Hello, and
welcome to Heart Lift.
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I'm Jill
Morikone and I'm so glad
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that you've joined us today.
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We're on a
journey toward healing,
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toward wholeness,
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toward the
transformation and forgiveness
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that the Lord Jesus Christ
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wants to pour into
my heart and into yours,
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as woman of God, as
His special daughters.
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If you missed the
last couple of programs,
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were in the
middle of our journey
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dealing with forgiveness.
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Last program we
talked about the seed,
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the word of God
that He wants to plant
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into each one of our hearts.
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We talked about how the
seed is sown on the wayside.
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And sometimes we
become resistant,
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hardened to the
work of the Holy Spirit.
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God says, He wants us
to open up our hearts.
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He wants us to surrender.
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So that He can come in
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and begin to break
up that fallow ground.
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Sometimes we might not
be resistant or hardened,
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but the seed is
trampled on in our hearts.
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Maybe the seeds been trampled on
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in your heart through Satan
confusing the character of God.
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Maybe it's been done through
some sort of abuse or pain
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that you have
experienced in your life.
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Today, I'm
excited about this program
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because we're going
to look at the keys,
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the steps that we can
take to experience forgiveness,
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to be able to
truly, and from our heart
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forgive those who have hurt us.
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Our scripture is found
in Ephesians Chapter 4.
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Ephesians 4: 31.
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The Bible says, "Let
all bitterness, wrath,
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anger, clamor and evil speaking
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be put away from
you with all malice.
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And be kind one to
another, tenderhearted,
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forgiving one another,
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even as God in
Christ forgave you."
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Let's pray.
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Father, we come
before You and we thank You.
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We thank you for the forgiveness
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You have poured into our hearts.
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And Lord, right
now we come before You
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with our bitterness,
with the issues we have
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with our brothers and sisters
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and we say we can't take it out.
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We can't get rid of it.
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But we ask You to
release us from that.
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And we open up
our hearts to the work
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Your Holy Spirit
wants to do in us.
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And we thank You,
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in the precious
and holy name of Jesus.
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Amen.
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A sharp scream interrupted me
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as I was in the
kitchen working on my dishes.
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When I work on the dishes,
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there's a window right
above the kitchen sink.
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And I peered out. But
I couldn't see anything.
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And then all of a
sudden the scream came again.
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I didn't know if it
was a person screaming.
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It sounded a little
bit like a baby crying.
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But we live in
the country so I know
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we really don't
have any close neighbors.
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I had no idea
what that sound was.
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I ran to the front
door, I threw it open.
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I went outside.
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And there stood our cat,
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our darling
Pebbles on the ground
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with something brown
and furry in her mouth.
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And she was shaking
her head from side to side.
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I ran down the steps and I said,
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"Pebbles, drop that now."
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And amazingly, she obeyed.
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That's kind of rare
for her. She dropped it.
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And I went over and I
looked and it was a baby bunny.
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It lay there, limp.
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It's a little wet side
is heaving in the grass.
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Pebbles wandered off.
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She wasn't really
interested at all in eating.
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She wasn't hungry.
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It was just the
thrill of the chase.
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She wandered off and I
tried to approach the bunny
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and said, "I'm so
sorry you got hurt."
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And I looked at
him and even as I did,
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I scared him by me, coming up.
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And he started to run away.
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He was
itty-bitty may be this big.
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As he tried to
run I realize that
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she had snapped
his spinalcord I guess,
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in the shaking.
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Because his
back end didn't work.
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He couldn't make
the back legs work.
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All he did was pull up
his head with his front legs
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and he dragged his
little hindquarters
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into the shade of my lilies.
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And I didn't want to follow him
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because I didn't
want to scare him more
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and so I did the only
thing I knew how to do.
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I knelt there in
the grass and prayed.
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Tears falling on my jeans.
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The thought came,
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you could put him
out of his misery.
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But as soon as that
thought came, it vanished
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because I couldn't do that.
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And so as I prayed,
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his little front
legs quit running,
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his little sides quit heaving.
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And he lay still. He was dead.
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Just as I realized that
my kitty cat Pebbles came up
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and she rubbed her
face against my knee
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and I thought you just
killed that bunny rabbit.
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And soon as I had that thought,
I thought it was instinctual.
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She was trained to
kill since kittenhood.
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So I reached out.
And I began to pet her.
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And as I did, it was like
I felt God speak to my heart.
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And He said.
That's exactly how I feel.
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When my
children hurt each other.
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I love them both.
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The gossiper and
the one gossiped about.
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The murderer and
the one murdered.
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The child molester
and the one molested.
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I shuttered How is
that even possible.
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But God wasn't finished yet.
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He said, "That's
how I can love you Jill,
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my precious daughter.
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Even when you disobey,
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even when you walk
outside of my will,
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even when you
turn your back on me.
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Since I have
forgiven you don't you think
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you could love and forgive
your brothers and sisters?"
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I don't know what
pain is bottled up
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in your heart right now.
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Maybe someone lied about
you or they belittled you.
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Maybe you're experiencing
abuse or some other trauma.
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Forgiveness does not mean that
what the person did was right.
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I want to be clear about that.
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It does not mean what
the person did was right.
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It simply frees us
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from constantly being
damaged by that person.
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Forgiveness sets us free.
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We want to go to
a self evaluation.
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How do I react
towards those who hurt me?
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Am I still
holding on to bitterness?
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We have four different
options here and there again,
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as always, I want to
encourage you to be honest.
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Just simply put down
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where you feel
you are right now.
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Number one.
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"I feel physically sick
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when a certain
person crosses my path.
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I can't stand to see
them, to be around them
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or even to think about them.
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Why should I forgive them?
It was all their fault anyway.
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My bitterness burns fiercely."
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Maybe this is where
you feel you are right now.
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What about number two.
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"I've tried to
forgive the person who hurt me
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but I can't seem to let it go.
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Every time I see them,
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all my resentments
come to the surface.
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My bitterness is smoldering."
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I would say in my
own experience, usually.
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I would
probably be at number two
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where I know I should forgive
and I've tried to forgive.
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But I can't.
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And my bitterness
just-- it has me tightly held,
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clutched in its grasp.
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Maybe you're at number three.
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"There are times I feel free
from the spirit of bitterness,
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times when I truly
believe I am forgiven.
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Then, suddenly,
something will come up
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that reminds me of that person,
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and I realize there is
still unforgiveness inside.
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My bitterness is buried."
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Or maybe you're at number four.
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"I walk in complete
love and forgiveness
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toward those who have hurt me.
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The moment a
hurtful thought arises,
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I surrender to Jesus and
He fills me with His peace.
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There is no root of
bitterness left in my heart.
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No matter where
you feel you are today,
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none of that really matters.
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God takes us wherever we're at.
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So you don't have to feel
like I should be over here.
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That doesn't matter.
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Wherever we are,
God says I take you.
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I can transform you.
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So how do we forgive?
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How do we let go of
that pain and that bitterness
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that is bottled up inside?
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In my own experience,
I've found five keys,
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five steps that have
helped and enabled me
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to break free from that bondage,
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that cycle of bitterness.
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And the first one is to
ask for God's forgiveness.
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If you're taking
notes number one,
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ask for God's forgiveness.
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We go to God and we ask
forgiveness for ourself.
00:10:02.46\00:10:05.07
1 John 1: 9
00:10:05.10\00:10:06.43
"If we confess our sins,
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He's faithful and
just to forgive us
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and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness."
00:10:10.51\00:10:13.74
We've already addressed
in our previous program
00:10:13.78\00:10:15.68
how we can
experience walk by faith,
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truly believe
that we are forgiven.
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But we don't just ask
God for forgiveness for us.
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We ask for Him to give us
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His forgiveness
for other people.
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For those people
who have hurt us.
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Remember Jesus when
he was on the cross,
00:10:34.50\00:10:37.00
when He was, before
He went to the cross,
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I should say,
when they went up there
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on Golgotha's hill,
He laid out on the cross,
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stretched out his arms.
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And they, as they
drove those spikes
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into His hands
and into His feet,
00:10:50.88\00:10:54.38
He said, we see
this in Luke 23: 34.
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"Father, forgive them.
00:10:59.55\00:11:02.32
For they do not
know what they're doing."
00:11:02.36\00:11:05.33
He chose to forgive
00:11:05.36\00:11:07.76
and He asked God's
forgiveness over them.
00:11:07.83\00:11:12.17
Number one is to ask
God for His forgiveness.
00:11:12.20\00:11:16.00
We can't conjure up
forgiveness ourselves.
00:11:16.04\00:11:19.74
And we can't seek
to create forgiveness,
00:11:19.77\00:11:23.14
or to even feel that forgiveness
00:11:23.18\00:11:25.08
because it doesn't
come natural to us.
00:11:25.11\00:11:27.62
We are human. We're sinful.
00:11:27.65\00:11:29.68
But God, by the
power of His Holy Spirit,
00:11:29.72\00:11:32.12
when we ask Him,
00:11:32.15\00:11:33.62
can pour His
forgiveness into our lives.
00:11:33.66\00:11:36.99
Number two is to
pray for that person.
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Now I'm not talking
about a simple prayer,
00:11:40.93\00:11:43.90
"Lord, I just ask
that you blessed Mary today
00:11:43.93\00:11:46.33
in Jesus' name, amen."
00:11:46.37\00:11:47.70
We're not talking
about that type of prayer.
00:11:47.74\00:11:50.24
The type of prayer I'm
talking about is radical,
00:11:50.27\00:11:53.84
it's painful but it
produces amazing results.
00:11:53.91\00:11:59.35
There was a woman
I will call. Janie.
00:11:59.38\00:12:01.78
That's not her real name
but we'll call her Janie.
00:12:01.82\00:12:04.19
We were friends after a sort.
00:12:04.22\00:12:07.26
I never quite
felt free to be me.
00:12:07.29\00:12:09.79
I always felt a little bit like
I was on egg shells with her.
00:12:09.82\00:12:13.60
Perhaps you've
experienced this or felt this
00:12:13.63\00:12:16.53
with one of your
friends or acquaintances.
00:12:16.56\00:12:18.97
And I remember one day I
was walking into her room.
00:12:19.00\00:12:22.20
And as I walked into the
room, she had her back to me.
00:12:22.24\00:12:26.37
And there, in the
other side of the room
00:12:26.41\00:12:28.84
she was talking to a
whole group of people.
00:12:28.88\00:12:32.71
I say a whole group because
it seemed dramatic to me.
00:12:32.75\00:12:35.22
There was probably ten people.
00:12:35.25\00:12:38.09
She had her back to me
she's talking to ten people.
00:12:38.12\00:12:41.06
And just as I came
into the room I realized,
00:12:41.09\00:12:43.99
she's talking about me.
00:12:44.03\00:12:46.19
Words poured
forth, critical words,
00:12:46.23\00:12:50.00
belittling words, cutting words.
00:12:50.03\00:12:54.97
And I stood
frozen, rooted to the spot.
00:12:55.00\00:12:59.31
I didn't even
know what to do with it
00:12:59.34\00:13:01.74
and I went home, I prayed.
00:13:01.78\00:13:05.01
And I went to God. And I said.
00:13:05.05\00:13:07.25
I don't even know
what to do with this.
00:13:07.32\00:13:08.65
I want to ask
for your forgiveness
00:13:08.68\00:13:10.32
but I don't even
know how do experience
00:13:10.39\00:13:13.56
Your forgiveness
in this situation.
00:13:13.59\00:13:15.99
And I thought,
as a good Christian,
00:13:16.02\00:13:20.10
I was handling it well
00:13:20.13\00:13:21.43
because I did not gossip
about her to someone else.
00:13:21.46\00:13:24.67
I didn't talk about her.
00:13:24.70\00:13:26.60
I just kept it,
bottled up and buried inside.
00:13:26.63\00:13:30.81
In fact, my
bitterness was bottled up,
00:13:30.87\00:13:33.17
it was buried so deeply
00:13:33.21\00:13:36.11
that I think even
I didn't sense it.
00:13:36.14\00:13:38.78
One day I was doing dishes.
00:13:38.81\00:13:40.88
And above our
kitchen sink is a window.
00:13:40.92\00:13:44.92
And I like to put
my favorite scriptures
00:13:44.95\00:13:47.36
or the scriptures
I'm working on memorizing
00:13:47.42\00:13:49.92
taped to that window.
00:13:49.99\00:13:52.13
So the Scripture I was working
on at that point was Hebrews.
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Hebrews 12.
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And so I was working on
my memorization of Hebrews.
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I was scrubbing
plates in the kitchen.
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And it begins with this.
I learned it in King James.
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"Follow peace with
all men and holiness.
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Without which no
man shall see the Lord."
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And as I was reciting
that, working on memorizing it.
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I'm scrub and
plates and I thought.
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Thank you, Jesus,
that I'm walking in peace
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toward my brothers and sisters.
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My bitterness, my
anger against Janie
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was buried so deeply, I
didn't even know it existed.
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Then I went to the next verse.
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It says, "Looking diligently
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lest any fail of
the grace of Christ;
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lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you,
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and thereby many be defiled."
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As soon as I
read that scripture,
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it was like God
spoke to my heart.
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And He said, "Jill,
my precious daughter,
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you've got bitterness
bottled up in your heart.
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If you don't let me
take it, it's going to ruin,
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ruin your marriage,
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and it's going to
ruin your ministry."
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And I said, "God.
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I don't want it but I don't
even know how to get rid of it.
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I can't take it.
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I can't yank it
out and give it to You.
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What am I supposed to do?"
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And so He led me on this journey
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of step number two,
pray for that person.
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And I began a
radical prayer for Janie.
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Every day, I
knelt down and I prayed.
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Now I have to
be honest with you.
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In the beginning
I felt very fake.
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It felt fake. I
wanted revenge on her.
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And it felt fake
for me to be saying,
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"God, I pray that
You will bless Janie.
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Bless her and her husband
and their marriage and home.
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Bless their children.
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Father, I pray
that you would bless her
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with financial blessings.
00:15:53.01\00:15:54.68
I pray that you
would expand her ministry
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that today she
would feel special hug
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and a special
sense of Your presence.
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I pray that You
would have many people
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come into the kingdom of heaven
as a result of her ministry."
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The whole time I
prayed this prayer.
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I felt fake because it
didn't match my feelings.
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But remember, our feelings
are no criterion for anything.
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All that matters is we
bring our thoughts into line
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with the Word of God.
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And so I prayed
this. Day one, no change.
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Day two, no change.
Day three, no change.
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Along about day four of five,
the incredible thing happened.
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God changed my heart.
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It was amazing I
was praying for her.
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And that morning, as
I was praying for her,
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it was like God released
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and took that
weight off my chest
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and gave me in its place
peace and even love for Janie.
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Number one, we go to God.
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We ask God for His
forgiveness for ourselves
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and for the
person who has hurt us.
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And number two,
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pray for the
person who has hurt you.
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This is incredible.
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And I know you're going to
feel fake in the beginning.
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But as you experience
this, as you pray for them,
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it's gonna bring
tremendous results.
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Number three, surrender
the desire for revenge.
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Trust God to bring
out good in the end.
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Romans 8: 28.
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"We know that all
things work together for good
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to those who love God,
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to those who are called
according to His purpose."
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Now this scripture does not
say that all things are good.
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Of course, they're not.
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We experience very
painful things in our lives.
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But it does say God
can turn whatever is bad,
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whatever is evil,
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whatever we have
experienced from the enemy,
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He can turn it out for good.
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I also like Romans 12: 19.
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Jesus says, "Vengeance is mine.
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I will repay."
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Says the Lord.
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We can trust God
to bring justice.
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We can trust him to even those
scores of justice in the end.
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Surrender is essential.
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We pray for the person
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but then we have to surrender
those feelings in our heart,
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those feelings of bitterness,
those that desire for revenge.
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My sister has four little boys
and her house is very active.
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She lives in the
mountains of North Carolina.
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When this story occurred
she only had three boys.
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Her husband works nights.
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And he's a nurse
and so she's alone
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with the boys at night.
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Well, this one particular night
she heard, beep, beep, beep.
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You know what that means?
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"The National Weather
Service in Paducah, Kentucky,"
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is what ours would
say here, has issued a--
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Now they might see
a thunderstorm watch,
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thunderstorm warning.
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This time it was
a tornado warning.
00:18:53.73\00:18:56.26
That means a
funnel cloud activity
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has been spotted in your area.
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She jumped out of bed.
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She ran to the boys' rooms,
she grabbed the first son.
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Now he's sleeping. It's
the middle of the night.
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Grab the first son, she
ran underneath the house.
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They have a crawl space
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and she deposited
him under the house.
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That would be the
safest place for that.
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She dashed back up
stairs grab the next son,
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ran underneath the house,
deposited him under the house.
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Dashed upstairs
for son number three,
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ran underneath and
put him under the house.
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Now the amazing thing to me
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is that none of the boys woke up
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during that flight to shelter,
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during the
jostling from their mom,
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none of them woke up.
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And to me, that is a
picture of surrender.
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If I am totally
surrender to Jesus,
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if I say "God, take
my feelings of revenge,
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I know I can trust
You for that, take them."
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If I do that with God,
it would be like I'm asleep.
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I'm totally at peace.
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Because I'm
trusting my Heavenly Father.
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Number one, we go to
God and ask for forgiveness.
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Number two, we
pray for that person
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and blessings over their life.
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Number three, we surrender
the desire for revenge.
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Number four, we choose.
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Choose to process
steps number two and three.
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That is the prayer
00:20:24.39\00:20:25.82
and surrendering
the desire for revenge
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until God changes your heart.
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In addition, we choose
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not to bring up
the offense again
00:20:32.49\00:20:34.23
in judgmental or accusatory way.
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We don't bring up the
offense again to other people.
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We don't gossip about
the person who has hurt us.
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Number two, we don't
bring up the offense again
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to the offender to
the person who hurt us.
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This is especially
true say, in a marriage
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and it's easy to
bring up all the past hurts.
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No, we don't
bring that up again.
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Number three, we don't
bring it up to ourselves.
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We choose not to
dwell on the offense.
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For me personally, this is
probably my biggest battle.
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Because my thoughts
can run like a hamster,
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in a hamster cage,
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going back over
and over the pain
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and God says,
"No, break that cycle."
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Choose to pray for the person.
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Choose to surrender the desire
for revenge and those thoughts.
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Choose to surrender that.
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Number five, allow God
to change your feelings.
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Feelings don't change overnight.
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But allow God to change
your feelings in His time.
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I want to touch briefly
on forgiveness versus trust.
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Forgiveness does not mean
00:21:42.06\00:21:43.40
we allow the
person to keep abusing us.
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I want to be clear on that.
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We still, we can pray for that
00:21:47.40\00:21:49.30
we can be relieved
from that bitterness.
00:21:49.34\00:21:51.81
But we still need to
be careful who we trust.
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So I want to give
that as a caution for you.
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Be careful who you
trust, who you can trust.
00:21:56.98\00:22:00.55
I hope that the keys
that we have shared today,
00:22:00.62\00:22:03.39
that we have discussed,
00:22:03.42\00:22:05.35
the Lord Jesus can
work in your heart and life,
00:22:05.39\00:22:08.12
to bring about a
radical transformation,
00:22:08.16\00:22:11.56
to bring about
peace, and even joy
00:22:11.59\00:22:15.03
to release you from
those chains of bitterness
00:22:15.06\00:22:18.10
and unforgiveness
for Satan has you bound.
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We're going to take
a short break right now
00:22:21.24\00:22:23.27
and we will be back
with an application,
00:22:23.30\00:22:25.84
something you can do this week.
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