God Knows and Cares. He Sees and Feels!
Give God Time to Show He Cares about You and Your Heart/Pain!
Please memorize and meditate on Jesus’ words:
Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn
for they shall be comforted. (Deep Comfort)
Q1: What examples of forgiveness have you experienced personally or by observing others? What was the impact? Where have you noticed that confession / forgiveness was needed but not experienced?
How do we answer the question and solve the dilemma from last time? The question or obstacle sounds a bit like this: If I am forgiven by Jesus and given Holy Spirit to live in me, then why do I have such trouble loving others or perhaps receiving love from others? It seems that loving and being loved should be easy. Jesus’ words make God’s original plan crystal clear:
Please find and read these two passages then answer the question.
Matthew 22:37-39 and Matthew 28:19-20
Q2L What in your experience stops or hinders people from confessing wrong they have done or from forgiving others who’ve hurt them?
To love God and be loved by Him, and to love others and be loved by them make up God’s original plan. That was the plan from the beginning. Yes? Yes!
What happened? Two things happened – one was created by God and the other was created by Adam and Eve, the first man and wife.
THING 1: The one God made was what God called “being alone” in Genesis 2:18. What did God say about being alone? He said it is not good. Why did He create it if it wasn’t good? I am so glad you asked. He created it with the solution in mind all along. Adam was declared to have been created with the condition God called “alone”, in need of someone like him with whom to have loving relationships. As the prophet Malachi wrote in Malachi 2:15, …God seeks a godly seed”. Marriage and family are God’s provision to give us environments where aloneness can be targeted and replaced with intimacy – closeness, heart connection, touch, fondness, and heart-felt love. The church is also to be built on loving relationships. But what happened?
Q3: Describe how it is possible to be in a crowd of people, to be a part of a large family, and to be part of a church body for years and still feel (be) alone? Do you know people in this situation?
THING 2: The second issue we’re addressing is not “God-made” but man-made. God calls it sin. We may call it “mistakes or wrong choices”, but many of our mistakes and wrong choices have resulted in sins (falling short of what God had designed). Those sins of ours have hurt people deeply, too often, and left scars on the soul – the mind, the emotions, and at times even the bodies of others. Even though God didn’t make sin happen, He had the solution already in place when Adam and Even fell in Genesis 3. Genesis 3:15 records God’s solution to our own self-made fall from our perfect relationship with God Himself. He told Eve that He (God) would send the answer to sin through “her seed” (virgin born) to strike the head of the serpent and defeat him. God promised and delivered. His name is Jesus Christ.
Your becoming a more godly influence will rest on the freedom you experience as sins are confessed and forgiven and as you forgive others from your heart.
Q4: a. What experiences have you had with asking God for forgiveness or with asking forgiveness from others? Have you ever admitted wrong to another person? How did it go?
b. Has anyone ever asked forgiveness for a wrong they committed after they hurt you?
Question 5: This may take a while. Please don’t rush this.
I am attaching a document for those who want to see if they have done a really good job of abandoning those things that have held them back from enjoying the love God has for them or possibly hindered their ability to love and be loved by others.
I call it Four Questions for Two Lists
See Below if interested in Using the “Four Questions for Two Lists”
_________________________________________________________________________________
—Four Questions for Two Lists – Resolve the Unresolved
Three Sources of Walking in God’s Light
Two Lists for Resolution
One Potential Outcome – God’s Love and Glory
Please read: Hebrews 12:1,2; Matthew 5:4, 11:28-30; I John 1:9; James 5:16; I Peter 5:7
(Examine the Top Ten Relational Needs list and the GC2 Concentric Circles diagram/5 Verses.
List 1: Using the Top Ten Relational Needs list -prepare to take steps that will grow your love for Jesus and for others, perhaps even for your own life:
After reviewing the Top Ten Relational Needs list, please take time with God asking the following questions in prayer or quiet reflection:
l. Father, would you please show me how I have hurt my family, friends, people in the church, or people outside the church relative to not meeting these needs consistently? Who has suffered emotionally or even physically because of my sin or bad choices? (The GC2 Concentric Circles diagram may be helpful.) Please focus primarily on the first 20-21 years of your life, but, if you wish, you can answer this question for your entire life. You may not be able to list everything so start with relationships that seem to be most impacted.
2. Father, how do you feel about what I have done to hurt other people and even myself? (I John 2:1-2; Ezekiel 33:10-11))
3. God, how do you feel about me even though I have done these things? (Romans 8: 31-39; Ezekiel 33:11)
4. Father, now what should I do as the next steps to healing and growing my relationships (where possible) with those I have hurt? (I John 1:9; James 5:16; Romans 10:9-10))
Being forgiven doesn’t necessarily mean I can restore the relationship, but it is a good start!
List 2: Using the Top Ten Relational Needs list – prepare to take more steps that will grow your love for one another and for God:
After reviewing the Top Ten Relational Needs list and the GC2 Concentric Circles/5 Verses diagram, please take time before God asking the following questions:
1. Father, would you please show me how I have been hurt by others (family, friends, church people, non-church people) relative to not having these needs met consistently by those you put in my life who were supposed to love me well? (The GC2 Concentric Circles/5 Verses diagram may be helpful.)
2. Father, how do you feel about the hurt I have experienced – especially in those first 16-18 years of your life? You may want to consider more of your life as you have time or need. (Matthew 11:28-30)
3. Father, how did you feel about me during and after those times when I have been hurt? (Romans 8:31-39; John 3:16))
4. Father, now what should I do as next steps to personally heal and in order to help grow my relationship with You and those who hurt me? (Matthew 5:4; Ephesians 4:31-32)
Please note:
· Forgiving others doesn’t necessarily mean I can/will restore the relationship, but it is a good start!
· Realize each of us needs more than one miracle in life – healing and forgiveness take time.
· The idea is to heal as individuals so the relationships you build in the future have a stronger foundation.
— —-