant Living.  . . Unforgiveness.
Refusal or procrastination to forgive has the potential to keep us in chains, blocking the progress of true freedom.
I think of the commonly heard phrase, "forgive and forget."  Often, God is the only One who can completely forget our sins. .  . because He chooses to "remove them as far as the east is from the west."
It is often hard to forgive.  Is this the understatement of the year?  I don't mean to simplify the process here, because I, too, struggled for years with the concept of forgiveness in my own life.  But God tells us in His book, the Bible, to forgive those who have hurt us.  Why?  Because He wants us to have freedom and peace of mind.  When we don't forgive, we are continually bound to the one who hurt us.  
One common misconception is that forgiveness means to let the guilty party off the hook.  This is not a true statement.  Let me quote again from my Bible study, The View From Eternity:  "When we extend a pardon to others, we are very well aware of what they did, how they hurt us, yet we are taking them off of our "hook.  Then they will get on God's hook, which is a much more serious place to "hang out!"
Remember the 3 Ps of last week?  Engage them right now and ask God to help you start the forgiveness process.  It may take time, but God will help you reach your goal and find freedom.  He has done it for me!
"Forgiveness boils down to a trust issue with my heavenly Father.  Do I trust God's love enough to know that He will bring about His justice?  That He will eventually, in His time and way, defend His precious child?"  (The View From Eternity)
To forgive is not easy.  To make forgiveness possible for me cost my heavenly Father the life of His precious Son.  "But I believe we must set our minds to tackle the hard stuff of life and discover how to go about it."  (The View From Eternity)
If you are interested in further study and discussion of this critical topic, you may want to order The View From Eternity, a companion study I wrote to go along with my novel, The Rose Journal.

HOW ABOUT YOU?  If anyone wants to share a personal story of how they found freedom in forgiving, please comment on my "Meet Linda" page.
I look forward to continuing our journey next Wednesday!

ABUNDANT LIVING KEY #4: ENERGIZE

Have you signed up yet for your free e-book, Joshua's Story?
You can also sign up in the box on the right side to get all my blogs delivered to your inbox!


I once heard someone say, "You can't steer a car that isn't moving."  So true.  Today we'll use Key #4 to find out how to ENERGIZE our vehicles as we journey on with Jesus.
*Note for those in participating in the contest:  Add the "E" from Energize to the previous key letters and see what you get!

Bible verse for the week:  "For in Him we live and move and exist . . ."  Acts 17:28a
Instead of gasoline (which has gotten way too expensive), we'll fill our tanks with . . .
                                                                   . . . the 3 Productive P's:  Power, Praise and Prayer.  
The first "P" is Power.  First of all, let's pour some power into our tanks by plugging into the source of power, the almighty God.  When I unplug my television set, the picture doesn't appear.  I plug it in, and voila!  The show begins!
Likewise, we won't produce positive results for eternity (remember the pulp from Key #2?) if our spirits are not "plugged in" to God.  We plug in. . . leave the cord attached. . . as we connect to God's Spirit through submission to His will, Bible reading and conversation with Him.  And watch out for sin.  Sin is a great "cord-yanker!"  
The second "P" is Praise.  Praising God comforts and encourages me because it turns my focus away from my problems and difficulties to remembering who God is. . . the awesome Creator.  "For nothing will be impossible with God."  Luke 1:37
A phrase in Psalm 116:17 stumped me for a long time.  It refers to the "sacrifice of praise (or thanksgiving)."  How, I wondered, can praising God be a sacrifice?  Then it occurred to me that when I find myself in tough circumstances. . . even painful circumstances. . . and I choose to "sacrifice" my feelings of despair and cancel my pity party to simply praise God for who He is, I give Him a great gift.  Whenever I let my anxiety go and sincerely praise and thank God, He gives me a gift in return, the "peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension. . . " Philippians 4:7a
The third "P" is Prayer.  Through talking with God and trusting Him, we unleash His power. . . the power that can move mountains and bring strong men to their knees, the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, according to Ephesians 1:18-20.
So let's fill up our tanks with the 3 Productive P's and get those vehicles running!