2023-11-06
John 19:30 NIV
One of Christ’s last declarations from the cross was, “It is finished.” That phrase comprises just one word in Greek, tetelestai, meaning “paid in full.” It was the word merchants wrote on a bill when it was canceled. It was also the word stamped on a document announcing that a prison sentence had been commuted. Jesus paid the price in full for every sin you have ever committed! “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV).
The question is, if God forgets your sin the second you confess it, don’t you think you should forget it too? How long do you think about an invoice you have paid? You forget it the minute you have paid it. Similarly, since Christ has paid your bill in full, you don’t need to remember it anymore. Paul, who once described himself as “chief among sinners” (See 1 Timothy 1:15), wrote, “Forgetting what is behind… I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward” (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV).
We can short-circuit God’s power in our lives by not trusting that He has truly forgiven us or by deciding not to forgive ourselves. Why do we do that? Sometimes because of how we were raised. Our parents told us, “I forgive you,” but they constantly brought it up. Good news: Your heavenly Father is different from your earthly parents. When He forgives your sin, He expunges your record, cancels your past, can’t remember it, doesn’t talk about it, and will never bring it up again. So, today accept His forgiveness. And if you need to, forgive yourself and move on.
Soul food: Ezra 6-8; John 7:33-44; Ps 86; Prov 25:8-12
2023-11-05
Jeremiah 31:34 NLT
Have you ever watched children playing with an Etch A Sketch? If they make a mess of the picture, all they have to do is turn it over to erase it; then they can start all over again. This is how God handles the mistakes you have made; He wipes the slate clean. “I will… remember their sins no more” (v. 34 NIV). This has to be one of the most wonderful statements in the Bible – that “God forgets.”
When we admit our sins and ask God to forgive us, He cancels our past. He chooses to forget our wrongs, errors, and failures. Even if we died tonight, stood before God in heaven, and asked Him about a sin we committed yesterday, He would say, “What sin?” When you deny your sin, you deny God the joy of forgiving you. When you try to excuse your sin, God permits the consequences to become so painful that you will want to turn from it. But when you confess your sin, “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NIV).
The Prodigal Son broke his father’s heart, squandered his inheritance, and ended in a pigpen. But his is a comeback story! His turnaround began with these words: “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself… ‘I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned”‘” (Luke 15:17-18 NLT). And what his father did for him, God will do for you today.
Soul food: Joel 2:12-32; Mark 9:2-27
Jeremia 31:34 NLV
Het jy al ooit kinders wat met ‘n swartbord en kryt speel, dopgehou? As hulle ‘n gemors van hulle prentjie maak, hoef hulle dit net uit te vee en oor te begin. Dis hoe God die foute wat jy in die verlede gemaak het, hanteer. Hy vee die lei skoon. ‘…Ek sal al hulle oortredings en hulle sondes vergewe. Ek sal nooit eers weer daaraan dink nie.’
Dit moet een van die wonderlikste stellings in die Bybel wees – dat God nooit eers weer aan ons sondes dink nie. Wanneer ons ons sondes erken en God vra om ons te vergewe, kanselleer Hy ons verlede. Hy kies om al ons verkeerde dade, foute en mislukkings te vergeet. Selfs as ons vanaand sou sterf, voor God in die hemel staan en Hom vra oor ‘n sonde wat ons gister gepleeg het, sou Hy sê: ‘Watter sonde?’
Wanneer jy jou sonde ontken, ontneem jy God van die vreugde om jou te vergewe. Wanneer jy jou sonde probeer verskoon, laat God toe dat die nagevolge daarvan so pynlik word dat jy daarvan wil wegdraai. Wanneer jy egter jou sonde bely: ‘…Hy is betroubaar en regverdig om ons sondes te vergewe en ons skoon te maak van elke verkeerde optrede’ (1 Johannes 1:9 NLV).
Die Verlore Seun het sy pa se hart gebreek, sy erfgeld uitgemors en in ‘n varkhok opgeëindig. Hy het egter sy lewe omgedraai! Sy lewe het weer met die volgende woorde begin: “Toe hy uiteindelik tot sy sinne kom, het hy vir homself gesê: ‘…Ek sal huis toe gaan na my pa toe en sê: Pa, ek het gesondig teen sowel die hemel as teen Pa'” (Lukas 15:17-18 NLV). Wat sy pa vir hom gedoen het, sal God ook vandag vir jou doen.
Sielskos: Joël 2:12-32; Mark 9:2-27
2023-11-04
Kolossense 2:14 NLV
Jesus ‘…het die dokument met voorskrifte wat as klagstaat teen ons gedien het, uitgevee en dit van ons af weggevat deur dit aan die kruis vas te spyker.’ Die woord ‘uitvee’ beteken om iets te verwyder, te neutraliseer of te verreken.
Het jy al ooit gevoel jy wil oor begin nadat jy al ver met ‘n projek gevorder het? Veronderstel jy is amper klaar om die sitkamer te verf, maar toe jy terugstaan, lyk die kleur op die mure glad nie soos die kleur op die kleurkaart nie. Jy wens jy kan dit oor doen. Baie van ons voel so oor die lewe. Mislukkings, probleme, slegte besluite – ons almal het al daaronder gely.
Sommige mense kan egter nie die verlede laat gaan nie en gevolglik laat hulle toe dat hulle verlede hulle toekomstige geleenthede beperk. Hulle lewe in ‘n konstante staat van spyt en treur aanhoudend: ‘As ek dit net nie gedoen het nie,’ of ‘As ek maar net hierdie veranderinge gemaak het.’ Hulle word deur pynlike herinneringe geteister. ‘Ek het dit verspil en gaan die res van my lewe daarvoor betaal.’
Jy mag kies om skuldgevoelens saam te dra, maar jy hoef dit nie te doen nie! Die oomblik wat jy jou vertroue in Christus plaas, vee Hy die klagstaat van jou verlede uit. Jy het inderwaarheid nie meer ‘n verlede nie, jy het slegs ‘n toekoms! Jy kan vir eens en vir altyd jou swaar las van skuldgevoelens, seerkry en herinneringe aan foute neerlê. Jesus het ‘…dit van ons af weggevat deur dit aan die kruis vas te spyker.’ God het belowe om jou sondes uit te wis en nie weer daaraan te dink nie (sien Jesaja 43:25). Jy moet ook nie!
Sielskos: Esra 3-5; Joh 7:25-32; Ps 96; Spr 25:1-7
Colossians 2:14 NLT
Jesus “canceled the record of the charges against us… by nailing it to the cross.” The word “cancel” means to remove, to neutralize, to offset something.
Have you ever gotten most of the way through a project and wished you could start over? Suppose you were painting the den, and you stepped back and looked at the color on the sample chart. On the wall, however, it doesn’t look the same. You wish you could redo it. Many of us feel that way about life, as one author describes it: “‘I’ve made so many mistakes. I wish I could just wipe them out and start over.’ Failures, problems, bad decisions – we have all suffered from them.
But some people can’t let go of the past, and as a result, they let their past limit their present opportunities. They live in a constant state of regret, continually lamenting, ‘If only I hadn’t done that’ or ‘If only I had made these changes.’ They repeatedly second-guess themselves. And they are tormented by painful memories. ‘I blew it, and I’m going to be paying for it for the rest of my life.'”
You may choose to carry guilt, but you don’t have to! The moment you put your trust in Christ, He “cancels the record” of your past. Actually, you no longer have a past, you only have a future! You can lay down, once and for all, your heavy load of guilt, old hurts, and memories of mistakes. Jesus, “took it away by nailing it to the cross.” God has promised to “blot out your sins… and will never think of them again” (Isa 43:25 NLT). You must too!
Soul food: Ezra 3-5; John 7:25-32; Ps 96; Prov 25:1-7
