Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Andy Stanley, (2009-08-22) from his book , It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 126). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Guilt is a horrible thing to live with and Christ died so it could be taken care of.   But to be totally free from it we need to take full responsibility of the action for our guilt.   Where does the guilt come from?   What did we do?   Who did we hurt?   Yes if we confess He’ll forgive but there is more to be done. What about the person you hurt?   What about that debt you still owe?   Don’t stop until it is fully resolved.   Then you will be totally free. So what is your next step

A thought from Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 31). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Some people are good at hiding what is happening on the inside.   They have done it so long.   Now if they are hiding it then it probably is a negative thing, something painful, or a type of guilt.   If it is good thing they probably don’t want to hide it. I knew a friend who hid an evil practice behind a jovial personality.   Only a few people knew the truth.   He hid behind the façade of being a minister for many, many years.   And he fooled a lot of people, even members of his family.   Finally he was arrested and it all came out. Some hide great emotional pain behind a smile or a fun loving personality.   It is their way of not dealing with it but it needs to come out to someone who can help with the healing of it. A few years ago, Margaret, my wife started having a problem in swallowing.   My tenden

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 145). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. That is why so many can’t forgive.   They don’t feel like they have been forgiven.   One of the great benefits to having a relationship with Christ is the ability to forgive others because we have been forgiven.     1 john 1.9 says, “If we confess He’ll forgive.”   Now of course for some that is a problem.   They will not ever admit that they have ever been wrong so confessing for them is a problem.   But admitting is the plart you pay and forgiveness is the part He plays. Now let me tell you, admitting can be so liberating in its self.   I mean the action you did that you know is wrong keeps you in a state of negative guilt and in that state you feel miserable.   And of course when you feel miserable no way do you want someone else to feel good.   So no way are you going to forgive them.   They shouldn’t feel

A thought by Andy Stanley, (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 116). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . We many times are confused over the fact that confession of an action doesn’t always end with our confession to God.   That is a part of confession but there is also the part of confessing to the people that you’ve sinned against.   You see, our desire needs to also be to not commit the same sin again. Let’s say, you cheat on a test and you confess to God but if you then confess to your teacher that you cheated, there is a great chance that you won’t cheat again.   Let’s say it another way, the thought of you facing your spouse, or facing your kids and confessing to them that you cheated sexually with someone else may be a way of keeping you from giving in to the temptation to cheat sexually.   Anything to keep us from giving in to the temptation will be a good thing. Another thing to see is that some p

A thought by Andy Stanley, (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 115). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. This whole matter of relationships with others is so important because it affects our relationship with God.   Andy also says, “The truth is, you cannot resolve your differences with God if you are unwilling to resolve your differences with the people around you.”   Jesus made this clear when He said in Matthew 6:15 (NIV), “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Relationships are so very important.   In some situations you may need some outside help.   There are people who have the ability to deal with conflict.   For men this many times is a problem.   They aren’t even honest with themselves that there is a problem so how in the world could they be honest with someone else.   They aren’t even honest with their wives or or their parents or their kids or that person

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 145). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . That is so true.   I had a situation that happened in my life that in no way did I want to forgive. I wanted to play the martyr and get all I could out of it.   I mean they stabbed me in the back and then there were others who followed them closely behind and again that really hurt. But today I am at peace.   There is no pain at all when I think of that situation.   I am free because of forgiveness.    Now I have no relationship with this person today because of some evil that they did to someone close to me but I am free.   Have I forgiven them for what they did to the other person?   No, I haven’t.   The evil that they did was not toward me so what they did was not up to me to forgive them.   I am not the one to forgive them.   There are some acts that the justice of God takes over. But I am free fro

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Hear t (p. 55). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. That is so true isn’t it?   Now how we view the action that brings us that shame has so much to do with how we deal with it. Back when I was in ministry I did something that brought so much shame on my life and I stepped out of ministry.  Margaret and I moved to another town.  I knew that I had blown it and I started selling Insurance.  The shame changed the direction of my life.  That is until I went to a church in that town and God sent a Godly Pastor into my life who took the time and patience to bring me out of my shame.  You see my sin action didn’t make God turn His back on me.  He pursued me and won me back. Now if my shame would have kept me from seeking out God then I would have had scars forever but my shame drew me to God and He in turn through it changed me for all time.  He used my shame to deepen

A though by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book,   It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 145). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Have you ever thought about forgiveness that way?  Usually we say, “I’ll forgive you when I feel l like it,” but the truth is with that attitude you will never feel like it so you will lose. You see, not forgiving hurts us more than it hurts the other person.  It hurts you inside, it hurts you in your other relationships and it hurts you with God.  He said, He can’t forgive you if you don’t forgive others.  So if you don’t forgive them until you feel like it then Satan will make sure you never feel like it. No, you and I forgive because we choose to do it.  Not because they deserve it, but because God demands it and you need to do it to break the chains that have bound you to the action of the other person that has hurt you so much.  Forgiveness frees you. I had a situation that had happened to me some 5

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 103). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. I know we look at the beginning of the New Year as a time to make New Year’s resolutions.  It could be a good thing if we were really serious. I mean, it was amazing to see all the new people out walking in the mall today.  Of course they could have just been there because they had the day off but they at least were trying to do something about their health.    I found it interesting to see one man who took a long walk and then as I went outside I saw him smoking.  Of course my temptation was to get something sweet to reward me for my effort.  Sucking smoke into my lungs has never been a temptation but eating a Vanilla Cream Filled Donut from Dunkin is extremely hard to resist.    r Oh of course the reason to smoke is because they have an introspective personality and it helps them relax or the donut habit me

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) in his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 115). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Jesus says that over and over.  He cannot forgive unless you forgive.  What does it say in the Lord’s Prayer, Father forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  It goes hand in hand. So wouldn’t it be great to look into the New Year with resolved differences with the people around you?  Maybe it’s a parent or a brother or sister?  Could be your spouse or one of your children?  Maybe it is someone at work or even at church?  What about your neighbor or one of your friends?  Whoever it is, get on the phone and strive to resolve it now.  Of course you understand it takes two but you strive to do your part.  Another thing to realize is if they have died or if they don’t know you have ever had an issue with them then you resolve it in your own heart.  Go back to the situation and forgive them for t

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within! The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 77). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. I love the way life is set up.  There are 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 30/31 days in a month and 12 months in a year.  There is a beginning and an end in each one of them.  This week is the end of another year and it is a time of reflection and release. It is always good to look back at a point to reflect on what happened, to thank God for His gifts, to reinforce the lessons learned and to let go of and release the pain that has happened in this year.  I know that at some point you have been hurt by someone in 2011.  There is pain in relationships sometimes but you don’t have to take that hurt that pain into the new year.  That is a choice that you have and this is a good week to let go of that memory that hurt.   If you don’t you will carry that hurt into your other relationship in 2012.  That is

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) in his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 144). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . Well it is getting close.  We will be opening our gifts on Christmas Eve and watching our family in Colorado open their gifts by Skype on Christmas night.  This is the season of giving gifts and receiving gifts.  Now this gift of forgiveness is not one we think about giving at this time of the year but if we do it has so much more far reaching benefit than most of the gifts we receive and give.  This is truly the gift of freedom.  It is both a freedom to the giver and also to the receiver.   Forgiveness frees us from so much pain. But here is the key.  Forgiveness is not a gift you give because you feel like it.  Most of the time the act you’re forgiving doesn’t deserve your forgiveness but you chose to give it because Christ forgave you also undeservedly.  It is a gift you give by choice because of what He d

A thought from Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 46). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . The scandal that is now coming out at Penn State University sure proves the bad part of this thought.  The reputation of the football program was one of integrity.  They may have appeared to be upright from a recruiting standpoint but the fact that an upstanding, highly successful assistant coach was molesting young boys finally is coming out. The fact also that some in the administration were covering it up shows what the real heart of the program was.  Who they really are is coming finally to the surface. We are also seeing a part of that in our Presidential campaign.  Eventually it will come out who is good and who is bad, whether it is the attacker or the attacked.  Time will eventually show what the truth is.    Jesus says the same thing over in Matthew 12.34 (NIV), for out of the heart the mouth speak

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 102). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. What habit do you need to break?  I go to Starbucks every day for breakfast.  For years I got a tall black pike, a grande ice water and a maple oat scone.  I really loved my scone until I changed to something healthier.  I now eat oatmeal with nuts.  That’s what I now get every day.  It is my new habit.  I had to break a habit by starting another habit. Now I know we would like to just decide that we need to quite doing whatever it is that we know isn’t good for us but it doesn’t work that way.  It took a long time to make the habit and it will take time to stop it. So what habit do you need to break?  Then what habit do you need to make to break it?  It is never easy to break a habit but if it is a harmful one then it will be worth the effort. So go for it.  Why don’t you start today? So let me ask y

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (pp. 88-90). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. But the major problem is they are never going to get enough.  What a horrible existence but so many people live it.  We think that is a responsible thing to do to acquire and maintain but it can be greed if it’s for the wrong reason. Now the basic premise of greed is very simple.  It means that I don’t trust God to meet my needs.  And this lack of trust seems to get greater and greater the older we get.  It really does but worrying about retirement is a good thing isn’t it?  Is it?  Listen, worry is never a good thing.  It says I don’t trust you God. Now it is important to be a responsible person, to make sure that we save and plan for our future.  It really is but to worry and worry and live in fear of not having enough is not what God wants from us.  I also don’t think He wants us to leave it all up to H

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 82). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . An injustice has been done, someone has gone back on their word, they haven’t done what they promised, you feel like you are owed something and you are angry.   You are very angry and you feel justified in your anger. But here is the problem.   In most cases the person who has hurt you probably doesn’t even know you are angry with them but you know it and the people closest to you know it.   The person you are angry with isn’t being hurt but you are and those closest to you are. Now not doing anything is not the best answer for your anger.   As you know the anger inside of you is tearing away at your insides and it can even damage you physically and for sure emotionally.   Unresolved anger can hurt you and it can also hurt the people you love.   It can hurt your relationships because it is like a time bomb that is