Erase and Shine

UV 880/10,000 Erase and Shine “Forget the former things, do not dwell in the past.” Isaiah 43 v 18 Erase ( the mistakes of the past) and shine (by overcoming them in the present and the future). Our past actions and experiences haunt us only if we allow them to. This uni-verse exhorts us to forget that past and to dwell in the present in the presence of the Lord. For as the Psalmist wrote,” there are pleasures forevermore at the right hand of the Lord.” We need to actively recall the marvellous works of the Lord, His wonders and the judgements of His mouth. We need to remember and rejoice by recalling all the times He delivered us from death, disease, defeat and destruction. The enemy of our souls wants us to dwell in the past so that we would not be effective in the present or the future. When we dwell in the past, bitterness, anger and regret take control of our souls. But the Lord says, “ Take a clean break from the past. You are no more the old sinful creation. You are a new obedient creation and child of God.” His love does not hold a record of the past. If He held a record of the past, who can afford to stand before Him ? He has blotted out our transgressions. He has given us a clean slate again for us to write, to erase and to write again. So we can erase and shine. Everything and everyone in this world loses its relevance after a period of time. Only the Word remains relevant at all times. Therefore we can dwell on His Word at all times. The word “ dwell” implies an intensity or passion of living or commitment or zest and zeal. It means to be obsessed with, to be engrossed, to be focussed, to be surrounded and covered at all times. When we live with such intensity, passion and real zeal, the Lord’s enabling and ennobling power or grace will outwork or cause new and glorious things to happen in our lives. Dwelling in the past is like the prodigal son grovelling in his humiliation and suffering as the keeper of the pig sty instead of returning to the love and inheritance the Father was reserving for him at his former home. The Lord is telling us, “ Do not dwell in the pig sty of the past that is full of thrash but come to my banqueting table in my home, your home.” The Lord will give us the gleaming new clothes of salvation, the full armour of protection, the crown or the helmet of the victor not the groaning of the victim, the ring of authority and sceptre of power of the king, the shoes to go places for Him. He will sharpen our tongues not to complain of our past lot but to be a sword for Him. He has erased every trace of our past, our hubris, our ignorance and our arrogance and enables us to shine with the authority of a king and the holiness of a priest. Above all, He has restored us to the bosom and love of the Father- an intimate relationship with God. Prateep V Philip