We are excited to have our friend Melanie Philipnery write a guest post on Pursue Him International this week. Melanie grew up in church from age 5, got saved at 8 and stepped into ministry as a teen. She had two careers before settling for teaching in Adult Education. Melanie is a tenacious intercessor and is longing to see the Church ready for Christ. She makes her home in Montreal, Canada with her husband Richmond and baby Asher. She also serves with Revive Nations.
A number of times I’ve encountered Christians who claimed they were victimized by their haunted past. What they hoped was buried deep and forgotten was in fact relentlessly pursuing them with flashbacks of unwanted memories causing inescapable torments.
Are you haunted by your past?
Many of us have experienced God’s saving grace and can testify to the instant aftermath of uttering the sinner’s prayer. Forgiveness is immediately granted in full measure, hearts liberated and minds enveloped with peace that passes understanding. All this is foreshadow of a staggering truth: there’s power in the blood! The blood of Jesus redeems every sin, curse and bondage and no man is licensed to resurrect what Christ has buried under his blood!
But herein lies the problem. Unfortunately, there are times when people around you, willingly or unknowingly, mention horrid details you longed to forget, and before you know it the past you once thought was permanently left behind is mercilessly excavated.
It is particularly grievous to see brethren question fellow Christians on their past life, not with a desire to hear their testimony but out of ungodly curiosity. The reality of this outcome is that unless the hearer is confident of seeing this believer through the eyes of Jesus, issues and situations from their past will give a highly deceptive and erroneous portrait, causing one to be swayed by a critical and judgmental attitude dictated by their flesh.
The Clean Slate
The mere fact that someone brings back your past does not imply that God wants you to be constantly wrestling regrets from old skeletons in your closet. On the contrary! Not desiring to keep a track record of our transgressions, our Heavenly Father mercifully gifted us a clean slate, choosing to forget our sins, counting them no more. A new creation is what you are! Hebrews 8:12 is a confirmation of God’s unmerited compassion towards us; He declares, “…I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (ESV)
The Domino Effect
Hebrews 4:16 exhorts us to approach God’s throne with confidence! “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (ESV)
The Need to Move Forward
As much as God is pleased with a repentant heart, He does not want us to dwell on our past, primarily because setting our focus on what we left behind would cost us from making progress in moving forward. Philippians 3:14 encourages us to continue pressing on to obtain the prize.
Focusing on past failures will only give you a distorted perspective on the future.
What is done is done so let it go!
Remember that God can take your past and present and make something beautifully new out of it. The writer of Ecclesiastes must have known this when he wrote, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecc. 3:11a ESV)
Do you feel your past is lurking in the shadows ready to pounce and tear you apart? Are you haunted by old memories? I encourage you to plead the blood of Jesus over every area in your past. May Christ grant you grace and give you total liberation and victory over every ungodly domain.
Can you relate to this post? Share your thoughts below.