"Barriers to Receiving the Holy Spirit"

Unforgiveness

It is very important in the eyes of God that you forgive anyone who has wronged you. Forgiving people is the only condition that God has put down for our own sins to be forgiven by Him. This does not mean that the wrong doers can keep repeating it with no consequence, in fact God promises to deal with any injustice you have faced personally.

"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."- Matthew 6:15

God expects that His children forgive one another and let go of all bitterness, hatred, anger etc and be set free. In most cases any offences committed against you last a few moments, but when you take matters into your own hands the effects are much more prolonged, whatever the outcome, it never gives you closure.
Unforgiveness in your heart can be a barrier for the Holy Spirit to fill you and start work in your life.Forgiving people is not an emotion or feeling, its a conscious decision you make. Close your eyes, pray for strength and declare with your mouth that you forgive the people who wronged you. Be specific and if possible include the reason for which you are forgiving them. Take some time doing this, pause and wait for people and images to be brought into your mind, and as they flash past consciously forgive them.Just doing this will give you a great sense of relief.
At the end thank God for helping you forgive these people. You will not completely forget what happened, but you will no longer be emotionally tied to the people or situations that hurt you.

REAL LIFE INSPIRATION

There was a young girl who wanted nothing more in life than to be loved. She was born into a family where her father controlled everything. The one person who was supposed to protect her and provide for her began abusing her. She was abused mentally, emotionally and sexually by her father. It started with molest initially but by the time she reached her teens, her father raped her at least once a week. It was horrible for her to go through this, she could not tell anybody as she felt dirty and broken on the inside. Her father also warned her against telling people as he said it would break the family and no one would believe her. The shame and guilt of it was so intense that her self esteem was completely destroyed.
This made the young lady a wreck. She became unstable and could not trust anybody. One thing that she did not factor in was God was watching over her the whole time. He loved her and wanted to help her. He sent her a loving caring spirit filled man who would love her unconditionally in spite of all her flaws and shortcomings. This man married her and showed her what love really is. Her life slowly changed, soon God began using her in His ministry. She then went on to become one of the most successful preachers of the Gospel in Her time.
The most challenging thing God asked this young lady to do was to forgive her dad, it was so hard and bitter that she just could not do it. It took some time but God gave her the strength to do it. The forgiving was the hardest thing she did in life. The next thing God made her do was even more shocking, by this time her dad was old and not in good health. God asked her to buy her parents a house close to her own house and look after them till they died. This was just so impossible for the young preacher that she doubted if it was even God speaking to her. She grudgingly accepted that it was God and began making arrangements.
At the time when this was happening she did not have much money or savings but she still went ahead trusting God.
Her parents moved in close to her house, once in a while they would accompany her to church. There was not much change in her father for a while. One day the preacher got a call saying her father was in tears and wanted to meet her. She rushed to her parents house and her father cried hard and apologized for all that he had done to her. He was soon baptized and was saved. He died a changed man. This was a punch in the face to satan. God took one of the most wretched men and a young girl who faced unimaginable abuse and used that very abuse to make them better people and saved the father through his daughter. The young girl in this story is not so young anymore, she is a happily married grandmother. She also is one of the most blessed and wealthy preachers today.
The moral of the story is that God is so amazing that He can take the darkest moments of your life and use them to bless you and make you a blessing to others. He can do things for you that you can't even dream of. Jesus Himself said the only thing God expects you to do before He forgives you is that you forgive those who wronged you.

LIFE APPLICATION

*Forgiveness is very important in the eyes of God, to be forgiven you must be willing to forgive
*Forgiveness is not a feeling or emotion. It is something that you willingly do out of your own free will.
*Declare with your mouth that you forgive people loud enough to hear yourself, if you have issues believing that you truly forgave them