Forgiveness: A Good Place To Start! A Guest Post by Renee Fisher, @devotionaldiva

Photo By Renee Fisher

Forgiveness: A Good Place To Start! 

By

Renee Fisher 

Maybe you’re the one wrestling with choices from the past.  You’re in deep sorrow. Maybe you’re bitter.  No matter what the pain of the past, God offers His hand.

Before His crucifixion, Jesus warned Peter that he would one day deny Him.  Peter was horrified at the idea.  “No way!” he said.  “I’ll never deny You.”…but then he did.  He denied that he had ever known Jesus…three times.

Ouch.  Never make a deal you can’t keep.  Peter broke his word even after Jesus gave him a warning.  How do you make sense of that?

Fortunately, the story’s not over.  I love what happens later.  After Jesus had risen from the dead He was eating and chilling with His disciples.  He took Peter aside during breakfast and asked him a tough question.  He said, “Do you love Me” (You can read the whole story in John 21:15-19). 

Now, we unfortunately only have one word for love in the English language.  In Greek there are three words.  The first is eros, which means romance or sexual love.  The second, phileo means a brotherly love.  It suggests deep affection, like you have for your closest friends.  Agape love is the strongest of all.  It can’t be earned but can only be freely given.  It’s a love that comes without expectations.  This is the kind of love Christ showed for us when He died on the cross. 

When Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, he was talking about agape--the granddaddy of all love.  Peter says, “Yes, Lord.  You know that I love you.”  Sounds pretty good and nice…but they’re not talking about the same thing.  Jesus is asking, “Do you agape me?” and Peter responds, “I phileo you.”  He’s basically saying, “I heart you, Friend.”  That’s not what Jesus wants.  It’s only phileo love.  Jesus asks Peter again, “Do you agape me?”  “I phileo you,” says Peter.  Jesus asks one more time, but this time he changes it up.  “Peter do you phileo me?”  He says.  “Do you heart me, Friend?” and Peter says, “Yes!” 

I love how God knows how much we fail and screw up miserably, and yet He sees us in our pain and meets us where we are.  He wants and tries for the best in each one of us.  He knows us personally enough to know when we’re not giving our all, or when we’re not even capable of loving.  What a fantastic day of questions for Peter and Jesus.  I’m sure they both went away thinking, "Phew! That’s a good place to start!"

~ Adapted from “Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me.” © 2013 Harvest House Publishers.  If you would like to know more about how to forgive others as well as yourself, please feel free to check out Renee Fisher’s new book on Amazon releasing August 1^st.  

Renee Fisher, the Devotional Diva®, is the spirited speaker and author of Faithbook of Jesus, Not Another Dating Book, Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me, and Loves Me Not.  A graduate of Biola University, Renee’s mission in life is to “spur others forward” (Hebrews 10:24) using the lessons learned from her own trials to encourage others in their walk with God.  She and her husband, Marc, live in California with their dog, Rock Star.  Learn more about Renee at www.devotionaldiva.com and her newest book at www.forgivingme.com.

How to be Your Own (Single) Person ~ A guest post by @DevotionalDiva

Photo by Amelia Grace Photography

How to be Your Own (Single) Person 

ByRenee Fisher 

Do you know how to be your own (single) person?  

Sometimes the hardest person to get along with is you. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of people we just can’t get along with (ask Shelley, she wrote a book on it)! But when it comes to being comfortable in our own skin, it can be tough.

Maybe you’re afraid of being alone. 
+ Desperate Singles
+ Breaking Up With “The One”
+ Why Changing Your Significant Other Won’t Work
+ The Right Way To Breakup
+ How To Handle A Breakup
+ How To Be Your Own (Single) Person
+ Why Breakups Are Hard
+ He (Jesus) Loves You! 

Maybe I’m more co-dependent than I want to admit.  

I wrote in my new book, Loves Me Not,  

“Instead of letting my bitterness [over a breakup] get me down, my confusion led me deep into the heart of Texas.  

I decided it was time for me to be my own person. 

I moved to Texas and joined a nine-month-long Discipleship Training School called Ambassadors For Christ and said goodbye to my friends and family. I couldn’t wait to learn more about writing and the Word. I had so many more questions than answers. I thought I had heard God right about [my ex]. I thought that He said he was “the one” for me. 

I was wrong again. 

How could I be so stupid? 

I hadn’t yet learned it’s actually possible to hear what you only want to hear. It’s easy to mistake God’s voice for my own because all I could hear was the sound of my heartbreak. I understood God’s comfort, but I had yet to understand His ways.” 

Have you ever felt that way? Maybe it’s been years since you’ve been single, or maybe the pain from a previous breakup still threatens to bring tears to your eyes.  

An important lesson we need to learn along the road to adulthood is how to listen to God’s voice instead of our own.  

Who does God say that I am?  

I guarantee you--after you hear how much God really loves you and has a plan for your life-then no one else’s words, plans, or ideas will matter. Plus, it’s easier to be the version God wants you to be versus the other copies-because they’re all carbon, or fake.  

When I was in my early 20’s I had all these grand ideas of what I wanted to do with my life, and who I wanted to become.  

I never thought in a million years that serving God on the mission’s field wasn’t where God wanted me.  

Have you ever felt like a failure at serving God?  

Maybe you thought you heard the voice of God (like I did) only to find out it wasn’t where He wanted you. 

Be encouraged my friends!  

God never wastes a step on the journey towards becoming His child. Since we are made in the image of God, there’s nothing we can do to surprise Him-even when we think we’re perfect (he’s not surprised to find out that we’re not). 

I recently wrote a book entitled Loves Me Not, and I’d love for you to read it! 

I wanted to focus solely on heartbreak and how to find healing God’s way. If you or anyone you know is currently experiencing a broken relationship or a breakup--I encourage you to pick up the eBook for only $2.99. 

Here are a few benefits you will gain from reading this book: 

+ Why Guarding Your Heart Isn’t Enough

+ Can Men and Women Be “Just Friends”?

Relationships are very important to me.  

God had me wait over twelve years to meet my husband. It’s probably because God knew how long it would take to become the person He wanted me to be-instead of the person I thought I wanted to be. I can’t wait for you to read it and be encouraged.

Renee Fisher, the Devotional Diva®, is the spirited speaker and author of Faithbook of Jesus, Not Another Dating Book, Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me, and Loves Me Not. A graduate of Biola University, Renee’s mission in life is to “spur others forward” (Hebrews 10:24) using the lessons learned from her own trials to encourage others in their walk with God. She and her husband, Marc, live in California with their dog, Star. Learn more about Renee at www.devotionaldiva.com.