God says that you must forgive because you have been forgiven. Period.

Forgiveness does not mean you let them keep hurting you. Forgiveness does not mean accepting abuse. Forgiveness means that you relinquish the expectation that they can fix what they did to you.

When forgiveness is difficult, it helps to remember two things: 1) who you are in Christ and who you might have been but for the grace of God, and 2) Jesus didn’t just die for the people you like and who treat you right — He died for everyone.

Remember that God forgave (and continues to forgive) the worst in you, so you are not above forgiving anyone of anything. As with anything else, faith doesn’t make forgiveness easy but makes it possible.

Above all, forgiveness means that the other person no longer has a stranglehold on your mind and your thoughts. You can let them go and watch the bitterness and unrest in your heart being replaced by peace and joy.

Lord, help me always to choose forgiveness because of how freely you forgave me in Christ Jesus. Amen.

I think this says it all.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. And it’s only Tuesday. At least tomorrow is the midway point of the week. Then the weekend.

This is one of those weeks when I don’t want to adult. I don’t even want to human. I want to dog (or cat) and lay around all day and take naps whenever I feel like it. Right now, the idea of hibernation sounds really good.

Still, there’s coffee. That always perks me up (pun intended).

I can always pick up my Bible and read about the God who never slumbers nor sleeps. He never gets tired. His strength never wavers or weakens. He says that when I’m weakest is where His strength is perfected in me.

I don’t have to be strong all the time or brave all the time. I don’t always have to have all the answers and have my life 100% figured out. I can admit that I’m weak and He is strong. And His mercies will still be as new in the morning as they ever were. His faithfulness will never cease even when mine wavers.

I decided to list out a few pros and cons from this Monday, May 10 in the year of our Lord 2021:

Pro: I woke up.

Con: It was Monday.

Pro: At least it wasn’t raining today.

Con: It felt colder and windier than a mid-May day is supposed to feel.

Pro: It felt like a sneak preview of October — almost like a Maytober kind of day.

Con: I never felt like I was able to fully wake up all day.

Pro: There was coffee, so at least I could keep my eyes open and do adulty stuff (or at least fake doing adulty stuff really well).

Con: There are four more days until the next weekend.

Pro: Tomorrow is looking like a good day, and the rest might just surprise me with some unexpected goodness. And there’s more coffee.

Con: Potentially there’s a con to everything, depending on how you look at it, whether from a human-sized perspective or from a God-sized one.

Pro: God is bigger than anything I will face for the rest of the week . . . and beyond.

The End

In church, we’ve been going through the book of Ruth. I’m sure that by now you’ve heard the old joke that if you took this book out of the Bible, that would make the Bible fairly ruthless.

But the central character is an intriguing one. She’s from Moab, the archenemies of Israel. In fact, there’s a passage that I ran across in Nehemiah 13 that says that no Moabite was allowed to enter the assembly of God because they failed to show hospitality to the Israelites during their desert wanderings and in fact hired Balaam to curse them.

But Ruth abandons her own people and her own beliefs to follow after Naomi and this God of Israel. She leaves everything behind without once looking back. She eventually becomes mother to Obed, grandmother to Jesse, and great-grandmother to David, King of Israel and the one from whose line would come Jesus, Savior of the world.

It’s fascinating that out of all the possible people in the world, God chose Ruth as his means of bringing Jesus into the world. He chose someone who was an outcast, an outsider, a foreigner, and a stranger to the promise. Sound familiar? It’s the same way Paul described the Gentiles that God brought into the Kingdom of God. That’s you. That’s me.

It’s beautiful how God can transform an outsider into royalty. That’s what he did for Ruth. That’s what he’s done for you and me, making us into children of the King, a royal priesthood, and heirs to all the promises of God, because that’s what God does. That’s who God is.

“Tirian had thought—or he would have thought if he had time to think at all—that they were inside a little thatched stable, about twelve feet long and six feet wide. In reality they stood on grass, the deep blue sky was overhead, and the air which blew gently on their faces was that of a day in early summer. Not far away from them rose a grove of trees, thickly leaved, but under every leaf there peeped out the gold or faint yellow or purple or glowing red of fruits such as no one has seen in our world. The fruit made Tirian feel that it must be autumn but there was something in the feel of the air that told him it could not be later than June. They all moved towards the trees.

Everyone raised his hand to pick the fruit he best liked the look of, and then everyone paused for a second. This fruit was so beautiful that each felt ‘It can’t be meant for me . . . surely we’re not allowed to pluck it.’

‘It’s all right,” said Peter. ‘I know what we’re all thinking. But I’m sure, quite sure, we needn’t. I’ve a feeling we’ve got to the country where everything is allowed.’

‘Here goes, then!’ said Eustace. And they all began to eat.

What was the fruit like? Unfortunately no one can describe a taste. All I can say is that, compared with those fruits, the freshest grapefruit you’ve ever eaten was dull, and the juiciest orange was dry, and the most melting pear was hard and woody, and the sweetest wild strawberry was sour. And there were no seeds or stones, and no wasps. If you had once eaten that fruit, all the nicest things in this world would taste like medicines after it. But I can’t describe it. You can’t find out what it is like unless you can get to that country and taste it for yourself” (C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle).

I confess that I didn’t really get heaven for the longest time. Whenever I heard pastors or other people talking about it, I had a hard time getting excited about it. Maybe it was the way they described it as a never-ending church service, or maybe it was just me being a dumb kid.

What opened my eyes to the glories of heaven was the last book in C. S. Lewis’ masterful Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. He described the joy of heaven as that feeling you get when you realize that school is over and the summer has started. That was something I could grasp.

I still don’t pretend to understand everything about heaven, but I do know that whatever I can conceive in my mind or imagine in my heart falls so far short of the reality. The very best parts of this life — those almost perfect moments, those fleeting moments of thrilling bliss are but glimpses into the heart of heaven.

Whatever it is, I can’t wait to find out.

If you’re above a certain age, you probably remember those old station wagons with the wood paneling. You probably remember those road trips where you got stuck in the very last seat that faced the cars behind you. I am still a little traumatized from that.

It was the days before social media and smart technology took over everything. We didn’t have smart phones or tablets to pass the time. We had to be creative — read books (unless you were one that got car sick), listen to music, count out of state license plates, play I Spy, etc. We have memories that are completely unrelated to a tiny phone screen.

If that was you, you probably had an awesome childhood. Just sayin’.

I don’t know what the deal is, but it seems like meteorologists are frighteningly accurate when it comes to predicting rain. Every single time there’s even a small chance of rain in the forecast, it rains. And the rain likes to show up early.

I actually like rain. In moderate amounts. And not when I’m driving in it. But when I’m at home, I find that cold and rainy days make for the best naps. They also make for good lounging around, binging Netflix, reading a good book, being lazy days.

That said, I’m ready for some quality sunshine. I could use a few sunny days in a row, especially before the insane summer in the South heat with humidity kicks in. I’m not a fan of sweating, and I’m sure no one in smelling distance of me is either.

But as usual, I am thankful that tomorrow is Friday, rain or shine. That automatically will make the day better.

Cinco de Mayo, as it turns out, is is “a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War” (from the interwebs). So it really is about more than just tacos.

I hope you had a good day. I hope you had tacos or enchiladas or burritos or some other Mexican-themed food to celebrate the day. I hope you are able to fully appreciate and celebrate the upcoming holiday of — wait for it — Revenge of the Sixth. Another Star Wars holiday.

You’re welcome.

Well, no matter how your day went, you can always take comfort in the fact that today is National . . . I mean International . . . no, wait Galactic Star Wars Day. I say, “May the 4th be with you,” and you respond, “And also with you.”

For me, there’s something comforting about Star Wars. Maybe it’s because it takes me back to my childhood and the original trilogy that awakened my imagination and dreams and birthed in me a love for all things fantastical and mythological.

It gets better.

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, which in this part of the world means Go Somewhere and Eat Mexican Day. I’m sure there’s an actual history behind it, but as with all holidays these days, it has turned into an excuse to eat mass quantities of food. If you plan just right, you could end up eating tacos tomorrow. Or you could avoid the inevitable and insane crowds at all Mexican restaurants and just eat your tacos on Thursday, which just happens to be . . .

Revenge of the 6th. It’s another Star Wars day. I’m not really sure of the point, other than it’s a play on Revenge of the Sith, which is Episode III in the Star Wars saga (and the best of the prequel trilogy in my humble opinion).

That’s it. Enjoy some Star Wars and tacos. That’s my prescription for a good week — or at least a reprieve from a not so good week.