Vanish!

Verse: Psalms 103:12
"...as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

One cold winter evening my husband and I lit a fire in the fireplace. As the wood burned we occasionally threw in a bank statement or other piece of paper that had sensitive information on it. Then we would watch it go up in flames and turn into ashes. The next day in bible study the group sang, 'In the Presence of Jehovah' by Cathy Goddard. Some of the lyrics in the chorus of that song are, '...troubles vanish, hearts are mended...' The word in the chorus of that song that caught my attention was the word 'vanish.' I thought back to the night before, after the fire was extinguished no trace of the paperwork was left, except for the ashes. However, it occurred to me that even the ashes could be swept up and taken outside to vanish in the wind, never to be seen again. Similarly, the Lord is to our sins what the wind is to the ashes; with one word from Him our sins are removed.

Through Jesus' sacrifice and our repentance, He does remove our sins far from us with no traces remaining (Isaiah 1:18). It is amazing that when we genuinely ask for forgiveness our sins are gone, removed, cleansed, they vanish. At http://www.dictionary.com/ the definition for vanish includes, ‘to become invisible, to disappear by ceasing to exist, to become zero.’ If we really stop to think about how our Heavenly Father forgives our sins it is astonishing. Our offenses, insults, and disobedience that cause heartache; or more specifically cause His heart to ache are gone; they ‘become zero.’ They are not counted against us, and the very person whose heart aches because of our sins is the very same person who forgives us and removes our sins entirely. Only a mighty God could do that.

Since He has forgiven us so completely, we don’t have to continue rehashing past mistakes. We can let go and let God forgive, and then rest in His forgiveness. Peace comes when we believe, by faith, in his total forgiveness.

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does!

Prayer: You are great and amazing O Lord! Thank you for your faithfulness and forgiveness.

Read More: 1 John 1:9, and Colossians 1:21-22.

Action Plan: During your prayer time today confess your sins to Him and lay your mistakes at His feet. Make a decision not to pick them up again. Regret can be debilitating, to combat regret memorize 1 John 1:9 to use against Satan when he tries remind you of past mistakes.

If God has put something on your heart and you feel comfortable sharing it, make a comment and let us know what it is. We can encourage each other by bearing one another's burdens and praying.

I Will! I Think!?!

Verse: Hebrews 12:25

"See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?"

I came to a scary realization recently. I have inadvertently been telling God, 'no.' I had been wanting to have daily prayer time. I knew God wanted me to have one as well. Yet, when my alarm would go off I would push the snooze button for a few more minutes of sleep. That would end up taking more time than I had anticipated, then I wouldn't have time to pray. Sometime later that day I would tell God, 'I will do it tomorrow for sure,' but somehow I would wind up repeating that cycle again.

When we say to ourselves, I will go to church on Sunday, or I will pray, or I will go to Sunday School, or I will stop participating in... yet, we don't follow our declaration with immediate action to actually go and do the things we have stated we will do, that is the same thing as saying, 'No' to our Heavenly Father. Often we deceive ourselves with our own good intentions. We can be absolutely adamant and determined to do what we have said to ourselves that we will do, however, if our actions that follow that declaration are contrary to our decisions then in reality we are saying to God, 'No, wait, later, not yet,' and even 'I won't.'

We mean well when we make these statements and declarations, but it is just talk if our actions don't support our decisions. True repentance and devotion will include the appropriate actions that were preceded by our thoughts and words.

The Lord Almighty-He is the King of glory!

Prayer:
God forgive me. Help me take steps toward repentance by doing what I have said I will do.

Read More:
Matthew 26:41

Plan of Action:
What kinds of things are you wanting to do to draw closer to God?

If God has put something on your heart and you feel comfortable sharing it make a comment and let us know what it is. We can encourage each other by bearing one another's burdens and praying.

Hello and Welcome!

This blog was created because I felt God was trying to help me understand concepts in His word more deeply. So, for several months I have been writing down some of the things, little tidbits, that He has shown me. Then I had a thought. Perhaps these tidbits might help or encourage someone else, but I wasn’t sure how to go about sharing these things. Then, very recently, God brought blogging to my attention. I have to say I have no experience with this, and technology can be a bit scary, but I am willing to give it a shot if it can encourage someone else. So now, I am inviting you to be a part of this experience. Please feel free to read, discuss, and comment on these posts. Or just read, contemplate, and share them with someone else. My plan is to start slow; I will add a new post/devotion every month.

You may follow the posts by becoming a ‘follower,' which will send any new posts to your e-mail address, or it can be added to your favorites list. Just type in the link in the web address line and click add to favorites. Now, with one click you can pull it up and see if anything new has been added, or comments have been made.

I look forward to sharing this experience with you!

Have a great day, and Be Encouraged!
Darlene

'... the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.'
Psalms 111:4