You Knew Me (Devotional)
August 3, 2018 (Music Video Release Date)
You Knew Me
Psalm 139:5
New International Version (NIV)
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Looking back to days gone by
Think and ponder, wonder why
When in hindsight I could always see
I didn’t need a time machine
To right the past and wipe it clean
Grace and mercy have delivered me
Do you ever wish you could change your past? Do you regret your former self and the things you’ve done? Do you ever look back on your life and think to yourself: If only I had a time machine...
The good news is that scripture is full of passages relieving you of your past. (Psalm 139:5)
In verse two of You Knew Me, I talk about the desire to go back in time to right the wrongs I’ve done, but it’s all unnecessary, when you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior. He knows you incredibly well; inside and out.
Psalm 139:13-14
New International Version (NIV)
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
He recognizes your past and has already delivered you from your mistakes. They are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, and are far removed from the vision of a just and merciful God.
Psalm 103:12
New International Version (NIV)
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Paul says it best when he wrote the book of Philippians. He doesn’t have it all figured out, but it is integral to his future if he forgets the past.
Philippians 3:13-14
New International Version (NIV)
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The scripture is clear. Keep your past behind you, and look to the future with expectation and excitement. Be eager to see what God has in store for you.
Isaiah 43:18-19
New International Version (NIV)
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
It’s also important to recognize that when you give your life to Christ, the goal is for your old ways to cease. It’s Christ who lives in you. It’s one of the things to look forward to in your future.
Galatians 2:20-21
English Standard Version (ESV)
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
The fortunate thing to coincide with the previous scripture is that you become a new creation when you are in Christ. The old has passed away including everything in your past.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
New International Version (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
We can safely say there’s no need to worry about the past, but it’s also safe to say we are covered for tomorrow as well.
Matthew 6:25-34
New International Version (NIV)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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