Letting it Go

Letting it Go

Today's Scripture:

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you…

Mark 11:25, AMP.

Today's Word:

Everyone has been hurt, offended, betrayed and mistreated at some point. Sometimes those wounds are small and easy to move past, but other times, they are deep and take time to heal. The important thing is that we choose to forgive so that we can open the door to God’s forgiveness and healing in our own lives.

Forgiveness is such a powerful tool. Forgiveness sets you free and draws you closer to your heavenly Father. One of the first things my mother did when she found out that she had stage four cancer of the liver was to ask the Lord to search her heart for any unforgiveness. She didn’t want anything to block her prayers for God’s healing. And now more than twenty years later, she still has a perfectly clean bill of health.

Whenever you pray, invite the Lord to search your heart. Choose to forgive anyone that has hurt you. As you walk in forgiveness, you’ll experience His hand of blessing in ways you never thought possible, and you will move forward in the abundant life He has in store for you.

Prayer for Today:

Father in heaven, I invite You to search my heart and mind. I choose forgiveness so that I can receive Your forgiveness in return. I love You and bless You today in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Prepare Your Heart for Good Reception by Rick Warren “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17 NIV) Let’s say you’re a gardener. You’ve learned that you can take the exact same seed and plant it in three different locations and get three different results. In one spot, you’ll get giant tomatoes. In another, you’ll get small tomatoes. And in a third, you’ll get nothing. What’s the difference? It’s not the seed; it’s the soil. The soil must be prepared for the seed. The same is true when you hear God’s Word. It’s why you can take two people to church, set them side-by-side, and one will walk out thinking God really spoke to him and the other won’t get anything out of the service. The heart of one person was prepared; the other’s heart wasn’t. Your heart has to be prepared for the Word. If you get up late, have trouble finding a parking spot, and are irritated as you rush into church, you’re probably not going to hear God’s voice! You’re not in a receptive mood. The Bible says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you” (James 1:19b-21 NIV). For good reception, this passage teaches you have to have four attitudes: You must be quiet. You can’t hear God if you’re talking. You have to be calm. You can’t rush God. If you’re frantic, you’re not going to hear God. The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” My translation of that is: “Sit down and shut up.” You have to be clean. Before you can meet with God, you need to take out some emotional and spiritual garbage. You need to get rid of the stuff that stinks in your life. You get rid of the garbage by confessing your sin to God and agreeing with him that what you did was wrong. You need to be humble. Be ready to do whatever God tells you from his Word. A prideful attitude won’t work.   Talk It Over Why do you think pride is such a hard sin to confess? What is the stuff that you need to confess to God today so that you can have good reception?