Nancy Hughes: I don't live there any more

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up;
do you not perceive it? I am making
a way in the desert and streams
in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

Moving from my old home to a new one created a lot more problems than I had anticipated. Trying to downsize was a huge issue since I was moving from a 5 bedroom to a 3 bedroom home. And of course, all the paperwork created a near migraine by the time it was finished.

One dilemma that was totally unexpected was changing my address. I thought I was ahead of the game when I bought four packages of “I’ve Moved!” cards to send to friends until I realized that the cards got packed in the move and were not found until a year later.

Fortunately the post office forwarded my mail from my other home for a few months which helped as I notified insurance agents, medical facilities and credit card companies of the address change.

But for six months after the move, I kept receiving mail at my new home that belonged to the previous home owners. I would write “doesn’t live here anymore” and put it back in the mailbox but I continued to receive letters from the same companies over and over. It was almost as though the senders didn’t believe my message written on each envelope.

It occurred to me that sometimes as Christians we are viewed in that same way. When we give our lives to the Lord, we are told to “forget the former things” as the Scripture from Isaiah says. But, as sad as it is, too often there are Christian brothers and sisters who do not.

They may not speak openly about what you did or didn’t do before you gave your heart to the Lord but their actions and glances are every bit as loud as a spoken word. And while God Himself assures us that He forgives and forgets, some do not.

My friends, if that is where you find yourself today, please remember what your new “home” is filled with: room after room of forgiveness and grace and mercy. Pray for those who feel the need to judge you by your past; pray that they will truly experience becoming a new creation, as you are in your new “home.”

Maybe my old “home” was larger with more storage…but it does not compare to my new “home” in Christ. Just as the message I wrote on those envelopes, you too can live with confidence in knowing that God does not judge us by how we lived in the past. Nancy doesn’t live there anymore.

Father, I praise you today for your forgiveness and mercy and for creating a new me when I turn my life over to you. Show me the new life that you have for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Have you ever had someone make a comment or look at you in a way that let you know they remembered your past before you came to the Lord?

What was your first reaction when that happened?

Application

Make note cards with today’s Power Verses on them.

Place them around your home, in your Bible, in your car and in a cabinet to remind you about your address change when you turned your life and “home” over to the Lord.

Power Verses

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:16 (NIV) “…For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.”

II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”