I want to recount a story that Corrie Ten Boom told. She had spoken at a church in Munich in 1947. At the close of the service a man walked up. She knew him well. He was one of the most vicious guards at Ravensbruck. 

He said, “How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” He held out his hand to her. She remembered him. There she was face to face with one of her captors, and her blood seemed to freeze. 

He told her that he was a guard at Ravensbruck, “…but since that time I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me…will you forgive me?”

Corrie stood there. She wrestled. She asked the Lord to help her. She took his hand and forgave him with the same forgiveness she had received from the Lord.

We cannot reach forward while still holding onto the hurts from our past. Matthew 18:35 says that God Himself will send tormentors if we do not forgive from our heart.

What do you need to let go of? 1 Peter 2:1 says, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.” I have a verse taped to my refrigerator. Titus 3:2 says, “To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.”

People lash out at others through hurtful words or actions, because they have not laid aside their past. Jesus was sinless. He had no past. For several mornings I have woken up with these words from the hymn “It Is Well.” My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

In 1 Peter 2:23 we find our example of how to emulate the Lord when our flesh wants to rise up in self-defense. It says, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” Revile means to abuse insultingly. 

Philippians 3:13 says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Note: forgetting and reaching were one fluid movement.

To forget the troubling things from our past is a choice. In truth, what has taken place cannot be changed. Five minutes ago became our past. Our past is finished, over, and done with. Our past only exists in our minds. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is my favorite forgetter verse. It prods me to let the thought go that is not going to serve me well.

Paul wrote, “…old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Let’s go back to the beginning of verse 16. It says, “Therefore from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.” You may have been hurt by someone’s negative or destructive fleshly actions. Paul experienced it over and over. Yet, he chose to let the past go as he reached forward. Constantly bringing up past hurts is futile thinking which causes emotional fatigue.

In John 14:21 it says that the test of our love for the Lord is through our obedience to His word. The results are, “…and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” The Greek for manifest means to appear, come to view, reveal, exhibit, make visible, present oneself to the sight of another. 

The Lord is so magnificent and majestic. His infinite attributes are incomprehensible to man. A. W. Tozer’s book “Knowledge Of The Holy” says that He has countless attributes. I love what Tozer wrote about Him being Self-Existent. Think of this: no boundaries, nor limitations, no past, and nothing in our lives is impossible for Him.

Therefore He uses our trials to make Himself known to us in ways we have not experienced Him before. He never does things the same way. He does not meet our present needs the same way He previously met them in another trial.

We are trained through His manifestation to us. He draws us into deep intimate communion. He helps us to embrace His way which is perfect. Psalm 18:30.

I was looking at a vine with a friend. The vine’s tendrils were reaching out to connect with something sturdy and solid. It reminded me of our trials. They are like a trellis that cause our faith’s tendrils to reach further.

Hardships, adversity, troubles, and sorrows are trials that train our faith to reach out to the Lord in ways we didn’t before. No trial is in vain. The Lord redeems everything in our lives. Nothing goes to waste in His Kingdom. 

Job 42:2 was Job’s conclusion after his long trial. It says, “I know you can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” Our trials are divinely orchestrated and designed. The intensity of our fiery trial melts our faith. That causes any hidden dross  to come to the surface so it can be skimmed off. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “That the genuineness of your faith…may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The Lord uses our unique-to-us trials to reveal Himself to us in ways we did not experience Him before.

Over the years there has been false teachings about grace. I witnessed a youth group that taught they could do anything because they were covered in grace. Not! The truth is that grace empowers us to not sin. 

Romans 6:11 is our key. It says that we are dead to sin, because in the moment of our salvation we died with Christ. He set us free from the slave block of sin. According to Colossians 1:13 He “…delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

In Romans 6:13 Paul’s instruction for the resurrection life is to, “…not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

What we pursue had an essential bearing on our conduct. In Philippians 3:10 Paul wrote that his determined purpose was to know the Lord. The Amplified says, “…that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection (which exerts over believers)…”

Philippians 3:11 says, “If by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” As I was working on memorizing this verse, I wondered what Paul meant. One of my pastor’s gave me Hendriksen’s commentary to help me understand.

He wrote, “These words give expression to Paul’s intense longing and striving to be raised completely above sin and selfishness, so that he can be a most effective agent for the salvation of men to the glory of God…” 

This is why I love Romans 6. In verses 1-2 Paul asked a question and answered it emphatically. Ask yourself this question ~ “Shall I continue to sin that grace may abound?” Hear Paul’s words echoing in your mind. Verse 2 says, “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Our standing was stated in verse 5. The ‘if’ in Greek is since. It says, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” Verse 4 described it as newness of life.

Psalm 22:3 says, “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” Enthroned in the Hebrew means to dwell, remain, sit, abide. The definition drew me to John 4:24. It says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Praise is rooted in the heart of one whose lifestyle is worship. Worship is succulent fruit to the Lord. Psalm 138:1-2 says, “I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above Your name.”

God’s word gives us the words to worship with. Throughout Scripture we see the Lord’s attributes displayed. As we gaze at Him, as we contemplate Who He is at all times, worship enlarges our hearts until it is expressed through our lips.

1 Peter 2:5 says, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

I had been working on memorizing Philippians 3:10. Afterwards I was singing this song, “Open The Eyes Of My Heart” and letting the words roll through my mind. “Holy, holy, holy, I want to see You.…”

The verse recorded Paul’s pursuit. It says, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…”

Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose us before the foundation of the world, “…that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” 1 Peter 1:15 says, “But as He who called you is holy you also be holy in all your conduct.”

Verse 17 says, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves through the time of your stay here in fear.” 

Peter wrote about our state, which is our pursuit of holiness. It is our journey of progressive sanctification. Jude wrote about our standing, which is eternal and unchangeable. Verse 24 says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

Excellence is a character quality that exemplifies the Lord. I love Peter’s title for the Father. In 2 Peter 1:16-18 he described what it was like for him, James, and John with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.

Verse 17 says, “For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory; This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The eyes of the Excellent Glory are on us. Is He pleased with our pursuits? Does our life characterize the One who died for us? Does what we say and do honor the Lord? Do others see Jesus’ character through our lives?

I like to visit Acts 4:13. Peter and John had stood before the Sanhedrin as they were questioned. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit as he answered. Verse 13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Amazing testimony. May all who know us see Jesus’ character displayed.