Silencing Past Sins

Someone recently reminded me of a conversation I had many moons ago. I don’t recall it-to the point that I question, “Did I really say that?” What I do remember was my heart-stance at that time & it didn’t align with the accusation.

Regardless, I let the conversation aching that I may have said those things & aching more that they were brought to present like arrows within earshot of my sons🥲

Satan is known as the accuser & he loves to use our past sin to keep us locked up in bondage with cuffs of shame & guilt. I know that the blood of Jesus fully washes us of ALL of it, but what do we do with the memories that can seep in like a mist in our minds? 

I spent the remainder of that day ruminating about the past, leaving a wide, open door for the enemy to continue to accuse me of the forgotten words.

Revelation 12:11 has a powerful Truth that I keep in my arsenal of spiritual weaponry. John writes of a time when “the accuser will be thrown down to earth” and the ones he has accused will defeat him, “by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of their testimony.”

The blood of the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ, was shed so that our past sins would be silenced! AND the 2nd part of the equation is just as important: we foil the enemy’s attempts by the word of our mouths! The root word for “testimony” literally means, “speaking to a conclusion.”

We can knead our past sins like dough, thinking & spinning & wishing that we’d done things different OR we can walk in the powerful Truth that the blood was enough AND vanquish the enemy through the spoken word of our mouths.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the enemy is NOT omniscient! He cannot read our thoughts, so thinking prayer, pondering Biblical Truth is far less effective than our spoken word!

Father, the blood of the Lamb was sacrificed for us! We are wretched sinners only saved by Your grace! Remind us to adhere to Truth like super glue & proclaim it out loud for all enemy operatives to hear! May we sing like a songbird set free proclaiming your all encompassing love that silences Satan’s sad attempts to keep us bound by past sin! We are forgiven! We are set free! Bondage no more, Father, let it be!👊🏽

#OneYearBible

December 21st One Year Bible Readings

💡ZECHARIAH 1:1-21

💡REVELATION 12:1-17

💡PSALM 140:1-13

💡PROVERBS 30:17

Here’s a song to our words to your testimony 👊🏽

Sometime Getting Back on Track Inst a Good Thing

I saw this picture of a broken down railroad track yesterday & had an immediate thought:

“Sometimes, ‘getting back on track’ Isn’t a good thing. The quality of ‘good’ is dependent upon the quality of the track & we may altogether need a new one!”

I’ve often pondered the building of the Transcontinental Railroad & how they conquered such a feat pre-so many modern day tools & tech? With its completion, transcontinental travel reduced from months to mere days & the cost fell from $1,000 to $150 per trip!

Although the benefits were substantial, the “iron horse” plowed its way through Native American lands & left ramshackle settlements filled with gambling, prostitution & violence in its wake.

This track brought benefits, but was the cost in making it worth the return?

Living in America is amazing! I’m so grateful for the entrepreneurial people that laid the foundations of our country & inspire many to walk in the same pioneering passion!

The catch, however, is that oftentimes we will lay our tracks in a way that God didn’t intend. We do all the right things to “succeed” & yet the success we chase becomes like an illusive dream-the more we try to take hold of it, the further it fades from our grasp.

Regardless of where we go or how we’ve arrived, one thing is certain: We can never escape from the hovering Spirit of God!

Psalm 139 reminds us that we can:

•Go up to heaven or down to the grave & God is there!

•Ride the wings of the morning or dwell by the farthest oceans & His hand will guide us if we’ll let Him!

•Ask the darkness to hide us, but the Light of His Presence expels all of it!

The end is my favorite to pray because here’s what I know to be true:

I can have the best-laid intentions when I lay the tracks of my life, but what happens if I laid them in the wrong direction? 

“Getting back on track” would continue to take me further from the future God intended! Not only that, I just might plow people down in the process & leave ramshackle settlements in my wake 😳

Oh Father, search us & know our hearts! Test us & bring anything that causes anxiety to the surface. Point out anything in us that offends You & lead us on the tracks of everlasting life!

#OneYearBible #goals

December 20th One Year Bible Readings

💡HAGGAI 1:1-2:23

💡REVELATION 11:1-19

💡PSALM 139:1-24

💡PROVERBS 30:15-16

Sometimes Rejection is God’s Protection

My friend has a phrase that catches me off guard every time she says it:

Sometimes rejection is simply God’s protection.  

Rejection may protect us from harmful circumstances or it can also become a catalyst to humbly seek God for protection. I have seen the Truth of this played out as a bystander in her life, but I’ve recently gained a deeper understanding of it.

Experiencing rejection, whether through close relationships or hard circumstances, like being denied for a career opportunity or losing a bid on a house, is hard. The past few months have afforded me the unique opportunity to simultaneously experience the accusation of rejection along with actually being rejected.

Last night I did something I don’t think I’ve ever done in all the years of reading my One Year Bible. I read the passages for the next day. I was searching for Truth that would minister like salve in the hurt places of my heart.

As I read Psalm 138 I was reminded that God’s promises are backed by HIS name! His Word is always steadfast & true. It made me wonder if sometimes we experience rejection so we might turn for protection by the Only One who will never reject us?

Rejection sets the stage with foundation planks of humility, reminding us not only of our great need OF Him, but increasing our desire FOR Him.

I heard a song this morning by Jonathan McReynolds called, “God is Good” that speaks to the hurting heart:

May your struggles keep you near the cross

And may your troubles show that you need God

And may your battles end the way they should

And may your bad days prove that God is good

And may your whole life prove that God is good

As I listened I giggled & thought, “Sometimes I think this whole life is a grand set up by our good God...” Our parents let us down, we let our children down, our friends let us down, but God let’s it happen. He loves us too much to make us follow Him, but I wonder if rejection is a catalyst that leads us to Him for protection?

Hard things keep us near the cross, to remind us that we NEED God more than approval of anything or anyone...yes, maybe rejection is protection because it humbles us & causes us to draw near & remember that God is indeed good!

#OneYearBible

December 19 One Year Bible Readings

💡Zephaniah 1:1-3:20

💡Revelation 10:1-11

💡Psalm 138:1-8

💡Proverbs 30:11-14