Agape Ministries

Christmas: a Time to Forget and thereby…… grow strong

“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus said unto him, until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22

Remember when (fill in the blank ) That is a question we hear a lot this time of the year. Remembering with family and friends, we browse through Christmas gone by, enjoying the memories until inevitably, we stumble across the memories we would rather forget.

Suddenly the pain comes rushing back. The sting of a parents criticism, the broken promises of a friend, the rejections, the disappointments, the heartaches.

What should we do with memories like that?
Do we have to drag them along, like so much baggage, from year to year?

No. We can leave them behind. In fact we must leave them behind.
And there’s only one way to do it – through forgiveness.

Forgiving someone sounds like a simple thing to do. Yet few of us can actually do it.
We treat forgiveness as if it were one of life’s additional options, something we can take, or leave alone. But it’s not. It’s a basic requirement for every believer.

All those bits of unforgiveness that seem so insignificant are the very things that satan uses to keep us from the joy and freedom the Lord has for us.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the unforgiveness in you.
Make this Christmas not just a time of remembering, but make it a time to forget,
so the joy of the Lord can fill your life.

Nehemiah 8:10 says “The joy of the Lord is your strength”

Joy is not a warm happy feeling you get when things are going well.
Joy is not just a state of mind. It is not a fleeting emotion.
Joy is a very real force, and Satan doesn’t have anything that can stand up against it.

Joy is one of the most powerful forces in the world.
Nehemiah is saying that joy is strength. That’s what makes joy so critical.
You can’t live a life of faith without being strong in the Lord.
When God want to makes you strong, joy is what he uses to accomplish it.

Since joy is one of the fruits of the Sprit, you already have in residing within you.
But you need to develop it, confess it, and live by it if you want to enjoy its power.

Joy is what gives you the strength to hold steady when circumstances get rough.
Joy gives you the ability to laugh in satins face when he starts trying to knock you down.
Joy gives you staying power that will make you a winner again and again.

Whatever circumstances you are facing,
you CAN be full of joy.
You CAN be strong in the Lord.
You CAN draw on the supply of the Holy Sprit within you, and come out on top.

Remember, forgive, forget, and fill yourself with the joy and strength of the Lord.

Thank you for praying for my brother. He has passed on. Please pray for the family. Thanks

I am requesting prayer for my brother. Ritter A Decker. He has stage 4 lung cancer and was told he had about 3 months and he is in a lot of pain. Please pray for salvation and healing he is 66. Thank you, Karen Eastlack

The primary ways God speaks today

1 - His Word
A– Seek God's guidance about a decision James 1:5-6
B – Read the bible daily, he will direct you, challenge you, warn you, comfort you, and assure you.

2 - His Holy Spirit
A – Reminds us of what God has said to us and done for us in the past John 15:26-27
B – Gives us words to say
C – Gives us direction about where to go Acts 16:6-7
D – Guides our prayers Romans 8:27

3 - Through Other believers in Christ Jesus – make certain it is in total alignment with Gods Word, person has no ulterior motives, does not harm other people, for your ultimate and eternal good. Romans 8:28
A – Wise counsel
B – Comfort
C - Admonition

4 – Listening to two or more witnesses – multiple messages are part of Gods assurance plan that He is the One who is speaking.
A – Passages in the bible
B – A sermon or bible lesson
C – What a stranger or friend may say

I am requesting pray for a great grand daughter of Charles Tony McCullough. Her name is Willow and she is only three months old. Willow is in Mobile hospital and her breathing is slow. When she awakes she goes into seizures. She is unresponsive, a bleed on her brain. Please pass this request on.