The question is simple, “What / Who are you giving POWER to in your life that shouldn’t have it?” This came to me at the end of last year during a consecration.
The Lord, as well as some other individuals in my life, had been dealing with me, for a while, about being more consistent in an area of my life and how that consistency was tied to some things that would be transpiring in my life in the future. I wrestled with this and even disobeyed in this area for some years. I had the understanding as to why I needed to be more consistent but there were things holding me back from being as consistent as I should.
Like in all my other times of consecration the spotlight was shedding on something that needed to be dealt with. If not for me than for those connected to me, some of whom I have yet to meet. In my private time of worship I heard that still, quiet voice ask me, “what?” and “why?” What was holding me back from being consistent and why was I allowing it?
I started to rattle off the reasons as to what and why, which of course came from a past, negative, experience in my life, and revealed that I was giving certain people power over me that they shouldn’t have had. I was giving my mind / thoughts power over me that they shouldn’t have had. Once this came to me it was like a weight just lifted up off of me. Strangely a peace came over me, a confidence that I had lost. It was like the real me was able to emerge again, only better, and in a way that I don’t give a thought to what people think or say anymore. I don’t even give a thought to what (I) think or say anymore that doesn’t line up with what I know. The anxiety I had in this area vanished. I hadn’t realized how much I was selling myself short so as not to step on other people’s toes. I was allowing what people thought, and were possibly saying, to keep me from where the Lord, and others, said that I needed to be because what was in me was needed by others.
Now that I see the positive impact relinquishing power has I wonder how many others are paralyzed because somewhere down the line, something happened, and they gave up the power within them and allowed circumstance or situation, even people to have power over them. How many of us give power to people from our past, especially those we have had a relationship with? How many of us allow our thoughts to have power over us and hinder us from moving forward? How many of us have allowed religion to have power over us and keep us from relationship with the One who created us, or keep us from making decisions we know we should make but we don’t for fear of what others will think? And the list goes on. The only person that should have power over you is you, with the understanding that the power you have comes from another source other than you.
So today, ask yourself this simple question, get your power back, and FREELY live!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
There is Power in Forgiveness
I never truly realized the Power of Forgiveness until recently.
Growing up we are taught to forgive and all throughout the Bible there are numerous references on forgiveness. God forgiving us, one forgiving others, and the hindrances that walking in un-forgiveness can bring to one’s life.
So, for me, forgiveness was just something I did, or maybe I should write, so, for me, forgiveness was just something I would say in my prayer time. It became a part of the routine. I certainly didn’t want anything hindering my walk or the manifestation of blessing in my life so whether I was feeling it or not I would ask for forgiveness if I offended someone or give forgiveness if someone offended me. Guess I forgot that God looks at the heart and let’s be real, there are times we attempt to do what is right, like forgive, and our hearts are just not in it. After all, forgiveness is needed because in some way someone did something to another that hurt them, whether intentionally or not, and whether a small wound or a big wound.
Recently, I was speaking with someone and in the midst of the conversation this person said to me, “You have to forgive me for…” (Ha! That part is personal!) I’m not even sure at the time this was said to me that I understood the power or the impact of that statement or how much I really did need to forgive them. To be honest, it never crossed my mind that what they asked me to forgive them for was something that I had to forgive them for. However, as the week went by I realized how what they asked me to forgive them for was directly connected to me in an indirect way. I also realized that a part of me was walking in un-forgiveness in regards to that very thing that they asked me to forgive them for. So, with a sincere heart, I forgave them. Interesting enough, we are in a whole other place and that same week I received a HUGE increase. Now, yes, the increase could be tied to the seed I have been sowing but a part of me truly believes that there were things that were being held up because of the un-forgiveness I was carrying that I wasn’t even aware of.
Later, in that same week, my co-worker had Oprah on at work . (She only comes in two times a week to do research for me so I let her watch what she wants. I’m so nice. LOL!) Oprah was saying that on one of her shows someone gave this definition for forgiveness, “Forgiveness is (giving up) the (hope) that the PAST could be (any different)”. That definition hit me and opened up so much more to me.
Think about it, why don’t we forgive people who hurt us? Could it be because we want to hold on to the hope that things could have been different in our past? Think about it like that and it seems a bit funny. The past is just that, the past. Without a time machine, it can’t be changed. We can’t go back and change our actions, choices or how we treated others or others treated us. NOTHING is going to change the past. Yet we dwell there and we dwell in the actions done by others, we dwell in the choices that we made and we dwell in the atmosphere of how we felt when so and so did this or so and so did that. Forgiveness is the Law of the Kingdom. It is how we, people of faith, get in and it is how we stay in. So, FORGIVE! And when I say forgive, I am including forgiving self. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive and the person we need to forgive the most is self. But do it, and when you do, don’t go back to that place. If you truly believe you are forgiven and have forgiven then there is no need to talk about it. It’s done. Release the weight and all it carried, move forward and live in the NOW! You will be surprised at the power that comes with forgiveness.
Growing up we are taught to forgive and all throughout the Bible there are numerous references on forgiveness. God forgiving us, one forgiving others, and the hindrances that walking in un-forgiveness can bring to one’s life.
So, for me, forgiveness was just something I did, or maybe I should write, so, for me, forgiveness was just something I would say in my prayer time. It became a part of the routine. I certainly didn’t want anything hindering my walk or the manifestation of blessing in my life so whether I was feeling it or not I would ask for forgiveness if I offended someone or give forgiveness if someone offended me. Guess I forgot that God looks at the heart and let’s be real, there are times we attempt to do what is right, like forgive, and our hearts are just not in it. After all, forgiveness is needed because in some way someone did something to another that hurt them, whether intentionally or not, and whether a small wound or a big wound.
Recently, I was speaking with someone and in the midst of the conversation this person said to me, “You have to forgive me for…” (Ha! That part is personal!) I’m not even sure at the time this was said to me that I understood the power or the impact of that statement or how much I really did need to forgive them. To be honest, it never crossed my mind that what they asked me to forgive them for was something that I had to forgive them for. However, as the week went by I realized how what they asked me to forgive them for was directly connected to me in an indirect way. I also realized that a part of me was walking in un-forgiveness in regards to that very thing that they asked me to forgive them for. So, with a sincere heart, I forgave them. Interesting enough, we are in a whole other place and that same week I received a HUGE increase. Now, yes, the increase could be tied to the seed I have been sowing but a part of me truly believes that there were things that were being held up because of the un-forgiveness I was carrying that I wasn’t even aware of.
Later, in that same week, my co-worker had Oprah on at work . (She only comes in two times a week to do research for me so I let her watch what she wants. I’m so nice. LOL!) Oprah was saying that on one of her shows someone gave this definition for forgiveness, “Forgiveness is (giving up) the (hope) that the PAST could be (any different)”. That definition hit me and opened up so much more to me.
Think about it, why don’t we forgive people who hurt us? Could it be because we want to hold on to the hope that things could have been different in our past? Think about it like that and it seems a bit funny. The past is just that, the past. Without a time machine, it can’t be changed. We can’t go back and change our actions, choices or how we treated others or others treated us. NOTHING is going to change the past. Yet we dwell there and we dwell in the actions done by others, we dwell in the choices that we made and we dwell in the atmosphere of how we felt when so and so did this or so and so did that. Forgiveness is the Law of the Kingdom. It is how we, people of faith, get in and it is how we stay in. So, FORGIVE! And when I say forgive, I am including forgiving self. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive and the person we need to forgive the most is self. But do it, and when you do, don’t go back to that place. If you truly believe you are forgiven and have forgiven then there is no need to talk about it. It’s done. Release the weight and all it carried, move forward and live in the NOW! You will be surprised at the power that comes with forgiveness.
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