If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it at least 100 times…”If I could figure out how to put this beauty filter from Snapchat on my face when I go out, I would do it in a heartbeat!” I can just imagine walking in the mall or somewhere with this huge phone in front of my face and only letting people see me through the lens of whatever filter I chose for the day. I have to say, I do enjoy playing with those silly filters and creating stories on Snapchat. I think it’s fun!
One day I was looking to see what new filters came out, and I heard a still small voice speak to me, “All anyone needs is My filter, the blood of Jesus.” To say that it resonated within my spirit would be an understatement. All of a sudden, I could see all these images flash before me from my past and how the blood of Jesus covered me, and how it changed the image I was seeing. WOW! If you only knew what I saw…if you only knew how powerful those images were. Do you know that the blood of Jesus was shed for not only me, but for you? Do you know that Jesus took the punishment that we deserve upon Himself and freed us from the laws of sin and death? In Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) it says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. I like how the Message Bible says it best, “Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!”
No longer do we have to be bound up by our past. If you are walking around with your head hanging down and counting every mistake you have ever made, it’s time to stop. It’s time to start walking with your head held high knowing that you are worthy. You are loved so much that Jesus came to the earth just for YOU. He loves you just as you are today. He will never stop loving you, no matter what you have done or what you may do. When Jesus took your sins upon Himself at the cross, it was EVERY sin…. past, present, and future. He can’t be nailed to the cross again. Out of our love and gratitude, we ask forgiveness knowing that it we are already forgiven. All our sins, all our shortcomings, all our failures were nailed to the cross that day on Calvary. Why? Because Jesus loves us!
You know, I will never forget a particular time when I was praying something that I often prayed. I was standing in my kitchen and I said, “Thank you God for loving me for who I am today, and who I am going to be.” I had been feeling like I was failing miserably at being a Christian. You know those times when you are trying to fit into this image of what everyone thinks you should be, and how you should act, but you can’t seem to cut it? That’s how I was feeling. This time when I prayed, God spoke something deep down inside of me. He said, “Dana, I will never love you more tomorrow then I already do today. You can’t make me love you anymore then I already do. I love you with an everlasting love.” All of a sudden, I started understanding the true love of God. I received revelatory knowledge of His love in my spirit, and it set me free from so much bondage I had in my life. I kept trying to live up to this image that was created by a religious spirit that I had been carrying around on the inside of me, but Jesus set me free.
You see, the devil wants to remind you of your past failures every second of the day. If he can’t get to you internally, he will use those around you to do it. He wants to remind you of that time you said something you shouldn’t have, or did something you shouldn’t have done. If he can’t get you to go on an emotional guilt trip reminding you of your failures, he will use someone close to you to remind you. We need to remember that we have been set free from our past mistakes. I’m not just talking about your past 10 years ago, I’m talking about your past even 10 minutes ago! In John 8:36, it states “So if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free.” Don’t question your freedom any longer. When you start dwelling on things you have done in the past, or old memories start coming to your mind, remember the filter that washes it all away. Remember the blood of Jesus. There is power in the blood!
If you don’t know Jesus as your as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to get to know Him today. If you struggle with never feeling good enough, know that He found you MORE than good enough. You can never make Him love you anymore then He already does. Don’t try to clean yourself up and make yourself presentable to Him. Don’t keep putting it off any longer. Let Jesus wash you, let Him make you presentable to our heavenly Father!
John 3:16 (NLT) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
Dana's Journey 
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