For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more

 Remembers our sins no more

 

Hebrews 8:10-12

10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

After those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws into their minds,

And I will write them on their hearts.

And I will be their God,

And they shall be My people.

11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,

And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

For all will know Me,

From the least to the greatest of them.

12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,

And I will remember their sins no more.”

 

            Keeping His commandments is not a matter of trying to keep some set of rules written down somewhere. These rules are written down on our hearts and minds. When we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in us, He will automatically keep them. When people forgive us of wrongs that we have done to them, they still remember them and many times are not shy about reminding us of all the times that we have failed them. God is not that way. If we repent and confess our sins, He not only forgives us, but also He forgets them. He doesn’t keep dragging them up to remind us of our failures. If sins we have confessed keep plaguing us, it’s not God pointing them out. It’s either the enemy trying to oppress us, or our own poor self-image that doesn’t want to believe that God could and would forgive us.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "What you have done in the past is gone forever. I do not hold those things against you. You do not have to fear that one day I will chastise you for past wrongs. I only want good for you. I will guide you into the paths of righteousness for My name’s sake. I would not have you bring shame upon My name by wrong actions. I will show you the way to walk in My righteousness, if you will allow My Spirit to control your actions. You are My child, and I want you to walk in My ways. It is for your own good that I desire this. You can trust Me to do good for you. I will not remind you of past sins that are forgiven. You can depend on Me to only remind you of those things for which you have not received forgiveness.”

 

            26. God remembers my sins no more. Since He doesn’t, then neither should I.

 

            There is no one that a child would desire to be more like than his/her father. You can be like your Heavenly Father. In fact, you are destined to be like Him. Most of us did not like certain things our fathers habitually said or did. We said to ourselves that we would never say or do those things, especially to our own children. Then what happened? We caught ourselves saying or doing the same thing our fathers said or did. Oh how it irked us! It seemed like we were destined to say or do the same things.

            We are destined to say and do the same things that our Heavenly Father has said or done. That is very good news. Jesus only said and did the things His Father (who is our Father too) said and did. If Jesus did, then so should we.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

 He remains faithful:

 

2 Timothy 2:13

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

 

            We cannot depend on humans to remain faithful to us. Some will, but others won’t. Those remain faithful so long as everything is great and they are o.k. with the way we act. But if things go south or they don’t approve of what we do, they turn their backs on us. God isn’t that way. He remains faithful to us, even when we do things that He doesn’t approve of … even when we are not faithful to Him. It says it’s because He cannot deny Himself. That’s because He resides within us. We need have no fear that one day He will suddenly reject us, even if others have already rejected us.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You know Me, My children. I would not leave you alone, nor would I leave you defenseless. You know that I will always do what I say. I will never go back on My Word, but will always perform it. You can depend on Me, when I tell you that I will do something. I have only good for you. But you must trust Me to do what I say I will do for you. There is no other way than to trust Me to do what My Word says that I will do.”

 

            25. No matter what I may do, He remains faithful to me. He will never leave me nor forsake me.

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

 Treasure entrusted to you:

 

2 Timothy 1:14

14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

 

            There is a treasure that indwells us. People throughout the years have delighted to go on a treasure hunt. Well, we need a map to go on a treasure hunt. That map is the Bible. It says that the way to get to the treasure is to look inside; for there is where it’s located. The treasure is not in the things of this world, but in the things of the Spirit world. It’s inside us … a real, honest-to-goodness treasure more valuable than any of this world. We just need to make use of it. We learn how to do that through the Spirit who indwells us.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You have within you a treasure beyond compare. It is something that the men of old deeply desired, but were unable to obtain it. It is the indwelling presence of My Spirit. They knew Me from afar, but you know Me from within. This treasure has been given to you to help you and those around you in time of need. He will guide you into all the truth. You will not have to guess what My will is; for He will show you what My will is and how to walk in it.”

 

            24. God has entrusted to me a special treasure. I will not fail to live up to my obligation to take good care of that treasure residing in me.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom

 Gave us the Kingdom:

 

Luke 12:32

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

 

            God has chosen to give us the Kingdom. He gave it to us; we didn’t earn it. Therefore, we have nothing to brag about. We should no longer think of ourselves as nobodies. We are someone special. We possess the Kingdom. Jesus also said to not be afraid. How can we be afraid when we have the Kingdom of the Almighty God. When God chose to give us this Kingdom, it wasn’t begrudgingly. He gladly chose to give it to us. We should gladly receive it and diligently strive to share that Kingdom with others. As those around us see us walking in that Kingdom, they will desire to also enter this Kingdom.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My children, do not fear those who are of this world; for they are not your enemy. You are not of their kingdom, but of Mine. My Kingdom is a Kingdom not of the understanding of the natural mind. For it cannot understand nor even perceive its existence. For My Kingdom is one of freedom and power in Me. You are of My Kingdom, and you need not fear what man can do to you. Only fear the One who has the final power over your existence. Only fear that you fall from His grace; for there is nothing of this realm that can harm you. Only trust in Me and My Spirit.”

 

            23. God gladly chose to give us the Kingdom. Therefore, I am a subject of His Kingdom.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light

 People for God’s own possession:

 

1 Peter 2:9

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

 

            Look at all the things this verse says that we are. This is how God sees us even though they may not have all come to pass yet.

            We are a chosen race. First of all, we are a race. Those who are from the same race have many common characteristics. This is true of Christians. We have many things in common which we inherited from our Father. We someone looks at any Christian, he/she should see similarities with other Christians. We are also a chosen race. Our names weren’t pulled out of God’s hat. He chose this race of people with common characteristics.

            We are a holy nation. We are a nation. Those who are citizens of a particular nation have common characteristics. This time it may not be physical ones. These mainly have to do with beliefs and allegiance. This is true of us. We have common beliefs and our allegiance is to the Lamb. We’re not just a nation, we are a holy nation. That describes the chief characteristic of our nation. We’re the only nation that can lay claim to that characteristic. And the holiness isn’t our own. It’s His. We just have to walk in it.

            We are a people. The Indians of some of the tribes would talk about “the people” meaning their tribe. We are members of God’s tribe … His people. We are for His own possession. It means we didn’t just accidentally come about. He chose us to be His people.

            Why did He make us all of this? So that we might proclaim His excellencies -the one who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I have especially chosen you to be My people. You are to lead the people of the world unto Me. You are to be a shining example to them, so that they will desire to follow Me. When I said you were special, I was telling you how much you mean to Me. When I pour out My blessings on you, you will attract many people unto Me. You are My special chosen people. There is not another group of people that will accomplish what I have chosen for you to do in My name.”

 

            22. I am a member of those special people who are created for God’s own possession. I am joyfully His.