牧者心聲  Pastor's Message

04/19/2009


      One of the coolest things about being a Christian is that we have an instruction book on how to live our lives: the Bible. In this Book, we not only have directions, but we have many examples already set out before us that we can easily follow. One such example is found in Jeremiah 31:34. The Lord said, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." God here sets out a great example for us to follow. The first is that God forgives, and we as Christians should do the same. I can point out countless Scriptures and examples in the Bible where these basic instructions are demonstrated and given. Forgive others as God has forgiven you.

      The second example found in this Scripture in Jeremiah is that God “remembers our sin no more” and we as Christians should do the same. This one is perhaps more difficult than the first, but we should be diligent as Christians and follow God’s example. God forgets our sins, and we as Christians should do the same. Get forgiven by God, and then forget about it, don’t think on those sins any more. They are gone. God washed them away, hurled all of them into the depths of the ocean (Micah 7:19), and then forgot about them. You should do the same. There are countless benefits to forgetting our sins. First, it gives God the recognition He deserves for taking away our sins. Second, when we constantly remember our sins, we can be in danger of reliving our sins over and over again in our minds (Matthew 5:28). And lastly, it just brings us down to dwell on our sins instead of the awesomeness of God! Paul puts it this way: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)



      Be blessed this week as we follow God and live our lives of restoration with Christ in us!

      Brother John