As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about LETTING GO. Holding onto past hurts, regrets, or control only weighs us down and prevents us from moving forward. True freedom comes when we surrender it all to God.

Letting go doesn’t mean forgetting, but rather trusting that God can heal and restore everything in His time. Release whatever is heavy on your heart today and trust Him.

Have a wonderful day and let it go!

Session 3: Releasing the Right to Retaliate

In this session, I want to share the definition of forgiveness that changed my life: it is the conscious decision to release resentment and the desire for revenge.

What I’ve Learned:

• Stop the plotting: I used to mentally plot the destruction of people who hurt me, but I don’t waste my energy on that anymore.
• Let go of the “Debt”: I’ve decided to stop holding onto the moral debt I think people owe me; I entrust justice to God alone.
• It isn’t an excuse: Forgiving someone doesn’t mean I think their actions were acceptable or that I’m removing my boundaries.

When I release my right to retaliate, I find a freedom that no longer occupies my thoughts with negativity.

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about what it means to LET GO. There are so many things we need to LET GO of! We may need to let go of hurts from the past. We may need to let go of relationships and friendships that are unhealthy. We may need to let go of held-in anger and resentment. The good thing about letting go of things is that it makes room to HOLD ON to things that are important.

Today, maybe you could think about what you need to let go of. Make a list of four or five things that trouble you. Then make a list of four or five things that you want to embrace. It’s amazing how the small exercise can put things into perspective. I am working on my list this morning and had to stop at four or five because I probably have 15 things I need to let go of. But today, I’m going to pick only four or five. My list of what I need to hold on to is inspired by Jesus. I need to hold onto HIS love, HIS strength, HIS word, HIS forgiveness, and HIS mercy. So today, I am calling it SELECTION DAY. Select what needs to go and what needs to be held onto. I guarantee it will be a wonderful day!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking of a reflection I read that said, “God invites us to drop our burden on Him, and unlike the dry cleaning, you don’t have to pick it up again.” Sometimes we need to laugh at ourselves. We say we TRUST Jesus, we surrender our problems to HIM, and if we don’t see an immediate response, we pick those problems up again and we hold on to them tightly.

Surrendering is an ART that we all must practice. It takes trust, it takes perseverance, and it takes love. Sometimes I must surrender things ten to fifteen times a day because I keep wanting to take them back and turn them into worry. So, today, unlike the dry cleaning, I’m not going to pick those problems up.

I’m going to let them go, because Jesus can handle it. HE always has and always will. Have a blessed day…and don’t forget the dry cleaning!

It is another beautiful morning, having my coffee with Jesus. Deuteronomy 32:3-4 says, “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. O, praise the greatness of our God! HE is the ROCK, HIS works are perfect, and HIS ways are just.”

Praise of God is the greatest way to fight anxiety and depression, a way to banish our feelings of fear, doubt, and even our pain. Praising God is not difficult. It just means being aware of HIS presence and letting yourself go there. You can practice it right now, wherever you are, just look for Him. Just breathe slowly into HIS presence and feel HIS safety. 

Today, try to praise HIM throughout the day. By the way, that even means praising HIM when it is 100°. 

May this be a PRAISING day.

Embark on a powerful journey of reflection in this inspiring presentation. Explore the concept of “unloading baggage” – those emotional weights and past traumas that hinder our path to peace and joy. This presentation delves into navigating life’s road, from managing expectations and coping with grief to the importance of communication and letting go.

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about what it means to LET GO.  There are so many things we need to LET GO of!  We may need to let go of hurts from the past.  We may need to let go of relationships or friendships that are unhealthy.  We may need to let go of holding in anger and resentment.  The good thing about letting go of things is that it makes room to HOLD ON to things that are truly important.  

Think of what you need to let go of.  Make a list of four or five things that trouble you.  Then make a list of four or five things that you want to embrace.  As I was working on my list this morning, I had to stop at four or five, because I probably have fifteen things I need to let go of!  It’s amazing how this small exercise can put things into perspective.  

But today, I’m going to pick just four or five.  My list of what I need to hold on to is inspired by Jesus.  I need to hold onto HIS love, HIS strength, HIS word, HIS forgiveness, and HIS mercy. 

Have a blessed day!

During this “Reflections” event at Bakersfield’s historic Fox Theater, Craig Francis Harrison, MDIV, and Joan Knowlden, LMFT, CTS, discuss letting go by letting in God.

Video produced by Bob West Video