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We have all been hurt, wronged, betrayed, mistreated, let down, disappointed. used and abused. It’s a part of life. Sometimes we feel we have been wronged when the other person of people actually meant no real harm. Sometimes we feel we were wronged when the other person or persons was actually doing something for our own good. Sometimes it’s us who was in the wrong.

In many situations we can’t change how we are treated, but we can always control how we react to when we are treated badly….ALWAYS.

So, I have a quick reminder for you. God expects to not only forgive, but have an attitude of forgiveness, even when the other person doesn’t seem as though they are sorry.

Have you ever had a person apologize to you and you weren’t ready to hear it? You want to remain angry…

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YOU’RE HOLDING A GRUDGE, AND GOD AIN’T HAVING THAT!

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Leviticus 19:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Romans 12:17-21 (ESV)

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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GRUDGE (Oxford Online Dictionary)

Noun: A persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a past insult or injury.‘she held a grudge against her former boss’.

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Grudges birthed from pride. Grudges require huge amounts of mental, emotional and spiritual bandwidth. You can’t be grateful, thankful, forgiving, joyous, kind, or love the way God requires while holding a grudge. Grudges our a spiritual drain and they ruin your testimony. It is impossible to move forward while you hold a grudge. The fact is…

THAT GRUDGE THAT YOU ARE HOLDING IS ACTUALLY HOLDING YOU!

How many blessings is God trying to put into your hand, but He can’t because you’re holding tightly to a grudge?

Please, let it go.

HOW TO MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT AN APOLOGY…

ARE YOU EASY TO APOLOGIZE TO…?

WHY WE SHOULD STOP SAYING, “FORGIVENESS ISN’T FOR THEM, IT’S FOR YOU…”

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Let me first say that God never gives us a license to lie.

Wisdom and discernment are gifts of God. Discernment is an aspect of Godly wisdom.

We also know that the truth is always the truth, but we must be sensitive to God’s timing of when and how it should be revealed…of what we should say and of what we should not say…of what we should conceal and what we should reveal…but not for the sake of deception.

God protects us through wisdom and discernment…

Proverbs 4:5-6  (NKJV)

⁴ He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
⁵ Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Yes, even the truth has to be handled with wisdom and discernment.

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DOES GOD SOMETIMES PROTECT US THROUGH THE DISCERNMENT OF WHEN TO USE ‘DECEPTION’?

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The spies that Joshua sent to Jericho were protected by Rahab’s deception…

Joshua 2:4-7  (NKJV)

⁴ Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” ⁶ (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) ⁷ Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

As David fled from Saul, he was protected by pretending to be crazy…

1 Samuel 21:10-14 (NKJV)

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”

¹² Now David took these words ^[a]to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So he changed his behavior before them, pretended ^[b]madness in their hands, ^[c]scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me?

Mary could not reveal who her Holy Son really was until the time…

Luke 2:16-19  (NKJV)

¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely^[a] known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary KEPT ALL THESE THINGS and PONDERED them IN HER HEART.

Sometimes it’s best not to tell someone what was said about them…

Proverbs 17:9  (NKJV)

⁹ He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

 Proverbs 11:13  (NKJV)

¹³ A talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.

Proverbs 25:2  (NKJV)

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

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God gives us the wisdom and discernment to exercise emotional labor. Which is managing our feelings and emotions in order to effectively do a job – such as when a waiter or waitress can’t let his or her customer know how irritated they are at the customers’ rudeness.

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Sometimes you can’t tell your boss how you really feel about him/her.

Sometimes you can’t tell your spouse how you feel about his or her parents.

Sometimes you can’t let those closest to you how discouraged, depressed, upset, or tired you really are.

Sometimes it’s not the right time to let people know how disappointed you are in them.

Sometimes it’s not best to reveal what’s really on your mind.

In the last days…even God Himself will send ‘deception’ only to be recognized by those who are truly connected to Him and in His in His word.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12  (NKJV)

⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason GOD WILL SEND THEM STRONG DELUSION, THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THE LIE, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

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God never gives us the license to lie.

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But, our Heavenly Father does use everything for His purpose, even how we manage the truth. We should always handle it with the spirit of discernment, not the spirit of deception.

THE LIES WE DON’T INTEND TO TELL (MOST OF THE TIME)…

BE BLESSTIFIED!

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If you weren’t aware of the allegations against R&B singer/songwriter/musician R. Kelly, then you probably are now after the Lifetime Network documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly”.

The show went into great detail through interviews to confirm that allegations of sexual abuse, predatory behavior and pedophilia are very serious.

There’s no question that R. Kelly had intimate relationships with many women. He admits that himself. And, it’s no question that his lust for women has gotten him in trouble. His problem is that many of these women have been underage. He’s accused of summoning women to his ‘palace’ and abusing his power to influence them and take advantage of them. Some of the women’s families have accused him of brainwashing their daughters. The women interviewed stated that R. Kelly abused his ‘power’ and influence to control them.

But, there is another man in history who had a love for and quite frankly, lust for many women. The bible lets us know that he was intimate with numerous women. This man was even identified as a man after God’s own heart…King David.

Acts 13:22  (NKJV)

²² And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

But, even though he was a man after God’s own heart, he wasn’t perfect. None of us are.

King David was also a singer/songwriter/musician.

As he was relaxing on the roof of His palace he saw a woman bathing outside. This woman, Bathsheba, wasn’t only another man’s wife, but she was the wife of a man, Uriah, who was devoted and loyal to David. Uriah was one of the soldiers in his army. David was attracted to her and abused his power as king to summon her to his palace. In fact, David summoned many women to become his wives. I’m sure she felt pressured to please the king, just as many of the women said they felt pressured to please R. Kelly.

After King David was intimate with Bathsheba, she became pregnant and to make a long story short, after the scheming and manipulating to hide the pregnancy didn’t work, he had Uriah killed. He then he took Bathsheba to be his wife.

We see that David and R. Kelly had some things in common,

But there was one big difference in David and R. Kelly.

As of the time that the documentary aired, R. Kelly hadn’t acknowledged or repented of doing anything wrong.

After being confronted with his sin, David repented…

2 Samuel 12:13 (NKJV)

¹³ So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

Psalm 51:4  (NKJV)

⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just ^[a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

David’s repentance is what confirms he was a man after God’s own heart.

R. Kelly has a huge library of music and some of his songs are even spiritual and sung in churches. However, there are many people today who refuse to listen to R. Kelly’s music anymore. Radio stations all over the world are refusing to play his music. There are those who are demanding to ‘Mute R. Kelly’.  Again, Mr. Kelly has not yet acknowledged or repented of any wrong doing.

We all know that David, under the inspiration of God, wrote most of the Psalms which of course are songs. They teach us how to worship, pray, praise, celebrate and even lament.

If David was living today, even though he repented, there would be many people who would refuse to listen to or sing many of the Psalms. There would be people wanting to ‘Mute David’ because of his serious sins. But, here’s the difference…again, David repented.

Both David and R. Kelly’s sins were revealed and made public.

We all have something in common with both of them…

Everyone of us has had dark moments. Moments of which we are very ashamed.

Our shameful moments maybe not to the extreme of David and R. Kelly, but nevertheless, moments that we don’t want anyone to know about. Take a moment to think about some of the most shameful things you have done (or are still doing) and thank God for allowing them to remain secret.

AREN’T YOU GLAD GOD ALLOWED SOME THINGS IN YOUR LIFE TO REMAIN SECRET?

If you haven’t already stopped that behavior, stop it now and repent, just like King David did.

And remember this, the same forgiveness that was available to King David is available to both R. Kelly and to all of us.

Because just like King David, you can be a man or woman after God’s own heart, too.

I know there will be some people who will be critical of me comparing R. Kelly to David. But, God let’s us know that everything in the bible, especially the Old Testament, was written for our example…

1 Corinthians 10:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ Now ^[a]all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our ^[b]admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

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God’s gift of intelligence to humans is one of the characteristics that confirms that we are created in His image. It’s an aspect of His character that we too have. Not how He looks, but how He ‘is’.

Genesis 1:27  (NKJV)

²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Yes, some animals are more intelligent than others, but we, people, are His unique creation.

However, the intelligence and ability to reason, think logically and draw conclusions can sometimes be a curse. Animals’ lack of intelligence limits them pretty much to what God created them to do other than when we intervene.

It’s unfortunate when the people that God created say He’s not there, and then immediately take a breath of His air.

There are countless people every day who look at the world and universe around them, or study history and culture and decide for themselves God isn’t real, that the bible is written by man and is not the word of God. They use science to discredit God, when science is merely an attempt to give a physical explanation to a world to the spiritual.

People consider themselves to ‘wake up’ or be ‘woke’. When this happens, intelligence has become a curse rather than something to help us better relate to the God who gave it to us

They consider Christians as dumb, naive, silly, gullible and even foolish. But the fact is many of us are just as educated and have considered the same information that they have and still choose to believe in the Lord God of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting through His Son and our Savior Yeshua, Christ Jesus. When you think someone is naive when they really aren’t, that makes you naive.

Don’t let your Intelligence quench your faith.

BE BLESSTIFIED!