143 GOD IS INTERESTED IN YOUR FUTURE,NOT YOUR PAST. Colossians 2;14

Paul tells us in the above Scripture “Jesus cancelled the record of the charges against us... by nailing it to the cross.” The word cancel means to remove, to neutralise or offset something. Have you ever got most of the way through a project and wished you could start over again? Just suppose you were painting the lounge in your home, then you stepped back and looked at the colour on the sample chart. On the wall however, it doesn’t look the same. You wish you could redo it. Many people 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 my life over again. Failures, problems, bad decisions, we have all suffered from them. But some of us can’t let go of the past. We are so afraid of repeating the same or similar mistakes that we fall into the same old pit again, then, get disillusioned and throw the baby out with the bathwater. That’s when we let our past ruin our present opportunities, and we start living like frightened rabbits, we live in a constant state of fear, regret and low self confidence; continually lamenting, “If only I hadn’t done this or that, or if only I had just made these changes,” we repeatedly second-guess ourselves and remain tormented by painful memories. “I blew it, and I’m going to be paying for it for the rest of my life. What will people think of me.” Thoughts such as these plague many of us. Don’t despair, Pray the Holy Spirits presence, listen for His advice and promptings to you in your situation. Make a choice to look up, not down. You may choose to carry guilt, but you really 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 once and for all, lay down your great burden. All that heavy load of guilt and shame, all those hurts, memories and mistakes. Jesus takes them all away, they were nailed to His Cross. In (Isaiah 43:25) God has promised to “Blot out ALL your sins and never think of them again.” And you must do that too. And when they come back to haunt you, repeat a prayer like this:-”Thank you Jesus for taking all my sins, all my shame, all my hurts. Thank you for dying on that cross for me, and allowing me to live the resurrected life you bought for me with your precious blood. Dear God, Please send your Holy Spirit to teach, guide and protect me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” A sincere prayer spoken to your Saviour will touch God’s heart and remove all your guilt and shame, you will be able to approach God like a child approaching his/her Dad’s arms with the confidence, love and security they know they can find there. Have you ever watched children drawing on a slate, if they make a mess of it, they just wipe it out and start again. This is how God handles the mistakes you and I have made, He wipes the slate clean and says… in (Jeremiah 31:34 “I will remember their sins no more.” This has to be one of the most wonderful statements in all the entire Bible – that God chooses to forget. When you admit your sins and ask God to forgive you, He cancels your past. He chooses to forget your errors, your wrongs, your mismanagements and your failures. If you died tonight, stood before God and asked Him about a sin you committed yesterday, He would say “What sin?” When we deny our sin, we deny God the joy of forgiving us. When we try to excuse our sin, God permits the consequences to become so painful; that we will want to turn from it, but when we confess our sin, The Bible says in (1 John 1:9) “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteous.” Every thing we do has a consequence, The word “consequence” literally means “ to equalise or pay back” Good for good, and bad for bad. and in both cases you will get back more than you’ve put in. This is a natural law, which even Jesus spoke several times about in Scripture. The more you give, the more you will get back. The more good we do, the more good will be done for us...When we withhold doing good for someone or do them harm, or evil, it will certainly come back on us, sometimes twice as badly. This is a natural law like the law of gravity. Think about it!! The Prodigal son broke his Father’s heart, squandered his inheritance and ended up in the pig pens. But his is a comeback story! His turnaround began with these words, (Luke 15;17-18 ‘When he finally came to his senses ...he said to himself “I will go home to my father and say ‘Father I have sinned.” And what his father did for him, God will do for you today. In (John 19:30) we read one of Jesus’ final declarations from the cross before He died. “It is finished.” That phrase comprises just one word in Greek “Tetelestai” meaning ‘Paid in full’ It was a word merchants wrote on an account l when it was paid, similar to a receipt to indicate that the transaction was completed. 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 and I have ever committed! And that’s why (Romans 8:1) tells us “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Your sins and mine are fully paid for by Jesus Christ. The question is, If God forgets your sin the moment you confess it, don’t you think you should forget it too? How long do you think about a bill that’s already been paid? Don’t you forget it the moment you’ve paid it?.Similarly, Since Jesus has paid our bill in full, we don’t need to remember it any more. When Paul, wrote to Timothy (Timothy1:15) he once described himself as chief among sinners. When he wrote (Philippians 3:13-14) he wrote “Forgetting what was behind...I press on towards the goal to win the prise for which God has called me Heavenwards.” 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? Maybe it was the way we were raised, maybe our parents told us “I forgive you” but they constantly brought it up. The Good News Is, 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, will never bring it up again. So today accept His forgiveness. And if you need to, forgive yourself and move on. Thank you for reading my thoughts on God’s Interest In Your Future. I hope and pray you trust in His faithfulness to bring us through this crazy world into His everlasting Kingdom. God Bless. Phaline. -------------------------------