2026-02-18 Good morning. I want to speak plainly to you today as someone who gets up early, sometimes with sleep's crust in my eyes, and chooses to clear it out so I don’t carry yesterday's crust into today's promise. If you would rather be alive than dead, then take a breath, be thankful for it, and shift your perspective right now. That breath, that cup of water, that crack of a smile—these are gifts. We do not have to drag yesterday’s burdens into the day God has given us.
The lens you wake with shapes the day
How you begin matters. Praise, thanksgiving, and a heart posture of gratitude open doors in the spiritual realm. When bitterness sits heavy, faith cannot operate. The enemy wants us offended, bitter, and immovable so the flow of heaven is blocked. So every morning you have a decision: pick up the shield of faith, or pick up a shield of resentment. One shields brings heaven toward you; the other repels it.
Philemon: a practical case study in forgiveness
Let me give you a story from Scripture because the Bible isn’t a flat document—it’s living. Philemon was a wealthy Christian and a slave owner. Onesimus was a runaway slave who probably stole to escape, landed in Rome, met Paul, became a Christian, and then returned to Philemon carrying a letter from Paul asking Philemon to receive Onesimus not as a slave but as a beloved brother.
Imagine the scene: the owner sees the man who robbed him and his first instinct is rage. Paul’s approach was radical. He appealed to Philemon’s faith, offered to repay any debt, and asked that social categories be erased by the gospel. The likely outcome—Philemon forgave. Why? Because he chose faith over the legal right to retribution.
Forgiveness in everyday life
I deal with people who wrong me. I get calls from those with entitlement and bitterness. One wealthy sister in the faith approached me furious that a man had taken some money from her. She was holding it like poison. I told her: forgive. The money was small to her; the bitterness was huge in her. Carrying that secret wound was destroying relationships and joy. So we prayed. She released it.
This is not about excusing wrongdoing. It is about choosing who will manage the consequence—God or you. Let God be the judge and steward of consequence while you take your hands off the offense and walk free. You paid with your peace when you held on. Let it go. Faith acts when you give it to God.
Practical steps to begin forgiving today
- Own the hurt—name it so you can hand it over.
- Pray specifically—ask God to remove the hardness and to pour His grace on you and the offender.
- Choose a tangible act—call, write, or do a symbolic act of release (lay it at the cross). This is obedience in faith.
- Keep the shield of faith up—refuse the voice of bitterness and replay promises like Romans 8:28 and the words of Jesus who forgave freely.
When the nation needs healing
Forgiveness is personal, but the same principles apply to a nation. Systems become compromised by pride, manipulation, and ungodly legislation. When leaders attempt to silence or label genuine faith as hateful, the church must respond—not with panic, but with prayer, discernment, and prophetic action.
Speak truth. Pray strategically. Bind what binds your nation in the courts of heaven. Call things into alignment with God’s Word. This is not conspiracy talk. It is spiritual realism: powers and principalities try to influence governments. When that happens, the house of God must pray and act with faith, not fear.
How to pray and decree with authority
- Put on the full armor of God daily—belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit.
- Speak Scripture into situations. Use the language of Scripture to call justice and righteousness into place.
- Be specific. Pray for laws, leaders, and moments where light must expose darkness.
- Work in community. Decrees are powerful when the Ecclesia agrees in faith and deed.
The four winds of change—what God is doing
I want to leave you with a prophetic picture I carry for Canada that checks every box of what we’ve just talked about. I hear God saying He is releasing a sequence of winds into the nation:
- A warm wind of godly words that shifts the spiritual thermostat and prepares hearts to receive truth.
- A hot wind of revelation and love that melts the ice in people’s hearts and ignites acts of obedience and kindness.
- A burning wind that exposes and consumes ungodly roots, bringing apostolic government and the gift of repentance.
- A wind of healing that raises up true spiritual mothers and fathers, and a movement of sons and daughters who restore what was broken.
If you feel that stirring, step forward. Give your voice to the decrees of heaven by acting in faith. Whether it’s personal forgiveness, a word of reconciliation, or corporate intercession for the land—do it. The Lord is inviting us into a season of restoration.
Takeaways
- Let go—freedom begins when you surrender your right to retaliate.
- Pick up faith—faith invites God to manage consequences and releases you to do what you were created for.
- Stand together—national healing requires united, courageous prayer and prophetic action.
- Expect God—the winds are moving. Be ready to receive and to be part of God’s restoration.
If this resonates, act on it today. Clear out the crust from your eyes. Hold out your hands. Pray the specific prayers you need to pray. Reach out in forgiveness. And if you’re called to stand in agreement for the land, do so with courage and a shield of faith raised high.
Blessings, Howard Olsen
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