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“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.” - Isaiah 43:1 KJV -
I remember when I was first born-again, how the devil had tried his hardest to make me believe that I really wasn't saved.
For the whole first couple of weeks, I had to really press in to the Word of God because the devil was trying to make me believe that everything that I had done in my past, everything that I had done as 'the old man', was too bad, too awful for my God to accept and forgive me of.
Many times when I would hear the whisper of the lies of the enemy in my ear, I would also see a vision of the Lord at the same time, and I would always hear Him saying, “You know the TRUTH, for it is in My Word. My Word is not only TRUTH, but it is LIFE to those that meditate upon it and live according to it. I do not lie, nor have I CHANGED!”
I would cling to the Words of my God, Jesus, but most importantly, I would start meditating on His Word, and what He says about our redemption. And what I found was so beautiful that I still hold it close to my heart even now.
For those whom you may know that are doubting that the Lord has forgiven them, are doubting their Salvation, let the following words be life and a new-found knowledge of just how Merciful and Loving our God really is:
“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” - Isaiah 43:11 KJV -
The first thing that I really took to heart was the fact that only JESUS could be my Saviour. No matter how many times in the past I had tried to 'save myself' from the many, many problems that I had brought upon myself as 'the old man', I finally got it through my head that I had to surrender my will completely over to God and let Him take control of my life.
I mean, I really could not believe that I had been trying to be my own saviour over everything in my life. Yikes! Talk about stepping on God's toes!
Then I realized it.....
I had to let Him be God, I had to let Him be the Saviour of my life. I had to let Him create the new life that was in me. I was defeated in that area of trying to do it myself. And, believe me, He does a much better job at taking control of our lives than we could ever do for ourselves!
Once I was comfortable with Him being in charge (which didn't take long considering the consequences that I had to endure when I tried to be in charge of my own life!), I meditated on some of His promises in His Word about my new-found freedom in Christ. And this is what I found:
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.” - Isaiah 43:18 KJV -
According to God, we are not to dwell on the things of the past. I really struggled with that part. I mean, my flesh kept wanting to question how I could possibly just forget about all of the awful things that I had done in my life before Christ.
And so I reasoned with-in myself, “How could I possibly even think about forgetting it all when I'm not quite sure of what God thinks about all of the sins that I had committed?”
So the Holy Ghost took me on a journey through His Word so that I could see for myself just what the LORD thought about my past sins.
And I've been more in love with Him ever since....
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” - Isaiah 43:25 KJV -
“Wow!” my mind screamed out at me. “Could it really be true that God would blot out every single one of my sins?”
I smiled as He once again reminded me about what He says in the first part of Malachi 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I change not....” .
I knew then that if God NEVER changes, and we know His word to be TRUTH, then I could believe that not only would He forgive me of my sins, but He would also forget about them...forever!
I also realized that it had to be a choice on my part. I had to make the choice to believe what my God was telling me in His Word! So then I thought, “Well, how could I not believe what my God is saying here? I just can't pick and choose what to believe. I have to believe it all!”
So having that truth inside of me now, I began to search for more of the same....
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” - Psalm 103:12 KJV -
“As far as the east is from the west?” My mind screamed at me again. “Oh, my gosh! You could never even see that far because it goes on for infinity!” I smiled at that thought! How awesome!
Can you just imagine? We serve a God that is more than willing to not only remove our sins from us, but to remove them so far away from us that we would not ever be able to see them again....as far as the east is from the west.
Then I got to thinking. “Well, if He's going through all that trouble of removing them so far away from us, why on earth would I want to bring all of that back into sight again, just to be tormented by the pain of the past?” Hmmm.....
Yes, some things are better left alone!
And there's more:
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” - Isaiah 1:18 KJV -
Could you imagine that? I can! I pictured a big old slate in front of me. The slate was black in color to represent the sins that I had committed during my life before Christ. Then I watched as the Hand of God came along and took a big eraser and erased that black slate until it was no longer black, but pure white instead. In a matter of fact, it wasn't just pure white, it was now so clean that it shone brightly, reflecting the Glory of our God!
I was so happy to now realize that my slate had been wiped completely clean by our God. I felt so free from the sins of my past! “Wow!” I said to myself. “I want more of this!” And so I dug a little deeper yet, and the Lord brought me here, and consequently brought me to my knees...
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
- Isaiah 53:5 KJV -
Now I was on my knees sobbing, thinking about how Jesus had been mocked, spit at, whipped, beat, and hung on a tree for us....for all of mankind so that our sins would be forgiven, so that we could have a new lease on life, so that we could have a clean slate, so that we could be free because of what He did.
Then I heard the Lord speak gently to my heart...
“Do you see now what it is that I have done for you? Do you see now what it was that I was so willing to give up for you? I gave My life so that you could live. I gave My life so that you would be set free from your sins. I gave My life so that you would be made a new creature through Me. I gave My life in order for the old things to pass away, so that all things would become new. And I want you to know that I did it for no other reason than because I love you. So, you see? There is no reason for you to dwell on those things of the past. I have already paid the price for them. Your sins no longer exist because I shed My blood for them so that you could live in freedom through Me. I take good care of that which belongs to Me.”
I wept as He spoke. I knew without a doubt that what He said to me was the truth. I turned my face into his chest and quietly wept as His arms came around me, filling me with such a pure love that only He could give.
After a long while of being in the arms of my Saviour, I looked up into His face and opened my mouth to speak, but He already knew what I was about to ask. “Yes, I forgive you of all of your sins. I did the moment you came to Me. As long as you confess them to Me, I will blot them from My presence forever,” He quietly told me.
I sighed as I lay in the arms of our God. I felt so good inside to know that He is so Merciful, that He loves us so much that He not only died for us, but He continues, even after being raised from the dead, and sitting on His throne in all of His Glory, to forgive us of any mistakes that we make even after becoming His.
Church, I just want to encourage you, that if you have ever struggled with the sins of your past, to just keep in mind what it was that Jesus did for you!
Just try to picture the magnitude of His love for you, such a deep, deep love that He willingly died on the cross for you!
Just keep in mind that when He says that we are forgiven of our sins, that we truly are!
Just keep in mind that when He says that He will blot them out forever, He will! They are no longer there! They are passed away, just as 'the old man' is!
Yes, letting go of the past is a hard thing to do. It can be so painful as well. But what we really need to focus on is who we are in Christ, TODAY, because of who Christ is in us!
And let me remind you....He is VICTORIOUS, as we should be as well, because of Him. After all, He DOES live in us! There should be no other way to live!
And finally....
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” - Acts 3:19 KJV -
So, go ahead! BE CONVERTED and totally bask in TIMES OF REFRESHING that WILL come from the PRESENCE OF THE LORD!
“Let the Redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” - Psalm 107:2 KJV -
Hallelujah! It's so good to be FREE!
Rev. Mary Scanlon
“Reaching out to a hurting world by teaching the TRUTH of FREEDOM in JESUS CHRIST!”
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“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” - Matthew 6:33 KJV -
How many times have you heard or read this verse in God's Word? I know that I have heard and read it several times over the years since I was saved, but it holds a lot more meaning for me now than when it did when I was a babe in Christ.
You see, it's like this: When I was young in Christ, I saw that after many years of abuse and neglect, I was finally getting some real positive attention from someone (Him), and I got carried away with it. Not being used to all the attention that I was now receiving, it didn't take long until I started acting like a spoiled little brat.
I was so taken by all the love and attention that I was getting from my Father and had gotten used to getting what I wanted from Him, that I soon fell into that wile of the devil, that trap of 'I want, I want, I want....It's all about me, me, me!'
Well, one day my Father hit me with a Spiritual two by four, and for those of you who have ever been hit by one, you know that it's worse than just a 'Gee, I coulda had a V-8!' I mean, you really get convicted by the Holy Ghost for having a bad case of the “ it's all about me – me - me's”.
Hmmm...so what happened? I'll tell you. One day I was sitting there with my Father, and in my hand was this big list of stuff that I needed from Him, or stuff that I needed 'fixed' (I had made many mistakes in my life as 'the old man' before Christ came along, and I was in a hurry to lose them as fast as I could!)
Well, I was babbling on and on about what “I” wanted, and not once was I thinking about what HE wanted. So I'm going blah, blah, blah, on and on with my list of “to do's” for God to do for me, and all of a sudden I kept hearing this opera sounding male voice singing “Me – Me – Me – Me – Me – Me – Me.” (Gotta admit, the Lord DOES have a great sense of humor)
So I stop with my list for a minute, wondering “now why on earth would He be singing opera notes to me?” And without any further thoughts about it, I started telling Him again what was on my list. Like, what on earth made me think that He was UNAWARE of what I needed? Like DAH!
So I'm a couple of things into my list when I hear the singing again, this time a couple of notes higher on the scale.... “Me – Me – Me – Me – Me – Me – Me.”
So I start talking a little louder to be heard over the singing. And the singing gets louder, and gets more high pitched. So I start talking even louder, and the singing gets even more LOUDER and higher pitched.
Finally, after trying to yell my list out, and almost getting a sore throat from doing so (there is NO winning when God is bound and determined to make a point!), I finally dropped back on my bed, exhausted from all the effort of trying to get my “it's all about me” time in.
So I'm laying back on the bed, and I'm tired, REAL tired (Apparently thinking about yourself more than others really takes a lot out of you!) So I tell the Lord, “Okay, You win! Why are you singing opera to me?”
And He says, “Oh, no, my dear! It wasn't just opera! Didn't you hear the words that I was singing back to you? Me – Me – Me? And the louder you got with your demands, the louder I got, trying to get your attention so that you would notice that you are sooo focused on yourself.”
OUCH!
Well, I started to say, “I am not...”, but I quickly shut my mouth. Oh, yes I was! Then the Lord went on.....
“You seemed to have forgotten that My Word says 'Seek ye first THE KINGDOM OF GOD.' All I have heard from you for the past few days is ME, ME ME. You are getting so wrapped up in yourself that you have literally stopped seeking the Kingdom of God first. It seems that now all that you are seeking is not what you can do for ME, but what I can do for you!”
DOUBLE OUCH!
And there was more.....
Gently He said...“You also seem to have forgotten that My Word also says to not only seek My Kingdom first, but you are also to seek My RIGHTEOUSNESS first as well! Do you not know that I already know what you are in need of? You do not need to come to Me day after day with your list! I already knew what was on your list, and I certainly do not need to be told over and over again! But I would like it very much if you would meditate on Matthew 6:33 for a few days and then apply it to your life EVERY DAY!”
With that, He gave me a kiss on my forehead and left me to study the Word all over again with different eyes to see it with. And what did I see?
Well, I looked closely at that word 'RIGHTEOUSNESS'. I studied it. And hard. And I got this: Righteousness is 'a condition that is acceptable to God'. It is integrity, virtue, the pure way one lives their life, the correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Hmmm.....
Then I had to do some real soul searching. Wow! Was all this focus on myself instead of God or others really acceptable in the eyes of God? I think not!
Was all this focus on myself instead of others a good example of integrity? I think not! To me, good integrity is keeping your word, and putting others ahead of yourself, among other things.
Could I really live a pure life while I was so focused on myself when there is a whole world of hurting people out there that don't have a clue that they are not living a pure life because they don't have any hope, don't know any better to know that what they are doing is wrong, and have no idea yet that they need the Lord in their lives to help them live a pure life? I think not!
Was always thinking about myself a correct way of thinking? I think not! I should have been thinking about what I could do for the kingdom, and thinking about what I could do for others! I should have been thinking about how I was going to spend my day with the Lord, I should have been thinking about seeking HIS Kingdom (and not mine!), I should have been seeking HIS plans for the day, I should have been seeking HIS righteousness!
Was always thinking about myself a correct way of feeling, not just in the way that I was feeling toward God (like He was my Mr. Fix-it, and right now!), but toward those that are hurting and need way worse than I do from the Lord? No! (Not to mention that it's incredibly selfish!)
Was I acting in RIGHTEOUSNESS??? NO!
Yikes!
Quickly I got on my knees and pleaded with my Father to forgive me for being so selfish and self-centered. I confessed to Him that I had not been seeking His Kingdom and Righteousness like He intended for us to seek it. (Like, He already knew this too, being He knows all, sees all, is EVERYWHERE, but I'm sure He just wanted to hear it out of my mouth!)
I confessed that I had managed to make it 'all about me', instead of 'all about Him'. Then I asked Him to help me to become a better servant by TRULY seeking first His Kingdom and Righteousness and letting HIM add the rest to me, instead of me dogging Him day and night for what I wanted!
I asked Him to give me more of His heart so that I could focus more on the needs of others, just like He did when He walked the earth, and like He still is doing even today!
And I learned to be patient with what it is that I think that I need. After all, He does know what we are in need of! He will make sure that we get what we need when the time is right!
Church, I really just want to encourage you, that when you are seeking the face of God, to seek Him with everything that you've got! After all, He deserves our FULL attention on Him after He gave His FULL EVERYTHING for us at Calvary!
I want to encourage you to TRULY seek His Kingdom and Righteousness first before anything else! We don't need to worry about the rest! He already promised us that He would take care of us, take care of the rest! We don't need to focus on ourselves at all! He takes care of that part!
We should be focused on how we can reach a hurting world for Christ! We should be focused on what we can do for Him, not what He can do for us!
Go on, get more focused on Him! You really don't have anything to lose but yourself!
To be continued.....
Rev. Mary Scanlon
"Reaching out to a hurting world by teaching the TRUTH of FREEDOM in JESUS CHRIST!"
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"Reaching out to a hurting world by teaching the TRUTH of FREEDOM in JESUS CHRIST." - Rev. Mary Scanlon
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