Forgiveness, Pain & Healing.

Before I begin, here is a quote from Kris Vallotton.

"Forgiving somebody who harmed you will release you to recover from pain but forgiveness, in itself, will not take away the pain.

  The process of forgiveness and the process of becoming pain-free are two separate things. In other words, just because I forgive someone does not mean that I don’t feel pain when they’re around.

Example: if somebody ran me over with a car and broke both my legs and I forgive them, I will still have to go through the painful process of getting well. The fact that my legs still hurt does not mean that I haven’t forgiven them. It does mean that the process of healing is not complete. I now need to take the needed action for my legs to be healed." - unquote.

Although it is right not to react in anger, enduring the pain or living with the pain is not the solution. It is plain ignorance. Just as healing must take place for the human body to become whole and healthy, healing must take place in our spirits and souls to make our spirit man whole, or else it will affect our relationship with God and others.

In relationships, if the person who hurt us is sincerely sorry, we must accept their sincere apologies and love them with the unconditional love of Christ. Albeit it is wise to be on guard so that the same hurt does not occur again. Yet we need to do that without shunning or rejecting the one who was sincerely sorry and who apologised to us. 

It is true that the memory of what happened will return when we see them.  Yet when we ask Christ to pour His love and forgiveness in us and through us to love them and to heal our memories, just as Corrie Ten Boom did, we will be able to love as Christ loves.(Read the amazing biography of Corrie Ten Boom). We will be able to talk to them with unconditional love and compassion. Just as, the memory of the accident returns initially and  over time it disappears and at times although it appears it does not appear with the pain with which it appeared once upon a time, so shall the hurts of the soul disappear with time with the help of God's Spirit.

We live in a world of imperfect people. Everyone makes mistakes in their lives. Although the magnitude of their mistakes may vary, a mistake is a mistake. Every mistake tiny or huge is obnoxious in God's eyes.

The Word of God says in
Romans 3:23 (NIV)
'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,'

It also says in Isaiah 64:6(NIV)
' All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.'

Before an all righteous God even our most perfect act will look like a piece of filthy rag.

We as human beings forget our own mistakes but we  carry the magnified mistakes of others in our hearts. This will eat into our souls and weigh us down eventually. We must allow the Spirit of God to pour His healing balm into our souls to heal us of all past hurtful memories. Then we must pray for those who hurt us. This will speed up our healing process and this is exactly what Jesus wants us to do.

In Luke 6:28(NLT) Jesus says,
"Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you."

Even when the Pharisees wanted to stone the adulterous woman, Jesus did not condemn her. He said, "He who has never sinned throw the first stone at her!" He forgave her, told her that He does not condemn her and told her not to sin anymore. When she came back with an alabaster jar of perfume to anoint His feet out of gratitude, Jesus did not shun her or reject her but He said in Luke 7:47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

This my friend is what we as Christians must do after we forgive someone to heal our hurts. We must embrace them with love.

Who are we to withhold forgiveness? When Christ Himself forgave and loved unconditionally those who tortured Him and nailed Him to the cross, why can't we forgive and love? Are we greater than Christ? 

Now a word to those who are sincerely sorry for your mistakes but are shunned or rejected by the ones you offended...

You have done your part by repenting before God and the ones you offended. Now if those persons do not want to have anything to do with you, reject you or shun you, do not be dismayed but know that your Father in heaven has forgiven you, clothed you with the righteousness of Christ and accepted you as His own child. You on your part have done the right thing. You are  right before your Almighty Father. Now give your feelings of rejection to Him and begin to pray for those whom you have hurt that they will come to the full knowledge of Christ and be healed of their hurts. Pray unceasingly for them till they are filled with the Spirit of forgiveness and unconditional love.

May the Holy Spirit guide you in  your peace making efforts and in all you think say and do. I pray this in Jesus' most precious name. Amen!

Mary Augustine

Blessings spoken over our children / spouse / loved ones

Blessings to be spoken over our children / spouse / loved ones daily.   
The Word of God is a double edged sword and if we speak these blessings taken from God's Word over our children / spouse / loved ones daily God will set them apart from the others and bless them mightily and they will be protected 24/7.

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
You are victorious in Christ, because the moment you hurt God, you repent and run back to Him seeking forgiveness. You also forgive freely and unconditionally in Christ, all who hurt you without harboring negative thoughts about them and without judging them. You are able to love unconditionally as Christ loves and see everyone through the eyes of Christ. You therefore now are a saint, set apart for God. You have received forgiveness for all your sins, past, present and future, and therefore, there is no condemnation for you from God- and can never be!
(Luke 11:4; Hebrews 10:10,14-18; Romans 8:1)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
You are now a brand new creature in Christ Jesus. You have died to your old self & you have been made brand new. Therefore you are now able to walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4-7)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
You are now a part of God's Kingdom of Light. You are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, above all the power of the evil one and his demonic forces.
(Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 1:19-23; 2:4-6)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
You are accepted in Jesus the Beloved, just as you are - because God chose you for Himself before the foundation of the world. You have been washed clean by the blood of Christ the Lamb and are clothed with the righteousness of Christ Jesus. You have been adopted as God's dear child through Christ and are sealed by, filled with and anointed by His Holy Spirit, Who guarantees that you will live with God forever.
(Revelation 22:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:3-14)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
Your past and its consequences have been erased by the blood of Christ, for you have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and you repent everytime you hurt God and run back into His arms. Your sovereign God promises that He will cause everything in your life for good. You have been transformed into Christlikeness, into His image by the renewing of your mind and by contemplating the Lord's glory daily.
(Romans 8:28-30; Romans 12:2;
2 Corinthians 3:18)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
Jesus has won victory over, sin, Satan, sickness and death for you, therefore you are healed by His stripes, you cannot and will not die before God's appointed time for your home going. Jesus holds the keys to hell and death. You will fight the good fight, keep the faith, run the race, set before you, with Christ and will complete your earthly race victoriously and when you die, you will be peaceful and found in favour with God, and you will be immediately absent from this body and be present with the Lord Jesus, Who will award you with the crown of righteousness on that day.
(Revelation 1:18; 2 Corinthians 5:8-9; 2 Timothy 4:7-8)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
You have been made whole, healthy and prosperous in Christ.You can come boldly into His presence, to His throne and find His mercy, unearned favor and help in the time of your need. I see you doing this now. God has supplied all your needs in abundance according to His riches through Christ Jesus your Lord. His storehouses have plenty and you are receiving from Him all you need and more right now because you have no other gods (idols) before you, you love and honour God and walk in His ways obeying all His commands. You honour your parents and respect and obey your authorities. No eye has seen, no ear has heard & no one's heart has ever imagined all the things that God has prepared for you who love Him.
(Hebrews 4:16; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19; Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 2:9;)

My child/spouse/loved one (name of the person),
I speak all the above promises & I decree & declare all the following promises and blessings over your life...God has put His fire (hedge) of protection around you; You are covered by the blood of Christ; All accusations made against you, all negative thoughts thought about you, all negative words and reports spoken against you, all judgemental, demotivating, derrogative, demoralising words spoken to you, all gossips gossiped about you, all curses spoken over you by anyone, especially by your parents, spouse, siblings, spouse's parents, in laws, teachers, leaders, pastors, medical doctor, bosses, employers, colleagues, friends and all authority figures, be bound and be made null and void and destroyed in Jesus' name and I cast them and all fear, anger, bitterness, worthlessness, self loathing, self blaming, depression and worries caused by these negative words, out to be burnt into ashes in Jesus' mighty name. I decree & declare that you have found favour with God and man, that you are walking under God's umbrella of protection and in complete health of mind, emotions, body & spirit in Christ Jesus; You are resisting the devil and every temptation set before you and therefore the devil is fleeing away from you; You are infilled by the Holy Spirit and His anointing overflows from you and touches and blesses all those you come in contact with; No weapon formed against you will ever prosper; God's 12 legions of warrior Angels stand guard around you always and fight all your battles for you; All your bondages are broken and all the blessings, finances, honour, health and every good that you lost and every lost second of your life are all restored back to you by God's 12 legions of restoration Angels;  You are receiving your breakthroughs swiftly by God's 12 legions of breakthrough Angels in Christ Jesus. I decree and declare that there are open doors of opportunities for your future before you and you are walking through the right door with the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the right job,  for you our unmarried children  to be joined with the right godly Christian life partner, for close godly Christian friends and abundant blessings and for our every breakthrough ; God has put his cherubims with flaming swords before every door through which you must not enter and shut tightly those doors forever; You will obey the Lord and will not force through the shut doors. I decree and declare that the Lord has removed all bewitching friendships, bewitching relationships, bewitching acquaintances and all of your friends and acquaintances who lead you away from Christ Jesus and His ways and He has removed those who bring destruction into your life and your future and those who give you wrong advice; Your  spiritual eyes and ears have been opened to God's vision for your future & to hear God's still small voice speaking to you; You are transformed into God's child of faith and a person of total dependency on Him alone; You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness and therefore God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions; God's Holy Spirit hovers over you 24/7 and breathes His life into you and births the new life of Christ in you, bringing you to higher order, keeping your spirit alive in Him and in tune with Him; The Lord has prepared a table before you in the presence  of your enemies and He anoints your head with oil and your cup overflows with heavenly blessings and you are a blessing to all around you. Therefore no weapon forged against us will ever prosper in Jesus' mighty name. God is raising you up to be His watchman, a compassionate intercessor who will stand in the gap for God's people, a mighty warrior of God, a passionate worshipper who seeks after God's heart, a prophet of God, an evangelist bringing people into God's kingdom through the knowledge of Christ Jesus. This is your heritage in our Lord Jesus. I pray this in Jesus' mighty name, receive it for you on your behalf and seal it with the precious blood of Jesus. Amen.
Be blessed as you bless your children/spouse/loved ones.

Mary Augustine

Finding favour with God and with men in our places of work.

Genesis 39:2-5 NIV
The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. [3] When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, [4] Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. [5] From the time he put Joseph in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

3 vital lessons to be learnt from the life of Joseph:-

1. When God is with us, that is, on our side, we will be successful in all that we do and we will prosper.

2. When our employers see that we are successful and that we are prospering in all we do, we will find favour in their eyes. They will trust us and entrust greater things in our hands.

3. When God is with us, our employers, our company and all those around us will thrive and be greatly blessed.