Isaiah 55:6-7 - "Forgiven"

We all have a past with things in it that we wish we wouldn't have done.  Even those who have lived a Christian life can look back and see things.  Some of us have done things that appear worse than others but the thing we must remember is that the Lord forgives us and accepts us when we repent.  Sanctus Real's song "Forgiven" says it so well....

"Im forgiven
And I dont have to carry
The weight of who I've been
Cause Im forgiven"

It totally amazes me how the enemy will bring things up from our past to try to make us feel bad.  He will do it at just the time when we are so low we don't think we can go on.  Or sometimes it's when we are on the mountaintop with our Lord and the enemy wants to make us fall.  No matter what the circumstances we must not allow him any hold on us.  Our God is our Savior.  He is the One to take us back into relationship so we can live a life of victory!  We can know and live as "...a treasure in the arms of Christ..."  Woo hoo!

It's hard to get past junk when you have people reminding you of it.  I have found that's when the Lord puts an opportunity before us to share His redemptive love with them.  Even believers can say hurtful words.  Instead of being silent we must share how the Lord is and continues to work through the negative situation and turn it into a positive.  That is not easy to do but it is possible when we rely on the Lord's strength.

Isaiah 55: 6-7 reads....


⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

When we repent and ask the Lord to forgive, He not only forgives but He also forgets.  We, as human beings, have trouble with the forgetting part.  It doesn't matter if it's something we've done or something someone else has done.  We tend to hold onto things.  We need to follow the Lord's example of letting them go. The phrase "forgive and forget" is not in the Bible but in Hebrews 8:12 Jesus says, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  That's exciting!  This reminds me of something Doc said in Bible study last night about people need to get past the cross in order for the Lord to be more than just their Savior.  When we ask the Lord to forgive us, we must accept His forgiveness and move on.  We have to find ways to turn a negative into a positive.  We also have to not allow the enemy to throw it back in our face over and over.

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for your mercy and grace.  Thank You for Your forgiveness.  Lord, You are so awesome in the way You accept us back when we repent.  I am so grateful for the way You take negative situations and turn them into positive ones.  Lord, I pray for those who are struggling with their past.  I pray You will take them to the place today where they can finally lay their struggles at Your Feet and leave them there.  Lord, You are the One they need to open their eyes to Your mercy.  Thank you Lord for being My Forgiver!  Amen.