Hebrews 8:12
"12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
I once read a comic book which showed how a man lusted after a woman, then died of a heart attack and went to heaven. In heaven, he saw a big screen showing everyone present a recording of all the sins which he had committed while on earth, including the last one. How embarrassing!
Don’t worry, that is not going to happen to you in heaven. There is no big screen with front-row and circle seats for everyone to sit and watch your past sins. There is no video recorder in heaven recording your sins right now. Because your lifetime of sins has already been punished in the body of Jesus, God declares to you, “Your sins and lawless deeds, I will by no means ever remember!”
This is true even for the Old Testament heroes of faith such as Abraham, Moses and David. If you read Hebrews 11, which was written after the cross of Jesus, you will notice that there is no record of their sins or failures. Yet, their life stories tell us that they were far from perfect.
Abraham lied twice about his wife Sarah. He told Pharaoh, and later, King Abimelech, that she was his sister to protect his own life. Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, and hid the body in the sand. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and later arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. Yet, their sins were not recorded in Hebrews 11, only their deeds done in faith!
God is showing you that He does not record your sins or failures today. Instead, He records your faith confessions and deeds done in response to what His Son has done for you. Every time you sin, every time you waver in your faith, God does not record it. But every time you believe Him and respond in faith, He records it! That should not make you want to sin more. It should free you to love God more!
So don’t be conscious of your failures. If God Himself does not remember them, who are you to remember them? Be conscious instead of your righteousness in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), and you will reign in life! (Romans 5:17)
From Joseph Prince - Daily Grace Inspiration for March 27th
www.josephprince.org
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
How to STAY FREE of the prison of bitterness
Here's what to do when the official Replay - Rehash - Rehearse Theater of your mind beckons you to a "Revisit the Offense" movie night.
When you forgive, you are yielding to your Savior - The FORGIVER. When you harbor the offense, you are allowing the Adversary to rule over you. Wouldn't it be better for you to let Peace rule your heart instead? The Prince of Peace, Christ Himself, ruling your heart is beneficial to your body, soul and spirit. Peace is GOOD! Peace is good for you. The scriptures tell us to" hold fast to that which is good". To hold fast to Peace, you are going to have to let go of the offense. Offense is BAD. Holding onto the offense - nursing the grudge - it's detrimental for you. Let go of the offense.
You are probably saying, "I would LOVE to be free of the burden of this offense! I've tried to forget it, I've tried to forgive it. I've even tried to ignore it, but it keeps resurfacing". Today, you are going to learn how to make the offense LET YOU GO FREE.
Do a simple thing that is quite easy (as in it is not hard like climbing a mountain or doing 20 push-ups).
Lay it at the cross where Christ paid in full for that very offense.
Declare along with Christ, "It is finished!" Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our debts in the same way and to the same degree that we forgive our debtors". When you hold on to a person's debt against you, the effects on your body and soul and spirit man are exactly what the devil intends (steal, kill, destroy, devour).
INSTEAD - accept Christ's payment for the debt that person owes you. Christ paid in full for that transgression so you do not have to carry the burden of it - the anger of it - the care of it - the fear of it. He took it in His own body so that offense could not open the door to sickness.
When the enemy brings the offense up fresh in your mind to bait you with it - turn the trap on him by saying, "Thank you Jesus, I am free!". Matthew 18:35 holds a key to forgiving from your heart and you can say, "I forgive from my heart all who have offended me." The enemy wants you to meditate on the offense and the feelings it invokes so it will provoke you to a wrong action or allow him a place in your life.
Meditate on what is good - let the good come out of your mouth instead of repeating and rehearsing the offense.
Jesus paid so you could be free from the burden of offense and every yuck that comes with it. Thank you Jesus, I AM FREE!
When you forgive, you are yielding to your Savior - The FORGIVER. When you harbor the offense, you are allowing the Adversary to rule over you. Wouldn't it be better for you to let Peace rule your heart instead? The Prince of Peace, Christ Himself, ruling your heart is beneficial to your body, soul and spirit. Peace is GOOD! Peace is good for you. The scriptures tell us to" hold fast to that which is good". To hold fast to Peace, you are going to have to let go of the offense. Offense is BAD. Holding onto the offense - nursing the grudge - it's detrimental for you. Let go of the offense.
You are probably saying, "I would LOVE to be free of the burden of this offense! I've tried to forget it, I've tried to forgive it. I've even tried to ignore it, but it keeps resurfacing". Today, you are going to learn how to make the offense LET YOU GO FREE.
Do a simple thing that is quite easy (as in it is not hard like climbing a mountain or doing 20 push-ups).
Lay it at the cross where Christ paid in full for that very offense.
Declare along with Christ, "It is finished!" Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our debts in the same way and to the same degree that we forgive our debtors". When you hold on to a person's debt against you, the effects on your body and soul and spirit man are exactly what the devil intends (steal, kill, destroy, devour).
INSTEAD - accept Christ's payment for the debt that person owes you. Christ paid in full for that transgression so you do not have to carry the burden of it - the anger of it - the care of it - the fear of it. He took it in His own body so that offense could not open the door to sickness.
When the enemy brings the offense up fresh in your mind to bait you with it - turn the trap on him by saying, "Thank you Jesus, I am free!". Matthew 18:35 holds a key to forgiving from your heart and you can say, "I forgive from my heart all who have offended me." The enemy wants you to meditate on the offense and the feelings it invokes so it will provoke you to a wrong action or allow him a place in your life.
Meditate on what is good - let the good come out of your mouth instead of repeating and rehearsing the offense.
Jesus paid so you could be free from the burden of offense and every yuck that comes with it. Thank you Jesus, I AM FREE!
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