After typing Tina's recent blog entitled "Forgiveness" for her I realized that God put something on my heart to add to it...
Recently I have been teaching my daughter Katie about the concept of forgiveness and how Jesus forgave all of our sins and as Katie likes to put it "He takes all of our bad stuff away when we ask Him too". Well, the other morning I confess that I allowed myself to get upset because Katie kept calling out again and again for my attention but I was busy helping Tina so I raised my voice and told her to wait. A few seconds later I raised my voice again, this time not in anger but in an attempt for her to hear me since she was halfway across the house. I called out to her and told her that I was sorry and to please forgive me. There was a slight pause and then I heard a small angelic voice say "It's ok daddy." A little while later I was helping her brush her teeth and I asked her again to please forgive me for yelling at her and to my surprise she smiled and said "Daddy....don't you remember this morning??" At first I was puzzled because I remembered what I had done wrong...but then I remembered what happened afterwards. "Ohh do you mean that I don't need to ask you to forgive me again because I already asked you to forgive me this morning? She looked up at me and sweetly smiled and said "Yes, of course Daddy." The concept of forgiveness made perfect sense to her at the age of 4. And Jesus said "unless you become like little children you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 18:3
Have you ever been there before? You do something wrong and then you ask God to forgive you but for some reason you feel like you have to keep asking for His forgiveness. Well I have been there plenty of times, especially when I feel like I have "really blown it". This moment in time with my 4 year old reminded me that when we come to God and ask Him to forgive us that He does so willingly, graciously and immediately. So my encouragement for you today is... when you ask Jesus to forgive you, immediately receive His forgiveness, ask Him to help you from doing it again and then leave your burdens at the cross where they belong.
Update: Tina has had one seizure and a lot of fatigue and weakness this past week but she has not had any serious side effects from the new chemo. Praise God! We are so grateful to Him for each and every day He blesses us with :)
- A messenger of God
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Forgiveness
Those who seek God's forgiveness are spared eternal judgment.
Remember that God speaks to you not only through your times of prosperity but through your times in the desert. Many times it is in the desert that you draw nearer to Him. For it is then that you seek and cry out for Him the most. For we require His love and mercy. It is in His righteousness that you will be restored.
I love the song lyrics to the song "At the foot of the cross" by Don Moen. He so elegantly speaks the truth about how we should portray Jesus. He says "trade these ashes (our sins) in for beauty, and wear forgiveness like a crown."
The next lyrics portray an image to me about the entirety of our existence when he says "coming to kiss the feet of mercy, I lay every burden down." All of our filth and unrighteousness is forgiven by Christ. He allows us to give up our burdens and forgive others as He has forgiven us, as Christ sees us as beautiful and precious to Him. We too should see others through His eyes no matter the circumstances. "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32)
I know it isn't always easy; however, we must remind ourselves that Christ does it for us on a daily basis. We aren't Christ, be we were made in His image.
Life can be hurtful, discouraging and dreadful at times but always remember...Forgiveness is needed to bear the burden off our shoulders and onto Christ's. For that is why we must "lay every burden down at the foot of the cross".
Blog was composed by Tina and typed by Aaron.
Update: These past few weeks seemed to have been more difficult than usual. Tina has been having more seizures than usual (several a week) and she is very weak on the entire left side of her body. Her last MRI showed that the Avastin appears to be still working by shrinking the tumor overall, however a small portion of the tumor has crept over to the other side of her brain (across the midline). Due to this, her doctor recommended that she start a second chemotherapy medication this weekend in order to be a little more aggressive in the treatment protocol. The medication is called Temodar and it is supposed to have much milder side effects than other chemo agents. Please continue to keep us in your prayers: Tina - meds will continue to kill the cancer cells completely with minimal to no harmful side effects and that her left side would get stronger and NO more seizures, Katie - she will continue to remain bubbly and filled with the Joy of Christ as God continues to protect her eyes and heart during this, me - God will continue to give me the strength emotionally, mentally and spiritually to care for my family, all 3 of us - that God would continue to allow us to bring Him glory through this trial. Love, Aaron.
Remember that God speaks to you not only through your times of prosperity but through your times in the desert. Many times it is in the desert that you draw nearer to Him. For it is then that you seek and cry out for Him the most. For we require His love and mercy. It is in His righteousness that you will be restored.
I love the song lyrics to the song "At the foot of the cross" by Don Moen. He so elegantly speaks the truth about how we should portray Jesus. He says "trade these ashes (our sins) in for beauty, and wear forgiveness like a crown."
The next lyrics portray an image to me about the entirety of our existence when he says "coming to kiss the feet of mercy, I lay every burden down." All of our filth and unrighteousness is forgiven by Christ. He allows us to give up our burdens and forgive others as He has forgiven us, as Christ sees us as beautiful and precious to Him. We too should see others through His eyes no matter the circumstances. "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32)
I know it isn't always easy; however, we must remind ourselves that Christ does it for us on a daily basis. We aren't Christ, be we were made in His image.
Life can be hurtful, discouraging and dreadful at times but always remember...Forgiveness is needed to bear the burden off our shoulders and onto Christ's. For that is why we must "lay every burden down at the foot of the cross".
Blog was composed by Tina and typed by Aaron.
Update: These past few weeks seemed to have been more difficult than usual. Tina has been having more seizures than usual (several a week) and she is very weak on the entire left side of her body. Her last MRI showed that the Avastin appears to be still working by shrinking the tumor overall, however a small portion of the tumor has crept over to the other side of her brain (across the midline). Due to this, her doctor recommended that she start a second chemotherapy medication this weekend in order to be a little more aggressive in the treatment protocol. The medication is called Temodar and it is supposed to have much milder side effects than other chemo agents. Please continue to keep us in your prayers: Tina - meds will continue to kill the cancer cells completely with minimal to no harmful side effects and that her left side would get stronger and NO more seizures, Katie - she will continue to remain bubbly and filled with the Joy of Christ as God continues to protect her eyes and heart during this, me - God will continue to give me the strength emotionally, mentally and spiritually to care for my family, all 3 of us - that God would continue to allow us to bring Him glory through this trial. Love, Aaron.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)