TOTD, Dec 01-02

Receive God's Forgiveness

God wants to give us the gift of forgiveness. When we confess our sin to Him, He forgives us of our sins. Psalm 103:12 says that He puts them away from Him as far as the east is from the west, and He remembers them no more. But for us to benefit from that forgiveness, we must receive it by faith.

Many years ago when I was first developing my relationship with the Lord, each night I would beg His forgiveness for my past sins. One evening as I knelt beside my bed, I heard the Lord say to me in my heart, " Joyce, I forgave you the first time you asked, but you have not received My gift because you have not forgiven yourself."

Have you received God's gift of forgiveness?

" And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
--- Matthew 21:22

My own reflection on this Thought:
* Many times we fail to forgive ourselves even though God has already forgiven us. This is not what He wants us to do. We need to regularly forgive ourselves. We have to think from another perspective. Yes, we have made mistakes, but God has already given His mercy. Why won't we give ourselves mercy as well?
Forgive ourselves and it will make us feel better. (-fon-)

The Word As a Spiritual Weapon

The reason our enemy, Satan, hates and fears the Word of God so much is because he knows that the Word is a powerful weapon against him. It assures his defeat! That's why it is imperative that we learn to use the spiritual sword Ephesians 6:17 says in the Word.

A sword is a weapon with which one attacks an enemy. A sword in the sheath is of no value. It must be wielded, or taken from the sheath and appropriately used. The Word of God is the believer's sword, and we must learn to apply it accurately. We apply it by reading the Word daily, getting it down in our heart and speaking it out our mouth. The believer who does that is a major threat to Satan.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
--- Ephesians 6:17

My own reflection on this Thought:
* Satan would always attack our mind. That's the easiest way to distract us. That's why we need spiritual weapons such as prayers and God's Words to make ourselves stronger. We have limitation. But once more we need to remember that we have a very powerful God. No limit within Him. (-fon-)