Revive Our Hearts Conference

This past weekend, a group of ladies from our church (and Elijah :) ) attended a Revive Our Hearts Conference led by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Another friend from church was nice enough to watch Mikaela for the afternoon until Eric picked her up (it gave her some insight as to what life with 2 kids is like :) )--thanks Melissa! Then, Eric took off Saturday so he could have some "Daddy time" with MJ. Elijah did really well, except for the sleeping at night part. It was our fault though, b/c we woke him up with all the turning lights on and off and opening and closing doors and talking, etc.--he was just paying us back a little :) Oh well--it was worth it!

On Friday, NLD talked about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, focusing in on the woman. This woman went to many different "wells (or idols)," looking for happiness and purpose in life, but they were all the wrong ones. What wells do you go to in search of healing or freedom or love or whatever you are seeking? Jesus is the only "well" that has water that will actually quench your thirst.

Another big topic was on forgiveness. Many people have at least one person in their lives that they've held a grudge against and never forgiven. This "grudge" eventually turns to bitterness, and it can negatively run the course of our lives by overtaking us. Generally, we're bitter b/c we feel someone wronged us in one way or another--sometimes these things can be very trivial, but other times these wrongs can be extremely hurtful (physically, spiritually and/or emotionally) and damaging in one's life. The person may seem justified, at least in their eyes and many times in the eyes of others, to have a bitterness toward their offender. But it all boils down to our response to the wrong that's been committed against us. Are we going to err also by our response, or do we trust Jesus enough to give the offense up to Him and forgive our offender? Do we trust Jesus enough to know and believe that when He says, "Vengeance is mine," He means it, and His punishment will be just? Are we grateful enough for the mercy and forgiveness that our heavenly Father gives us for our offenses against Him that we too are willing to forgive others?

Now, NLD also went into the difference between forgetting and forgiving. Just b/c we forgive someone doesn't mean we'll forget it. You may even still feel the pain of the offense years down the road, but if you've forgiven the person, you won't be held under bondage by the offense. You can have a clear conscience, knowing that you're not holding the offender in the prison of your mind--that you've given the offense to Christ to deal with--even though the offender may never apologize to you.

Is there someone in your life that you've never forgiven? If appropriate, go to that person, and let them know that you've forgiven them. If it's not appropriate to tell the person, then just make sure to forgive him/her in your heart and give the offense to Christ, who died on the cross for us, taking all our offenses against God upon Himself so that we might be redeemed. What freedom lies ahead! (P.S. This was also the topic of John Piper's radio broadcast yesterday. He adds to/reinforces what NLD talked about at the conference.)