If you are ever feeling rather good about your personal character then read The Ten Commandments. It is usually a good ego buster. The Ten Commandments were given by God to the nation of Israel as a guide to righteous living but more importantly as a pointer to Jesus Christ and God’s law of Grace. If we measure our lives by the commandments we will soon see we are not good…as it measures goodness. It shows us our common need for a redeemer. It exposes our character flaws.

Failed Character Issues is usually the first and most often “dance” we like to have with past skeletons. Maybe your past character flaw is a terrible lie or little white lies you tell to your spouse or parents; maybe you stole from work, a store or….from God; you might have filed bankruptcy or just didn’t pay your bills; you may have been fired from a job because you were always late or were a slacker; maybe you had a substance abuse problem or you had problems gossiping. Whatever it was or is, it continues to plaque you and you remember it oftenSo, how do we get rid of this dance card? How do we move forward?

First, know that everyone has had past character issues. Our measure of goodness isn’t based on others, but God did say, “there is none good, no not one”. If we didn’t have character issues, we wouldn’t need a Saviour.

Second, the failures of the past belong in the past, however, past failures should teach us how to have future victories. Although God forgets our sin, we are incapable. That is a good thing! God wants us to remember our mistakes and the hurt they caused as an aid to keep us from doing it again.

Third,  God said when your surrender to Him, He “will begin a new work in you”. Your past does not need to be an anchor in your life. Paul said in Philippians that he “forgets the past and presses toward the future for a greater reward”. God doesn’t look for what we can do with our character, but He does want to transform our character into the image of Jesus. He will help and He will be there with you.

God said in 1 John 1:8-9, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” You character failures of the past were never hidden from God, but He did say if you repent He will forgive.

Accept that forgiveness today and move forward to a better life. When God begins to develop the character of Christ in our lives, people will see something far greater that any of our past mistakes.

Be Forgiven!

Bryan
www.imforgiven.com

Several years ago (In my other life) I was sitting in front of an infamous “pulpit” committee. As they finished asking me questions as to my ability to pastor and my experience as a pastor, one gentleman stood and said, “Before we finish, I have one last question. Do you have any skeletons in your closet we should know about?” My answer was quick and I thought very witty, “No, none that you should know about.” They didn’t have quite the sense of humor I had.

I love that saying, “Skeletons in your closet”. If they are skeletons, aren’t they dead? And if they are dead, why do we or others keep trying to dig them up? That doesn’t seem to be healthy…digging up dead things.

I entitled this series of blogs, “Dancing With The Skeletons” because I wanted to help others learn to live past their past. If that is going to happen, we can’t keep going back and dancing with the skeletons. We must learn to let the “dead bury the dead”.

I have made so many mistakes and bad decisions in my life that there would not be a closet big enough to hold all the skeletons…if I had any. That’s right! If I had any! Some describe skeletons in your closet as any wrongs you have made in your past. If that were the definition, then yes, I do have many. But I define a “skeleton in your closet” as a past you want to keep buried or hidden. Although I would rather not discuss all my mistakes or wrongs, they are not hidden or buried…they are wiped-out by the blood of Christ. He has exposed them, paid the price, forgave the wrong , covered them by his blood and God remembers my mistakes no more. Look at at Jeremiah 31:34, “…I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

In my next post I will start to share the five skeletons with which we tend to dance and then show how we can bury those skeletons once and for all. But in order to live past your past you must first receive God’s forgiveness and give Him your past.

Be Happy!

Bryan
www.imforgiven.com

Just to mention the names Bill Clinton, Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart and most can name their graven mistakes.The fact is, we know of all those people because the media made them famous. But what if our past mistakes or innocent accusations were highlighted and made public. We ALL have a past. Some are filled with the proverbial “Skeletons” and others are filled with betrayal and hurt. So if everyone has these clouds of the past that way over our heads, how do we learn to get over it and start living again? EASIER SAID THAN DONE! There is not one blanket statement for everyone, however, time seems to be the common factor with anyone’s past. People eventually forget or forgive to a certain degree. But there are two things we all can apply in order to “Live Past Our Past”.

1. First, we must want to start fresh. It is very easy to rehash the past. I know many would say they just want to forget the past, but if the hurt is due to what someone else did to you, you will usually revisit the event to find their faults, get people rallied around you and to stay angry. The anger helps to justify your anger. If it was a mistake you made, then you will try to find the problem with others to justify your wrong. Soooo, you must start fresh and let the past be past. Until you decide to be future minded and make it a better tomorrow, you will never live past your past.
2. Second, you must learn to forgive. You must forgive yourself. Satan will supply you with every reason why you have no right, but God gave you ONE reason why you must…Jesus. God said if youconfess your sins, He forgives them, unconditionally. He will remember them no more. You must also forgive others. No matter the reason or the act, weather they are sorry or not. God said you must forgive others if you are going to prosper.

 I don’t which is harder…forgiving yourself or others. I always found it was harder to forgive myself. But I do know if you are going to “Live Past Your Past”, you must learn to forgive. I found by getting in the Bible, looking at examples God gave us, praying for wisdom and discernment and just focusing on the future, it has made it easier to forgive.

Give it a try and start living past your past today.

Be Forgiven!

Bryan

This morning on a news talk show, a reporter asked Al Sharpton if he could forgive Don Imus since Rev. Sharpton is a christian? You see, even the secular press, unchurched society and non-christian community knows that the message of forgiveness is expected by God. Al Sharpton said it had nothing to do with forgiveness, it had to do with a racist comment and Don Imus needed to be fired.

Well, there is a lot that can be said about this whole thing. First, what Don Imus said was indeed a very distatseful comment. It had deragatory words and was meant to demeen and put down the black ladies of this woman’s basketball team. Even if it was said just to be funny or stimulate discussion, it was distatseful and showed the dark workplace humor that fills most offices. Second, this is being blasted because it offended a very vocal and political minority group. Had this comment been said about a Christian basketball team with different demeening words, I wonder if it would have gone unnoticed. Third, he should be fired or disciplined if it was against company policy to say anything discriminating or derogatory toward a people group. Fourth, Al Sharpton is right, forgiveness is seperate from consequences for your actions.

Should Don Imus be forgiven? YES. There is no condition or action that excuses us from forgiveness. It should be offered and given. God did not even say that someone should ask before you give forgiveness. He simply said to forgive. It’s up to them to receive it. Forgiveness is simply releasing someone from the debt they may have incurred by hurting you. It is a release of emotions. However, forgiveness does not release us from consequences. Mercy can excuse the consequence and grace can heal the consequence, but the consequence is always there.

Man sinned against God and the consequence was spirtual and physical death. God’s mercy provides a gift to correct this death. He gave His only begotten Son and all who receive Him will have etrnal life. Physical death is still a consequence that exist, but Eternal life is God mercy. God’s grace allows all to recieve this gift, His grace erases our sins and He remembers them no more…but physical death is still the consequence of sin. When someone hurts you or you make a mistake, some consequences may never go away, but grace and mercy can create a new life that is better than ever before. Don’t make the mistake and believe forgiveness excuses consequences, but don’t let the consequences excuse your from receiving forgiveness.

Be Forgiven.

Bryan

When Jesus came back to life it was a celestial unveiling of His Godly character and a sounding trumpet of the victory and the new beginning He was going to offer to all. By accepting His victory and believing in Him as the only Son of God, you too can celebrate a new life. There is a time for all of us to reflect on our lives. A time to recall the mistakes, the humiliations, the failures, the regrets, all of those moments we wish we could erase from our memories. At that moment, the moment when all the guilt and shame flood over our souls, you can know that when you have a relationship with Jesus, He earses the slate.

The resurrection of life of Jesus gives us a reason to celebrate. A celebration of a new day, a new hope and a new beginning. No matter what you have done or what others have done to you, God can give you a new start. I pray this Easter you will accept His renewal and start fresh. You can say, “I’m forgiven”. It’s a New Day. New Hope. New Beginning.

Because He Lives, IMforgiven.

Bryan

“The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him.”

As Easter approaches I am reminded of the suffering Jesus endured for us and why He endured it. We have many things that happen in our lives that cause hurt, depression, discord, brokeness and unhappiness. Some of these things are legitimate burdens and concerns, some are very superfiscial. However, the prophecy of Isaiah 53 clearly shows us how much pain Jesus endured so we could be healed. How much suffering He willing took on Himself so He could carry our burden. He is our Saviour! And all the pain He felt, all the pain He received…was our pain.

Give Jesus your hurts and pain today. If your life seems empty, frustrating or hopeless, see what God can do. It’s worth investigating. Our healing was His hurt and His hurt was offered so we can be healed.

Be Happy!

Bryan

But, I also want this to be a place for you to blog about your place in this world. What’s your hurt? What is your unique struggles with getting past your past? How has this ministry helped or how has God healed your past? Just comment to any post or email me at contact@imforgiven.com with ideas, stories or specific areas you want me to focus on.

I am looking forward to your participation and be sure to share this site with others.

Be Forgiven!

Bryan

I think I will start with “Why Forgiveness”. The fact is many years ago I went through a very public and humiliating tragedy in my life. I made several mistakes and wrong choices and as a result many people were angry with me. I saw people who were my closest friends and like brothers or sisters to me, suddenly turn and had nothing to do with me. Other pastors never called, no one consoled with me, tried to help or just came alongside me as a friend. Because of this, I also turned. I turned to anger, bitterness, resentment as a way to deal with my mistakes and the rejection I felt.

I found that the more angry I became at others, the easier it was to sin and justify many actions. After all, it was their fault not mine. Well, after God shook, rattled and rolled my soul I discovered His purpose for my life was to find forgiveness for myself and others. Mark 11 and Matthew 6 were opened to me and I learned that forgiveness was not an option in the Kingdom of God, it was not a choice and our decision to NOT forgive came with severe consequences with regards to our relationship with God and each other.

Then I realized after 10 years as a pastor, I never really gave that much importance to forgiveness. Sure, there messages on receiving God’s forgiveness, but not on forgiving others. I might have said it was God’s will or a good thing, but NEVER did I focus on the fact that Jesus said, “If we don’t forgive others, my Father in heaven will NOT forgive you”. WOW! That’s powerful.

So, it was then I knew God gave me a message and a word to edify the body of Christ. How much have we missed out on because we haven’t focused on this very specific command? How many blessings? How much peace? How much love? Forgiveness, man…it is God’s main reason for taking over 1500 years, over 40 different authors to write the Bible. It’s the main reason He gave His one and only Son to die for us. It’s not an option. That is why I chose IMforgiven!

Bryan