Forgive God - Alive in 2025
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Diana’s Notes
Alive in 2025
Forgiving God
Hey Everyone! Thanks for stopping by and joining in here at Heartfelt Conversations with Diana! Your presence is such a blessing! Now, The last couple of weeks, we have been learning that we have to stop thinking like the “world” that is lost and start seeking God for direction. We have to retrain the brain, we no longer live by brain power but believing power. If you believe God can - then that puts a crack in the darkness of our mortal thoughts and lives that are easily maneuvered, and manipulated.
Psalm 18:28: (AMP) For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine; the LORD my God illumines my darkness.
Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness shall not overcome it.
Have you ever faced a problem, a situation and you just couldn’t figure out the solution. What is the right answer? How do I solve this problem?
Maybe a mathematical question like what my son and grandson are studying. I can’t even pronounce the class, let alone understand or comprehend the formula. Then, someone comes along, maybe a teacher who can explain the math in such a way that even you can understand. It’s like a lightbulb goes off on the inside of your brain, and you say” oh yea, I see that now.”
It is the same basic principle when we turn towards Jesus as our Light and Life to help us walk through all the chaos and confusion of a world that is lost in darkness. We look for others to help us when we feel overwhelmed and yet, their own lives are unstable and shift from thought to thought.
There is only One Person Who is more than able to help us walk through the darkness of this broken world into God’s Kingdom. The Good News is that there is a Kingdom that overcomes the darkness.
The problem is a lot of us either denounce God and His Sovereignty or we’ve been deeply wounded, hurt and we have unforgiveness towards God, because we know if He wanted to keep it away from us He could have, but because we suffered, He must not love us. But that isn’t true. God loves you so much that He didn’t even spare His Own Son, but gave Him up as a ransom to pay for our sins that we would never be able to pay.
We can not be a light to anyone and we will never be able to see the light of our own path, if we remain angry with the One Who has ordered our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (AMP) A man’s mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps and makes them sure.
Psalm 37:23: (AMP) The steps of a good man are directed and established by the LORD when He delights in his way and He busies Himself with his every footstep .
God isn’t going to give you the blueprint He created for you. It is a walk and a trust and a bond - a relationship that He wants to walk with you, as He delights in your growth and in your learning and in your faith. God will lead you one step at a time. That is what you need to learn to lean on.
Last week I also mentioned that I am personally, a work in progress. No one is perfect and God is not looking for a perfect heart, but an excellent heart. Jesus covered the perfect part for us, so that is off our plate. Thank you Lord Jesus!!! But, we are not to settle for a bleak, less than, life. God has a good life for us but again, like I have said before, the more I grow the less I know. Why? Because I grew up with my thoughts, my mind, my destiny, based on the limitations of this earth. Jesus came to seek and to save all of us who are lost. And to teach us that God’s Kingdom is opposite to what we have become conditioned to here on this beautiful place we call Earth.
There is a really good book called The Opposite Life - Unlocking The Mysteries of God’s Upside Down Kingdom by Alex Seeley.
And it speaks of an old Testament verse that answers a question that most of us come upon at some point in our journey in life. Why am I here?
Listen to 2 Kings 2:19-22: The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.” “Bring me a new bowl, he said “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it saying, “ This is what the Lord says; ‘ I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.” And the water remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.
There are times when the wells of our soul feel like bitter water has filled them, there are times when our lives feel unproductive, that nothing good is being produced in our lives and the path feels dark, and hard, and lonely. In the book the author said that she read this verse as a calling to be the salt and the light where they are. Sometimes, we may not be where we want to be in our lives. Sometimes we wonder why we haven’t achieved the lifestyle we thought we would have. But, maybe this year. Maybe in 2025 we stop thinking about where we should be and we lay hold of where we are, right now. Make this a marked moment in time, that today, this day, we will choose to be the salt and the light right where we are.
Okay, sounds good, I guess, but what does that mean, what does that look like for our everyday life??
It means we get off the broad path of destruction, and we intentionally choose to follow after Jesus because He will show us how to be a light in the darkness, how to be salt - to flavor the world with the goodness of God’s Kingdom.
God’s Kingdom is real! We watch fantasy movies, or read fantasy books, or play fantasy games and there is something intriguing about alternative worlds. Our brains become absorbed in fantasy, because it is more appealing than our regular lives/ Unless, you understand God’s Kingdom, there is nothing boring or mundane in His world. Fantasy is all imitation stimulation. Our enemy, our true enemy knows that we are created beings, we have a living spirit within our bodies. Our bodies are kinda like astronaut suits that give us the ability to live on earth and a vessel for our soul and spirit. And while we are here, if we are not diligently raised up knowing who we are in Christ and a creation of God’s Love, then we become too adapted to this world and we end up on a broad path of wrong thinking And wrong thinking leads to death.
Satan knows we have this eternal pull, this desire for eternal life - who wants to die???? Who wants to pay taxes?? LOL - Okay, taxes unfortunately we will have to pay. But no one needs to have eternal death. Jesus came and fulfilled that law.
Satan, Lucifer , is a fallen angel and he is very familiar with God’s Kingdom and he is , pardon the expression, “hell bent” on making sure you and I are lured away from God’s perfect plan for our life. If we are not awakened to the Truth, to God’s Truth, that Jesus is the Truth, then we are in danger of sleeping right through this life - daydreaming, and not seizing the day, the life we are meant to have.
Romans 12:1-2: Message translation - So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going - to - work, and walking around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it’s level of immaturity. God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
If we want to have our best life ever, then we are going to have to align our limited thinking to God’s sovereign truth. His Word. We must renew our minds so that we are not limited by the world’s view.
To bring new life into those dead, dry bones we woke up a couple of episodes ago, then we will have to let go of what we thought we knew, and re-learn to have a mind like Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16 in the NLT says:
For “who can know the LORD’S thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him? But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
Following requires trusting, especially when we are stepping into the unknown. But trust can be difficult to give when we feel we have already been rejected, let down, hurt, blindsided, and one more failure, one more bad relationship might do us in. I was angry with God because of my daughter’s death. I didn’t see it coming. I was completely blind sided by it and it knocked life right out of me.
But to surrender trusting God is to surrender life. He gave us life. When we turn away from His light and life, we turn towards darkness, and when we remain in a pit for too long, we become comfy there, even though we know it isn’t good for us. But it is predictable, we think. We just get used to misery, but who wants to stay there? Not me, not you. I was so afraid to tell God how mad at Him I was, but I did.
And after screaming and yelling and crying until my eyes were swollen and my bed was covered in snotty tissue! LOL
Then, after getting all the hurt off of my chest, out of my heart where it had been hidden in a casket, buried deep within me, I asked God to forgive me for turning my back on Him, in that moment I knew, somehow I knew that He did not leave me.
I let darkness steal His peace, His love, His comfort that was mine- but, He knew all along what I was going through and when I finally surrendered my anger and unforgiveness He was there - I did not feel His anger, His wrath, His disappointment, His judgment, what I felt was His love, His Comfort, His Compassion.
And I noticed that once I turned my face back towards Him, it was like a flood of love washed all over me. I balled and cried even more! For the first time, from 1983 until 2016, I knew I would be okay. For the first time since I stood at my daughter’s gravesite, I saw light. I could see a way out of the darkness. Through all of those years of me turning a cold shoulder towards God in my inner self, through all the stubborn and rebellious directions I took on the wrong path, God never left me alone. He was with me the whole time, waiting for me to call upon Him.
Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT - Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you or abandon you.
God is for you! He is for your life! And we need to come in out of the dark shadows of fear, and rejection, and shame, and anger- and just simply fall on our knees before Him and seek His face, His forgiveness and His Help with a grateful heart. Be grateful for what you do have. Learn to tell God every day that you are grateful.
This week, as we are learning how to follow Jesus and turn towards the light - Let’s power up, Let’s Come Alive in 2025 by letting go of our own past and let go over any anger we have towards other people.
We will pick up a little more with that thought next week, but practice kindness this week. When you have a right to be angry, don’t- let it go - give it to God and say thank you for forgiving me when I mess up so that I can mirror Your forgiveness to others and that let’s Your light begin to shine through me.
Can we live with that as our new mindset for the next week week?
Forgive God, Forgive others, Forgive ourselves
I think we can. I believe we can. I know we can. We can do all things in Jesus Christ Who gives us the strength to do it.
(Philippians 4:13)
We are beginning to speak God’s truth over our life. This is how we slowly begin to transform our mind off of dead things that keep us tangled and trapped in this world and we begin to speak life, God’s supernatural, abundant life and as we faithfully trust Him, we will begin to see life come back into our souls and hearts and then our minds will begin to come out of the fog.
Do you have a bible yet to read every day and write in and date as God speaks to your heart. Did you get a journal to record your journey in and a verse that encourages you. You’ll be amazed at how different you are as a person when you flip back through the pages in the weeks and months to come. You simply begin with small basic simple steps of faith and trust
Get into God’s Word and let His Word replace the dead words we unknowingly speak out against our own life every day.
You may may not be where you want to be, nobody who is humble and honest with themselves and before God is; but be ready to receive, life-giving energy and power and might to persevere because your dead dry bones will be brought back to life as we continue to learn how to come ALIVE in 2025
Continue to Read out loud Isaiah 42:16 as a personal promise from God to you that as you step out in an unfamiliar road, a path you are learning to follow Him on, believe that He will be with you, that He will not abandoned you as you make yourself vulnerable before Him
Isaiah 42:16: God’s Word Translation
I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. I will make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do for them, and I will never abandon them.
Ephesians Prayer
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth derives it’s name, that He would grant you , according to the riches of His glory, to be enlightened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. “ (Ephesians 3: 14-19 NASB)
Meditate on God’s Word and allow the eyes of your spirit to be enlightened.
I have put a link to Pastor April’s message from last Sunday -Formed: Learning to Walk with God through Service… - on the notes for this week.
You can find the link of the message on -
Heartfeltconversations.com -https://www.heartfeltconversations.com/Remember, we are learning to transform our minds so that we re-learn to have the mind of Christ.
Continue Learning How to Walk in the Light! God bless and I will see ya next Time!
Joyce Meyer: The Mind is a Battlefield - https://joycemeyer.org
And a few other links as well
Steven Furtick: Triggered Taking Back Your Mind in the Age of Anxiety
JimmyEvans: The time is Now to Change Your Attitude
https://endtimes.substack.com/p/the-time-is-now-to-change-your-attitude
Beth Jones: Getting a Grip on the Basics is a great resource to help you get the basics of how vital you are to God and how good He desires to be to you
https://www.thebasicsuniversity.com
Songs to inspire you
We The Redeemed - Hillsong Worship
Another In The Fire - Hillsong UNITED
Benjamin William Hastings, Worship Together - So Will I (100 Billion X) (Live)
Foundation Verse
Romans 8:11
The Spirit of God, Who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Chrisr Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living in you. “
Additional Resources
Prayer of Salvation
Jesus has given salvation, healing, and countless benefits to all who call upon His name. These benefits can be yours if you receive Him into your heart by saying this prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I believe that Jesus rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. I declare right now that I am a born again, child of God. I am free from sin and full of the righteousness of God. I am saved in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This prayer and the comment above, were taken out of the book:
Secrets to Powerful Prayer - Discovering the Languages of the Heart
By Lynne Hammond and Patsy Cameneti
If you have just received Jesus as your Savior, please write Lynne Hammond Ministries at:
PO Box 29469
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55429-2946
Or, email one of the ministries listed on the Additional Resources Tab and let them know that you are a brand new christian and need some direction on the next steps for your new life in Christ.
Or email us here at Heartfelt Conversations with Diana and we will pass along your information for you.
Congratulations if you are a brand new Christian or if you have Returned Home! Welcome!!! Get in God’s Word and get it into you!
Diana’s Home Church:
Valley Family Church - Pastor’s Eric and Alexa Jones
www.valleyfamilychurch.org
Other recommended Jesus-centered churches who teach the True Word of God:
Elevation Church - Steven Furtick
https://elevationchurch.org/
Joseph Prince Ministries - Joseph Prince
https://www.josephprince.org/
Joyce Meyer Ministries
https://joycemeyer.org/