Return to the Archive

Pastor Beal

MEMORECTOMY

"...but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind" Phil. 3:13

Let me share with you a moment a problem that each and every one of us have: the battle of forgiving and forgetting the past. Oh, how the devil enjoys haunting us with our past. He loves to place guilt and doubts in our minds about our salvation and also our worth in serving our Lord and Savior. Wouldn't a doctor be in demand if he could remove those remembrances that so often plague us. How great it would be if he could perform a "memorectomy" for those areas that seem to scar us so deeply. Those words, actions, and failures that seem to be as fresh as today's lunch. I've always wondered why the filth of our lives can stick to us like glue, while scripture and sermons seem to repel like Teflon! We need to remember that in Psalms 103:10-13 "He (God) hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. So great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." As believers, we need to remember that in God's eyes our sins are under the blood of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul knew to not look back, but focusing on "...reaching forth unto those things which are before." Phil. 3:13 Paul also knew (in Rom. 5:12) that the work of sin was deep in the garden of Eden, in that by the sin of one man (Adam), sin was passed down. He also knew that by the work of one (Jesus Christ), grace was deeper than all of the sins of the world. Rom. 5:15 "...and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." Also vs. 20 "...But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." It's been said that whenever Satan brings up your past, just bring up his future.

Thanks! Pastor Earl Beal