{"id":12052,"date":"2024-10-11T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/?p=12052"},"modified":"2024-10-10T11:19:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T17:19:16","slug":"the-hard-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/?p=12052","title":{"rendered":"The Hard Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Forward?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Friday, October 11, 2024<\/h1>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Even as the sun sets,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God renews life again,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and again,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and again,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

for us<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

with forgiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 130:4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 23:34<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Jesus said, \u2018Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.\u2019 And they cast lots to divide his clothing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of Grace For Today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any old mean son of a … erm, a gun, can hold a grudge and seek revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty much any person can be that mean, no old or son qualities needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to forgive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that takes courage, strength, and wisdom beyond normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully (mentioning also it is Thanksgiving weekend) God is not a God of grudges and revenge. Else we\u2019d all be doomed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully (it\u2019s that weekend, eh?) God is a God of steadfast love and forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have God\u2019s promise that God will forgive us our sins, all of them, every last one of them, even the really, really evil and \u2018unforgivable\u2019 ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All we have to do to be forgiven is … well, nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We just get to acknowledge that we are forgiven, and get on living as forgiven people, not perfect people, not evil people, but forgiven people. That\u2019s a humble way to move through life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God also forgives our enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know, the one\u2019s Karma forgot about, that list that we each keep, those names and events that burn a hole in our pockets, or rather in our hearts, minds, and spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since God forgives us and them, we get to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– see that, it\u2019s not we have to, it\u2019s we get to, we are privileged to, we are honoured by the Holy Spirit giving us the ability to –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we get to forgive our enemies and all the people who would and have done us harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is quite a way to live,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite a marvellous, miraculous, life-energizing, peaceful way to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since we get to live that way,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also get to revere God who makes it possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just saying,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

maybe revering God and giving God thanks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

outta be part of our Thanksgiving weekend,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and every day that ends with \u2018y\u2019, eh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe even today,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

especially the today<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of each morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forward? Friday, October 11, 2024 Even as the sun sets, God renews life again, and again, and again, for us with forgiveness. Psalm 130:4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, \u2018Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.\u2019 And they … Continue reading “The Hard Way”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,71,104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love-and-hope","category-sunset","category-thanks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12055,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12052\/revisions\/12055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}