I realize that many of us don’t realize, but it’s way past time to continue to believe the lie and instead to choose to act, boldly and confidently on the truth. The truth? Forgiven. It would be my contention that THE greatest hindrance to our being all we can be is our assurance of forgiveness. We are irritated and embarrassed about what we did/said (or didn’t) and are still acting as if we are still… unforgiven. We ARE forgiven – 1John 1:9, 4:4)
“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our
transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)
Psalm 103 is a great teaching on the mercy of God and how He responds to His children that turn to Him. He forgives ALL our iniquities (3), He heals ALL our diseases (3), He redeems our lives from destruction (4), He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy (8), His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting (17) – and these are only some of the highlights from just this Psalm. The point is that every time we bring up our past sins – IF we have already turned to Him, repented and sought His forgiveness – He forgives! The sin and its stain no long is part of our lives. So why do we continue to be haunted by it???
Remember that the lie of unforgiveness does not come from the Lord, but from our enemy who only seeks to keep us in bondage (John 10:10). The last thing that the devil would want is for us to walk in who we are becoming in the Lord and to use the weapons prepared for us to fight our battles. Our weapons are not carnal (2Corinthians 10:4-5) but mighty. And we don’t fight against flesh and blood but against wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). How can we possibly be effective when we don’t believe that we have been empowered? Yes, we sin but Yes, we can repent and become who we’re destined to be.
What we all need to remember is that it is we who are empowered, we who stand, we who fight. Not alone but we are intimately involved. Repeating: WE are empowered. We are given everything we need to be His army to accomplish the Great Commission. But it is up to us. He stands with us, behind us, in front leading us, and to the side – working with us. He chose to use us to touch our world to be in partnership with Him, the God of the Universe. He told us:
“Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:27)
“… being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also
able to perform.” (Romans 4:21)
You? Convinced? You are empowered – not a question.
