Daniel Dessinger

Month: October 2008

  • The Difference Between Saying I Forgive You and Actually Forgiving

    For years now, I have been aware of the mandate to forgive those who hurt me. This head knowledge hadn’t fully informed my heart yet. I was offended often, and quick to tell the other person how I would forgive them and not walk in unforgiveness. I desired to be free from resentment and hatred. But I was chained to unforgiveness because of my ignorance.

    I didn’t recognize this fault for years. I was walking through life, offering a mental assent of forgiveness to any and all, but experiencing none of the freedom and none of the joy of release. Layer upon layer of anger was laid within me and bottled up. I was just waiting for someone to mess with me so I could unleash years of wrath upon someone and feel released.

    Another thing that ties us to the past is unforgiveness. Unforgiveness causes us to waste our lives trying to get even instead of fulfilling our own destiny by walking in our call. It is important that we forgive all those that sinned against us so we can be free to go on with our lives. It is also crucial that we learn to forgive ourselves for our own sins.  – Bill Johnson

    We are trapped in the past by unforgiveness. We despise someone for hurting us, but we can’t stop focusing on it. We make major life decisions to prove that we are different, but since we don’t know what a different person feels like, but rather we are now experts at what it feels like to be the person who hurt us, we become that which we focus upon.

    At one point, some of my ugly sin became public knowledge among family members. I was humiliated and ashamed of my weakness, but God intervened in his mercy. He spoke to me quickly and said, “You need to forgive yourself.” It wasn’t a thought I could have generated at that point, so I assumed it was God.

    My response to God was, “Okay, God. But I don’t know how to do this. I choose to forgive myself of this sin (and I named it to him) and release myself from the penalties I think I deserve. Help me to truly forgive myself as I make this choice.”

    Within seconds, relief flooded my soul. My burdens felt much, much lighter! I learned that day that unforgiveness had chained me to a behavior that I was doomed to repeat. I could not stop what I was doing because I had never forgiven myself for my sin.

    Why would that affect me so? Because in my unforgiveness, I “knew” that I deserved to be punished, and I would never allow myself to feel like a good person when complimented or when good things happened because on the inside I was trying to pay a penance that would never end until my behavior changed. And my behavior couldn’t change by itself.

    Once I forgave myself, I was no longer doomed to repeat my sins. The self-restraints had been lifted. Peace and holiness became possible.

    If this speaks to you, humble yourself right now by closing your eyes and asking God to show you what you need to forgive yourself of. If you already know, because the Spirit of God has illuminated something in your life while you were reading this, just obey Him by making the choice of your will to forgive yourself, as I did. Then ask God to truly help you forgive, since you need His power to do so.

    May God richly bless you.

  • Revelatory Giftings and Callings

    Many people do not understand revelatory giftings and callings. In fact, the majority would mock a person claiming to have a revelatory calling. Not for any good reason, mind you. But mostly because we fear what we do not understand. And we fear what we cannot control.

    Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

    2/3 of the Bible involves revelatory giftings, callings, or events. God speaks to men, angels appear to men, burning bushes that speak, dreams of destiny, dreams of world events, God speaking to men, visions, prophecies, more dreams, more prophecies, talking donkies, more of God speaking to men, armies of angels, more angels, more dreams, more visions, more prophecies, knowing the impossible, etc. It goes on and on.

    Amazing, how some Christians can read a Bible full of revelatory gifted people and God speaking to men and people experiencing divine revelation, and yet they have chosen to believe that all manners of divine revelation ceased when the last apostle died.

    I am writing to the wrong audience. I realize that. If you are reading this, there’s an 80% chance it’s because we’re friends on Twitter. And if so, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. I get that. Good thing this is my blog and I don’t have to play by any rules.

    If, however, you’d like to read more about revelatory giftings and callings, I recommend the following books:

    Jack Deere, Surprised By the Voice of God
    Gary Wiens, Come to Papa
    R Loren Sandford, Understanding Prophetic People
    Jim Goll, The Seer

    These are three books written by men who strongly adhere to the Bible as the foundation and standard by which all revelatory messages/insights should be measured against. Read those books in that order, as that will probably help you to understand the flow of information.

  • The Word “Atheist” Really Irks Me

    Every time someone tells me he or she is an atheist, I feel a slight blow to my heart, as though I had just been insulted deeply. The word itself even sounds harsh to me. I do NOT mean to offend anyone, here. I’m just sharing my thoughts.

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  • Dear God, About My Job…

    It’s not bad, God, really. I’ve had MUCH worse jobs. This position and company are bearable, except… except this isn’t what I want to do with my life. And what I want to do doesn’t make money, does it?

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