Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 2). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   So who are you?  Do you know?   Bob says, “He (Jesus) said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. Nope, He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not. Love isn’t something we fall into; love is someone we become.” Bob goes on, “It’s easy to love kind, lovely, humble people. I mean, who wouldn’t? These are the ones I’ve spent much of my life loving. Loving the people who are easy to love made me feel like I was really good at it. Because the people I loved were kind and wonderful, they made sure they told me what a great job I was doing loving them. What I’ve come to realize, though, is that I was avoiding the people ...

A thought by Jentezen Franklin from his book, Love Like You've Never Been Hurt: Hope, Healing and the Power of an Open Heart (p. 144). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Jentezen has in this book dealt a lot with forgiven someone when they have hurt you but here he also deals with the need when you’ve hurt someone to ask for forgiveness and to apologize to them. He says, “I have talked a lot about the importance and power of forgiveness when we have been hurt. I want to address the need for saying ‘I’m sorry’ when we are the ones who hurt others, whether we meant to or not.” He goes on, “If you want to reconcile a relationship, you must be willing to say, ‘I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.’   ‘I’m sorry I said those things.’   ‘I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.’   ‘I’m sorry I got so angry.’” He then says, “Here is another thought: Never ruin an apology by offering excuses. Never ...

A thought by Jentezen Franklin from his book, Love Like You've Never Been Hurt:Hope, Healing and the Power of an Open Heart (p. 142). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Ok, but I need justice. Look what they did to me.   I can’t let them get away with it, can’t I? Jentezen says, “Most people think the greatest temptation Jesus ever faced was when Satan approached Him after His forty-day fast in the wilderness. I believe it happened just before He was crucified. Garden of Gethsemane “When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, He knew that in only a few hours He would be beaten, tortured and hung naked on a cross. He was in anguish as He prayed, sweating drops of blood. ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine’ (Matthew 26:39). After He prayed, Roman soldiers swarmed the Garden and arrested Him. Trying ...