REDEEMED

"Redeemed! How I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. ..... His child and forever I am." How blessed we are as Believers to know that when we received Jesus as our Saviour, and the Lord accepted us into His family, all of our sins were forgiven- past, present, and future.

We read it in His Word. God has "removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west". No one can measure that distance... because it goes on and on forever. In an instant... like the twinkling of an eye, we were changed into a new creation... with our past washed away and our sins under the blood.

As we continue to walk with the Lord, to hear His word preached, to read it for ourselves, and to fellowship with other believers, our thinking begins to change as our minds are "renewed". The things in life that had seemed so important before our salvation have "dimmed" in comparison to this new life in Christ.

We accepted Jesus. His gift of salvation wiped away our sin. We began to go forward in our Christian walk. God took our sins away... and will never remind us of them again. .. because He has forgiven us. We're a new creature in Christ... but we still remember the past.

We remember all the times we fell short. All the times we did things our own way instead of the right way. We remember the people we have hurt... and those who hurt us as well. We have an enemy... an adversary who takes great delight in reminding us over and over of the mistakes we made.

The devil revels in trying to keep our history "current" and active in our minds. He hasn't forgotten a single detail, and he will do his utmost to see to it that we never forget it either. A person's past can provide a lot of "fuel" for satan to use against us.

As a believer, we should know what is right and what is wrong, and strive to please God in all things. W e have all sinned... and have no merit on our own to be accepted by God... let alone to be loved as He loves us and forgiven as He forgives. It is all because of His mercy and grace that we have been made to be "joint heirs" with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The enemy uses our past to "bog us down"... to keep us from growing and maturing in our walk with the Lord. No matter how many times we confess our mistakes and ask the Lord to forgive us, we can count on satan to bring it up again.

We have to learn to recognize his voice... the voice of the liar satan... a voice that accuses... and demeans... and belittles us.. a voice that is harsh and full of hatred and blame. When we are continually "bludgeoned" with our past sins and made to feel worthless and useless, we can be sure it is the handiwork of the devil. Only the devil wants us to walk in condemnation.

God wants us to learn His promises and His spiritual principles... to apply them to our lives and to grow in the love and nurture of the Lord.

God's voice comes to us gently, lovingly... even when He corrects or punishes us.

If the Lord God can forgive our sins and never bring them up to us again, who are we to "pick them back up" again... to "own them" again... and to allow the enemy to "run roughshod" over us, knowing that the Lord has atoned for all our sins, once and for all?

We must choose to forgive ourselves. We must choose to let go of the past. We have to stop using the mistakes we made long ago as an excuse to keep us from being the Christian God desires us to be.

When the enemy brings up our past, we need to remind him of his future. Our debt has been paid. The enemy has already been defeated. We must choose to live our lives as a victor... and not as a victim. No one can make that choice for us.

We must recognize those who bring up the past that we have confessed and God has forgiven, and tell them that those things no longer apply to our lives. All those bad decisions are "under the blood".. and that's where they must remain.

Accept God's forgiveness. Let go of the past. Forgive those who hurt you... and forgive yourself for the part you played.

Today is a new day. We need to go on with God, and spend our time and energy winning lost souls to Him... instead of "nursing and rehearsing" the same old songs again... and "singing the blues".

Instead we shout have a song of joy in our hearts when we remember the supreme sacrifice Jesus made for us.,and the great Love for us that brought Him to the rugged cross.

All praise and thanksgiving to God for His gift of salvation... and for paying our debt "in full".