You are NOT your Past

Hello beautiful people!

Before we begin today just say this to yourself: “I am not my past.”

As a child of God freed from the bondage of sin, your past may have a funny way of rearing its ugly head in your present, trying to threaten your peace and make you question your entire salvation. It is such a struggle especially when you are a new convert trying to move past your old habits and mistakes. The Bible says there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7) so how do you think the enemy will feel about that? He doesn’t want to lose anyone in his clutches, therefore he will come at you from all angles after you’ve publicly declared that you have repented, by constantly reminding you of your past mistakes and shortcomings every chance he gets. It is even worse when you happen to fall into sin after being born again, oh my! This enemy will try to make you feel unworthy of your heavenly father’s love and make you feel like you’re better off living in sin, forgetting that when God forgives, He remembers our sins no more (Isaiah 43:25). In fact the New Living Translation of this scripture says He will never think of them again.

Unfortunately, after every mistake we make, we don’t remember scriptures like this. Let’s be honest, we don’t even think of God’s love for us in such moments; we think ‘oh I messed up again, God is done with me for real this time.’ We only hear that voice of condemnation and begin to wonder if there’s really any hope for us or if we can ever truly be free.

The good news that I, former sin grandmaster, am here to share with you is that yup, we definitely can be totally free from the clutches of sin when we are in Christ because if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! (John 8:36) I believe the word ‘if’ is used here because there is a condition attached to this freedom; it ONLY comes from Christ, you can never truly be free until He gives you that freedom. I was once fed with the lies of the devil. I was so deep in sexual sin that I had come to accept it as a way of life. I believed it was normal, a part of me and the more I tried to stop, the deeper I would go in. I didn’t know about my father’s love the way I do now, I just thought I was far too gone so I might as well just stay there and keep sinning. You can imagine the hard time I had when I got saved, it was a long hard battle! Remember, the devil knows exactly what our weaknesses are and that’s what he uses against us. Breaking free from years of that sinful lifestyle sure didn’t make him happy, so he would accuse me day and night and even flaunt it in my face to see if I’d come back running but after being washed and cleansed by the superior blood of Jesus, I had decided never to go back.

‘I won’t go back, I can’t go back

To the way it used to be, before your presence came and changed me.’

What really would I have gone back to? The lies? Deception? Fake joy? Temporal pleasure? I was so done with all of that and determined to live for God but it didn’t mean the enemy was going to leave me alone, however I now had a weapon that could always defeat him, which is the word of God. In it we find several ammunition that we can use to destroy his work, only if we believers would open our Bibles and our mouths and apply it! Ephesians 6:11&16 gives us perfect examples of how to come against the evil one.

Whenever you are confronted with your past or the devil tries to guilt trip you, remember that God tells us not to remember the former things and neither consider the things of the old because He said He will do a new thing in our lives. (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Also, remember that in Him you are a new creation, the old things in your life have passed away and everything about you has become new so you are definitely not your past (2 Corinthians 5:7) and finally:

‘We are a chosen generation, called forth to show His excellence…’

We are so special to Him that He has chosen and set us apart to show others His goodness and declare His praises because He’s the one who called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light! (1 Peter 2:9). Don’t think that you are too sinful and shy away from Him, He didn’t die for the righteous and there is a reason why He bought you with such a high price to bring you out of that messy past. I pray that we will all be able to let go of our pasts completely and that the Lord will deliver anyone whose past has a hold on him/her, in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!

God loves you so very much.

Love always,

Mrs. A

If you’re currently going through challenging times and you’d like a listening ear, some encouragement or motivation, please contact me here: talktomrsa@gmail.com

 

YES YOU CAN.

She wept.
She lay on her bed and wept, bitter tears flowing freely down her pretty face.
She was unhappy, tired and frustrated.
A poor orphan girl trying hard to make ends meet, trying hard to make something out of her miserable life.
She was in her first year of Uni and nearly dropped out just a month after her first semester began.
Uni was hard for her. All the books and handouts she had to buy, not to talk of self maintenance.
Self maintenance.
That thought brought more tears to her eyes because that was her major problem.
She saw how the other girls on campus looked, so fashion conscious, so trendy, so classy.
And they had the best hair pieces ever!
She couldn’t even afford to feed herself, how could she think of getting her hair done?
She could ask one of those men.
Those grown men with pot bellies and fat wallets, who always took her out for a meal or two.
But they always raised her hopes and brought them crashing right back down.
They would listen to her story and offer to help, if only she could meet their conditions.
Their sexual conditions.
“Hand go, hand come”, they called it.
But she would have none of that.
She had values, principles and no matter how hard things got for her, she never once relaxed her rules.
Her late mum trained her well.
Maybe she should just end it all and join her parents.
What was she living for anyway?
These evil thoughts first started occurring to her after she found out about her parents’ death.
She felt her death was next too, she had no idea how she was going to survive.
She had no one but a mean grandmother who would disown her if she had her own way.
Her grandmother despised her because she was the offspring from a marriage she disapproved of.
The only offspring too.
She always had a hard time with this old lady, especially when she asked for money.
She would give her a meagre amount that could last up to only a week, and rant if she dared ask for more.
So she stopped asking and that’s how she got involved with those grown men.
Thinking about all these things pushed her to reach for her sleeping pills, which were prescribed for her because she was too traumatised to sleep after the funeral.
She thought of the girl she once trusted, Anna, whom she called her best friend and took the first pill.
Anna spilled all the things she was told in confidence and made her friend an object of ridicule on campus.
“This girl keeps repeating clothes”, people would whisper about her.
She thought of the one boy she really loved, who deceived her, got her pregnant and left her.
She took another pill.
She thought of the painful abortion she had had, during which she nearly lost her life and downed a couple more.
At this point, her mind was filled with negative thoughts only.
She was now convinced that she didn’t deserve to live, that she had to die.
She couldn’t be stopped or saved at this moment.
She emptied the bottle and took the rest of the pills.
A lone tear fell from her right eye as she went back to lay down, waiting for the angel of death to come take her away.
She waited.
Seconds, minutes and hours passed and it was a new day.
She was still alive, much to her disappointment.
She lived.
It must have been a miracle but she lived.
Lived through it all.
She struggled, persevered and endured.
She runs a chain of businesses today.
She owns a hotel, guest houses, hostels, a beauty salon/spa and a school.
She made it and so can you.
Yes, you can.

NEVER GIVE UP!!!