Sunday evening I had the wonderful privilege of hearing Dr. Fred Wolfe do a revival service at Jubliee Baptist, Dalphne, Al on the topic – Ministry to the Brokenhearted. It was a powerful and timely message to so all who are brokenhearted.
Right away he said:
1. Jesus understands and feels your broken heart.
2. Jesus is present today to heal the broken hearted.
3. He invites the broken hearted to come to Him.
He read John 11: 1-7 telling the story of The Death of Lazarus.
Also; MATTHEW 11:28-
Jesus can do the following:
1. Heal a heart broken by grief (grief is not a sin) by prayer and the Word of God.
2. Heal broken hearted of guilt. We need to confess, accept responsibility, get honest about our part
3. Heal a heart broken by rejection. This is when someone who is important in your life rejects you. They have turned you off. (Rejection is a root, anger is the fruit. If you suppress the anger you get depression).
4. Heal heart broken by abuse.
To get healed, you need to:
1. Come in Faith
2. Come with an obedient heart
3. We have to forgive whatever or whoever broke our heart.
It is hard to forgive. The pain is real that is why it is so hard.
Why should we forgive? God told us to forgive.
You have to go over your emotions to be healed.
If you choose to forgive God will heal your broken heartedness.
Forgiveness does not mean approval. The action was/is wrong and always will be wrong. Remember God forgave us of our sins and he never approved of any of them.
Three Ways to Forgive
1. Cancel the debt.
2. Cut the cord. (If you don’t cut the cord you will have a rope around your neck and a rope around the person’s neck which links you together and you drag him/her around with you wherever you go.)
3. Let them out of the cage. (We need to let them out of the cage for good, instead of taking them out of the cage and beating them up and then putting them back in the cage.)
Remember in Colossians 2:14 NLT He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.
Therefore we should do the following. Let them out of the cage and throw the cage away.
Remember forgiveness is a lifestyle. Forgiveness is not an emotion it is a choice that is why it is hard.
Dr. Wolfe then led us in prayer of forgiveness for anyone we needed to forgive letting them out of the cage and throwing away the cage.
What a power teaching we need to implement in our lives.
thedailylily.com 
Sounds like some Biblical truths Dr. Wolfe presented. Now, to apply them. Thanks for sharing, Rena.
Wow, Rena…this is a tall order. But oh, such godly wisdom Dr. Wolfe gave his listeners.
The part about caging those who hurt us, pulling them out for a season to beat them up, at least in our minds, and then re-caging them hits home pretty much in many situations and circumstances of life. First we say to the Lord that we forgive that person. Then when the thoughts come flooding back we go through the exercises all over again, reiterating the hurts and struggles and the anger and wounds are opened up again. What a waste of time!
This is a timely teaching. Thank you and God bless you Dr. Wolfe and to you Rena for sharing it with the Lilies.
To me the sermon notes really show the depth of God’s love and His concern for wholeness. When Jesus taught us to ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself.”…He must have wanted to make sure the heart was not fragmented.
All to often I find myself dwelling on the has, could, should, WISH LIST! Yet, if I remind myself about the power The apostle Paul demonstrated when he showed his muscle and use the power of his pen to confirm with these words; “…I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3
There is much power in storytelling and Paul was a masterful teller. He didn’t just retell “facts” or share a reflection of reality –he created new facts and called forth new realities. The real test in our telling and living is how others respond. When we pause and count the ways responders, including me, respond to Paul we forget the gossipers, back biters, betrayers, which I myself have been listed, and “reach unto the things which are before” me! I believe the cage theory in blog may just be a mirror of oneself.
I remember Dr. Wolfe talking about a woman he counseled and He told her that she needed to forgive and she replied, “I can’t turn my emotions on and off like a light switch.” He then said that forgiveness is not an emotion but a choice. I know that I have felt the same way this lady felt. And I have certainly done my share of taking the person I put in a cage and taking him out ocassionally and giving him a good lashing. All that does is bring up the raw emotions again. I pray I have taken the cage and thrown it away to be smashed and never to be assembled again to cage that person. May they walk on and may I walk in freedom never to try and reassemble the cage again. This of course is my prayer.
We may take all the steps listed but yet pain and grief may still exist in the heart and soul. When this happens we follow the guidelines of the Holy Spirit and come along beside of and give a hand of comfort in whatever way is needed. Hopefully, others will do the same for us. Forgiveness doesn’t necessarily stop pain and grief.
“Forgiveness doesn’t necessarily stop pain and grief.”………..Thought provoking, Sara.
I have often read, “you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free….”John 8:32 the following words by Henri J.M. Nouwen gives a truth that could take this “cage” spoken of by Wolfe out to sea…”Long before our father and mother, our brothers and sisters, our teachers, our church, or anyone else touched us in a loving or a wounding way—long before we were rejected by some person or praised by somebody else—that voice was there. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3). That love was there before we were born and will be there after we die.”- Henri J. M. Nouwen
Those are such reassuring words…whether we look forward or backward or to the realities of today.
David Teems writes similar thoughts, Sara, in his January 29th devotional. He says that God loves us so much He legislated against His own omniscience (before the beginning of the world…before we were rejected or accepted…as you write above, Sara…a law He Himself could not break. The Law of Love and forgiveness. He made a covenant with The Christ to make a WAY keeping with God’s own integrity and mercy.
TIme looks back on the sins of our past and forward to any being mired in the world, again. But…David writes, “Eternity frustrates this order. Eternity is master over “time”. Love looks beyond the ugliness that I cannot forget. Love cannot keep such memories for there is no ‘time’ to put them in ”
__quotations from David Teems
Some time ago I was faced with a troubling relationship in which the person did some pretty grievous things to me and exhibited very unhealthy behaviors. The Lord helped me to forgive the person.Forgiveness did not mean that the relationship remained the same or even resumed. Forgiveness brought closure for me. The relationship ended. I went on to try to live my life the best way I knew to before the Lord and hope the other person was able to do the same. From my perspective, forgiveness is not an open door to the other person and not necessarily a bridge to mend the relationship. It can be a defining point that can allow healing and health to take place.
The Lord graciously forgave me, but that forgiveness isn’t a license for me to live however I want. If I desire to maintain a relationship with Him and open communication, I am required to change my behaviors, and come to Him on His relationship terms and leave sin outside the door.