What is your Aroma... in Relationship? (Part 2)
Everything we do has an AROMA,
Just as Christ had an AROMA,
In sacrifice,
In love,
For the sake of having a RELATIONSHIP with us.
"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling AROMA."
The most PURE reason for Jesus' sacrifice is so that He can have RELATIONSHIP with us.
It's ALL about RELATIONSHIP with Jesus.
For the sake of RELATIONSHIP,
Jesus was crucified,
To close the gap that SIN had created,
When Adam and Eve chose self over God,
When they accepted a LIE over God's TRUTH.
In that moment the RELATIONSHIP was broken,
A gap was formed,
They hid in shame,
They hid from their CREATOR,
So Jesus came to cover our sins,
And RE-establish a RELATIONSHIP with us forever.
If RELATIONSHIP so much to God that He sent His only son,
How are WE treating relationship?
How do we view our closest relationships all the way to the new ones God sends our way through business, friends and "coincidence"?
What is the AROMA of how you handle RELATIONSHIPS?
As brilliant as you may be in RELATIONSHIP with people you like,
One aspect of RELATIONSHIP that is VERY important to God is,
One that is less sparkly and attractive is... FORGIVENESS.
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
It is SO incredibly important that Jesus even drew a HARD LINE like this...
"But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
That's a pretty HARD CORE statement. There's no wiggle room for interpretation in that one. It also feels like there's no negotiation in it either.
Why?
God isn't one to make hard-nosed rules for no reason.
There's always a reason.
Why do you think that is?
Why go that extreme?
The truth is, that UNFORGIVENESS wreaks of the stench of death to God,
Because UNFORGIVENESS creates an even bigger gap between us and Him,
It's a toxin that slowly kills us spiritually and physically.
"Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."
UNFORGIVENESS is a disease that will eat someone alive from the inside out,
It never has just ONE victim,
It infects and harms all the people around you,
And that's why GOD is so vehemently against it.
So I want you to ask Holy Spirit, "Who do I need to forgive right now?"
And sit and wait,
In silence,
Listen,
Expecting an answer,
For at least 5 minutes.
Take a deep breathe,
Relax your body,
Your shoulders,
Lean into God's presence,
His love,
His heart,
Open your mind for Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts,
To reveal truth,
In anything that is hurting you,
That you don't even know about.
"Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart."
"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart."
We can't even trust our self to know our own heart.
God knows it better than we do,
That's why we are asking Him to dig things up,
Even when we think there's nothing to dig up.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
If an appendix is infected and it's spewing puss in the body,
We want to expose it,
Squeeze it out,
Disinfect it,
Keep it from infecting our other body parts.
UNFORGIVENESS is the same.
It is toxic,
It is poison,
It needs to be exposed,
We need to squeeze it out with PRAYER and REPENTANCE.
We need to run to Dr. God's emergency room,
For immediate medical attention,
To remove the appendix of UNFORGIVENESS that is about the burst,
And wreak havoc on the rest of the body.
God knows that this is what ALL UNFORGIVENESS leads to,
A visit to the ER,
Your life at risk if untreated,
That's why it's not to be tolerated.
God's not being difficult,
He's trying to save our lives,
From the destruction,
From the trap that the enemy set for us.
Here's some symptoms on UNFORGIVENESS:
1) You are TRIGGERED by someone.
- If someone has the ability to tick you off, raise your blood pressure or lose your crap, that is a sign of UNFORGIVENESS. It is a symptom of still HOLDING onto something from the past because if you truly forgave and released it to God, there would be no trigger left. That is a sign of true forgiveness and healing. If the wound is deep or new allow yourself time to process it with God. But don't ignore it. Pray over it daily. Ask for His strength, His healing power and continue declare that you forgive and release all grievances to Jesus. That it is no longer yours but the Lord's. I have things from decades ago that I am in the process of flushing out with the Lord. It ain't easy, but it is simple. Pursue it. Pray over it. Fast over it. Praise God over it.
2) Cutting someone out of your life.
- There are legit reasons to do this, but let's discuss the wolf in sheep's clothing. If the thought is "I forgave them, but I could care less about them. They mean nothing and I want them out of my life."
Umm.... that's not forgiveness. That's cutting someone out of your life for your convenience.
- That is DIFFERENT from loving someone and WANTING to have a relationship with someone but HAVING to remove yourself because they are constantly toxic.
The difference is in your heart. You love them and WANT a healthy relationship but they have made it impossible with their toxicity. Therefore you do what you can which is to wrap your arms around it in PRAYER and everything down at the feet of Jesus.
- That is DIFFERENT from giving the relationship the middle finger.
3) Instant Replays... again and again.
- If you have a situation you keep replaying in your head again and again, that is a symptom that you are HOLDING ON to it.
Whether you replay the conversation and you feel your blood pressure rising,
Or think about what you want to say next time,
Or daydream about any other hypothetical situation, that's NOT healthy! It's wreaking havoc in your mind.
It's NOT giving you peace, it's stirring up anxiety,
It's NOT helping you sleep at night, it's keeping you up at night.
These situations are not easy.
The longer the history,
The deeper the wound,
The more time it might take.
But similar to an appendicitis,
You don't just leave it alone and wait for it to burst,
You go for it and attack it,
And don't let off until it's taken care of,
And you it with God.
So let's ask Dr. Holy Spirit for an xray right now... "Holy Spirit, who do I need to forgive?"
Sit.
Wait.
Listen.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
God's got you.
He's got plans for you.
He's drawing you closer.
So lean in,
Have a seat,
Rest in His arms,
And see what He wants to show you,
To grow you,
To heal you,
To transform you.
"Dear Heavenly Father,
I come to you in surrender,
In a desire to see what You see,
Who do I need to forgive right now?
Who is buried in my heart,
That I don't even know about?
What poison is inside me,
That you want to remove?
[Listen...]
In Jesus name, by FAITH I forgive ______,
Even if I don't feel like it,
Even if my HEART doesn't want to,
Even if I feel like I can't,
Even if I think they don't deserve it,
I do it for You,
I do it for me,
I release ________ of all offenses,
I lay it down at Your feet Jesus,
It is yours,
Take this burden from me,
I no longer want it,
In Jesus name, Amen."
Rinse and repeat as needed.
Cheers to a sweet AROMA in your RELATIONSHIPS! ^_^
