Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group
Gentlemen, we are sending out this post to notify you that as of Friday morning we are planning on having the Saturday morning Castimonia meeting at 10am. If for some reason this meeting is cancelled, a cancellation notice will be posted to this site.
Please do not drive through high water or a dangerous situation to get to this meeting if you do not feel safe.
He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
We must be willing to forgive. We must remember that we have been forgiven by the Lord. He has forgiven us by His love, grace, and mercy. We didn’t deserve forgiveness but because of His love and His grace He chose to forgive us and to lay down His life for us. How much more should we be willing to forgive. If we desire to walk as one we must be willing to forgive one another.
One of the great weapons of the enemy to try to separate and divide God’s people is offense and causing us to become bitter and unwilling to forgive. Throughout our lives we will be hurt by others. We live in a world filled with broken people and more than that the body of Christ is filled with broken people who are in transition so naturally we will get hurt or offended at different times in our lives.
But the key is not to allow our bitterness or our pain to control us and dominate us. Not to allow the pain we feel to bind us and cause us to pull back from others in the body of Christ. Let us simply be willing to forgive. Let us cover over the transgressions that may have been done to us. Let us see people for who they are and understand that we all make mistakes. Some the mistakes are bigger than others but the truth is that all of us are in process and if we can remember this and be willing to forgive then we will walk in unity and the power of the Holy Spirit.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27
Anger can be a dangerous thing. We are all human so therefore we are all broken. We are imperfect people who on a daily basis is following the leading of the Holy Spirit. But from time to time we may fall into the pitfall of allowing our flesh to lead us instead of the Holy Spirit. One manifestation of this is anger.
We are surrounded by people who are broken and who also make mistakes. A person may cut us off in traffic, a person may say something or do something that offends us, a person may do something that either injures us or injures someone we love and as a result we may become angry. What we do in response to this anger is the key. The anger we have will either control us or we will control it. We must guard our hearts from being led by our flesh or our emotions.
One of the greatest ways that we can be led by the Holy Spirit is abiding in the Lord each day. By spending time in God’s word and prayer it will prepare our heart for everything we will face and it will make us more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The more time we spend with the Lord the more we will be transformed into His image. This is key when dealing with anger. The Lord will empower and strengthen us to be led by the Holy Spirit instead of being led by our flesh and our emotions.
… are a lot like this.
You will never go where God is not. Envision the next few hours of your life. Where will you find yourself? In a school? God indwells the classroom. On the highways? His presence lingers among the traffic. In the hospital operating room, the executive boardroom, the in-laws’ living room, the funeral home? God will be there. “He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).
Each of us. God does not play favorites. From the masses on the city avenues to the isolated villagers in valleys and jungles, all people can enjoy God’s presence. But many don’t. They plod through life as if there were no God to love them. As if their only strength was their own. As if the only solution comes from within, not above. They live Godless lives.
But there are Josephs among us: people who sense, see, and hear the presence of God. People who pursue God as Moses did. When suddenly tasked with the care of two million ex-slaves, the liberator began to wonder, How am I going to provide for these people? How will we defend ourselves against enemies? How can we survive? Moses needed supplies, managers, equipment, and experience. But when Moses prayed for help, he declared, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Ex. 33:15).
Moses preferred to go nowhere with God than anywhere without him.
Do likewise. Make God’s presence your passion. How? Be more sponge and less rock. Place a rock in the ocean, and what happens? Its surface gets wet. The exterior may change color, but the interior remains untouched. Yet place a sponge in the ocean, and notice the change. It absorbs the water. The ocean penetrates every pore and alters the essence of the sponge.
God surrounds us in the same way the Pacific surrounds an ocean floor pebble. He is everywhere – above, below, on all sides. We choose our response – rock or sponge? Resist or receive? Everything within you says harden the heart. Run from God; resist God; blame God. But be careful. Hard hearts never heal. Spongy ones do. Open every pore of your soul to God’s presence.
Today’s devotional is drawn from Max Lucado’s Second Chances.
This site is intended for individuals who struggle with maintaining sexual purity. This information is posted for individuals at various stages in their recovery, year 1 to year 30+; what applies to some, may not apply others. Spouses are encouraged to read this blog with the caveat that they may not agree with, understand, or know the reason for some items posted. As always, take what you like and leave the rest.
