Greetings, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. So leave a comment, share a story or insight, and just maybe you'll win a jolt of java for you and a friend! I'll announce the winner for August next week.

As most of you know, I have a new radio show, Live the Promise with Susie Larson. The program airs every Saturday morning from noon to 1:00 CST. And guess what? We are going live on weekdays starting in October! More details to follow...

Last week I guest-hosted for Connecting Faith and my special guest was Terri Savelle Foy, author of, "Make Your Dreams Bigger Than Your Memories. We had a great discussion (and it's the springboard for my blog topic today).

Check out the podcast from that show. 

And, a quick note about this week's show! Listen in as I interview author Jerry Rankin on his new book, "Spiritual Warfare and Missions." Listen in on KTIS AM 900, or listen online at: www.faith900.com

Now on to my topic...

I have a few questions for you...

• Do you tend to look BACK more than you look FORWARD? In other words, do your thoughts default more to your PAST than they do to the POSSIBILItIES in Christ?
• Do you tend to look DOWN more than you look UP? In other words, are you more SELF-AWARE than GOD-AWARE? 
• Is easier to believe that God could NEVER USE YOU or to believe that GOD WANTS TO USE YOU GREATLY? 

I have great news for you today! It's a new day! The old is gone - it's behind you - it can no longer hurt you unless you breathe life into it. As a new creature in Christ, your sin is buried in the sea of forgetfulness. It's out of God's memory. Think about that on a consistent basis! There is NOW therefore, NO condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus! (See Romans 8:1). God intends to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE. His plan and highest will is for you to live in the NEWNESS of today and in the PRESENCE of His promises that you might live life ABUNDANTLY.

As I mentioned in the intro above, this past week I interviewed Terri Savelle Foy on her great book, "Make Your Dreams Bigger Than Your Memories." Though outwardly as a young woman she appeared to have everything a girl could want going for her - she was dying on the inside - so aware of her faults, sins, and missteps. But at one point the Lord spoke these wonderful words to her heart, "Terri, why do you keep bringing up sins I've chosen to forget?"

Why do we do that? 

I am guilty of this very thing! I spend a lot of time calling to mind Christ's sacrifice on my behalf. And since I'm such a visual thinker, God tends to speak to me in word pictures. One day as I prayed about the past being dead and gone I pictured the ground behind me giving way as I walked forward. Every sin, every misstep and mistake, dropped into a canyon of forgetfulness, never to be accounted against me again. And yet, as the ground gave way and began to drop, what I did for Christ suddenly defied gravity and ascended to Heaven to be written in the book of remembrance. 

What incredible, scandalous grace! Our sins are covered and forgotten, but every act prompted by our faith, remembered and rewarded. 

We get stuck in our past not because God remembers but because we remember... and because we care that others remember. We put more weight in man's ability to remember than we do God uncanny ability to forget. God forgive us!

To have bigger dreams than memories, we must forget was lies behind us and press forward that which Christ paid such a high price: A redeemed, renewed, powerful, fruitful, world-changing life! 

Who cares if people around us still hold judgments against us? God Himself has made a public spectacle of the powers that oppose us! (See Colossians 2:15).

At some point we need to trust God, take Him at His Word, and shake the dust of the past off of our feet! 

Dream big with God today, my friend! Nothing is impossible with Him.

Blessings to you!

~Until Next Week