Moving Forward through Forgiveness

God became man in order to atone for our sins, because we could never pay the debt on our own (1 John 4:19). Jesus loves us more than a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45).

Jesus relinquished his royal status and gave His life, so that we can live as God's adopted children and joint heirs with Him to receive all that the Father owns in His Kingdom (Romans 8:16-18).

God forgives us of every transgression of His law; but unless we forgive our self, Satan keeps us under his bondage to degradation and sin. The shame we feel for our behavior is fed by Satan's lies, which He whispers in our heart day and night (Revelation 12:10).

Satan knows that if we ever forgive our self, and dedicate our life completely to the God who saved us, he will lose us forever. There is no thought, word or deed, which we commit, that is too horrific for God to forgive (Romans 5:8).

Most of our choices are mistakes that we make without thinking, although some of them are premeditated. Yet, God forgives each one, which we confess, according to His mercy and justice (1 John 1:9, 3:9). He erases the injustice of our behavior with His goodness and grace.

God has a perfect plan for us and our true joy lies in following that plan (Ephesians 2:10). It is never too late to change. We can lay down our shield of lies and our heavy burden of pain at Jesus' feet.

We come to God in our weariness and hopelessness, and He gives us rest for our soul and births life into our dead spirit, which we carried around within us for our whole life, until the day we repent (Matthew 11:28).

Prayer:

Father God, Your Spirit joins Your Bride in encouraging anyone who reads or hears Your Word to come to Your river of life (Revelation 22:17). Your voice penetrates the hard wall, which we build around our soul to keep out the pain of the past and the eventual pain of the future.

This wall crumbles when we face life's difficulties with Christ in us. Help us not to patch up the wall of defenses and build it higher and thicker, and to realize that only Your love can protect us from life's hardships and storms (Isaiah 4:6).

Complete surrender to Your call on our life will put us under Your umbrella of protection (Job 11:13-15). You give us a place of repose (Isaiah 28:12). You refresh and satisfy our faint heart (Jeremiah 31:25). You give us Your living water to drink for eternity (John 7:37).

Thought for the Day:

Forgiving others and our self is the key to freedom from the destructive aspects of life and it is the door to our freedom in Christ.

A Valuable Character Trait

 

Trust is a valued character trait often lacking in today's world. Since this is true, we have to learn to trust God in every circumstance and in every area of our lives. We can combat fear by counting God’s blessings instead (Psalm 103:1-2). Our soul returns to its rest each time we remember that the Lord is good to us. He delivers our eyes from crying, our feet from faltering and our body from dying (Psalm 116:7-8). We can trust God in all of life’s difficulties.

With Christ in us we are strong and we have courage. We are not anxious or stressed, because He is with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9; Psalm 56:3). He is our Almighty One (Psalm 31:14). He created, redeemed and delivers us, and we belong to Him (Isaiah 43:1). God’s words are true and He provides His goodness to His people (2 Samuel 7:28). He never forsakes anyone who seeks Him, which shows that we can trust in Him (Psalm 9:10). Our soul rejoices both in His mercy and His salvation (Psalm 13:5).

So often, human advice counsels us to follow our heart. However, the heart is deceitfully wicked and impossible to understand (Jeremiah 17:9). In fact, whoever trusts in his/her heart is a fool (Proverbs 28:26). Equally as foolish is to trust in our bank account, our job or our mate to provide for us. The Lord gave us our job and with the economy, we may lose it; however, God will always provide for our needs (Proverbs 11:28). In Christ, brokenness and loss signals a new beginning, a new reality with transformed beauty.

As believers, we recognize Satan as a deceptive angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). We do not allow our self to get discouraged by his attempts to dishearten us. We stop emulating the traditions and activities of this world. We do not rely on our human resources. We trust in God’s faithfulness by remembering all that He did for His Biblical Saints (Daniel 6:23; Psalm 20:7). When we trust in the Lord of hosts, we are blessed (Psalm 84:12). As we submit to God, He transforms us into a new person by changing the way we think, speak and act (Romans 12:2).

When Jesus took bread and wine at the end of the last supper with His apostles, He shared them as a sign of the power we find in His death and resurrection. Ever since then, brokenness is always followed by transformation and transformation by trust. Brokenness is not an end, it does not signal destruction; it is a new beginning. At Jesus’ return, He will even transform our lowly body into a glorious, immortal one through the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:21).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we will not allow our heart to be anxious. We believe in God and we believe in You (John 14:1). You fill us with Your joy and peace, which floods our soul – our mind, will and emotions. This belief allows us to overflow with hope by the power of Your Spirit (Romans 15:13). You promise to make all things new, and we trust in You to glorify us in our body, even as You justified us in our spirit and sanctify us in our soul (Revelation 21:5).

Thought for the Day:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6