What a joy it has been to walk through these 40 Days of Victory together! Here is your last chance to share any feedback, comments, lessons, or suggestions you may have for us as we move forward. We will leave the blog up for another week or so, so let us hear from you.
Thank you to those of you who contributed from your life experiences and made this blog valuable to those who have read it. God bless you as experience the victory!!
Dwight Munn
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Reflecting on Forgiveness Received and/or Extended
Today, we are going a little different direction with the blog. We want to find out from you some information. In an effort to see the fruit of one person forgiving another person or people, we would like you to share some of your experiences.
Who has forgiven you? What was the situation? How is the relationship today? Did if affect your realtionship with God?
Who have you forgiven? What was the situation? Was the result reconsiliation or just release from the offense? How did it influence your relationship with God?
Let's learn together from one another's experiences. Remember, you do not have to go into great detail. Just give us a sense of what you have experienced and what the results are in your life.
God bless you and thanks in advance for sharing!
Dwight Munn
Who has forgiven you? What was the situation? How is the relationship today? Did if affect your realtionship with God?
Who have you forgiven? What was the situation? Was the result reconsiliation or just release from the offense? How did it influence your relationship with God?
Let's learn together from one another's experiences. Remember, you do not have to go into great detail. Just give us a sense of what you have experienced and what the results are in your life.
God bless you and thanks in advance for sharing!
Dwight Munn
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Seeing Relationships from a Different Perspective
Charles Stanley, in his book entitled The Gift of Forgiveness, tells the following story:
Once there was a boy who lived with his mother and grandfather. His grandfather was not really an elderly man, but he was confined to a wheelchair and had very little use of his arms. His face was badly scarred, and he had a difficult time swallowing his food.
Every day the little boy was assigned the task of going into his grandfather's room and feeding him lunch. This the little boy did faithfully, but not joyously. It was quite a mess to feed Grandfather.
As the boy grew into adolescence, he became weary of his responsibility. One day he stormed into the kitchen and announced that he had had enough. He told his mother, "From now on, you can feed Grandfather."
Very patiently his mother turned from her chores, motioned for her son to sit down, and said, "You are a young man now. It is time you knew the whole truth about your grandfather." She continued, " Grandfather has not always been confined to a wheelchair. In fact, he used to be quite an athlete. When you were a baby, however, there was an accident."
The boy leaned forward in his chair as his mother began to cry.
She said. "There was a fire. Your father was working in the basement, and he thought you were upstairs with me. I thought he was downsstairs with you. We both rushed out of the house leaving you alone upstairs. Your grandfoather was visiting at the time. He was the first to realize what happened. Without a word he went back into the house, found you, wrapped you in a wet blanket, and made a mad dash through the flames. He brought you safely to your father and me."
He was rushed to the ER suffering from second- and third-degree burns as well as smoke inhalation. The reason he is the way he is today is because of what he suffered the day he saved your life. "
By this time, the boy had tears in his eyes as well. He never knew; his grandfather never told him. And with no conscious effort on his part , his attitude changed. With no further complaints, he picked up his grandfather's lunch tray and took it to his room.
Sometimes the first step in forgiving someone - and thereby healing wounds from that relationship - is to see the situation from a different perspective.
Let God change your attitude by giving you a different perspective on painful relationships. Ask him to help you see the relationship from the vantage point of the cross.
Dwight Munn
Once there was a boy who lived with his mother and grandfather. His grandfather was not really an elderly man, but he was confined to a wheelchair and had very little use of his arms. His face was badly scarred, and he had a difficult time swallowing his food.
Every day the little boy was assigned the task of going into his grandfather's room and feeding him lunch. This the little boy did faithfully, but not joyously. It was quite a mess to feed Grandfather.
As the boy grew into adolescence, he became weary of his responsibility. One day he stormed into the kitchen and announced that he had had enough. He told his mother, "From now on, you can feed Grandfather."
Very patiently his mother turned from her chores, motioned for her son to sit down, and said, "You are a young man now. It is time you knew the whole truth about your grandfather." She continued, " Grandfather has not always been confined to a wheelchair. In fact, he used to be quite an athlete. When you were a baby, however, there was an accident."
The boy leaned forward in his chair as his mother began to cry.
She said. "There was a fire. Your father was working in the basement, and he thought you were upstairs with me. I thought he was downsstairs with you. We both rushed out of the house leaving you alone upstairs. Your grandfoather was visiting at the time. He was the first to realize what happened. Without a word he went back into the house, found you, wrapped you in a wet blanket, and made a mad dash through the flames. He brought you safely to your father and me."
He was rushed to the ER suffering from second- and third-degree burns as well as smoke inhalation. The reason he is the way he is today is because of what he suffered the day he saved your life. "
By this time, the boy had tears in his eyes as well. He never knew; his grandfather never told him. And with no conscious effort on his part , his attitude changed. With no further complaints, he picked up his grandfather's lunch tray and took it to his room.
Sometimes the first step in forgiving someone - and thereby healing wounds from that relationship - is to see the situation from a different perspective.
Let God change your attitude by giving you a different perspective on painful relationships. Ask him to help you see the relationship from the vantage point of the cross.
Dwight Munn
Monday, March 30, 2009
Release and Reconciliation
Did you pick up on the important nuance in Dr. Avants definition of forgiveness yesterday? I don't have it right in front of me, but what struck me was these two words - reconciliation and release.
Let's think about reconciliation. We have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ. We are called as followers of Christ to carry the ministry of reconciliation to those without Christ. With Christ, they too can be reconciled to God. God is the offended party because of our sin, but he has made a way of forgiveness that takes you directly to a cross upon which his Son Jesus died. His death made the possiblity of a restored relationship become reality.
When one of us hurts another, there may or may not be reconciliation. Yet, if you or I are the offended party, then we can make a choice to release the offender. We do not define that person or our own lives, for that matter, in terms of the aggregious offense we have suffered. In our LIFE group lesson yesterday (written by Woods Watson), we saw how Joseph left the judgment part to God. He trusted in the ability of God to take what was meant to harm him become a blessing to many people. (See Genesis 50:15-21)
Joseph was reconciled to his family and what a sweet reunion that was. When we forgive a friend, a family member, neighbor, or co-worker, we may or may not enter into a restored relationship with that person. Our responsibility is the same regardless of the outcome. We are to forgive.
Gary Witherall shared yesterday that great verse in Romans 5:8 "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He cried out from the cross "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." Even when the other person is not grieved that they have hurt you, you can still forgive. You can release that person to the Lord to let him do what only he can do.
His anger is always righteous. Ours is not. Trust him to take what may have hurt you to become a blessing for you and many others with the passage of time.
Take the high road of forgiveness today and begin to live a new life of hope, victory, and joy.
Dwight Munn
Let's think about reconciliation. We have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ. We are called as followers of Christ to carry the ministry of reconciliation to those without Christ. With Christ, they too can be reconciled to God. God is the offended party because of our sin, but he has made a way of forgiveness that takes you directly to a cross upon which his Son Jesus died. His death made the possiblity of a restored relationship become reality.
When one of us hurts another, there may or may not be reconciliation. Yet, if you or I are the offended party, then we can make a choice to release the offender. We do not define that person or our own lives, for that matter, in terms of the aggregious offense we have suffered. In our LIFE group lesson yesterday (written by Woods Watson), we saw how Joseph left the judgment part to God. He trusted in the ability of God to take what was meant to harm him become a blessing to many people. (See Genesis 50:15-21)
Joseph was reconciled to his family and what a sweet reunion that was. When we forgive a friend, a family member, neighbor, or co-worker, we may or may not enter into a restored relationship with that person. Our responsibility is the same regardless of the outcome. We are to forgive.
Gary Witherall shared yesterday that great verse in Romans 5:8 "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He cried out from the cross "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." Even when the other person is not grieved that they have hurt you, you can still forgive. You can release that person to the Lord to let him do what only he can do.
His anger is always righteous. Ours is not. Trust him to take what may have hurt you to become a blessing for you and many others with the passage of time.
Take the high road of forgiveness today and begin to live a new life of hope, victory, and joy.
Dwight Munn
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Resurrection Power to defeat Addiction! Romans 6
Before writing this blog, and when I have thought of Romans 6, the one verse that has marked this chapter in my mind is Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” You could also regard Romans 6 as the salvation and baptism chapter. As I began reading the whole chapter, I had a really hard time picking one or two verses. I really was tempted to put the whole Romans 6 chapter as the blog. Please read the chapter in its entirety. We have not only died with Christ but we also live with Christ and, according to verse 5, we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. In Bob Utley’s Romans 6 commentary, he states, “If believers have been identified with Jesus’ death (cf. Gal. 2:19-20; Col. 2:20; 3:3-5), theologically they should be identified with His resurrection life (cf. v. 10).”
Have you ever thought about being identified with Christ’s resurrection? We are in Christ and Christ is in us as believers. We have to remember who we are “In Christ.” Victory is a choice. We can choose victory over our addictions according to this chapter. We must believe what God’s word says about who we are. We are made in the image of God. Once we find Victory, we have to choose to not plant any more seeds of strongholds or sin in our life.
Romans 6:5-13
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness] of [His] resurrection,
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
For [the death] that He died, He died to sin once for all; but [the life] that He lives, He lives to God.
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
And do not present your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness to God.
Whit Bass
Have you ever thought about being identified with Christ’s resurrection? We are in Christ and Christ is in us as believers. We have to remember who we are “In Christ.” Victory is a choice. We can choose victory over our addictions according to this chapter. We must believe what God’s word says about who we are. We are made in the image of God. Once we find Victory, we have to choose to not plant any more seeds of strongholds or sin in our life.
Romans 6:5-13
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness] of [His] resurrection,
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
For [the death] that He died, He died to sin once for all; but [the life] that He lives, He lives to God.
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
And do not present your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness to God.
Whit Bass
Thursday, March 26, 2009
What do you worship?
While reflecting on this past Sunday’s message and preparing to write this blog it became apparent to me that what impacted me most was not something that was said during the preaching but rather something that was said during a prayer. Before preaching Pastor John spoke a prayer in which he said, “we worship our way into addiction and we are going to worship our way out.” I began to ask myself what that meant exactly. How can worship lead to addiction?
In order to answer that question we must first have an understanding of what worship is. Webster’s Dictionary defines worship in this way, “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.” According to that definition, anything or anyone that we place in the highest regard within our life becomes an object of worship. That object may be something negative such as drugs, gambling or pornography, but it also may be something positive such as family, success, or influence. Scripture tells us that it is God who should have the highest place of honor in our lives. If anything or anyone else holds that place, even if it is positive, we find our selves living outside of God’s will and moving down a very dangerous path.
You see, a person who is an addict didn’t wake up one morning and decide that it was a good day to become an addict. His values and priorities slowly began to change until he reached a point that he was no longer in control. He allowed something or someone other than God to become the object of his affection and over time he worshiped his way into addiction. So how does he worship his way out? The answer is by worshiping in the manner for which he was created.
God created us to be worshipers but He gave us the freedom to choose who or what we worship. We have to CHOOSE to place God in the highest regard. That doesn’t necessarily mean that life suddenly becomes easy and addictions suddenly disappear. There may still be consequences for past actions but God will be faithful to carry you through the process of being free. Making God the object of your worship is simply the first step in the journey, but it is the most important step. Every other step out of addiction is based on the foundational decision of who or what we worship.
So ask yourself this question…Who or what has the highest place of honor in your life?
Quinn Stanfill
In order to answer that question we must first have an understanding of what worship is. Webster’s Dictionary defines worship in this way, “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.” According to that definition, anything or anyone that we place in the highest regard within our life becomes an object of worship. That object may be something negative such as drugs, gambling or pornography, but it also may be something positive such as family, success, or influence. Scripture tells us that it is God who should have the highest place of honor in our lives. If anything or anyone else holds that place, even if it is positive, we find our selves living outside of God’s will and moving down a very dangerous path.
You see, a person who is an addict didn’t wake up one morning and decide that it was a good day to become an addict. His values and priorities slowly began to change until he reached a point that he was no longer in control. He allowed something or someone other than God to become the object of his affection and over time he worshiped his way into addiction. So how does he worship his way out? The answer is by worshiping in the manner for which he was created.
God created us to be worshipers but He gave us the freedom to choose who or what we worship. We have to CHOOSE to place God in the highest regard. That doesn’t necessarily mean that life suddenly becomes easy and addictions suddenly disappear. There may still be consequences for past actions but God will be faithful to carry you through the process of being free. Making God the object of your worship is simply the first step in the journey, but it is the most important step. Every other step out of addiction is based on the foundational decision of who or what we worship.
So ask yourself this question…Who or what has the highest place of honor in your life?
Quinn Stanfill
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
May's Story
God’s process of transformation in my life is enhanced and revitalized when I see His supernatural power evident in others. Recently, I had lunch with my friend Dayna Poppen and it was what I would consider a power lunch! She shared with me about the resurrection power of Christ renewing her soul and giving her the power to live the Christian life. With her permission here’s part of the story…
I wanted to put into words how much God has changed my life. You know I had my identity stolen at 4 years of age with abuse that continued till I was 12. That is when I became a believer at a Billy Graham crusade, but I was just a baby in Christ. I never knew the Bible myself, never read it...just knew what others told me. Never thought "I" could understand the Bible. But I can tell you that ever since this summer after I re-dedicated my life to Christ, THIS TIME I will NEVER be the SAME. I have given Him my life and I want to walk in obedience. I read His Word now; I tithe for the first time...in my life. I have quit smoking after 30 years. My life had been one disaster after another...married at 14; I went from one bad relationship to another...never feeling worthy. I have found my real identity in Christ.
Reading His word is teaching me so much! I know now that this life is not about me, how crazy to think about the arrogance of that. God is my everything, I love Him beyond measure. He has truly been good to me, He has Forgiven ME. Me....wow...to forgive was one of the first steps He had me take...I never realized that the real hard part was to forgive myself for all the mistakes I have made.
I pray for God to let me be His hands and feet and to be His relevant tool, to be a part of something bigger than me. I have seen God open the floodgates, as He says He will, I have had my salary increased, received bonus checks I never imagined, my business is making budget in the middle of all these economic hard times...despite other competitors being newer. God has given me mercy, and I bow down to His sovereignty and give Him everything I have.
All I really want to talk about is God. I look back and know that I was living in the middle, expecting God to reach down and change my life...you know without me having to make any changes, living in isolation. Now God has given me so many friends I can't count them, He has given me a LIFE group that is real. I want to shout that if people only knew...how much God can change your life. Not just for first time believers but those of us who have been distracted from God's goal to live and have victory over pain, sadness or anger, you can have true joy, just let it go.
May Dayna’s journey reenergize yours like it has mine!
Susan Frost
I wanted to put into words how much God has changed my life. You know I had my identity stolen at 4 years of age with abuse that continued till I was 12. That is when I became a believer at a Billy Graham crusade, but I was just a baby in Christ. I never knew the Bible myself, never read it...just knew what others told me. Never thought "I" could understand the Bible. But I can tell you that ever since this summer after I re-dedicated my life to Christ, THIS TIME I will NEVER be the SAME. I have given Him my life and I want to walk in obedience. I read His Word now; I tithe for the first time...in my life. I have quit smoking after 30 years. My life had been one disaster after another...married at 14; I went from one bad relationship to another...never feeling worthy. I have found my real identity in Christ.
Reading His word is teaching me so much! I know now that this life is not about me, how crazy to think about the arrogance of that. God is my everything, I love Him beyond measure. He has truly been good to me, He has Forgiven ME. Me....wow...to forgive was one of the first steps He had me take...I never realized that the real hard part was to forgive myself for all the mistakes I have made.
I pray for God to let me be His hands and feet and to be His relevant tool, to be a part of something bigger than me. I have seen God open the floodgates, as He says He will, I have had my salary increased, received bonus checks I never imagined, my business is making budget in the middle of all these economic hard times...despite other competitors being newer. God has given me mercy, and I bow down to His sovereignty and give Him everything I have.
All I really want to talk about is God. I look back and know that I was living in the middle, expecting God to reach down and change my life...you know without me having to make any changes, living in isolation. Now God has given me so many friends I can't count them, He has given me a LIFE group that is real. I want to shout that if people only knew...how much God can change your life. Not just for first time believers but those of us who have been distracted from God's goal to live and have victory over pain, sadness or anger, you can have true joy, just let it go.
May Dayna’s journey reenergize yours like it has mine!
Susan Frost
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