Daily Encouragement For February 21:

A much loved minister of God once carried a secret burden of long past sin deep in his heart. He had committed the sin many years before, after he received Christ, but was now serving God in the ministry faithfully. No one knew what he had done, but they did know he had repented of what he did long ago. Even so, he had suffered years of remorse over the incident without any sense of God's forgiveness.

One day, he approached a woman that attended the church, she deeply loved God and claimed to have visions in which Jesus Christ spoke to her. The man, skeptical of her claims, cautiously asked her, "The next time you speak to Jesus, would you please ask Him if He remembers the sin that I committed when I first accepted Him as my Savior." The woman agreed.

When she came to the church a few days later the man asked, "Did you see Jesus, did He talk to you?" She said, "Yes."

"And did you ask Him what sin I committed?"

"Yes, I asked Him," she replied

"Well, what did He say?"

"He said, 'I don't remember.'"

The forgiveness we received in Christ is complete. As far as God is concerned, our sin is over and done with and forgotten. We must learn to rest in His forgiveness and release the guilt and shame of our past sin, it is the only way that we can forgive ourselves as God has forgiven us.

“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” - Colossians 2:12-14.