HEALING YOUR MEMORY

Imagine the healing of memory as a ladder with seven rungs.

      1. REPENT!

                     You may smile, but if you’re not the problem, then what’s the solution? God’s way is to tell it like it is! He doesn’t put a bandage on an infected wound; He insists that it be lanced, drained, cleansed, and given time to heal. King David took a wife of one of his own army officers, got her pregnant, and hen had her husband killed to cover it up. What a mess!. The child died, scandal rocked his throne, and civil war broke out. But worst of all, he permitted. “……. The enemies of the Lord…. To… blaspheme…” (2 Samuel 12:14)

            Finally he stopped running, stopped hiding and got honest. Listen, “then I let it all it; I said, I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God. Suddenly the pressure was gone- my guilt dissolved, my sins                    me thing. Don’t ask God to fix others- ask Him to fix you! Real healing can only begin when you let God take control of the thing that has had control of you.

            If you think your past disqualifies you from moving forward, then you don’t understand God’s grace. He always has more for you today then you lost yesterday.

            But you See, ‘I  have a child out of wedlock; I’ve been divorced; I’ ve been in prison; I’ve had abortion; I’ve violated the trust others placed in me; I've lost so much. Don’t be discouraged, God’s not moved by our virtues, he’s touched by “….. he feeling of our infirmities. “(Hebrews 4:15). Listen carefully to these words: for since e himself has now been through sufferings and temptation, he knows it’s like….. and he is wonderfully able to help us” (Hebrews 2:18LB).

            Can somebody with a past touch God in the present, and their future be forever changed? Yes! Yes! Yes! The hymn- writer wrote

Theres a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunge beneath that food, lose all their guilty stains.

Case closed! Debt paid! Record expunged!.

The rewards of repentance are awesome. Listen to Job, ‘Prepare your hearts and lift up your hands to Him in prayer. Get rid of your sins and leave all your iniquity behind you. Then your face will brighten in innocence. you will be strong and free of fear. You will forget your misery. it will all be gone like water under the bridges… you will  have courage because you will have hope. You will be protected and will rest in safety. You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help.

            Go ahead! Step into the river of God’s mercy and let it flow over you, setting you free. Whether it’s the guilt of something you’re done, or the pain of something that was done to you, let it go- let it rush on by!

            There’s one more thing you need to know.

Repentance is not just “feeling sorry” for what you’ve done. It’s a quality decision to break with the past and all its associations, pleasures, habits and through patterns. It’s an- about- face- turn.

            When a child was little, he had an aversion for soup and water, he hated getting washed. Everything at bedtime it was like wrestling match. One night during the struggle, he looked up at his father and said. ‘Dad, wait, I couldn’t tell something good was coming. ‘o.k.,’ I said ‘what do you have in mind? With a big grin he replied, couldn’t you just dust me off a little?

            Repentance is not a little dusting, it is a thorough washing

If you don’t know how to repent, just read the words of David in Psalm 51, and make your prayer. Here they are:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my sins. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.

            Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow… create in me a pure heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me.

            Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”

            That prayer changed David’s life, and it’ll change yours too, if you pray it and mean it.