Do you ever find yourself stuck in an endless loop of thought-disturbing memories from the past that cause deep remorse or even pain? Bad memories can certainly knock the wind out of a person’s sails at times. It sometimes happens to me when I’m most vulnerable, when my mind is trying to retain some semblance of spiritual awareness.
As I go through my daily
activities or pillow my head at night, memories of the past repeat themselves
over and over in my mind like an annoying echo that reverberates harsh sounds affecting
emotions. To me, they resemble recurring
dreams I have had through the years.
These negative memories reflect the troubled years I experienced prior
to meeting Jesus and accepting Him as Lord and Savior.
Scripture tells us, “Old
things shall pass away; behold, all things become new.” I believe these disturbances are meant to
disrupt my relationship with God Almighty and the dependence I have on Him as
my Heavenly Father. It feels like
warfare is going on inside my mind between good and evil, where the Holy Spirit
within me is battling the powers of darkness that seek to create feelings of
defeat and regret rather than the hope I now have in Jesus Christ.
I feel the effects in my inner
person when lingering memories of my past life—when I was away from the Lord—attempt
to remind me of the former person I once was, even though I am no longer that
person today. The born-again experience
I had when I surrendered my life to Jesus made all the difference in how I now
respond to life, compared to the days when I walked apart from God.
A person who has been made new
in Christ and set free from sin through God’s saving grace knows exactly what
positive changes that have taken place in their life and the miracles
experienced when God forgave their sins—new desires, new goals, and a new
life. Because of Jesus, the old person
fades quickly in the light of God’s glory when the burden of sin has been
lifted from weary shoulders, bringing peace to a soul where there was once
none.
This transformation from death
unto life— “the new birth”—includes forgiveness for all sins committed while a
person was away from God doing their own thing.
The accuser, the enemy of our soul, the spirit of darkness, would have
us dredge up the old nature that God set us free from, doing everything
possible to make us focus on the things God has already forgiven.
But Christians are much
stronger than our adversary wants us to believe. He tries to hide the fact that believers are
Spirit-filled and endued with power from on high. He clouds our judgment with negative thoughts
and keeps the mind occupied with painful memories, but only if we give in to
the deception. He knows that when we
resist him, he must flee, because Scripture says so.
When we walk in the Spirit, Satan
is no longer the master deceiver over our lives. The Spirit of God reveals how subtle past
memories can attempt to deceive us and steal our victory. Yet God gives us the power to overcome the
temptation of dwelling on old sins, old desires, and old habits.
1 John 4:4 tells us: “You,
dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in
you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
We are sons and daughters of
the Most High God. We have the Holy
Spirit within us to keep echoes from the past from consuming our thoughts or
disturbing the abundant life God provided through Jesus, His Son.
When we were liberated at the
cross, we were set free from self-condemnation over past sins because of God’s
grace. The Lord prevents bad memories
from haunting a person’s mind when they cast their cares upon Him. He wants us to walk in total freedom and
gives us liberty to reject negative thoughts that consume the precious time we
have with Him.
When we give Him our all,
feelings of remorse are cast away as we plead the blood of Jesus over our
lives. Past memories cease to invade the
sanctity of the hearts of those who have been set free by God’s mercy.
No one has the ability to go
back in time to redo or change things that God has so graciously forgiven. We need only believe that ALL shortcomings
and ALL acts committed against God are under the blood of Jesus.
The past is in the past; let
us leave it there. Our present and
future victories revolve around the new beginning God promised when we invite
Jesus into our hearts—the born-again experience.
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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