Forgiveness | Laurie Coombs

Archive for the ‘Forgiveness’ Category

Freedom Through Grace

Posted on: October 23rd, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

Freedom Comes Through Forgiveness,justification, sin, no justification for sin, murder, kill, healing, following jesus, bible, bitterness, anger, answered prayer, redemption, redeem, obeying god, obedience, obedience to god, loving your enemy, hope, rebuking sin, repent, repentant, repentance, blame shifting, changed heart, scripture, letters to a murderer, our ways, gods ways, our will, god's will, forgiveness set me free, pain, victim, wound, romans 5:8Inspirational forgiveness story, forgiveness story, forgiveness testimony, christian forgiveness, biblical forgiveness, forgiveness, forgive, how do i forgive, how do you forgive, forgiving the unforgivable, freedom, freedom through forgiveness, grace, murder, forgiving murder, peace, jesus, god, christ, christian, grace to forgive,

“He’s doing it again,” I told my friend, Sarah, “listen to this!” I read the letter I received that afternoon from Anthony. “Why won’t he simply say ‘I did it. It was my fault. Period.’” I said. “He’s still trying to justify his actions! He committed murder! He killed my dad! There’s no justification for that!” After talking it though, I sat down and began to type my response, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I wanted to rebuke him. Set him straight. He claimed to be a Christian now. Why isn’t he repentant? Why does he keep blame shifting? I thought. I wrote, words pouring forth like flood waters out of my heart, addressing each of the issues and backing them with scripture. Oh, this is good, I thought, but I knew. This was not the response God wanted. I prayed, as I awaited direction from Jesus. Days passed and…

{Red Like Blood} Freedom Through Grace

Posted on: October 18th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs

Today, I have the honor to be guest blogging for RedLikeBlood.com. Join me there to read about the moment I was given the grace needed to forgive Anthony in my latest post entitled, Freedom Through Grace. If you’re visiting from RedLikeBlood.com, welcome! I hope you’ll take a moment, read, and stay a while… Red Like Blood is a book written by Joe Coffey and Bob Bevington, two men who have both experienced the amazing power of God’s grace in their lives, as I have. I, for one, will be reading their book. Here’s a little synopsis: …the grace of God is much more than sweet. It is also explosive, pervasive, powerful, relentless, amazing, devastating, raw, and beautiful. Grace is deadly serious stuff. Many of our encounters with grace—the real, true grace by which God changes us one step at a time—are much more like confrontations. These confrontations are jarring. They shake us…

Only a Breath

Posted on: October 9th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs

I met a beautiful, godly woman while in North Carolina this summer at the She Speaks Conference named Melanie. She describes herself to be a southern girl, and she’s a sweet one at that. I feel so blessed that our paths crossed. Melanie ministers to women on her blog, Only a Breath, and she has graciously offered to have me guest blog for her today. Join me there today, if you’d like. And if you’re visiting from Only a Breath, welcome! Take a moment, read, and stay a while… Blessings!

Why Obey God?

Posted on: October 2nd, 2012 by Laurie Coombs

It’s my first “vlog” or video blog! I apologize in advance for my awkwardness…. Hopefully, by the grace of God, I will get used to speaking to a videocamera imagining that I’m speaking to YOU! I hope you enjoy! {We obey in response to God’s love. And, of course, God knows best!} So, what do you think? Should I keep doing vlogs?? Leave a comment below!

{Love Your Enemy} The Letter

Posted on: September 14th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 9 Comments

It was May 18, 2010––close to 10 years after my dad was murdered––when my husband, Travis, came home from work with a letter in his hand. “You’ve got a letter,” he said. “Thanks,” I said smiling as he handed it to me. I looked down to see a bold stamp on the backside of the envelope reading, “NORTHERN NEVADA CORRECTIONAL CENTER.” Looking up at Travis, I spoke in a faint whisper, “I gotta…I gotta go. Take care of the girls.” I ran upstairs and into my bedroom, closing and locking the door behind me. I didn’t want my girls to see me like this. I heard my daughter ask, “What’s Mommy doing?” “She just needs to take care of something,” Travis said, “Wanna help me with dinner?” “Yea!” she said with glee. I sat there, on my bed, for what seemed like hours simply holding the letter, tears pouring forth, willing…

{Forgiveness} What Biblical Forgiveness IS

Posted on: September 7th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

I am well aware of the fact that we’ve been dealing with some pretty heavy stuff so far. But I’d like to encourage you to hang in there. Don’t let the weightiness of these difficult topics deter you from the blessings that awaits you on the other side of forgiveness. To be completely honest, healing is hard work. It’s painful. It requires you to go to the hard places––to the deepest darkest crevices of your soul––and to allow Jesus to mine out that darkness and replace it with His light. This is no easy feat. It hurts, but beauty is left behind when we allow Jesus full and complete access to our wounds, our walls, our pain. Oh, how I love our God! As mentioned before, I am no expert, and I too, find myself struggling with forgiveness from time to time, but the Lord has taught me much on…

Live It Out

Posted on: September 6th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

There’s an amazing woman I’ve recently had the pleasure to meet named Sarah Martin. She ministers to twenty-something Christian women through her blog Live It Out and her book Stress Point, and she has so graciously offered to allow me to share a bit of my heart on her blog. Be sure to check it out! And if you’re visiting from Live It Out, welcome!! I hope you’ll take a moment and stay a while. Thank you, Sarah, for your heart, your ministry, and for being the blessing that you are.

{Forgiveness} What Biblical Forgiveness is NOT

Posted on: August 30th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 5 Comments

biblical forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness story, forgiveness testimony, christian forgiveness testimony, christian forgiveness, misconceptions, cultural falsehood, justify, approval, enabling, sin, obedience to God, forgave, what is forgiveness, how do I forgive, forgivable, forgiving the unforgivable, forgiving, jesus, christ, God, christian, jesus paid, cross, repentance, unforgiveness, luke 23:34, unrepentant, do i need to forgive if not sorry, not sorry, not repentant, do i need to forgive if not repentant, get out of jail free, forgetting, suppressing feelings, Ephesians 4:26, be angry, do not sin, anger, forgiveness is a process, decision to forgive, decision, command to forgive, offender, victim, victim forgive, reconcile, reconciliation

Along the way, speaking to those around me, I’ve come across many misconceptions about forgiveness. The word forgiveness has been tainted by culture. Biblical forgiveness, in fact, differs from the forgiveness that the world offers, and I believe many misconceptions are birthed out of these cultural falsehoods. Yet, before we explore what Biblical forgiveness looks like, I’d like to look at what it is not. Biblical Forgiveness is NOT: Justifying/diminishing/approving of/enabling sin or saying that the wrong committed was in any way acceptable or okay What happened to you or what happened to me will never be okay. Sins were committed, and Biblically, sin is never justifiable. In fact, the wage of sin is death. Yet, while no sin will ever be justified, all sin is forgivable. Simply look to the cross and you’ll see the son man dying a bloody death, suffering like no one before or since. It is…

{Forgiveness} Why We Forgive – Part 2

Posted on: August 27th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment

God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Christian forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness story, forgiveness stories, inspirational forgiveness stories, inspirational forgiveness testimonies, Biblical forgiveness, Colossians 3:13, forgiveness is not an option, forgiveness is a command, Sermon on the mount, matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 6:14, Matthew 6:15, God's heart, the heart of God, why does god have all these rules, why does god have rules, why does god have laws, love, god's love, commands, commandments, god knows best, follow jesus, following jesus, obey, obedience, obey god, for our good, glory of god, healing, heal, lay down our pride, pride, strength to forgive, how do you forgive, how do i forgive, why do i forgive, why do i need to forgive, decision to forgive, decide to forgive,

As explored in Why We Forgive – Part 1, we are called to forgive because we have been forgiven. In respect to forgiveness, God simply asks us to give that which He so graciously gave us. And that’s just it. God asks us to forgive, which means that forgiveness is not an option. [Tweet that] Colossians 3:13 says, “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” It’s a command. Jesus tells us during His Sermon on the Mount, For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. – Matthew 6:14-15 While this command may seem harsh, we need to look at the heart of God to gain understanding. We know God is not just loving, but that––as the bible says––God is love. That’s simply who He is. It’s part of His character….

{Forgiveness} Why We Forgive – Part 1

Posted on: August 24th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

Prayer, i prayed all night, trust God, trusting God, Luke 23:34, father forgive them, father forgive them for they know not what they do, because jesus forgives us we forgive, we forgive because jesus forgave us,we forgive because jesus forgives us, bought with a price, trust Jesus, trusting Jesus, following God, following Jesus, Jesus, God, Christ, Christian, forgiveness, why do we forgive, why do I need to forgive, why am i an enemy of God, enemy of god, why is jesus the only way, is jesus the only way, far from god, God loves me, does god love me, jesus loves me, does jesus love me, Hebrews 9:22, Jesus died for me, did Jesus die for me, rebellion, why did Jesus need to die, penalty of sin, death, penalty of sin is death, cross, jesus cross, what makes forgiveness possible, forgiveness is possible, what makes forgiveness possible, 1 Corinthians 7:23, first corinthians 7:23, who am i to not forgive, loving your enemy, how do you love your enemy, love your enemy, how do I love my enemy, the cost of forgiveness, bought with a price, C.S. Lewis, cs lewis, God has forgiven the inexcusable in you, Jesus forgives us, Jesus forgave us, dying in the cross, dying on a cross, Jesus forgives those kill him, salvation, what is jesus asking me to do,

After God called to bring Anthony a bible, I spent most of the night in prayer, asking Jesus for grace. I desperately needed His grace to trust Him and follow Him where He was leading me. I prayed for Him to grow my faith and to allow me to see as I ought. What is Jesus really asking us to do? I thought to myself, What is Jesus really asking me to do anyway? Then came the answer: He was simply asking me to give what I had already received. It was then I began to see that, prior to coming to faith in Jesus, I was an enemy of God. Yet, while I was still far from God, He loved me, He pursued me, and He died for me––even in my rebellion. I saw that Jesus’ death brought me life. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything…