Try as we might, we cannot erase our past. Only God can give us a clean slate, fresh start and a new heart. We soon discover that the worst of events tend to continue to haunt us in the present like a ghostly presence. They cling like an unwanted second skin, clammy and cold to our souls.
I’ve had to learn to relinquish my past to God, mainly because some of it is just too heavy and painful to carry alone. This doesn’t mean that it never enters my thoughts. Far from it. The enemy is always whispering venom to our hearts and minds. He loves to remind us just what we were, where we came from and how we’ve been wronged.
And when that happens we can get drawn back into the feelings we had back then, sucked into the swirling vortex of pain, while our minds relive it all over again like a never ending cinema reel.
But we have a powerful weapon against the enemy’s wiles. As we read God’s Word it not only reminds us just who we are in Christ, it saturates us with beautiful, holy Truth and Light that drives out the dark and ugly lies we’ve bought into.
The more we believe the Bible over what our fearful hearts have clung to, and allow the Lord access to all areas, the better prepared we are to fight with spiritual weapons instead of caving in to pain, and accept we are redeemed and washed clean, a new creation in Jesus Christ.
It’s what gives us the resources and strength we need to move on, dwell on God’s mercy, forgiveness and grace instead of on our guilt-ridden and shame-filled past, while learning to live more joyfully in the present day.
a vanished shadow
a vanished shadow
yesterday clings ghost-like, grey
while we live today
©joylenton
Poetry Joy 
Dear Joy,
This is a beautiful Haiku today! You’ve captured those feelings that tag-along with the enemy’s taunts so well. What a precious Lord we have, though, as He chases away those lies, and shine His light in the darkest corner. And, I love your windowsills–you seem to catch such amazing views and photos there! Have a Blessed Weekend my friend! xoxo
Dear Bettie, how thankful I am for our “precious Lord ” who “chases away those lies and shines His light in the darkest corner.” There is no area of our lives that is a mystery or a no-go zone for Christ. He is in our past, present and future. A reassuring thought! Thank you for your appreciation of the haiku and images I have shared here. They are edited photos of fuschia plants in our hanging basket. I love to play around with focus, colour and style to alter what I see and give a fresh perspective on things. Glad you like it! Have a restful weekend, my friend. Blessings, love and hugs! xoxo 💜
Amen! I wrote about this very thing recently. I don’t know why God doesn’t erase our memory of our sin but I’m so very thankful that He forgets and forgives! I’m so far behind in my reading since I’ve been writing every day but I am slowly catching up with your inspiring daily haikus!
It’s a wonderful act of grace that God not only forgives but also forgets our sin. If only we didn’t retain the guilt and shame of it! June, I so appreciate you trying to catch up with these daily haiku, though I must confess to being way behind in my own blog reading. I’ve only succeeded in keeping up with writing on a daily basis and in cheering on one friend on who is also doing a daily haiku series. It sounds like I have missed out on lots of good posts from you alone. Sorry about that! 😕