FORGET NOT 7

 

FORGET NOT 7

Psalm 103:13-14 The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he understands who weak we are; he knows we are but dust. NLT

One of the things we must aways keep in mind is that when the Scriptures refer to God as our father, it’s always good. God is always good and is the ideal example of who a father should be like. God is our perfect father; He is perfect in love; He is our protector, and He supplies all that we need for eternal life. Now, not everyone can know God as their father. He is father to His children, not to those who reject Him as their God.

We, His children, are engraved deeply on the palm of His hand (Is. 49:13-16), on His heart (Ps. 139:13-17), and on His mind (Ps. 139:1-12). God is passionate about His children and they are never out of His sight.

The Lord knows how we were formed. He is the one who made us who we are. He knows the way we think (Phil. 2:6,7; John 1:14; Heb. 4:15). He knows why we think and feel the way we do. He became just like the way we are when He took on human flesh. He experienced all the emotions we do. He was tempted to sin just like we are. He experienced physical limitations just like we do. He was tired, hungry, and was the recipient of abuse and rejection just like we are. In fact, the Lord knows everything there is to know about us. He knows more about us than anyone else could ever know.

The Lord knows our weaknesses. He knows we are only human. He knows where we are most likely to yield to Satan’s assault on our minds and souls. He knows as well to best help us when we are weak. All we have to do is call on Him for help. He is always ready and able to help us stay faithful and strong. Remember, don’t think too highly of yourself or your ability to handle things yourself; we are nothing more than dust.

Without the Lord, we will never amount to anything before God. We will never be able to withstand the storms of life. We will be blown away never to be found. We must have Jesus with us all the time. We must always depend on Him to see us through life. He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one will see God except through Him. John 14:6

FORGET NOT 6

 

FORGET NOT 6

Psalm 103:12 He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west. NLT

Our rebellious acts are our sins. Anytime to resist doing what God commands us to do, we are guilty of sin. He gives us a multitude of things to do to govern our lives, and they may seem to be overwhelming at times. However, Jesus gives us the desire to not sin, and He enables us to not sin. He gives us His righteousness and holiness to keep us from disobeying God, and as long we live submissively to Him, we are able to obey God.

Jesus has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. In other words, forever. We at times are reminded of past sins, but as far as God is concerned, they exist no more. Satan is our accuser, and he will often cause us to remember our past sins. He will stir up our minds and strive to get us to feel a false guilt over them. He will do his best to get us to believe it didn’t happen or that our past is too bad to be forgiven. However, what we must never doubt or forget is that there is no condemnation of those living in Christ. Rom. 8:1 God does not hold our past sins against us, Satan does. God doesn’t confuse us about forgiveness, Satan does.

When Christ sets us free, we are free indeed. John 8:32,36 We are set free from the natural desire to sin. We are no longer held captive to sin. We are free to live out the righteousness and holiness of Christ in the world. Does this mean that we will no longer ever sin? Of course not. I John 1:8-10 But when we do sin, the Spirit of Christ convicts us so that we will repent and strive to not do it again. As long as we live in the flesh, we will fight a spiritual battle against Satan. Eph. 6:10-12

Claim this verse as your shield the next time Satan would accuse you of past sins that are under the blood of Jesus. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, they are gone, gone, yes, gone forever! To God be the glory!

FORGET NOT 5

 

FORGET NOT 5

Psalm 103:10-11 He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does he deal with us as we deserve. For his unfailing love who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

Wait. Did you catch what the Psalmist just said? God does not punish us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve. What would happen if God were to treat us the way we deserve to be treated? No one would be in heaven with Him. No one would probably make it to adulthood since the wages of sin is death and no one makes it to adulthood who has never sinned. It comes naturally to us, and we sin without even trying. In fact, it takes a lot of effort to not sin. We will never know what it would be like if no one were to sin until we get to heaven where there is no sin.

For those who fear the Lord, we are constantly bathed in His unfailing love. What does it mean to fear the Lord? It means we respect Him for who He is and what He does. It means we honor Him before the world. It means we strive to obey Him in all we do. It means we serve Him and not ourselves. It means we take seriously what He says and not try to change it to suit our wants and whims.

His unfailing love is great, so great that in never fails. God loves us and will never act in an unloving way towards us. This means that all that God does or allows in our lives are for our good. We may not always like what comes our way or think that it is good, but God is in control and it is good. He knows what we don’t always know. He knows what we need better than we do. All He asks us to do is to trust Him always regardless of the circumstances of life.

Where God is, there is holy love. If God dwells in us, we are filled with holy love. . This means for us that we will live holy lives filled with love for others. If you lack in holiness of heart or love for others, you need to let Jesus have His way with you.

FORGET NOT 4

 

FORGET NOT 4

Psalm 103:8, 9 The LORD is merciful and gracious; he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. NLT

There is a lot to unpack in these verses today. The more we are able to grasp these truths, the more we are able to love our Lord and serve Him without hesitation. We are constantly moved to adore and worship Him.

The Lord is merciful and gracious. He does not treat us as we deserve to be treated, but instead, He extends to us His love and forgiveness if we want it. He is so patient with us and gives us plenty of opportunities to accept His offer of saving grace. No one would be saved if He was quick tempered. All of us have sinned and deserve His wrath.

The Lord is full of unfailing love. God is love, and everything He does is guided by His love for us. It is His love for us that moved God to establish the plan of salvation before He created the universe and us. It was His love that moved Him to create us with the ability to choose to love Him back. It was His love that moved Him to make it possible for us to become fit for heaven. His love never fails, and it is eternal.

The Lord does not accuse His children of sin. When Christ forgives us, our souls are wiped clean. We are made righteous and holy before God. He no longer looks at us with wrathful eyes; instead, we are seen through His heart of love. God will never look beyond Christ in us to see our ugly past. He will never hold us accountable for forgiven sins. He will never haunt us with forgiven sins.

When we recall our past sins and are made to feel guilty for them, it’s of Satan, not God. Satan is our accuser. He wants us to be held in bondage by our past. He wants us to feel shame and guilt. He wants us to believe his lie that God has not forgiven us. He wants us to believe that we are not children of God. Satan is a master liar. Don’t fall for his lies.

God never fails to love His children. He is merciful and gracious towards us. He patiently leads us into the fold of His holy love. He never holds us captive to our forgiven sins. There no longer is any condemnation in Christ Jesus.

FORGET NOT 3

FORGET NOT 3

Psalm 103:6-7 The LORD gives righteousness and justice to all who who are treated unfairly. He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. NLT

The Lord gives righteousness and justice for the oppressed. Because He is merciful and gracious, He is always at work to keep us under His protective care. Satan is like a roaring lion who constantly is stalking us to devour us if he gets the chance. He is always trying to oppose everything we do in order to undermine our service to the Lord and destroy our faith. If it were not for Christ’s righteousness to protect us, we could not survive his assault. Satan uses all the dark forces of evil he has to exploit our faith. Sometimes he is so subtle that we don’t even realize what he is up to, and sometimes he is bold and brash in his activities. Either way, we are not left alone to fight him. In Christ, we have the power and authority to resist him and he must flee from us to fight another day. Greater is He who is with us, in us, and for us, than Satan and all the forces of evil combined.

The Lord makes known His ways to His people. He does not leave us in the dark about who we are, how we got here, why we are here, or where we are going. He makes known to us everything we need to know in order to know Him, love Him, and serve Him.

He shows us the way to the cross. Even before God created anything, He put in place the plan of salvation. He knew that given the freedom of choice He gave us, that we would fall into the cesspool of sin. He knew that once we knew what evil was and got a taste for it, that we would naturally indulge in it. So rather than have us spend an eternity without any chance of being with Him, He put into place Calvary. He lovingly provided the way we could be forgiven for our sins by lovingly sacrificing himself on the cross in our place for us.

The Lord shows us the way to abundant living. John 10:10 Not only do we find in Christ forgiveness for our sins, we find the joys of being saved. We find the very essence of godly living. Gal. 5:22-23 We find the way to overcome our sinful desires. We find the way to experience the very best God has to offer us both now and forever.

The Lord shows us the way to glory. We have a much more to experience and enjoy in Christ than we are able to do now. We have a glorious life ahead of us that is free from any trace of sin and its consequences. We have a life of absolute purity and perfection in the very presence of God. We can’t even comprehend or imagine all that awaits us in glory.

The Lord has not changed. He is the same character as He revealed himself to be Moses. He does for us what He did for the Israelites. He does not withhold himself from His children. O dear friend, look upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation. Behold Him in His righteousness, holiness, and glory. Behold Him and bow down before Him in worshipful joy and praise.

FORGET NOT 2

 

FORGET NOT 2

Psalm 103:4,5 He ransoms me from death and surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! NLT

Most of us don’t remember as well as we would like to. Things and people that we vow to never forget fade into the muddied waters vof our past, rarely thought of again. We must never let that happen to us spiritually. One of the reasons why a continuous reading and rereading of God’s Word is so important. The Psalmist reminds us in our text for today of two very important things we should never forget.

The Lord ransoms our lives from death. A heart full of sin is not very pretty. Depending on how it manifests itself, the sin within can be very ugly indeed. Not only does it affect the person in which it resides, it often has a very negative affect on others as well. Sin always has victims. People’s lives are destroyed by it. It’s fruit is often seen through attitudes and actions. Gal. 5:19-21 Some people just are not pleasant to be around when their sin manifests itself. The certain end of a sinful heart is spiritual death. Rom. 3:23 Until Jesus is allowed to get involved, an eternity in hell awaits the soul. Remember often what the Lord has done for you in rescuing you from the jaws of death. He paid the price for our sins and set us free from wages of death.

The Lord surrounds us with love and tender mercies. Only in Jesus do we find a satisfying love. Only in Jesus do we find mercy for our souls. Tenderly, lovingly, God withholds from us what we deserve because of our sins. He wondrously pours into our souls His grace and washes away all that kept us away from Him.

The Lord renews our youth like the eagle’s. Oh, dear friend, immerse yourself in Jesus. Soar to heights you never dreamed of. Eph. 3:20-21 Soar freely and graciously in this new life He has endowed you with. John 10:10 Soar, my dear friend, soar high above all that would entangle your soul. Is. 40:28-312 Soar in the riches of His grace. Soar and you will become like Him. Gal. 5:22-23 Soar like an eagle in the arms of Jesus and do let this old life hold you back.

FORGET NOT

 

FORGET NOT

Psalm 103:3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. NLT

What a treasure chest full of blessings is Psalm 103! The Psalmist recounts a multitude of ways God blesses His children. Let us bow down and worship our Lord for His bountiful blessings and goodness to us.

If the Lord did nothing else for us but to forgive us, it would be enough to move our hearts to love, praise, thank, and honor Him in all we do. Notice that the Psalmist says that the Lord forgives ALL of our sins. Isn’t that a marvelous truth! Think about it for a moment. There is nothing that you have ever done, no matter how awful it was, that is not forgiven when we ask the Lord to forgive us. There is no sin beyond the reach of His ability to forgive. No one deserves His forgiveness, but all are forgiven who come to Him. I John 1:9; John 6:35-40; Rom. 10:9,10,13 He forgives all of our sins, not just part of them.

Not only does the Lord forgive all of our sins, He heals all of our diseases. Notice that God does not promise healing just because we ask Him for it. He may chose to heal us, but it is not guaranteed. He is sovereign and heals according to His will. He always knows what is best for us.

He heals our diseased souls. He makes us new creations, the old passes away and all things become new. II Cor. 5:17 No matter how much of a mess we have made of ourselves, in Christ we are made whole. It takes a while, but the Lord is always at work in us to make us a new and better version of ourselves. He changes our attitudes so that we are not poison to those around us. He instills within us the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) so that we are pleasant and not repulsive to those around us. He removes the anger and bitterness of our hearts so we can stand to be around ourselves.

He heals our diseased minds. While living in our sins, we are not able to understand spiritual truths, let alone embrace them. When Christ forgives us, we are given the Holy Spirit to help us understand so we can live in Christ. I Cor. 2 tells us how the Spirit opens up our eyes to spiritual truths that we need for a life pleasing to God.

He heals our diseased bodies. He sometimes miraculously intervenes and heals our broken bodies. Sometimes He allows our diseased bodies to continue and lead us to certain death. He knows what is best for us, and how it fits into His redemptive plan for others. We must never doubt God’s workings and simply trust in His plan.

Never forget, when we get to heaven, we will be completely whole—physically, mentally, and most importantly of all, spiritually.