Forgiveness is for YOU!

Forgiveness is for YOU!

Forgiveness is not a gift given to others but rather a gift to you.

Forgiveness is more than just releasing the offender of their guilt; rather it is a release for YOU!

We are ALL offenders (as the Bible tells us that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Rom 3:23) in some way or another.

Why should I forgive?

First and most importantly, the answer is:  so that YOU can be forgiven by God.

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven”.  Luke 6:37

So, if you refuse to forgive others, then God can’t forgive you.

Secondly, you have to forgive for your own health.  Unforgiveness leads to anger and bitterness.  People who live under these conditions end up with heart problems, stomach problems, muscular tension (which leads to an onslaught of pain), trouble with wounds healing properly due to lack of proper blood flow and so many other physical ailments.

Thirdly, you will be emotionally wounded as you allow the anger and bitterness to grow and THIS will affect every relationship you are involved in. 

It makes NO sense to refuse to forgive when the person who is harmed the most is YOU! 

It’s not always easy to forgive but it becomes a bit easier when you begin to realize that you yourself are capable of doing the greatest of evils if only circumstances were different.   We don’t know EVERYTHING that the person who offended you has withstood in their lifetime that has formed their belief system and their emotions and the decisions that they make.  If God had placed us in their situation, we cannot guarantee that we would not have made the same mistake or poor choice.  “Except for the grace of God, there go I.”  I live by this statement and it has helped me to forgive some horrific abuse and meanness that I have had to endure.  Some people believe that forgiveness means that we then go back and embrace the person and pull them back into a close relationship again.  It doesn’t always mean that.  Sometimes it just means that we accept the fact that “Except for the grace of God, there go I”s and to wish no harm but only God’s perfect plan for them.  It allows us freedom from the hate and anguish and suffering that we submit ourselves to when we CHOOSE to hold on to the unforgiveness!

Just ask God for the strength, love and mercy to make the choice to forgive!

                                                                                                                          Catherine Smit-Torrez

Why do our kids / youth leave their church or spiritual roots?

I believe that we must understand that youth live in the realm of "It won't happen to me" and "short sightedness". They don't care to look far enough ahead to see that their decisions have consequences that can be life long, even if it's the decision to live indifferent toward their Creator. They usually don't plan to live that way forever BUT getting in that rut can lead down a path of ruin and devastation. They look back and wonder how they got there. They have to be brought down to the level of NEED TO FOLLOW GOD'S PLAN! Some learn it earlier than others. I am thankful that my baby daughter learned if very early by the Lord allowing her to be overweight from grades 4-8. I felt so sorry for her but I knew that her kind and loving spirit came because of her suffering! She is so beautiful now and no longer suffers the weight issue BUT her kindness and love for God abundantly shows to everyone! My other daughter took a walk like I mentioned above and suffered a time however, God was gracious and her consequences were short term. She now lives a responsible life and loves her Lord and her family! Praise God! Sometimes parents need to allow their child to "hit bottom" and face a few failures in order to be humbled and truly SEED GOD! Quit rescuing your children as you are robbing them from important spiritual life saving skills!

Interviewing Children-Victims of assault

I had an investigator show up at my office to introduce himself to me.  I asked him what his specialty was and he said that he takes on all types of cases and he is involved in many sexual assault of children cases.  He said that he works for an attorney who works many of these cases so he is a bit of a specialist in this area.  He said that he isn’t afraid to catch the child (complainant/victim) between the school bus and their home and straight up ask them if they are lying about the accusation.  I was horrified!  How dare any investigator re-victimize the child if that child is a true victim.  Nobody should be permitted to do an interview or question a child in this manner.  If the child is a minor, the parent needs to give permission for the interview.   It is important that only investigators who have training regarding interviewing children should be allowed. 

Disappointments

Life is full of disappointments!  The greatest disappointment for me is when you realize that YOU have offended someone without even knowing it and causing them to go to sleep in tears over your mistaken communications.  When a person unintentionally causes someone pain and the person doesn't give you a clue that you have hurt their feelings, then you are horrified that you have just gone on without asking forgiveness and have the ability to repent and CHANGE the way you are communicating, therefore, you continue to make the same mistakes and cause deeper pain to that person.  This causes the offender to realize that they lack in sensitivity!

How to change?  Let me hear your thoughts on the subject.

Forgiveness

The subject is one of the most "critical" subjects for everyone, especially the Christian.  It is a proven fact that harboring bitterness and unforgiveness causes emotional pain and physical pain that can lead to death!  Physical death however, it the least of your concern compared to eternal death!

God is so willing to forgive us our sins and the Bible says that he casts or sin into the depths of the ocean and His memory of the forgiven sin is as far as the East is from the West.  He is willing when we genuinely ask and are truly repentant.

We however, don’t readily forgive like He does.  We have so much pain attached to our unforgiveness that we tend to hold on and “Own” the pain.  We have difficulty releasing pain that we’ve carried for long periods of time and we feel uncomfortable to consider releasing the pain by forgiving someone and mostly forgiving ourselves. 

We don’t want to forgive ourselves because we feel like we are truly sorry for what we did if we hold on to it and suffer longer.  If we are not willing to forgive ourselves, what we are telling Christ is that we don’t believe and accept that His sacrifice on the cross is sufficient and the victory in His resurrection was not truly a victory.  We feel that we have control on the issue and refuse to allow God to be in control.  Remember that He said that His sacrifice on the cross was sufficient and the “work” is complete.

Even “owning” the pain of others' offenses against us and not forgiving them says that you can’t trust God with those painful feeling and He isn’t able to heal you from it. 

His sacrifice is complete.  We ask God to help us to forgive and help us to give the pain to Him even when we really don’t want to or know how to.  He truly understands your feelings and will work with that kind of honest heart. 

Scriptures on this subject:

Matthew 6: 14-15

Mark 11:25

Luke 6:37

Luke 17:4

I thought this was important to pass on!

Our sources inside the Los Angeles and Orange County Jails have confirmed and elaborated on the reports that inmates are at it once again with the " *72 telephone scam." The ruse starts when the victim receives a land line telephone call from somebody claiming to be a Deputy Sheriff. The imposter then explains to the victim that one of the victim's family members has been jailed and is in custody or been involved in an accident. The bad guy then tells the victim to call a number that begins with the asterisk or "star" symbol, followed by 72, and then by a 10 digit telephone number (for example: *726263054100) to gain information about the victim's family member's incident.

Once the victim dials the *72 and 10 digit telephone number their telephone line is then forwarded to the telephone number given by the imposter. That allows the imposter, or any other 3rd party, to accept collect calls or to further forward calls to overseas phone numbers, at the expense of the victim.

The billing of these forwarded calls goes on until the victim becomes aware that they have been scammed and turns off the call forwarding function using " *73."

Oftentimes inmates that have phone access will perpetrate this scam for their own use or as barter/tender for the jails black market economy, or other criminal endeavors.

excerpt from Chris Loomis - Private Investigator Newsletter 02/12

Cheating on Spouses / Divorce

Valentines Day has been traditionally know and the Celebration of Love!  You may be shocked to learn that more spouses ask for divorce just prior to Valentine's Day and Christmas.  It is believed by many that people choose these particular times in order to keep from buying their spouse a gift.  How sad!

Marriage is supposed to be a LIFETIME commitment. If people would take Divorce out their options, they would try harder to make a happier marriage.  If people viewed their spouse as a part of themselves (since that is how married people are suppose to view each other), maybe we would spend more efforts to make them feel loved, cared for, safe, complete, etc.  Every bit of time and effort that we spend showing our spouse how much we care will eventually be returned to you!

Cheating spouses are often caught on these holidays also.  The cheating spouse is pressured to spend time & money on both (the wife & the girlfriend) or (the husband & the boyfriend).  It's always a pressure cooker for them to fit spending quality time with each and account for the time not spent with them.  Then there's the money.  How does one hide the money trail?  Here's one tip.  Look at your credit card card bill for purchases that you did not make.  When you get your gift, if it doesn't seem to match the amount of the total sale for the day, (such as; your spouse gives you a $50 bottle of perfume but there is a $175 total).  Your spouse probably spent the other $125 of the sale on the boyfriend/girlfriend.  Keep you eyes on the cash taken at the ATM machine or received when depositing their checks.

Flee the temptation!  It is NOT worth it!  Spend your efforts and money on your own mate!  Can you imagine your 50th Anniversary?  Try to!

I have been to Sr. Citizens Retirement Homes and Nursing Homes on many occasions and I seem to always find one who tells me that they are just sitting and waiting to die.  They say that they feel that there is nothing to live for and they have nothing more to give or feel useful.  The book "Unburied Treasure" is the perfect gift for them to fulfill their need to feel useful and a sense of purpose.  I feel that their thoughts and experiences are our GREATEST TREASURE but ONLY if we tap into it.  We can sit and talk to them to grab some of their thoughts, ideas, experiences, etc. but it should be recorded so that it can be shared for future generations.  Have you ever wondered why you are who you are?  It all has to do with your upbringing but that has to do with your parents' upbringing and yet that has to do with their parents' upbringing and so on....  This book enables you, your children, great-grandchildren and so on, to know why they are who they are!!!!  They only need to jot down responses to several topics.  They can even come up with topics on their own.  The response can be a few sentences, a paragraph or they can go further.  So simple and yet so meaningful!  "Unburied Treasure" can be found on my website www.CatherineTorrez.com.  "Unburied Treasure"   Check it out!

Have you ever wondered how your parents or grandparents handled certain situation?  This book makes it so simple to ask them and they can jot their simple responses down in this book and pass it on for generations.com.  To order and see a preview, just go to my website -  CatherineTorrez.com

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