Recently, while I was looking through some old pictures and reminiscing about the past 40 years of my life, I thought of all the decisions I have made over the past years. Some were wise and led me down roads of success and joy, but many resulted in hard lessons. The relationships, the choice to do certain things that I knew would shame and disappoint my parents caused me so much pain, hurt and condemnation. At one time, the guilt of some of these decisions,  weighed heavy on me. So much so I thought I would never recover and it didn't make it any better that some folks would not let me forget my past. But once I realized that because of the love of my Heavenly Father and the life of my Savior, "old things have passed away, and He made all things new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) I was able to move on.

This can be a hard thing to accept for many of us. It sounds all well and good, but in reality, the weight of decisions and the guilt that comes with it makes it difficult to believe a perfect God can erase our past and make us new. Yet, His Word assures us that God does not count our mistakes against us. So how can we live in this truth? The first step is to acknowledge where we have fallen short: to ourselves and to God. This opens up the door for honest conversations with the Lord and helps us stop hiding from the fear of being found out.

The next step is to fill our hearts and minds with truth. Throughout the Bible, God teaches how an unwilling heart can be changed and softened to accept His unfailing love and grace. And one of the most important truths that I have held on to is that my Father doesn’t condemn. Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." So what man says about me doesn't matter. I released that and moved into who I know who I am in Christ.

Are you lugging a load of your past, filled with guilt, shame, and hurt into each new day? Are you ready to stop living in shame, shackled by regret and burdened with the weight of what people are saying about you? It is time to grab ahold of this truth…At midnight, with the dawning of each new day, your past is erased by God's grace and mercy. What you did, is what you've done. And what you've done, you can't change it. So, accept that the past is the past and it's all gone! So let go of the fears, tears and hurt and know that Christ blood covers them all. 

Because, at midnight your past was erased and God's steadfast love and His amazing grace, mercy and peace is waiting for you to accept and to move on!


"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:2)

At some point in life we’ve all felt the frustration and fear of being up against situations that we can’t deal with and, worse yet, there seems to be no one to help. If you were to ask me to tell you about the times I have felt the twinges of hopelessness, my early recollections would be the year my father died. I was hopeless and felt so defeated. I struggled emotionally and spiritually. I had thoughts of suicide and had no desire to live. I had given up! 

But when my Champion stepped in and engaged in the challenges and conflicts of my life, I began to walk in victory. For me there is no greater hero, no greater Champion than Jesus. He for me, He is the all time, undisputed, undefeated Champion of love! He for me, Jesus is the Champion of the world!

Psalm 188:5 says this “God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion “.  The Bible also says in Isaiah 60:8 ” You’ll know that I, God, am your Savior, your Redeemer, Champion of Jacob. I’ll give you only the best “. (Message)

Jesus set forth a mighty showing as “The Champ” in the spirit realm, even as He did while here on Earth.  The Bible says that in doing so, He was able to strip Satan and demons of all authority over humans. (Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14)  
 
That authority has now been given to His followers. (Luke 10:19)  All who believe in “The Champ” can now become “A Champ” over their own circumstances.  Jesus is the ultimate champion! And when we cast our lot with Him, He assures us that the victory is already won on our behalf. 

So the next time you find yourself in a full nelson up against the wall of despair, claim Jesus as your champion. As Paul declares, you may be “struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:9). Since Jesus won the battle at Calvary, you are now entitled to share in the spoils of His victory. Thanks to Jesus, the word defeat is not in our vocabulary! Let us worship Him for being our Champion!

We have a fundamental belief, especially in America, that it is all up to us. If we are going to make it, succeed, and be all that we can be, then we will need to work hard and get a little lucky. In the United States we talk about the self-made individual and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.

Certainly we need to strive for excellence in the use of our gifts, but the underlying reality of life is that everything is a gift. If we would spend less time grabbing and hoarding and more time receiving and giving thanks our lives would be more abundant and free. Jesus died to make us free. Jesus breaks the shackles of legalism and perfectionism and enables us to live true, authentic lives.  God’s grace liberates us so that we can be free to do what God has called us and created us to do. We are invited to live in the reality of God’s grace, shed our shackles and to live free.

Galatians 5:1 says, "Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop attaching yourselves to the yoke of slavery again."

Paul says we’re free, and he says this emphatically. He literally says that it’s for freedom that Christ has freed us. Jesus’ whole mission was to free us. Paul tells us in the clearest terms that in Jesus Christ we have been freed.

But then he says, “Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Do you realize that this is one of the most important tasks that we have as followers of Jesus Christ? What is it? To simply stand firm. Stay in one place. 

One of the biggest tasks in the Christian life is to guard against wandering off from the freedom that has been won for us through the saving work of Jesus Christ. You’re free, emphatically free. Now stand firm in that freedom and don’t fall back in to those things that have enslaved you. What are those things that have enslaved you? Peter 2:19 says that “For a man is a slave to what ever controls him.”

Many of the times when people think of breaking free from habits, people minds immediately switch to… drugs and alcohol, but it goes so much further than that. Some people are a slave to work, some people are slave to jealousy, some people are slave to gossip, some people are slave to peoples opinions. Take an inventory of the negative habits in our lives that need to be broken as habits that master us slowly bind us, then break us and eventually destroy our life. Habits destroys us in so many different ways: Physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and relationally. A habit may at first seem very harmless, at any time in the early stages you could rid your self. In fact you convince yourself you could stop at any time. Then the habit takes a stronger foothold, advancing a little more taking away a little more of your freedom. Over a period of time that habit like the enemy begins to advance and destroy you.

How many marriages have been lost to habits? How many families have been divided because of habits? How many jobs have been lost? How many relationships destroyed because of habits? Time wasted because of habits? 

Finally today come clean and break free from the grip of a bad habit in your life,  1 Corinthians 10:13 says that, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man, and God is faithful: He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” God lets us know that in every situation with every temptation He provides victory so that you will never be bound again!