{"id":32479,"date":"2021-07-21T03:30:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T10:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=32479"},"modified":"2021-07-16T16:52:09","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T23:52:09","slug":"july-21-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2021\/07\/21\/july-21-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"July 21, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-parallax-none nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-background-position:center top;--awb-background-repeat:repeat-y;--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-background-image:url(&quot;https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/July-2021-Devo-Template.jpg&quot;);--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_6 1_6 fusion-one-sixth fusion-column-first\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;width:16.666666666667%;width:calc(16.666666666667% - ( ( 4% ) * 0.16666666666667 ) );margin-right: 4%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_3_4 3_4 fusion-three-fourth fusion-column-last\" style=\"--awb-padding-top:40px;--awb-padding-right:10px;--awb-padding-bottom:40px;--awb-padding-left:10px;--awb-bg-size:cover;width:75%;width:calc(75% - ( ( 4% ) * 0.75 ) );\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201cBut he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>John 3:21<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Climbing the Emotional Ladder<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As I reflect on twenty-plus years ago\u2014I remember how devastated I was when my partner, at that time, hurt me so deeply that I could barely function in my daily routine. I had three little ones to care for, as well as my obligation at my job\u2014I had to face people throughout the day, and it was all I could do to muster up strength to get dressed and go to work with a sincere heart and smile. It was so difficult to get through the day without breaking down crying; it was God\u2019s strength that got me through daily. I had to do what was right no matter how I felt.<\/p>\n<p>During that time in my life, I really wanted to stay home in isolation, read my Bible, pray, and work through all my heartache and get better before I stepped out into the world\u2014but God had a different plan. He had me face my pain and step out into the world, even while hurting deeply, and continue to do the right thing on my journey with Him in that particular season in my life\u2014it was for my spiritual growth.<\/p>\n<p>I asked God to help me forgive this person for the pain, betrayal, and emotional abuse that was inflicted upon me and my children\u2014I knew that I had to do the right thing, and I knew that I couldn\u2019t do it on my own. God\u2019s Word tells me in Matthew 6:14-15 (MSG): <em>\u201cIn prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can\u2019t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God\u2019s part.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Getting healed emotionally and working through forgiveness are both a process. Each time we face another hardship or heartache, we will grow spiritually and encounter joy as we continue to get stronger in forgiving others more quickly, as well as getting stronger in our emotional being.<\/p>\n<p>I thank God for this experience in my life, as painful as it was. I can see in every challenge and heartache I face on my journey with Him, He desires growth in me spiritually. I love Jesus more and more each day because I know He will guide me through whatever experience I encounter to be a light in this dark world for Him and His glory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThough our feelings come and go, God\u2019s love for us does not\u201d (C.S. Lewis).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Thank You, Lord, for Your steadfast love for us. We are daily amazed by Your grace. Thank You for helping us along our journey in forgiving others as well as growing us in our emotional well-being. We love You, Lord. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-8rR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32480,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32479\/revisions\/32480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}