Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor. 15:58

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Day 4: "I Will Blot Out Your Sins"

Isaiah 43:25-- I, yes, I alone will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.

This... (an elephant)


is God's mind when you haven't asked him to forgive your sins.  God has the memory of an elephant.

This... (a piece of paper)

is God's mind when you ask him to forgive you sins...

See the difference?

Who among us has never sinned? (yes, that is a rhetorical question).  Everyone (except Jesus) has sinned-- has some sort of past.  Now, some of our pasts are much different than others, but the point is that we all have 'something' there that we wish we didn't or that we are sorry for.  And, if you are like me, you can't forget it.

It's easy to get caught up in our past sins-- and even easier to get caught up with other's past sins! 

Oh--- yeap--- hitting my nerve there a bit....

Judging other is SO easy-- so.easy!  We all do it at one time or another whether we realize it or not.  Suzie from high school who was a major.. um... lets say 'popular' girl with the boys.... we remember.  Tom who used to pull our hair in gym.  Mr. Santo, the meanest boss ever!  (And yeah, those names are made up, and situations changed to fit everyone).  The point is that we ALL know something about other people, and it's hard not to judge them by their past sins.

I, personally, am very forgetful--Having kids will do that to you.  I have had to resort so something called a 'Homemaking binder' which I LOVE!  I won't get into details, but basically I use it so I won't forget important dates, appointment, bills, etc-- because if I didn't have it, we might not have any electricity because I'd forget to pay the bill.

Basically, I have a horrible memory--- except when it comes to sin.  Sin, my own and others, tend to be easy to remember.  Quick, who won the Stanley Cup 6 years ago?  Um... I have no idea.  BUT: Which former Governor cheated on his well known wife resulting in a child that looks about like him?  Yeap, I can tell you that! 

God (thankfully) isn't like that.  Once you accept Jesus, you can ask God for forgiveness and

This (an elephant)

Turns to this (a piece of paper)

A new, fresh clean slate.

Your sin is GONE.  Forever Gone in God's mind.  Maybe not the world, but who cares what the world thinks? (easier said than done, I know). 

God forgets our sin when He forgives it.  We get a clean slate... a clean page every time we ask for forgiveness-- God's own dry erase marker board as it were.

God makes things SO easy--but we make them so hard.

We aren't God, but we do need to get in the habit of forgiving and forgetting.  The past needs to stay there.  How much happier would we all be if we left it there?

God bless you :)

Kelly

3 comments:

  1. I have the hardest time with this. We have to be able to forgive others because it affects our own relationship with God, but why is it so hard?

    Thanks for challenging me again today. :)

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  2. Very hard... and I'm not perfect at it. Especially the forgetting part. I'm so glad God is able to do it. That truly is love.

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  3. I think you've definitely hit the nail on the head here. I catch myself judging without even realizing I've started doing it. But it's so easy to judge and so HARD not to. And forgiving others...good thing God's the one doing the forgiving, not us. I'm not quite as good at forgiving as He is...not anywhere near as good. Thanks for your post :)

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