Have you ever wondered if you can be forgiven for the unforgivable?
This four minute animation offers an answer from an unexpected vantage point.
Visit http://www.brokenbyabortion.com/ for more to think about
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Isaiah 61: Beauty for Ashes
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Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
source
Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The Story of Gianna Jessen
Gianna Jessen, saline abortion survivor, tells her story of God's mercy and love, and why this horror called "abortion" needs to stop.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Stages of Grief
Grieving
Source: Forgiven and Set Free by Linda Cochrane
Is grieving a normal and healthy response after an abortion? Absolutely. The child that was lost became a major loss through death. Grief is painful, but it is necessary in relieving our sorrow. After an abortion, women may attempt to bury their grief, turn off their emotions, and run from God. Eventually, they face the fact that abortion ended their unborn child's life.
The grieving that follows an abortion is similar to the grief of a woman who has a miscarriage. Both experience stages of denial, anger, depression, and acceptance. Both experience guilt, but the source of their guilt is not the same. Women who had a miscarriage feel guilty because they don't know what role they played in their child's death. Women who choose abortion feel guilty because they do know what role they played in their child's death.
For men, they are usually the silent, wounded warrior...suffering because they are not given a choice. Because they had no choice, they question their right to have feelings following an abortion. Make no mistake, abortion leaves both men and women wounded. They both struggle with fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, grief, and depression. For men, there is in most cases, an unexplainable need to defend their masculinity; that need causes much confusion and strife in most of their relationships and they don't even realize the effects of abortion was the root cause of their problems.
Relief
1st Stage of Grief
What usually goes through a woman's mind after having an abortion? "Thank God, I am not pregnant anymore." Men usually think, "Thank God, the pregnancy is over." Everything that has happened since she found out that she was pregnant and all the decisions since then, have now come to a close...it's finally over. Now, you are left feeling relieved. But, it doesn't take long before the woman starts to rehearse over and over in her mind, what had happened to her and the child. What do I do now? You try to make sense of it all, but you start to fall into the next stage, denial.
Denial
2nd Stage of Grief
Denial is usually long-term and can lasts for many years. Why? It is too difficult to cope with the memories of your abortion. You start to deny that abortion killed your child. You may think, "No, I would never murder a baby. I just terminated a pregnancy". You may begin to think back when you were told that it wasn't really a baby you were getting rid of...it was just a "blob of tissue". You find yourself justifying what you did.
For some women and men, denial ends when they are confronted with the truth of seeing pictures of fetal development. You tend to pay close attention to the stage of development that your own child was terminated. Other women come face to face with their loss when they have a wanted pregnancy. You may wander will this baby make it? I chose to abort a child, do I deserve a second chance? The answer is yes. God is forgiving and He is in the business of second chances. There will be consequences for what you did, but as long as remorse is in your heart, forgiveness from God will be rewarded. Many women and men desperately come to grips with the truth and finally stop running from God. They begin to seek Him from the depths of their hearts, searching for comfort that only He can give.
Anger
3rd Stage of Grief
In this stage, you start to realize the truth about abortion and you become angry. You start to question the actions of others and blame them for your loss. Your questioning begins... "The clinic should have told me the truth about fetal development; they should have told me about adoption, My parents should have been more concerned about me than what others thought, She shouldn't have chosen abortion, Men don't have any choice in abortion or Why didn't God stop me?" If your anger continues and you don't express yourself, it can turn into bitterness and interfere in other areas of your life. Anger is not a sin. It is a God given emotion to help you deal with problems. But, when you let your anger control you, then it becomes a sin. To get rid of this anger, the next step you must learn to do is...forgive.
Forgiveness
4th Stage of Grief
In this stage men and women must learn to forgive the people and circumstances that led to their abortion. It becomes the hardest stage to overcome. But, in order for you to heal, it has to be done.
You start to come to grips with the truth and know that you cannot change the past or change others. What you can change is your own response to your hurt and anger. You can now begin to choose forgiveness. It is the unconditional type of forgiveness that leaves you free, with no strings attached. Then, you can learn to make room in your life for love. Love can conquer all fears and soften the pain. God's love is everlasting. Why? Because, God is Love. He can teach you how to love unconditionally and His love is forgiving and sets you free.
Depression
5th Stage of Grief
The roles men and women played in their baby's death can fill them with guilt, shame, self-condemnation, and self-pity. It is in this stage that harmful behavior such as excessive drug and alcohol use or suicidal tendencies are noticeable. Men tend to also have to deal with becoming more aggressive and abusive. In this stage, you may feel the need to punish yourself, which may show up in psychosomatic illnesses or you may become accident prone. Through these behaviors, you may attempt to ease the pain of guilt, but fail to do so. You began to blame yourself for not preventing the abortion; not learning the truth in time, not choosing life for the baby, and for not standing up for what was right. Men who chose abortion experience extreme guilt because he failed in his responsibility to his child and to his child's mother. In moving forward out of depression, you are no longer angry with yourself but have now accepted responsibility for what you have done. You now start to surround yourself with God's loving forgiveness.
Acceptance
Last Stage of Grief
By now, you have forgiven those who hurt you and have accepted God's forgiveness. You have acknowledged all the emotions that go with grieving and you have faced them head-on.
You begin to show gratitude for all that you have learned and want to share that experience with others. In acceptance, you are fully aware of what God is doing with your pain and watch joyfully as He turns it into a blessing. You have a deeper understanding of God's plan for your life. You wait patiently as He shows you how this painful experience with grief fits into His perfect plan. Is this a process that you would want to repeat? Absolutely not. But, if you learn anything, learn that it was God's love, grace, mercy and forgiveness that brought you through it all. You learn the true meaning of being forgiven and set free, even when you didn't deserve it.
SOURCE
Source: Forgiven and Set Free by Linda Cochrane
Is grieving a normal and healthy response after an abortion? Absolutely. The child that was lost became a major loss through death. Grief is painful, but it is necessary in relieving our sorrow. After an abortion, women may attempt to bury their grief, turn off their emotions, and run from God. Eventually, they face the fact that abortion ended their unborn child's life.
The grieving that follows an abortion is similar to the grief of a woman who has a miscarriage. Both experience stages of denial, anger, depression, and acceptance. Both experience guilt, but the source of their guilt is not the same. Women who had a miscarriage feel guilty because they don't know what role they played in their child's death. Women who choose abortion feel guilty because they do know what role they played in their child's death.
For men, they are usually the silent, wounded warrior...suffering because they are not given a choice. Because they had no choice, they question their right to have feelings following an abortion. Make no mistake, abortion leaves both men and women wounded. They both struggle with fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, grief, and depression. For men, there is in most cases, an unexplainable need to defend their masculinity; that need causes much confusion and strife in most of their relationships and they don't even realize the effects of abortion was the root cause of their problems.
Relief
1st Stage of Grief
What usually goes through a woman's mind after having an abortion? "Thank God, I am not pregnant anymore." Men usually think, "Thank God, the pregnancy is over." Everything that has happened since she found out that she was pregnant and all the decisions since then, have now come to a close...it's finally over. Now, you are left feeling relieved. But, it doesn't take long before the woman starts to rehearse over and over in her mind, what had happened to her and the child. What do I do now? You try to make sense of it all, but you start to fall into the next stage, denial.
Denial
2nd Stage of Grief
Denial is usually long-term and can lasts for many years. Why? It is too difficult to cope with the memories of your abortion. You start to deny that abortion killed your child. You may think, "No, I would never murder a baby. I just terminated a pregnancy". You may begin to think back when you were told that it wasn't really a baby you were getting rid of...it was just a "blob of tissue". You find yourself justifying what you did.
For some women and men, denial ends when they are confronted with the truth of seeing pictures of fetal development. You tend to pay close attention to the stage of development that your own child was terminated. Other women come face to face with their loss when they have a wanted pregnancy. You may wander will this baby make it? I chose to abort a child, do I deserve a second chance? The answer is yes. God is forgiving and He is in the business of second chances. There will be consequences for what you did, but as long as remorse is in your heart, forgiveness from God will be rewarded. Many women and men desperately come to grips with the truth and finally stop running from God. They begin to seek Him from the depths of their hearts, searching for comfort that only He can give.
Anger
3rd Stage of Grief
In this stage, you start to realize the truth about abortion and you become angry. You start to question the actions of others and blame them for your loss. Your questioning begins... "The clinic should have told me the truth about fetal development; they should have told me about adoption, My parents should have been more concerned about me than what others thought, She shouldn't have chosen abortion, Men don't have any choice in abortion or Why didn't God stop me?" If your anger continues and you don't express yourself, it can turn into bitterness and interfere in other areas of your life. Anger is not a sin. It is a God given emotion to help you deal with problems. But, when you let your anger control you, then it becomes a sin. To get rid of this anger, the next step you must learn to do is...forgive.
Forgiveness
4th Stage of Grief
In this stage men and women must learn to forgive the people and circumstances that led to their abortion. It becomes the hardest stage to overcome. But, in order for you to heal, it has to be done.
You start to come to grips with the truth and know that you cannot change the past or change others. What you can change is your own response to your hurt and anger. You can now begin to choose forgiveness. It is the unconditional type of forgiveness that leaves you free, with no strings attached. Then, you can learn to make room in your life for love. Love can conquer all fears and soften the pain. God's love is everlasting. Why? Because, God is Love. He can teach you how to love unconditionally and His love is forgiving and sets you free.
Depression
5th Stage of Grief
The roles men and women played in their baby's death can fill them with guilt, shame, self-condemnation, and self-pity. It is in this stage that harmful behavior such as excessive drug and alcohol use or suicidal tendencies are noticeable. Men tend to also have to deal with becoming more aggressive and abusive. In this stage, you may feel the need to punish yourself, which may show up in psychosomatic illnesses or you may become accident prone. Through these behaviors, you may attempt to ease the pain of guilt, but fail to do so. You began to blame yourself for not preventing the abortion; not learning the truth in time, not choosing life for the baby, and for not standing up for what was right. Men who chose abortion experience extreme guilt because he failed in his responsibility to his child and to his child's mother. In moving forward out of depression, you are no longer angry with yourself but have now accepted responsibility for what you have done. You now start to surround yourself with God's loving forgiveness.
Acceptance
Last Stage of Grief
By now, you have forgiven those who hurt you and have accepted God's forgiveness. You have acknowledged all the emotions that go with grieving and you have faced them head-on.
You begin to show gratitude for all that you have learned and want to share that experience with others. In acceptance, you are fully aware of what God is doing with your pain and watch joyfully as He turns it into a blessing. You have a deeper understanding of God's plan for your life. You wait patiently as He shows you how this painful experience with grief fits into His perfect plan. Is this a process that you would want to repeat? Absolutely not. But, if you learn anything, learn that it was God's love, grace, mercy and forgiveness that brought you through it all. You learn the true meaning of being forgiven and set free, even when you didn't deserve it.
SOURCE
Friday, January 15, 2010
What Does God Say About Forgiveness?
1.Psalm 130:4
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
2.Daniel 9:9
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
3.Acts 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
4.Acts 13:38
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
5.Acts 26:15-18
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
6.Ephesians 1:4-7
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace
7.Colossians 1:12-15
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
2.Daniel 9:9
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
3.Acts 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
4.Acts 13:38
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
5.Acts 26:15-18
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
6.Ephesians 1:4-7
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace
7.Colossians 1:12-15
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature
Christ is Our Only Hope
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
1 Peter 1: 3-5;13-16
Finding Hope in the Healing
source
What are the steps to healing?
Healing involves changing the way you think and act. God has the answer to any problem you face, but you must change in order to apply the solution to your life.
The following six steps are essential for this change:
1. Recognize your areas of sin (1 John 1:8).
2. Repent of your sin (1 John 1:9).
3. Request God's help, depending upon Him to hear you (1 John 5:14-15).
4. Relinquish your sinful thoughts or actions (Romans 6:5-7; Colossians 3:8-9).
5. Replace your sinful thoughts or actions with a godly response (Colossians 3:10; Romans 12:1-2).
6. Repeat the above five steps until your godly response becomes a habit (John 3:21; Colossians 3:23).
Remember - before you take these six steps, you must first accept Christ's atonement on your behalf. Until you come by faith to trust Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, all attempts to overcome your abortion aftermath are done in your own strength. Resolving abortion's aftermath is accomplished through God's power and only if you are His child.
I fully realize the methods of dealing with your abortion presented in this book are contrary to the way the world would have you deal with your abortion. Without the Holy Spirit to guide you, the solutions I've presented would appear foolish, and you would not understand why they will work. As you begin to practice God's solutions, you will find they do work.
Galatians 5:19-21 contains a list of things that God hates. Included are immorality, impurity, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, and envying. These are the things we practiced in the past, but now desire to eliminate from our lives.
As you begin to deal with your sinful reactions to your abortion in a way pleasing to God, the Holy Spirit will begin to produce fruit in your life. Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine parts to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These result from proper responses to emotions that once overwhelmed you to the point of despair. Look for them in your life as you begin to solve your problems God's way.
Your natural tendency will be to return to your negative thought patterns. You may be encouraged to go your own way by people who may ridicule you as you apply biblical principles to your life. Expect it, but don't allow ungodly attitudes and advice to keep you from having victory over your problems. Understand that "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18).
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
1 Peter 1: 3-5;13-16
Finding Hope in the Healing
source
What are the steps to healing?
Healing involves changing the way you think and act. God has the answer to any problem you face, but you must change in order to apply the solution to your life.
The following six steps are essential for this change:
1. Recognize your areas of sin (1 John 1:8).
2. Repent of your sin (1 John 1:9).
3. Request God's help, depending upon Him to hear you (1 John 5:14-15).
4. Relinquish your sinful thoughts or actions (Romans 6:5-7; Colossians 3:8-9).
5. Replace your sinful thoughts or actions with a godly response (Colossians 3:10; Romans 12:1-2).
6. Repeat the above five steps until your godly response becomes a habit (John 3:21; Colossians 3:23).
Remember - before you take these six steps, you must first accept Christ's atonement on your behalf. Until you come by faith to trust Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, all attempts to overcome your abortion aftermath are done in your own strength. Resolving abortion's aftermath is accomplished through God's power and only if you are His child.
I fully realize the methods of dealing with your abortion presented in this book are contrary to the way the world would have you deal with your abortion. Without the Holy Spirit to guide you, the solutions I've presented would appear foolish, and you would not understand why they will work. As you begin to practice God's solutions, you will find they do work.
Galatians 5:19-21 contains a list of things that God hates. Included are immorality, impurity, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, and envying. These are the things we practiced in the past, but now desire to eliminate from our lives.
As you begin to deal with your sinful reactions to your abortion in a way pleasing to God, the Holy Spirit will begin to produce fruit in your life. Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine parts to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These result from proper responses to emotions that once overwhelmed you to the point of despair. Look for them in your life as you begin to solve your problems God's way.
Your natural tendency will be to return to your negative thought patterns. You may be encouraged to go your own way by people who may ridicule you as you apply biblical principles to your life. Expect it, but don't allow ungodly attitudes and advice to keep you from having victory over your problems. Understand that "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18).
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About Me
- Cathy Palmer
- Over the years my opinions have changed but this will never change: Jesus Christ, Lord, God and Savior, died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay for my sin.
