12 May 2024
Two-Minute Features | 19 May 2024 | 05 May 2024

Blessings in Disguise, Part 1 (TMF:2355)

Friday, May 17, 2024
Peace to Live By: Blessings in Disguise, Part 1 (TMF:2355) - Daniel Litton
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       There have been several times in my life where I didn’t get what I wanted. I remember, back when it happened, I thought, “Man, I’ve really lost out on something truly great. I’ll probably never have an opportunity like this again.” A couple can go house hunting and think they’ve found the perfect house, but they don’t get it. Nevertheless, the perfect house is still yet to come. The couple eventually finds a house they like more than all the previous ones. We can miss out on that good deal, or sale at the store, but we all know another good deal comes, and still yet an even better sale. What I am trying to say in all of this is that there is always more good to come our way. It isn’t that the world is limited on the good available, and it isn’t that God has scarce resources from which to give. Any mindset believing otherwise turns out to not be true. And if a person believes he or she truly has lost the good and is not seeing the better, it is probably because they are so focused on the past loss that they cannot see the good that is coming. In fact, there may be good right in front of them that they are currently missing because their minds are stuck in the past.

Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 4 (TMF:2354)

Thursday, May 16, 2024
Peace to Live By: Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 4 (TMF:2354) - Daniel Litton
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       I think Jesus understood that, and in understanding that, that really it wasn’t personal, that Peter just wanted to save himself, he was probably more easily able to forgive Peter for the offense. And yet, sometimes people really are aiming to be malicious against us. In these cases do we believe that we really cannot forgive them? Or, again, are we choosing rather not to forgive? Well, let’s consider God again. We know that we have done malicious things against God, and that he has completely and entirely forgiven us. So, God has chosen to forgive us. In light of that, then, doesn’t that mean that no matter what anyone does to us, even if it is really bad or malicious, that we can choose to forgive them, just like God? Certainly. But, I think it takes a surrendered state. It takes a person who is surrendered in everything as pertains to this world to truly completely and entirely forgive everyone. I mean, people can take things away from us; they can permanently damage our lives. So, we have to be surrendered in everything about our lives if we are going to forgive them.

Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 3 (TMF:2353)

Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Peace to Live By: Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 3 (TMF:2353) - Daniel Litton
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       Here is a hard truth. It’s not that we cannot forgive a person for a wrong, or forget a bad event that has happened, it’s that we are really choosing not to. I mean, let’s take an example. We know that Peter denied Jesus three times at the moment he needed Peter most. If there was any moment in Jesus’ friendship where he needed Peter the most, it was at the moment he got arrested. And why did Peter do this? Was it because he, himself, turned against the Lord? No, it was because he wanted to save himself. He really didn’t want to die, even though he had claimed he did and would. I think Jesus understood that, and in understanding that, that really it wasn’t personal, that Peter just wanted to save himself, he was probably more easily able to forgive Peter for the offense. And yet, sometimes people really are aiming to be malicious against us. In these cases do we believe that we really cannot forgive them? Or, again, are we choosing rather not to forgive?

Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 2 (TMF:2352)

Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Peace to Live By: Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 2 (TMF:2352) - Daniel Litton
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       One thing I think that can help a person overcome holding onto things is the understanding that, in the instance where someone has hurt them, perhaps the other person really didn’t mean to. Perhaps they were just doing what they ‘believed’ was the right course of action at the moment. Later, it turns out, they were wrong. That being the case, we can choose to focus on their initial belief and see that they really weren’t trying to cause us harm. There have been times we thought we were doing right in something and later it turned out to be incorrect in our thinking. So, why can’t we see and understand that other people will probably do this to? I mean, if we’ve done it, couldn’t it be possible that that’s what happened with them? Here is a hard truth. It’s not that we cannot forgive a person for a wrong, or forget a bad event that has happened, it’s that we are really choosing not to. I mean, let’s take an example. We know that Peter denied Jesus three times at the moment he needed Peter most. If there was any moment in Jesus’ friendship where he needed Peter the most, it was at the moment he got arrested.

Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 1 (TMF:2351)

Monday, May 13, 2024
Peace to Live By: Letting Go of Bad Things that Happen, Part 1 (TMF:2351) - Daniel Litton
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       Why is it often true that we don’t let go of bad things that happen? Well, I think it’s because in all honesty, it feels good to feel bad. What I mean is that there is definitely a benefit to feeling bad. When we feel we’ve been wronged, we get to play the victim card. We get to think to ourselves, “Oh, poor me. I’ve been victimized and taken advantage of.” A person’s whole being can be built around that idea. The problem with that, though, is that we cannot be moving forward in life if we are still sulking over something bad from the past. Anything we hold onto becomes like a weight tied to our legs that makes it harder and harder to move forward. No, we have to cut the weights off. And sometimes, that requires cutting off a few of the weights at a time. One thing I think that can help a person overcome holding onto things is the understanding that, in the instance where someone has hurt them, perhaps the other person really didn’t mean to. Perhaps they were just doing what they ‘believed’ was the right course of action at the moment. Later, it turns out, they were wrong.