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SEA OF FORGETFULNESS Happy New Year! And what a New Year it is! You have
made it through the storms; you overcame when odds were against you.
You came through trials and tribulations that put your
faith in God to the test. Trials that made you weep in the midnight
hour. But look at you now; you made it to another year. It�s
because of Jesus that you made it.
So Stop, Breath, Exhale, it�s a new beginning.
Rise up in this year and claim what is rightfully yours. God
says in His word to forget the former things, neither consider the
things of old. He wants you
to let go and stop remembering the mistakes you made, stop dwelling on
what others did to you. It�s
a New Year, time to forget the past.
God will toss all your past mistakes into the SEA OF FORGETFULNESS�
if you will let Him.
I
stand before you guilty and unworthy And all the things I�ve done The Lord brought this song to my remembrance after I had minister to a young lady who was going through so much that she believed God was holding her past sins against her, even though she had repented. She felt as though Jesus was going back into her past and reminding her of every sin she had committed, and was telling her to stop praying because things were not going get any better. The enemy had her convinced that no matter how much she prayed that God wasn�t blessing her because of past sins. I quickly reminded her of what the Word of God says and gave her some scriptures to meditate on.
God
that was reminding her of her sins, and causing her to miss her
blessing. She couldn�t
see how dwelling on her sins, and talking about them all the time had
anything to do with her not being blessed.
The Word says;
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: (Pro
23:7). Each
time she thought she was a failure, she was.
Each time she thought she wasn�t going to be blessed, she
wasn�t. If we don�t
change the way we think the enemy will hold us in bondage forever, and
God�s word will never be filled in our lives Into
the Sea of Forgetfulness, as far as the east from the west, Seventy
times seven You�ve forgiven me
God�s Word is faithful and
true, He watches over His word to perform it. His Word says He will be
merciful and remember our sins no more. So why do we keep reminding Him
of them? One of the primary times that we get defeated in our daily
living is when we allow the enemy to remind us of our sins. We allow him
to play our past sins over and over in our minds as if they are movie
videos, and we are watching a new release.
Why would you allow him to do this, and why do you want to remind
God of your failures and defeats? Doing
this will only make your weary, stressed and depressed.
You should be reminding yourself that you are a child of the King
and you are too blessed to be depressed.
The scripture says in Psalm 103:12 that God has put our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west. This is a statement of infinity. After we confess our sins, God no longer remembers your sins. When you gave your life to the Lord you became a new creature in Christ. 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. God only sees us through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are made whole and righteous in His eyes. We have been completely forgiven because of the blood His Son shed for us. It�s not the Lord that is causing you to remember, it�s the enemy.
Into the sea of forgetfulness, You placed all of my sin
How do I defeat the enemy when he brings up my past? Well for one thing, don�t hold a conversation with him. You know how to tell someone to talk to the hand when you don�t want to hear what they are saying. Well, what�s wrong with you doing that to the enemy? Put your hand up!!!! Let him know you don�t have time to talk to him. If he wants to talk to someone send him to Jesus. The battle belongs to the Lord, not you, so get out of God�s way and let Him do His work!
You welcome me with open arms of mercy
We
all know people who say they have forgiven us, but their forgiveness is
only verbal. They still resent and have anger in their heart towards you
for what you did. They hold on to it and will still mention it to who
ever will listen to them, which creates a wall between them and the
person who has sought their forgiveness. But God�s forgiveness is
perfect, there are no walls between you and Him because He refuses to
remember the sins you confess. You have a clear record, for when you
repented He placed your sins in the �Sea of Forgetfulness, and forgave
you completely. My
debts have all been paid, And they have all been washed away, I
don�t know about you, but I had some things in my past that I NEEDED
thrown in the �Sea of Forgetfulness.� I am so grateful that Jesus
Christ has placed my sins in that sea, and He will do the same for you,
if you ask Him to. He
will cast them into the sea, not near the shore-side, where they may be
washed on shore again, but into the depth of the sea, never to rise
again. When
God forgives sin He remembers them no more, and takes care that it shall
never be remembered anymore against the sinner. God
will throw your sins in the Sea of Forgetfulness and place a sign there
that reads, �No
Fishing Allowed�. So once and for all stop trying to fish where God
has told you not to.
Psalm
25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according
to thy mercy remember Thank
you Lord for placing my sins into the
The 491st Time Lisa
sat on the floor of her old room, staring at the box that lay in front
of her. It was an old shoebox that she had decorated to become a memory
box many years before. It had been three years since Lisa last opened
the box. A sudden move to Boston had kept her from packing it. But now
that she was back home, she remembered the items in the box, lingering
over the sweetest, until she came to the last and only painful memory.
She knew what it looked like--a single sheet of paper upon which lines
had been drawn to form boxes, 490 of them to be exact. And each box
contained a check mark, one for each time. the story behind it.......... "How
many times must I forgive my brother?" the disciple Peter had asked
Jesus. "Seven times?" Lisa's Sunday school teacher had read
Jesus' surprise answer to the class. "Seventy times seven." "How
many times is that?" she whispered. Brent, though two years
younger, was smarter than she was. "Four hundred and ninety,"
Brent wrote on the corner of his Sunday school paper. Lisa saw the
message, nodded, and sat back in her chair. He bordered on being a nerd,
but his incredible skills at everything, especially music, made him
popular with his classmates. His music teachers said he'd be a famous
musician someday. Lisa's attention came back to her Sunday school
teacher as the woman finished the lesson and closed with prayer. That
same Sunday afternoon found brother and sister playing basketball in the
driveway. It was then that the counting had begun. Brent was guarding
Lisa as she dribbled toward the basket. He had tried to bat the ball
away, got his face near her elbow, and took a shot on the chin. "Ow!�
he cried out and turned away. Lisa
saw her opening and drove to the basket, making an easy lay-up. She
gloated over her success but stopped when she saw Brent. "You
okay?� she asked. Brent shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry,"
Lisa said. "Really. It was a cheap shot." "It's all
right. I forgive you," he said. A thin smile then formed on his
face. "Just 489 more times though." "Whaddaya
mean?" Lisa asked. "You
know...what we learned in Sunday school today. You're supposed to
forgive someone 490 times. I just forgave you, so now you have 489
left," he kidded. The two of them laughed at the thought of keeping
track of every time Lisa had done something to Brent. They were sure she
had gone past 490 long ago. Pleased,
Lisa peered over the barrier again, but this time Brent caught her in
the act. "Hey, you're cheating!" He stared at her in
disbelief. Lisa's face turned red. Her lips quivered. "I'm
sorry," she said, staring at the carpet. Brent's
forgiving spirit gripped Lisa, and she wanted him to know how sorry she
was. It was that evening that she had made the chart with the 490 boxes.
She showed it to him before he went to bed. "We can keep track of
every time I mess up and you forgive me," she said. "See,
I'll put a check in each box--like this." She placed two marks in
the upper left-hand boxes. "These are for today." Brent raised
his hands to protest. "You don't need to keep--" "Yes
I do!" Lisa interrupted. "You're always forgiving me, and I
want to keep track. Just let me do this!" She went back to her room
and tacked the chart to her bulletin board. There
were many opportunities to fill in the chart in the years that followed.
She once told the kids at school that Brent talked in his sleep and
called out Rhonda Hill's name, even though it wasn't true. The teasing
caused Brent days and days of misery. When she realized how cruel she
had been, Lisa apologized sincerely. That night she marked box number
96. Forgiveness number 211 came in the tenth grade when Lisa failed to
bring home his English book. Brent had stayed home sick that day and had
asked her to bring it so he could study for a quiz. She forgot and he
got a C. Number 393 was for
lost keys...418 for the extra bleach she put in the washer, which ruined
his favorite polo shirt...449, the dent she had put in his car when she
had borrowed it. There was a small ceremony when Lisa checked number
490. She used a gold pen for the check mark, had Brent sign the chart,
and then placed it in her memory box.
"I guess that's the end," Lisa said. "No more
screw-ups from me anymore!" Brent just laughed. "Yeah,
right." Number
491 was just another one of Lisa's careless mistakes, but its hurt
lasted a lifetime. Brent had become all that his music teachers said he
would. In his fourth year at the best music school in the United States,
he received the opportunity of a lifetime--a chance to try out for New
York City's great orchestra. The tryout would be held sometime during
the following two weeks. It would be the fulfillment of his young
dreams. But he never got the chance. Brent had been out when the call
about the tryout came to the house. Lisa was the only one home and on
her way out the door, eager to get to work on time. "Two-thirty
on the tenth," the secretary said on the phone. Lisa did not have a
pen, but she told herself that she could remember it. "Got it.
Thanks." I can remember that, she thought. But she did not. It was
a week later around the dinner table that Lisa realized her mistake. "So,
Brent," his mom asked him, "When do you try out?"
"Don't know yet. They're supposed to call." Lisa froze in her
seat. "Oh, no!" she blurted out loud. "What's today's
date? Quick!" "It's
the twelfth," her dad answered. "Why?" A terrible pain
ripped through Lisa's heart. She buried her face in her hands, crying.
"Lisa, what's the matter?" her mother asked. Through sobs Lisa
explained what had happened. "It was two days ago...the
tryout...two-thirty...the call came...last week." Brent sat back in
his chair, not believing Lisa. "Is
this one of your jokes, sis?" he asked, though he could tell her
misery was real. She shook her head, still unable to look at him.
"Then I really missed it?" She nodded. Brent
ran out of the kitchen without a word. He did not come out of his room
the rest of the evening. Lisa tried once to knock on the door, but she
could not face him. She went to her room where she cried bitterly.
Suddenly she knew that she had to do. She had ruined Brent's life. He
could never forgive her for that. She had failed her family, and there
was nothing to do but to leave home. Lisa packed her pickup truck in the
middle of the night and left a note behind, telling her folks she'd be
all right. She began writing a note to Brent, but her words sounded
empty to her. Nothing I say could make a difference anyway, she thought. Two
days later she got a job as a waitress in Boston. She found an apartment
not too far from the restaurant. Her parents tried many times to reach
her, but Lisa ignored their letters. "It's too late," she
wrote them once. "I've ruined Brent's life, and I'm not coming
back." Lisa
did not think she would ever see home again. But one day in the
restaurant where she worked she saw a face she knew. "Lisa!"
said Mrs. Nelson, looking up from her plate. "What a
surprise." The woman was a friend of Lisa's family from back home.
"I was so sorry to hear about your brother," Mrs. Nelson said
softly. "Such
a terrible accident. But we can be thankful that he died quickly. He
didn't suffer." Lisa stared at the woman in shock. "Wh-hat,"
she finally stammered. It
couldn't be! Her brother? Dead? The woman quickly saw that Lisa did not
know about the accident. She told the girl the sad story of the speeding
car, the rush to the hospital, the doctors working over Brent. But all
they could do was not enough to save him.
Lisa returned home that afternoon. The
first page read: Lisa turned to the second page where she found a chart just like the one she had made as a child, but on this one the lines were drawn in perfect precision. And unlike the chart she had kept, there was but one check mark in the upper left- hand corner. Written in red felt tip pen over the entire page were the words: "Number 491. Forgiven, forever."
Don't
look back on failures.
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