By: Lisa Wilmore
To the saints of God,
I greet you in the only name that matters and that name is Jesus the Christ. I exalt him for who he is and what he has done for me. Scriptures remind us that “God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”(Philippians 2:9-11). I am grateful for God’s love which is extended as wide as it is high, and is high as it is deep. His love brought me to the “marvelous light” and gives me chance after chance to get it right.
God desires the best for us, his children, but sometimes we fail miserably at pleasing him. In essence, we say things we should not say, we do things we should not do and we detour from his path and direction for our lives. But his love is so deep that He forgives what we think is unforgivable. Remember, we can never get so low that he can not reach us.
This week’s message deals with God’s love versus people who cannot forget your past. Isn’t it strange that God forgives what others won’t forget? People will try to hold us hostage to past failures when God has set us free from all “pits and ditches” we fell into at some point of our lives.
As I encounter certain people who I have not seen in many years, I am always reminded by them of what occurred in my younger days. But what amazes me is that I am drawn into my past and begin to ponder in my mind what my life was like before God saved me through his son Jesus. At that point, I make a concious effort and refuse to be placed in bondage due to people’s unwillingness and inability to forget what God has already forgiven. My hope is that all followers of Jesus Christ will develop the mindset that no one can hold your past mistakes over your head.
Listen, my friends, Paul wrote in Ephesians that “God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that we have been saved” (2:5 GNT).
