Turn the Page
by Jill Southern
This advice from God’s word in our scripture for today has stood the test of time. The past is just that ... the past.
God’s sent Jesus to us so we don’t have to live our lives imprisoned by our past. We’ve all made wrong decisions, and said, and done, wrong things. Maybe we’ve failed in relationships, failed our parents, or failed ourselves. This scripture is encouraging us today to not allow ourselves to get bogged down by our past failures.
We may have to say sorry to the Lord and to others, but we shouldn’t dwell on our past in such a way that it stops us moving forward into the future God has for us. Many of us spend our adult lives trying to come to terms with what happened in the past. We can have an emotional ‘limp’ from our past hurts, or broken hearts. We need to get the healing of Jesus for our inner pain and make sure that our past hurts don’t become our identity.
Dwelling on our past can hold us back from spiritual growth and walking fully in our healing and destiny. Today we can rise to the challenge of this scripture and say to ourselves “With God’s help, I’m going to move on from my past. I’m going to stop torturing myself about what I did or didn’t do”. This is a good day to stop being chained to my past failures. God doesn’t want us to go through life branding ourselves as failures. On the cross Jesus died so we could be fully forgiven, forgive ourselves and forget our failures.
God says ‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more’ (Isaiah 43:25). Do you need to apply the truth of this scripture in your own life today? Accept the forgiveness of Jesus for the very worst thing that you’ve ever done. Forgive yourself, and all those who’ve hurt you in the past, and, with God’s help, turn the page once and for all. Move on in the freedom and blessing God has for you.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the finished work of Calvary. Help me today to forget what is behind me and press on to take hold of my future in You. Hep me to truly turn the page. Amen.
Jill Southern is the founder of Ellel Ministries Pierrepont and directed the work for 21 years. She has recently stood down from that role but still teaches on the NETS programme and has the passion to train and equip God`s people to fully walk in their destiny and calling. She is the Regional Director for Ellel Ministries International in South East Asia and China and is also on the Executive Leadership of the ministry.
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