Are you in a hold position?  You know, you feel stuck; you can’t move forward or backward and you can’t change it? It can just feel like forever, when you’re holding on, but often this feeling of hopelessness doesn’t show itself outwardly so much as it corrupts you on the inside.  It takes the form […]

Are you in a place right now where you feel like you’re holding on for dear life, and you just don’t know what’s going to happen? Maybe your job is being eliminated and you’re facing the trauma of finding another one. Or it might be that your marriage is on the rocks and you’re not sure if it will survive. Could it be that a prodigal child is breaking your heart, making very bad choices and wandering far away from God? Or you’re facing a financial crisis which looks like disaster to you? You might say you’re just holding on while you’re on hold.

And you know, it’s not only these more traumatic things, but life seems to be full of almost daily and unending situations where we simply have to wait—things aren’t moving like we think they should. So, we’re frustrated and exhausted from holding on while we’re on hold.

When you think of someone in the Bible who was on hold, you most likely think of Job. Talk about holding on when he was on hold, nobody has ever endured more than Job did while waiting for God to move. In Job 6 he says:

Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for….What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? (Job 6:8, 11-12).

And in the 7th chapter, he goes on to say:

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again (Job7:6-7).

His words may express your heart. Like Job, you may be saying or thinking: Why hasn’t God granted my request? I don’t have any strength to keep holding on. After all, I’m just flesh! I’ve lost hope and I’ll never be happy again.

If that’s where you are, I have words of hope for you when you’re holding on.

Are you in a place right now where you feel like you’re holding on for dear life, and you just don’t know what’s going to happen? Maybe your job is being eliminated and you’re facing the trauma of finding another one. Or it might be that your marriage is on the rocks and you’re not […]

What I've observed is that many of us are "counselor happy," whether it is a casual discussion with a good friend or a session with a professional. I know I've been guilty of that many times. When something happens that is painful or confusing, or makes me angry, or causes me deep worry and concern, my first reaction is usually to pick up the phone and call somebody who'll listen, hopefully someone who'll understand and sympathize with me, agree with me, comfort me, tell me everything's going to be okay—whatever my particular need is at the time.

I well remember when I was facing one of those personal problems that seemed very large at the time, and indeed was not insignificant. I immediately called my best friend and shared my concern with her. Her counsel was good and she was most understanding. She helped me gain perspective, which I badly needed. But as the days wore on, I found that I was calling her quite frequently—using her counsel like a pain killer or a quick fix to get me through the problem. Once when I called her number, there was no answer, and I felt panicky—almost irritated with her for not being there when I needed her.

I put the phone down, and started pacing, trying to think where she might be that I could reach her. And in the midst of this miniature panic scene, the Holy Spirit so faithfully spoke to me in words that could have been audible, they were so clear. He said to me: "You know, Mary, if you would spend as much time talking to God about this problem as you do to your friend, you'd be a whole lot closer to finding the solution."

My heart was stricken, as I had to confess that I had talked with my friend longer about my problem than I had talked with God about it. And a passage of scripture came to mind, from Isaiah 9 which speaks of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Verse 6 says that one of his names will be Wonderful Counselor. So, one of the first names of our Savior we are ever given is "Wonderful Counselor."

As I remembered that verse that day, I made a promise to God that never again would I seek earthly counsel before I sought his counsel, and never would I spend more time with earthly counselors than I did with him. And once I went to my heavenly counselor, the peace of God began to enter into my soul. Of course, Prince of Peace is one of his names, too, and I needed peace that day. He gave me a quiet, inner assurance; I knew what he wanted me to do, and there was peace.

How did I know? I got quiet before him, gave him time to speak to me, turned to the Word of God and read, prayed and trusted him for guidance. And that still small voice within me, the Holy Spirit who dwells within each of us who are born-again, gave me inner knowledge of what I should do.

You know, as often as I've gone to my Wonderful Counselor, he's never been unavailable. It just doesn't matter when or where, he always answers the phone, he's always there for me.

Have you ever thought "I wish I just had someone to talk to who could understand exactly what I'm going through, who has had an experience just like mine so that they could give me good advice." Well, our Wonderful Counselor always understands. You know, many earthly counselors can have difficulty relating to us, if they haven't had similar experiences. But not our Wonderful Counselor. We're told in scripture that he has suffered everything that we will ever suffer, and he is touched with the feelings of our weaknesses. You can never say to the Wonderful Counselor, "You don't understand.” Jesus always understands.

Another great advantage of this Wonderful Counselor is that he never charges for visits, regardless of how many we make!  And yet he's so glad to see us coming. Indeed, he has issued us a special invitation which says, "Come to me when you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

What I’ve observed is that many of us are “counselor happy,” whether it is a casual discussion with a good friend or a session with a professional. I know I’ve been guilty of that many times. When something happens that is painful or confusing, or makes me angry, or causes me deep worry and concern, […]

Enjoying your forgiveness means to live in the incredible truth that when you confess and forsake your sins, God freely forgives and furthermore, he remembers them against you no more. They are removed from you as far as the East is from the West—and of course, the East and West can never meet.

In 1 John 2:12, we read: “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.” Your forgiven sins have been forgiven for the honor of Jesus’ name. This is all done for God’s glory. Living in the joy of your forgiveness, testifying that God has forgiven you, enjoying your forgiveness is what God wants for his children, those who are born from above through faith in Jesus Christ.

Here is a quote from an article by Luke Roland:

The truth is, Christianity as a religion really has only one participant and that is Jesus. We are not participants, but recipients. We receive and we receive the most amazing gift we could ever receive, which is forgiveness. This is why I believe it is important for us right now to understand our justification and to take our forgiveness very seriously so we are not tossed around by a new false doctrine.

And that false doctrine is that forgiveness is something you have to earn or work for. You have to pay for your sins, your mistakes, your wrong choices. And then of course, you can never enjoy your forgiveness, because you can never pay for it or earn it. So, it’s a catch 22. But Jesus has come to set you free from that bondage. As Galatians 5:1 tells us:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

My prayer is that you will begin now to enjoy your forgiveness and keep learning to do that. You do that by bring every thought into captivity—those thoughts of guilt and regret—grabbing them and replacing them with the truth that you are forgiven. Truth sets you free.

Enjoying your forgiveness means to live in the incredible truth that when you confess and forsake your sins, God freely forgives and furthermore, he remembers them against you no more. They are removed from you as far as the East is from the West—and of course, the East and West can never meet. In 1 […]

Think about this: We know from scripture that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10b). If someone or something takes your strength away, what happens? Well, not much.

This past year I’ve gone through a medical procedure that took my strength. I had to pretty much do nothing for a few days because my strength was gone. No doubt you have experienced that as well, the reality that without strength, you pretty much can’t do anything, right?

What do you think the enemy wants to steal from you? He knows that when your spiritual strength is missing, you lose your ability to get things done for Jesus. You lose your joyful countenance, your joyful attitude—those things that testify to others about your faith. Therefore, if he can, he is going to steal your joy, because that is the source of your spiritual strength. And how does he do that?

Well, he has many ways of shooting that arrow that steals your joy. Honestly, it is one of his most effective weapons and one of his most subtle ones, because we often just don’t see that he is behind our loss of joy. We don’t recognize that flaming arrow he shoots at us.

And when you are living in regret, under a cloud of guilt from sins that have been confessed and forgiven, your joy is greatly diminished—stolen. And that debilitates you; it cripples you, it puts you on the sidelines; saps your spiritual strength and pretty soon you just want to quit. You feel unworthy and unlovable; and you’ve lost the joy of your salvation. And the enemy is watching all this and patting himself on the back because that flaming arrow he shot got you, stole your joy, and kept you from enjoying God’s forgiveness.

If that describes where you are lately, I’m hoping your take-away will be that you will, with God’s help, begin to enjoy your forgiveness. You will start to understand the enemy’s tactics to keep you in regret, and realize that it dishonors the one who has purchased your forgiveness, Jesus Christ. He has given you the gift of forgiveness, just as he said he would, but you are not living in the joy and the peace and the strength that is your birthright as a child of God.

Think about this: We know from scripture that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10b). If someone or something takes your strength away, what happens? Well, not much. This past year I’ve gone through a medical procedure that took my strength. I had to pretty much do nothing for a few days […]

The forgiveness that God gives us is full and complete. Unlike most humans, he never holds our past sins over our heads, reminding us again and again of how badly we failed. People tend to do that, but not God.

God remembers our sins against us no more but many times we just don’t and won’t let go of it. Have you been wallowing around in the regrets of your past sins? True, you may be living with some of the consequences, but there’s no reason for you to let confessed sin hang over your head like a dark cloud.

When that happens, you are not enjoying your forgiveness. It’s as though you’ve forgotten that God has forgiven you, or you think he still intends to punish you for it, or perhaps you are just so sorry it happened that you can’t put it behind you. God is not honored in that way, is he?

Maybe you’re wondering what it means to enjoy your forgiveness.  Well, consider this. We know that salvation is a gift from God. Ephesians 2: 8-9 says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”  So, when you receive a gift, how does it make you feel? It’s free—you didn’t have to work for it or pay for it or earn it—you couldn’t if you tried. It’s a gift.

If I gave you a gift and you didn’t enjoy it, how would that make me feel? I would be disappointed—right? I mean, when I choose to give someone a gift, the greatest joy for me is seeing that they like it, that they want it and they are enjoying it. God gives us the gift of forgiveness—without charge, even though we don’t deserve it, and he loves to see us enjoy our gift of forgiveness.

It certainly does not please God when you don’t let go of your regrets from the past. God wants you to enjoy his forgiveness and be thankful for it and go forward in your walk with him. Living under the cloud of your past sins steals your joy, robs you of peace, and makes you less effective in Kingdom work—less capable of doing the good works he planned for you to do.

Are you enjoying your forgiveness? I hope you will give it much thought and determine by God’s grace to refuse to let the enemy keep you under a cloud of regret from confessed sins that have been forgiven.