I love fresh! Fresh fruit, fresh sheets, fresh air...a fresh look on my website. Which is why I recently gave the site a new look. And I do love it, except . . .
See those bare pickins in the recent post feed at the bottom of the screen? Yep, that’s because my old blog isn’t compatible with this new one. There’s a total disconnect between the old and the new. It’s as though the record of what’s been done in the past has been wiped clean. Like it never happened at all.
Oh, the woes of modern technology! And yet . . .
If only I could have such a complete disconnect of past wrongful deeds from current memory feeds.
If only I didn’t carry forward those things best left behind. And not just my own past failures, but those of others, as well.
Blessed, indeed, are the merciful and forgiving.
Paul knew it. He told the Christians in Philippi, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:13b-14). He determined that nothing behind would come between him and His Lord—and rightfully so!
The things we allow to chain us to the past keep us from fully taking hold of Christ. It tethers us to shame, as opposed to forgiveness . . . freedom.
How often I have been my own worst enemy. Not only by refusing to let go of those things atoned for and forgiven in my life by Jesus, but from the healing and peace that comes from forgiving others who have wounded me. But God has made a way for us to be free of those binding burdens. His desire is for us to live in the freedom Jesus has won for us. There’s no denying, however, that we are often tempted to feel shame and regret toward our own past, or anger and bitterness toward others.
But if a Holy God can cast our forgiven sins behind Him, who am I to do otherwise?
The only things of the past that should be brought forward and remembered are God’s deeds of mercy and grace. Those things that evoke thanksgiving, worship, praise, and joy. They serve as a foundation of faith. Everything builds upon them—including lessons learned that add to faith, hope, and character.
Rather than being tethered to what lies behind, shouldn’t we tether ourselves to the eternal? Because haven’t we been removed from one, temporal kingdom and placed in an eternal one? Therefore, the things of the kingdom of Christ should be the things I carry forward into my daily feed.
Yes, this experience is ripe with spiritual and relational application. I can consider it the good that comes from the disappointing. And I can pray that memories of past offenses—my own and those of others—is wiped as clean as the history no longer found here.
Q: What plays on repeat in your mind that you want wiped from your “feed”? How do you "disconnect"?
Amen! It is, indeed, powerful and living!
Thanks for the visit and for sharing an encouraging word!
Such good, powerful truths here! I'm well familiar with the mind replay.. it can be such a challenge. I've found the best way to overcome the battle with the mind, is to fill it with Truth instead. Whatever it is I'm struggling to let go of- if I can fill my head with God's Word, it changes my perspective, and usually my attitude too! God's Word always works!