Dale
My dad didn't have time for me. My mother's very sick. I have three brothers, I learned a lesson. My circumstances as I grew up, I look back, and I thank the Lord for that. Because my father set me free, that I could take that freedom and make something of myself. And I applied it throughout my life. And I turned it into Thanksgiving; I didn't blame my dad for not being there. I didn't blame my dad for not giving me the stuff that I wanted as a kid that my friends had that I didn't have. When I started drag racing, I learned something. At the end of the race, it didn't matter who won or lost. It mattered on how I handled it. And instead of blaming the other guy, and being angry, because I lost, I look to myself, What could I do to make my car run faster? What could I do to make things better? What could I do to win? I didn't blame the other guy. We can seize the moment, we can seize it and use it to our advantage. There's nothing like going up to somebody and say, you know, I want to thank you for what you did to me, because I needed that. I needed somebody to stand up to me and and tell me where I was wrong. Or I need somebody to come up and love me, even though I was wrong. There's a thing in this forgiveness that God's working in our hearts. There's nothing that He puts us through that He's not, in His intentions is going to work out for good. There was a time in my life that God couldn't get me to move forward without taking away the things that I loved the most. He would take him away, I would go through it, and then He gives me what He wanted me to have, I would see that, and I would say thank you for taking away that I thing that I cherished and the thing that I worked hard for and the thing that I wanted, because now I see what you have You offered to me and I appropriate it. It was so much greater, why did I ever hang on to it? He uses that. It's an amazing thing to have a relationship with a Father. God used those things. When I got drafted, I took my draft notice, went down into the darkroom (my father was a photographer) a World War Two vet. And I thank God for my father. All he had to do is be there for me when I needed him. I could never hold anything against my father. Thank you God for my father.
Roger
I think God, He is making us in to really a broken humble people. You know, He's bringing a broken spirit in us. And I agree with what you're saying Dale and I could see that my own life, in all the things that hurts so bad growing up. God used them to make me and mold my spirit to where it is right now. And I wouldn't be the same person if I hadn't gone through all that mess. I mean, who's gonna sign up for that, but God knows what He's doing. And I think that that's what's happening with us is that He is breaking us, breaking our spirits to be a humble people, where we finally do come to the place where we have no axe to grind with anything or anybody. We're just humble before God and in submission to Him. And I know that don't happen in a minute or two. But it's something God is creating in us.
Ken
I didn't have a father at home. He left the family when I was about five years old. And I regretted and accused him and I was so bitter at him. It took me to the age of around 60, and to finally God, God got a hold of my heart, and I forgave my father. But I got the scripture when I found the Lord and I'll bet to each one of you guys did too. When my father and my mother deserted me, then the Lord will take me up. Because I knew I had a Father. He was real to me. And He never deserted me, He never left me, He was always there. And I think that that having that kind of foundation is an incredible thing.
Dale
I think we've got to really admit that we need to open our eyes and see where God has been very active in our lives when we didn't even know it. I'm a result of God dealing with my ancestors. We have a tendency to go back to the point where we were saved, and we begin to realize, yeah, that's a big turning point in my life. We close off the possibility that God and understanding of that, that God from the very foundation of the world created us. You guys are the result of God's handiwork and His workmanship. He didn't get just get hold of you yesterday. He's been working on you for a long time. Where are we at now? We're a living example of God's love in the earth. And who do we give credit to? We give the credit to our fathers and our mothers. I always wondered about that, ten commandments: Honor your father and mother. That's why the genealogy is of Jesus as in the Scriptures. It shows that we're God brought forth His son, through so many different people. God used David so that heart would go down through the years to rest in His Son. Isn't that what Jesus is the lineage of David? We've got a lineage. And how does this deal with what we're talking about of forgiveness? He's been working on that for a long time, and now it's time for it to come to fruition. It's time that we stand up and say, Yes, Lord, I have your heart. How about confessing what God has created you to be? Can you do that? Why do I forgive? Why do I want to reach into the righteousness that comes with forgiveness? Because I want my Father to be happy. I want my Father to see that He's got a son that loves Him with all his heart.
