You Are Forgiven

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1594. Today's Devo is called You Are Forgiven.

Hey there, we're the Alestees, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Good morning. My morning, Devo. Stephanie here. And today is just a big encouragement to you all. Nothing crazy, just a reminder for those that might be struggling that you are forgiven because of the blood of Jesus Christ. So I'm going to dive into it. I'm going to keep it short and sweet, but I pray that it empowers you today. I'm reading from Micah 7, 18 through 19 in the NIV version, which says, Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. So again, I just want to encourage you. Something simple for everybody listening. If you have a bad past, if you have made some crazy mistakes, if you hurt people or they hurt you, if you lied, if you cheated, if you broke the rules and if you did something bad at some point in your life. If currently you are walking with Jesus and you have asked him for forgiveness, newsflash, he has forgiven you. Your past is gone, those memories are faded away, and God has forgiven you because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Period. He has tossed your iniquities into the depths of the sea. The definition of iniquities is a gross injustice. It's wickedness. Another definition is a wicked act or thing. It's sin. So iniquities kind of covers the bulk of it. If you did something wrong a couple years ago, it could be a couple months ago, but you've asked Jesus for forgiveness, then God has hurled it into the sea of forgetfulness. The reason that I want to tell you this is this. And if it makes you feel any better, the truth is we all have a past. We all made mistakes. We all had to ask Jesus for forgiveness. If we are not the first person that God has had to forgive, if we forget, we're not the first ones. God's nature is to forgive and to redeem us. That's why they shed the blood of Christ. That's why Jesus did what he did. Because God wants to forgive us. And then he wants to go even further. He wants to redeem us. And then he wants to use that terrible, bad past to our benefit, to bless us. And trust me, he will do it. You think it can't be done, it can be done to bless others, to bless your church. Let God use the ugliness of your past to redeem your future and then to bless others. But the only way you can get there is if you truly believe you're forgiven. If you truly accept the freedom of the blood of Christ. There's no way around it. Nothing else will bring you that peace. No podcast, no mantra, no sayings that you put say over yourself every single day. None of it will work like the blood of Christ does. The blood of Christ is not magic. It's not a mantra. It's not a symbol of something. It is the literal blood of Christ that was shed for our sins. And we are spirit first. We are spirit, soul, and body. And in the spirit world, the enemy is afraid of the blood of Christ because it represents that Jesus loved us enough to go up on that cross and die for our sins. Not die for our prosperity. Not die for our financial breakthrough. Not die for my mental health clarity. No, he died for your sins. So if your sins keep tripping you up, you need to dive into the blood of Jesus. You need to swim into the blood of Jesus and accept it and receive it and believe it. So rebuke any thoughts or memories of the past. It is dead and walk in the freedom his forgiveness has given you. I want to pray differently today. I'm going to do this thing called scripture praying, where instead of me praying my own words, I'm going to pray the words of scripture over you today. So close your eyes. Let's pray. I'm going to read Colossians 1:9 through 14. For this reason, since the day I heard about you, I have not stopped praying for you. I continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you, listener, to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son, He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.