This was an old post I had begun and never finished. It was found in the drafts from years ago.
I felt like I had opened a treasure chest full of the Lord’s reminding in the list of drafts. There were many to open and this one I decided to share today. It is a new year. Time to abandon old things and start fresh!!
Surrender : To abandon
I am finding the more I abandon the garbage in my life, the more joy that fills my heart. When we hold onto anger and bitterness it clogs up the flow of joy just as cholesterol clogs the arteries.
When we let bitterness rise again and again and then complain that we are depressed pointing a finger at the one that offended us, it is no different from ramming our head against a brick wall over and over again and then blaming the wall for our headache.
We need to look at our own selves in the situation. Â How are we holding on and what can we do to surrender it? Do we really want to keep walking around with it?
We all have our reasons to feel like we have a right to hold on to that anger. But it hurts us, not the one or the circumstance that we are angry with.
There was a person who hurt my family. I hated this person. Many days all I could do was think about how I would murder them if I could get away with it. I hated them vehemently and for what most would think was good reason. But my hatred of this person was taking over my days, consuming my every thought. There was no peace as I focused only on what they had done and how they should pay.
I realized if I wanted to walk in freedom I needed to surrender all the anger, bitterness, and guilt. But the question for me was how did I start? How could I abandon the feelings and leave them  down and not pick them back up over and over again?
ADDED TODAY: 1/4/18 Â from the wisdom the years has brought me and the freedom I now get to walk in.
Question: How do yo let go of the bitterness and anger without picking it up over and over again.
1. I forgive…
Matthew 6: 14-Â “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
          Luke 17:4 – “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
I let go of the circumstances and take off the personal attack. I depersonalize the situation. I work to set it apart from me. It was a situation that happened it does not have to cling to me. When I find  it extremely hard to forgive I ask the Lord’s help. I ask for His peace. I ask Him to help me love my enemy.
2. I pray for my enemy…
Matthew 5:44-But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
I use to struggle with how in the world to pray for an enemy. I would ask, ” seriously God isn’t it enough that they hurt me and they don’t care? How do I pray for them?” God said, “just start.” So now, I pray for the one that has offended me to know Jesus and to break free of the bondage that hurts people. I pray for them to have VICTORY in JESUS.
3. I rejoice that the Lord has set me free…
2 Timothy 2:26-Â and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
When I walked in my wrath of bitterness I was held captive by the enemy. I am no longer bound up in the bondage of un-forgiveness and bitterness!!! That is MY reward, my gift from the Lord.
I praise, I worship, I shout and dance. Then when that ugly thing tries to rise up in me I praise louder, worship longer and dance like never before. Instead of using that reminder to take my focus, I use that reminder to take me deeper.
The year 2018 is a great opportunity to break off offenses, walk in freedom of forgiveness and grow deeper in loving.
And I say…. “YES LORD!”
Shaey anthony 