Open and Receiving

We live in a world of people who seem more sensitive than some generations in the past and who struggle to deal with hurtful things that happen in life

When a person is hurting it is hard to open their heart to receive love – including love that God is offering until they find healing.  Most people would rather hold a record of wrongs.  They’d rather hang onto resentments that give them an excuse to be angry or to act out.  People want their rights. They want others to make things right with them on their terms.

God’s way of dealing with suffering in our souls is to offer us grace - grace for our own shortcomings and grace for others who also have shortcomings.

Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:13-14

We need to keep on receiving God’s love until every hurtful issue in our minds and on our hearts is soaked in His love.  How do we do that?  First, we receive comfort for every painful thing that has been cluttering up our minds and our emotions, and then we let the generous love of God bring healing to those places. 

As God’s enduring love fills us with peace and security, we can then bless others.  When people around us act poorly and hurt us, we can bring those hurts before God and receive healing. 

If we react poorly to a situation and are filled with guilt and shame, we can confess our shortcomings to God and receive His forgiveness.  We can then go to the person who was on the receiving end of our poor reaction and ask for their forgiveness.  In this way, God invites all of us to live in His safe and unfailing love.

We love because he loved us first. Anyone who says he loves God but in fact hates his brother or sister is a liar. He doesn’t love his brother or sister, whom he has seen. So he can’t love God, whom he has not seen.  Here is the command God has given us. Anyone who loves God must also love his brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:19-21

Lord Jesus, we embrace this generous love You have for us, and receive healing for all our hurts.  Where it is hard for us to believe and trust, we receive comfort, hope, and faith. Help us to let go of anger and resentments and to learn how to live in forgiveness and compassion. 

We receive the generous grace You pour out and Your peace that passes all understanding.   We receive.  We receive.  We receive. Amen 

I know this is a difficult principle for all of us to put into practice but God will help us do better at it than ever before if we will give Him the opportunity today.