Fill my heart with forgiveness, love and focus upon the righteous things of God.  There is only so much space in our hearts and minds for the inconsequential emotions and frustrations of this world.  Anger, bitterness and despair, rob me of the space necessary to see the harvest of God’s planting, growth and change within.  I don’t want to remember the horrible things that have happened to me throughout this life.  I have no time to contemplate my anger and reserved grudges for the people who have betrayed me in the past.  As with most things in this life the catalyst is “choice”, choosing to let go of those things that consume, instead deciding to concentrate on those aspects of life which generate positive affect.  Do not mistake that I have in any way been able to accomplish this “house cleaning” via my own efforts, that work must be attributed to the Lord’s Healing Hand in my life.  However, as with any surrender I had to choose to give up, give in, throw my hands up, throw the cupboards of my life wide open for the Lord’s Cleansing.

I rejoice that I have been set free of the bondage of negative emotions and memories.  They no longer clog my thinking, eroding or sapping my energy as I now contemplate only the productive subjects of life.  What is gained by my concentration upon past hurts, unless it is reflection upon the wound in order to let the Doctor in to heal them?  I used to believe and perhaps you share this thinking that I somehow punished those who hurt me by concentrating upon their betrayal and either banishing them from my life or continually holding them accountable for historical misbehavior.  This is falsehood perpetrated by ignorant flesh and the enemy, for it instead relegates believers to hardship, despair, lost relationships and diminished joy.  These are not the facets of victorious living.  Fill your heart with forgiveness and be set free.

Is there evidence of the sealing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit in my life?  Do I exhibit unusual patience, forgiveness, long suffering, kindness, gentleness and peace in circumstances that call for loss of control?  To what thinking have I aligned my life and heart?  Am I concentrating on all the righteous, pure, holy, graceful and kind things of Christ’s reflection or do I remain a captive of the loss in my past?  What has become of my heart?  Has this change been inhibited by my own unwillingness to choose life, forgiveness and peace?  Do I truly wish to be set free through the Grace of God or have I chosen to remain imprisoned by the ill will of the past?  The choice is mine, be filled with Spirit and forgive or become increasingly more bitter as my poisonous past festers, clogging my memory, growth, mind and heart.

Lord Jesus, cleanse me, wash over me, cut all my bonds and set me free.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I might reflect Your Heart.  Thank you.

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/love-worth-finding/player/the-freedom-of-forgiveness-437704.html  A greatly used and anointed man of God, the late Adrian Rogers.