Taffi Dollar - Making Room By Letting Go - Part 1
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Today, we’re gonna talk about making room by letting go, making room by letting go. You know, sometimes we hold on to so many things. We can begin to even create memorials in our lives and landmarks of what happened and things that occurred. It’s wonderful to celebrate over things that are good and breakthroughs and manifestations, miraculous divine interventions, but then there’s something very dangerous when we hold on to the bad, and we don’t let go, and we don’t begin to understand what it is that God has delivered us from.
And so, we want to focus in on this area of deliverance, this area of freedom, this ability that we have by God. You know, when we look at this so great salvation, we understand that it’s not just being born again, it’s not just escaping hell or having the fact that, you know, we have heaven in our view, but it’s also the fact that we understand that we have forgiveness and that God wants us to live, as the Bible talks about, pardoned and free from the past and free from holding on to things. And so, we want to kind of begin today and look at this area. And just as a foundation, the word «salvation» is defined as deliverance from slavery. It’s a state of wholeness, spirit, soul, and body, preservation of life, physical health, natural temporal deliverance from danger and apprehension, restoration, and healing.
And also what we want to focus on today is pardon, the forgiveness of our sins, the forgiveness of our sins. Let’s begin in Psalms 103, and we want to look at this area of forgiveness. And we will go as far as we can this morning. I just believe that I’m gonna take my time so I can really allow the Spirit of God to speak and do what he wants to do. Because we have to be intentional about this area of our life. Like I said, the enemy wants to hide out. And if we don’t realize that there are areas in our life that we must evict people from living in our heads, then as a result, that intention, that plan, will cease to operate in our life. So, when we talk about intention, we’re talking about a commitment to carry out an action.
And that’s what we want to look at today is this being intentional about walking in freedom and letting go and making room for what God wants to do. Because we have a tendency to hold on to things, our emotional condition can play a role in our life. But I believe today that God wants us to eliminate, to eliminate the things that are unnecessary. And so, letting go is a part of eliminating things that are not necessary in our life. And so, in Psalms 103, verse 1, let’s look at this familiar Scripture. He says, «Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeems thy life from destruction; who crowns thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s».
He says in verse, I’m gonna look over this in the Amplified here in verse 4, «Who redeems your life from the pit». Because, you know, when you don’t understand that we have this so great salvation and this forgiveness of our sins, our lives can be bound to living in the pit and to be stranded based on all the emotions and all of the areas of our life where the enemy can easily dwell and hide out in. So, he says, «Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, and soaring]»!
So, I want to ask you today, are we harboring, are you harboring unforgiveness against someone? And that’s where we want to begin today is just really understand this area of forgiveness and unforgiveness because we know that it is God’s plan. It is one of his benefits that we just read. And he says, «Don’t forget these benefits». He says, «Don’t allow these things to slip, to escape». He says, «Remember these benefits». And that first one here in verse 3 is the fact that he is a forgiver, and he doesn’t just forgive us of some things. But what does he say? He forgives us from all things, all thine iniquities, so that we can understand that as a result of what Jesus came to do, that we can operate in forgiveness.
And so, this isn’t about putting pressure on ourselves to try to forgive somebody else by us reading the Scriptures, but really understanding that forgiveness begins on the inside with us and us realizing and recognizing that what God came to do is a finished work. And what he wants to do in our life is to cause us to experience good and to make room for walking in victory, and moving forward, and allowing our lives to be blessed, and to experience the best life that he has for us. But you know what? If we don’t understand this area, we can limit ourselves in many areas. And the enemy comes in, and you know what he wants to do? He wants to rent space in your head. We allow him, through the spirit of unforgiveness, through holding grudges, to allow situations, things from my past, to cause us to think that those things are bigger than our God.
And as a result, you know, the enemy can dwell there. What is it about unforgiveness? Why is it that it’s so easy to hold on to? Because we think that that situation, that that circumstance, has damaged us to the point that God can’t do anything more in our lives. And so, when we understand that it is through the precious blood of Jesus that we have all things and that we can live free and that we can live in a place of wholeness and we can experience his best, how many of you know your past can’t compare to the future that God has for you? But the enemy always, he always wants us to look back in the rearview mirror and think about, rehearse, nurse, these things that have happened. Not to trivialize or minimize and to make it seem as if these things should be ignored, but to realize that God is greater and that God wants to do something powerful.
And so, we have to understand that we must not forget not the benefits that we have this morning, the benefits, the fact that we have forgiveness, and he forgives us of all of our iniquities. And that word «forgive» means to grant free, pardon. It means a remission of any offense or debt and to give up all claim. The word «forgiveness,» I’ll say that again. To grant free, pardon. Jesus granted us freedom. He pardoned us. He remitted all the things that we fell short in, remission of any offense or debt. That word «forgiveness» is to give up all claim, and it is a foundational principle to our Christian life. But you know what? It’s also an area that causes entrapment in many areas of believers’s lives.
And so, we want to look at some things this morning because it could be where we’re holding on to something that a person did years ago and still upset about it. Do we spend a lot of time thinking about that person or that situation that hurt us, wasting valuable space, taking up room in our head, living in our head, dominating our lives, controlling our lives, keeping us looking in the past, looking back, bringing up those same emotions from the past? And that’s what we want to look at today.
Look with me in Acts 26, verse 17, the Book of Acts chapter 26. Because we need to make some decisions today that we’re gonna evict some folks out of our mind. Time for you to serve an eviction notice and kick out what needs to be eliminated from your life, from your heart, the things that have kept you from when you see or you run in contact with that person and immediately all of the things from the past begin to resurrect in your life. I believe that God wants us to make room by letting go. It’s time to make room this morning and let some things go, let some people go. Because a lot of times, we tie ourselves to people when we do not let things go. We’re connecting ourselves with them and preventing the things that God wants us to experience, his goodness, by the thoughts and the actions and the shortcomings of where they were in their lives as well.
And so, so many times we just focus in on, «I gotta forgive. I gotta forgive. I gotta forgive». But you know what? It becomes easier when we realize that, «Hey, I’ve been forgiven and that same freedom that I’ve been forgiven of is so wonderful that I can allow that love to spill over into other people’s lives because I understand that what they did cannot compare to what God wants to do my life, can’t compare to what God has planned and destined for me from the foundations of the world». But the enemy wants you to drive in reverse all your life thinking of, rehearsing, bringing back up, all the things instead of realizing that though it is true, though it happened, but God is a deliverer. And God will make a way out of no way because he is God.
Look at what he says here in Acts chapter 26, verse 16. It says, this was the Apostle Paul while he was persecuting people during that time, harassing, troubling. So he says, «And I said,» in verse 15, «Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest». Verse 16 says, «But rise, and stand upon your feet: for I have appeared unto you for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from people».
You know what? Some of us just gotta get delivered from people because as long as we are in bondage to people, they will continue to take up space in our life. «What do they think? How many likes do I have? How many times have they said they love…» And, you know, social media has a way of doing that, creating this false sense, false security in areas of our life. But you know what? God want us to be delivered from people, and not in a rude way, not in a way that is arrogant, but to understand that God establishes the identity on the inside of us. It is his affirmation, his love, his commitment for us, sending his Son, dying for us, all of these things, that enable us to walk in real deliverance and to walk in freedom.
So, he told the Apostle Paul, he says, «I am delivering thee from people, delivering thee from people». You know, that’s why people can easily live in our head. You know why? Because we’re in bondage to what they think. We’re so consumed with them and our thought life, and so they feel like they can have residence there, that they can abide there, that they have a place there. And we allow them to abide. But he says, «Delivering thee from people». He says here in verse 17, and he says in the Amplified, «Choosing you from among this [Jewish] people and the Gentiles to whom I am sending you». Verse 18, «To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me».
If you would, let me read this from the Amplified. It says, «To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness». I’m telling you, when you understand that you’ve been forgiven, I’m telling you, you’ll allow other people to experience that same forgiveness. But when we become so hard on ourselves and we really don’t believe that Jesus has forgiven us of all of our sins, and we’re constantly putting pressure on ourselves to perform, to be pleasing to God, then you know what?
We’ll put that same pressure on other people, and they can never measure up just like we think we can never measure up. But he says here that he is delivering us and releasing us from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release. How many of you know it’s time for release, glory be to God. Time to release things in your life, release people in your life, release what was done to you, release the abuse, release the trauma, release the tragedy, release your past, release what they said, release what they did. So, he says, «It is a release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Me».
And so, forgiveness opens the door for us walking in our inheritance today, for us getting a hold of all the things that are in his will as heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. When we understand the miraculous power of forgiveness, it gives us this ability to receive our inheritance. But you know what? It’s something about holding on to unforgiveness, holding on to resentment, holding on to bitterness and the things of the past.
It prevents you from experiencing the inheritance that God has for you. It prevents you from discovering the depths and the wonder of his love. Because unforgiveness, it moves in, and you know what? It’s gonna bring its cousin Strife, and it’s gonna bring its nephew Envy and Jealousy and his niece and all kinds of things. You know what? You look up, they have taken over your life, taken over your heart, taken over your mind, and eventually it takes over your body because how many of you know, that opens a door to unhealthy living? It opens a door to sickness and disease and depression and cancer, a heart attack, all kinds of things, stress, hypertension.
And so, we must realize that God wants us to experience his inheritance, which is health and healing, deliverance, wholeness in our spirit, our soul, and in our mind where we can think clearly, we can think soberly, and we can walk in love, and we can begin to be the church that God wants us to be because we have a revelation of his love for us. We know that we have been forgiven. Glory be to God. We receive his forgiveness for everything. And then as a result, we know it’s because of his love, his great love towards us. He loved us so much that he sent his Son to forgive us and to cause us to be delivered and to have an inheritance.