"THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS........" (Romans 8:1)
CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN!!!!
I have to tell you what I sensed from the Lord this morning in church. It's something that I learned a good while ago, but He wanted to remind me so I could pass it along to you! As we were in worship and celebrating His resurrection I was asking the Lord what He wanted to say to us today. This is what I heard:
"Today needs to be a complete day of celebration. A COMPLETE day of remembering victories."
And then the download hit.
What God was saying to me was that there were people struggling with things they had recently done which resulted in sin. Now while we need to repent of sin in our lives, we also tend to beat ourselves up for falling short. I used to do this, too. I'd do something really stupid that I knew didn't please the Lord and then carry it around all day even after I had asked for forgiveness. There were many times when I would even say in my spirit, "God, I don't know why You say you'll forgive me when I don't even want to forgive myself." Praise God He rescued me from that thinking and along with that rescue I've allowed God to continually refine me. The point this morning was that God was showing me that on the day we were celebrating Jesus rising from the grave there were people that couldn't fully celebrate because they were hanging onto the guilt of something they had done. The Lord also said to me, "I'm tired of that" (carrying around the burden of mistakes). "It needs to stop."
God then showed me the joy of the opposite. How when we CHOOSE to not do wrong. When we CHOOSE to follow Him and when we CHOOSE to resist temptation and refuse to give in to the devil, yet we don't remember the victory all day. We will carry around defeat, but not celebrate in the victories. God wants me to tell you to start carrying around your victories throughout the day. Remember the times that you have looked temptation in the face and walked away from it. Remind yourself of that kind of thing throughout the day. Don't blow it off like we often do. GOD DOESN'T BLOW IT OFF! It is a sweet smelling aroma to Him. He doesn't forget it.
So many of us grew up learning that we are just a bunch of sinners who will continue to fall short of the glory of God for as long as we walk in these human bodies. God does not look at us that way. He looks at us as sons and daughters, a "royal priesthood" and gives us the keys to His kingdom. When my children mess up I want them to get over it and move on. Learn the lesson, but let it go and move on. Our heavenly Papa wants that very same thing for His chosen kids.
Yes, sin makes God sad, so keep allowing yourself to be refined, or fine-tuned and if you need to ask for forgiveness, receive it and then move on. In other words don't be ridiculous by carrying an unnecessary burden. Just get over it!!!!!!
Allow your days this Easter season to be full of happiness! That's what God meant when I heard Him say, "TODAY NEEDS TO BE A COMPLETE DAY OF CELEBRATION. A COMPLETE DAY OF REMEMBERING VICTORIES." Now take some time to remember and celebrate YOUR personal victories!!!!
Thanks for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits. I just had to tell you! There are many who needed to hear this today! Oh yea........ and just a minute ago the Lord whispered for me to tell you that He IS YOUR BIGGEST FAN!
"Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings....." (Psalm 17:8
Much love and many blessings,
Mark S
I think you hit the bulls eye with that word Mark. How true those statements are and yet how many years did it take for us to gain that insight? I know personally it took too many years to unlearn the "we're only dirty rags in these human bodies issue". We are so much more effective as believers and warriors for His kingdom when we walk in VICTORY!
ReplyDelete