Let Go and Let God

With a New Year upon us, many resolve to give something up to improve their physical health in the months ahead. While pounds may be shed and bodies become trimmer, there is a burden that many may still be carrying that doesn't have to do with weight.  It's called unforgiveness. While God calls us to forgive others, He also calls us to forgive ourselves. This New Year I encourage you to forgive yourself of any past or present sins and shed the guilt and shame that may be weighing you down. God's mercies are new every morning and we can walk in the fullness of His grace, mercy, and forgiveness daily. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)   

Forgiving Yourself

You've blown it. You have really messed up this time. You have agreed with God that what you did was sin. You know that God heard your prayer asking forgiveness, and you really meant every word. You believe that Jesus died for you on the cross and that His sacrifice forgives all your sins. But you still feel guilt and condemnation. You know from the Bible that God has forgotten that sin. He has removed it from you as far as the east is from the west. But you still feel horrible! How do you get past that feeling? 

 

We make life hard by blaming ourselves for things we did in the past. But God says through Paul, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). What does that freedom really mean? It means that you are not saved from hell to be imprisoned in self-punishment. God has set you free. You are no longer a slave to self-hatred and self-condemnation.
  
Forgiveness is not a feeling. You must choose to deny Satan the accuser and his plans to make you feel guilty and dirty because of sins in the past. When Satan tries to remind you of your past, do these things: 

Meditate on the truth of who God is and who you are in Him.

• Take into your heart and spirit scriptures about God's forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love. Psalm 103 is a good place to start.

• Take an objective view of your past to learn from your failure. What did you learn about yourself and God through this experience?

• Allow God to expose the wound for His healing touch, and refuse the attempts of the accuser and destroyer to harass you anymore, because the King of glory stands as your Defender and Advocate.
   

Pray this prayer of commitment and begin enjoying the blessings of forgiveness and freedom: 

Heavenly Father, thank You that you have never rejected me, and You never will. You have received me unconditionally. I am accepted in Jesus. My acceptance does not depend on anything but Jesus, His love, mercy, grace, sacrifice, and righteousness. I am not ashamed before You.

I repent of my sins in Jesus' name. Thank You that I am completely forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. I will not allow the enemy to harass me about the past. I choose to forgive myself and receive the full freedom of Your forgiveness.

Thank You that my body can function in Your peace, healed and whole. I choose to let Jesus cover past failures and struggles and enjoy Your love, Your thoughts, and Your ways so that my mind is at rest. What amazing grace that You remember my sins and iniquities no more! Jesus took them on Himself. They are nailed to His cross.
 

Because of the amazing forgiveness of Jesus, I can forgive others in His name. I choose to forgive all those who have hurt me, harmed me, or spoken against me. I free them in my thoughts and no longer hold their sins against them. Bless them in Your mercy. I do this by Your indwelling power. 

Thank You that I am a brand new creation. All the old has passed away, and I stand clean in Your sight. I can settle this today with You. I choose to receive Your healing grace by the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit within me.

Thank You that You control me, not my emotions or what others say or do. I receive all Your blessings for my life and give You all praise, honor, and glory.  Amen.
 

                       Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

Reprinted with permission from From Seek Him Meet Him weekly online devotional, © by Sylvia Gunter, The Father's Business, P. O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com.  Email: info@thefathersbusiness.com

A Very Present Help

God loves His children and is intimately acquainted with all of our ways.  He promises to be a very present help in our hours of need and is there when we call out to Him. No need is too great or too small for Him to meet.  He's proven Himself faithful to me in this area and He wants to do the same for you.  Be blessed!

In His Care

A few year's ago, my husband’s job required him to work ten days straight with no break in between.  No break for him meant no break for me.  As a stay-at-home mother of four-year-old twin girls at the time, my days were filled with activity so any respite I received was welcomed and appreciated.  The thought of ten busy days ahead with little to no quiet time was daunting to say the least.  However, as with all things, I entered into it with prayer and trusted that God would be my strength. 

The first week went by smoothly for the girls and me as we got together with friends and enjoyed spending time out of doors.  By day seven; however, my grace and mercy towards my children was waning along with my strength.  I was just plain tired and the tiniest little indiscretion on the part of my children set me off.  The three of us were missing my husband and we were all displaying it in different and unsavory ways.  

After shamefully raising my voice at them, I realized that what I needed was a little break from the action.  I asked them for their forgiveness, and then asked God for His forgiveness and strength to finish the day.  Shortly after my outburst, the Lord put it upon my heart to go for a run on the nearby walking trail.  Running has always been a way for me to alleviate stress and reconnect with my heavenly Father, but I was so tired that it was the last thing I wanted to do.  However, He kept pressing it upon my heart and before I knew it, I had my running shoes on, the jog stroller in the trunk, and the girls loaded in the backseat on the way to the trail. 

After running the first mile, I could feel the stress melting from my body and my mind.  It was a beautiful afternoon with the sun shining, a cool breeze blowing, birds chirping, and the newly blossomed honeysuckle assaulting our noses with its heady fragrance.  Before long, the rhythm of the stroller combined with the fresh air and cool breeze lulled my girls to sleep.  I finished up my last mile, and then slowed down to a stroll and enjoyed the blessed quiet time.  It was then that I realized what God had in mind for me all along.  

While a run wasn’t even on my radar, He knew it was just what I needed to restore my soul.  I walked and talked with Him, thanking Him for the much needed break in the middle of my day.  I marveled at how He knew just what I needed, when I needed it.  He embraced me in the beauty of His creation and I drank in the sights, sounds, smells, and most importantly, His love. 

According to the world’s standards, I’m pretty insignificant, but God showed me on that trail that I matter to Him. The Creator of the universe searches my heart and knows me intimately.  He comes to me in my time of need and is there for me when I cry out to Him. 

I will never forget that afternoon with my God, enjoying His presence and drawing from His strength.  He refreshed my spirit, renewed my mind, and bathed me in His forgiveness, mercy, and love.  Since then, I've learned to lean more fully on Him and dwell on His grace, mercy and loving kindness, keeping in mind that He is dwelling on me and that I do not go by unnoticed by Him.  

He loves all of His children this way and He longs for us to come to Him and drink deeply from the living waters.  Seek Him and you will find that He is already there waiting to meet your needs and display His love to you.  Run to Him.  He is waiting for you with open arms.  

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”  Psalm 23:1-3     

By Shannon M. Nass

Precious in His Sight

The following devotion serves as an awesome reminder of Jesus Christ's love for us and that no sin - past, present, or future - is beyond His grace, mercy and forgiveness.  No matter where we've come from or where we are, we are precious in His sight and nothing can separate us from His love.  What a beautiful truth.  Be blessed!

You Are Not a Throwaway Person

"Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, 'Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?' 'No, Lord,' she said. And Jesus said, 'Neither do I. Go and sin no more.'" John 8:10-11 (NLT)

It was just an old broken can opener, but Michael, my young son, saw something of great value.

When he walked into the kitchen, this "treasure" on the cabinet piqued his curiosity. He asked if he could play with it as he ran his little hands over it, checking out all its nifty parts. Better yet, could he keep it?

I didn't really think he could get hurt since it was broken, but I explained why it was not a toy.

Despite my insistence, he proceeded to make his case for gaining possession of the can opener. Finally, growing weary of this discussion, I used my maternal "I mean it" tone and told him to throw the broken can opener away and go play.

Suddenly, little Michael's demeanor changed. His shoulders slumped and his skinny little arms hung limp beside his body, as if all the bones had left them completely.

Then for sentimental effect, he poked out his bottom lip and stared up at me with big, blue, puppy-dog eyes, uttering this question in the sweetest sounding, most pitiful little-boy voice he could muster: "Well Mommy, if I was broken, would you just throw me away?"

Whoa! Didn't see that one coming. Our conversation about a silly can opener just got complicated. I chuckled, gave him a big hug, and reassured him he was too valuable to me to ever be thrown away — even if he were completely broken.

Satisfied with my answer, he skipped off with the can opener, cord flopping behind him. I was left stunned, pondering the weight of his question.

My thoughts went back to years earlier when I felt like that can opener because of mistakes in my past: broken and useless, void of value. But then a smile washed across my face as I remembered the day God told me I was too valuable in His eyes to ever be thrown away, much like He did for the woman found in John chapter 8.

John opens this chapter with Jesus confronting a group of religious leaders who had brought a woman before Him who'd been caught in adultery. They asked Jesus what they should do with her.

Before shaming her before Jesus, the crowd had already decided this woman was a throwaway person. A useless sinner. A woman who had made mistakes and wrong choices and should be held accountable for her actions to the highest degree: death by stoning.

But Jesus saw more when He looked at that woman. He looked past her sin and shame and saw her value — a value she most likely didn't even see in herself.

The leaders asked Jesus what He thought of her sin. They wanted Him to accuse her and affirm her worthlessness so they could begin the stoning, but He did just the opposite. He not only refused to accuse her, but also challenged her accusers: "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!" John 8:7b (NLT)

One by one, they dropped their stones, turned and left. Jesus' words proved to the crowd and to this broken woman that, despite her sin and the mistakes she had made, her life mattered.

Certainly this woman knew she'd done wrong. Maybe deep in her heart she felt she deserved her punishment. Maybe she hung her head ready to accept the blows, thinking her life lacked purpose. But Jesus knew her worth. Her value. He knew the purposes for which He'd created her. And He wanted her to know that, too.

None of us is a throwaway person, because no one is ever beyond repair in God's eyes. He is the ultimate restorer of people, hearts and lives. Restoration brings transformation, and the faith to believe our lives truly do matter to God.

Lord, thank You for loving me, despite me. Help me see the value You see in me and to trust You have an amazing plan for my future. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:

Ephesians 1:7, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace." (ESV)

Taken from Proverbs 31 Ministries.