Friday, September 19, 2014
A fellow preacher I know was traveling on the highway to an out of town engagement one day when he was stopped by a highway patrolman for speeding. He acknowledged the same to the officer but when he revealed he was a minister, the policeman not only gave him a ticket but also berated him for being a bad example and a smear to all men of the cloth. After a few minutes into the cop’s lecture, my friend could no longer contain himself and told him, “If you’re going to hand me a ticket that’s fine, but don’t give me a lecture as well. Please do one or the other.” The officer quickly left in a huff. The devil, and today’s society are like that also. Even after one has paid his debt for the crime, they never forget and always keep throwing those past mistakes in our face. What makes this matter worse is that we often tend to believe the negative things that are said about us and continue to beat ourselves up about it.
There was a song a few years ago by a young man named Morgan Cryar entitled “What Sin?” The song speaks about a person who just can’t seem to forget and shake himself free from a certain sin of the past. He begs for his sin to be washed and the Lord replies: “What sin, what sin? That’s as far away as the East is from the West. It was gone the very minute you confessed, buried in the sea of forgetfulness.” These are more than just sweet comforting words; they are promises taken directly from the Word of God. (See Psalm 103:12 and 1 John 1:9)
If you find yourself in the same situation as the person in the song, you can shake yourself free today. Whether it is someone in your life that keeps reminding you of one or more of your past transgressions, or whether it is you yourself, you should know who the real source of these haunting accusations is. It is the devil himself; that’s what he does, and the reason the Bible refers to him as the “accuser of the brethren.” However, and because of Christ, he is like a lion without teeth. Revelation12:10 says: “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” God’s children are instructed to confess their sins to Him. When they do that ,the Lord will faithfully forgive and cleanse them. The sooner they do it, the sooner they will be clean and free. If you should forget, and keep asking the Lord afterwards to wash that same sin, He will also ask you, “What sin?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-v5CgNV_8c
Memory verse for the week: (Philippians 3:8 NLT) “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ.”
