Hello, Dear Friends!
Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome!

I post a devotional blog every Wednesday and my purpose is to nourish your soul and encourage you along the way.

This morning I talked on the phone with one of my mentors about some recurring health issues I've been battling. I was blessed to be on the receiving end of one of her powerful prayers.

She prayed something to this effect: "Dear Lord, May the power of Susie's past be broken that it may not affect her future. May she be delivered from all of the effects of past sin, sickness, and wrong beliefs. And may her todays and tomorrows be marked only by Your promises."

Is that not a powerful prayer?

A writer from the 1800's (so sorry, can't remember his name) wrote, "Our past is forgiven. Our future is bright with hope. Our present is filled with power."

Psalm 103:1-5 tells us that God forgives, heals, ransoms, crowns, satisfies, and renews us. If we've taken our sin to the Cross, God has forgiven our past. He wants to heal and restore us. And yet we often drag our baggage with us. We hang on to old fears, age-old debts, and paper thin opinions others have of us.

We can look at those things, we can continue to walk forward while looking over our shoulder, but eventually, we'll fall on our faces. Which isn't such a bad place to be if it makes us remember the Cross once again.

At some point, though, we have to look up. We have to look forward. We have to shake the dust off our past - all of the bad stuff that is - and dare to place our feet on the next place of promise.

Not that our past is a waste. It isn't. On the contrary, when we give our ashes to the Lord, He forms them into jewels fit for a crown.

How do we diminish the negative effects of the past, that we might embrace God's mighty power for our future?

Read on...