Have you ever felt the weight of past mistakes tethering you down, leaving you longing for a breath of spiritual freedom? Join us on a heartfelt journey as we navigate the seas of forgiveness, casting off the anchors of guilt with God's grace as our guiding star. Together, we'll uncover the transformative power of letting go and the redemption that awaits us through divine mercy. Our souls embark on this voyage, sharing personal struggles and the solace found in laying our missteps before God. This isn't a tale of tallying wrongs, but a chronicle of continuous alignment with His will, drawing deep from the well of scriptural wisdom to quench our thirst for peace.
As we chart our path through the murky waters of temptation and suffering, we also tackle the human inclination to cling to pain—a barrier between us and our Creator's boundless forgiveness. Picture yourself unshackling the chains of blame, basking in the light that God's solutions and joy bring forth. Imagine the liberation of casting your written burdens into the fire, watching them turn to ash and rise away, as we pray together for forgiveness and strength. With open hearts, we extend a warm beacon to those adrift, inviting them back to the harbor of God's love. No storm is too fierce when we sail under the banner of Guidance Light, sharing encouragement and blessings until we meet again.
Have you ever felt the weight of past mistakes tethering you down, leaving you longing for a breath of spiritual freedom? Join us on a heartfelt journey as we navigate the seas of forgiveness, casting off the anchors of guilt with God's grace as our guiding star. Together, we'll uncover the transformative power of letting go and the redemption that awaits us through divine mercy. Our souls embark on this voyage, sharing personal struggles and the solace found in laying our missteps before God. This isn't a tale of tallying wrongs, but a chronicle of continuous alignment with His will, drawing deep from the well of scriptural wisdom to quench our thirst for peace.
As we chart our path through the murky waters of temptation and suffering, we also tackle the human inclination to cling to pain—a barrier between us and our Creator's boundless forgiveness. Picture yourself unshackling the chains of blame, basking in the light that God's solutions and joy bring forth. Imagine the liberation of casting your written burdens into the fire, watching them turn to ash and rise away, as we pray together for forgiveness and strength. With open hearts, we extend a warm beacon to those adrift, inviting them back to the harbor of God's love. No storm is too fierce when we sail under the banner of Guidance Light, sharing encouragement and blessings until we meet again.
Welcome to Guidance Light everyone. Have you ever given into temptation, felt like the troubles that life has thrown your way? The trials you faced have left you like God won't redeem you. I pray everyone has had a phenomenal week so far, filled with the love, peace and hope that only God can give. If you're new to this channel, welcome and thank you to everyone returning to hear the next episode. It's a blessing to have you here and may all the honor be for the glory of God. Let his words lead you through the day and make it so. It leads you day after day.
Jon:
Our journey through these last episodes has been truly enlightening for me because it comes from such a personal and relatable space. I have had a lack of patience. I've suffered in the past before from losing focus and lacking the perfect words to cry out when I felt so isolated and alone, and all while trying to figure out how to walk and go from there. The word of God says that we are going to suffer, but to give your burdens to God and ask from a sincere heart to be forgiven, and it will be so. This is John, season one, episode 17. Let's pray.
Jon:
Father, the God of the universe, the King of kings, lord of Lords, I don't know why you love me the way that you do, but, lord, I covet your embrace. I seek your will. I want to know you. I come to you, Lord, filthy like a beggar, dressed in rags that dragged me down. Lord, you who knows my name and has made me from nothing. Lord, would stoop down to me and for me so that you may wear my sin and shame. So many times do I sit and wonder, lord, because your love for us knows no bounds. Your grace reaches the highest peaks to save wretches like me. Father, I have sinned so much. I am so, so imperfect. I am undeserving of the riches you bring me. Lord, I ask today that you guide our minds to hear what you wish to say, lord, to touch hearts and fill our souls with the Holy Spirit, so that we too may know what you will of us. Lord, let us know you and trust in your redemption each and every day. Let night fall and allow us to rest easy in your presence. In Jesus' holy name, I pray Amen In the famous words of Matthew McConaughey all right, all right, all right.
Jon:
No, I'm just kidding. All jokes aside, who here listening has messed up badly, maybe once, twice, three times, maybe it's repeatedly, but let me tell you something. I have good news for you and also who, here listening, has ever felt guilt towards an action or a situation that happened in your life in the past or currently? It doesn't matter when it's happened, but that it's happened. Maybe it's something you're holding on to. Let me tell you something. I also have good news for you.
Jon:
I don't know if you've heard, but we have a God who knows who you are, who knows your heart and knows your struggles. That same God is the one who parted the waters for the Israelites to make it out of Egypt, to be delivered from 400 years of slavery. The same God is the God who created the earth, the heavens and placed each star in the sky. He has come through time and time again and he is standing by for you. Blessed are you, lord, our God, who cares enough to know us by name. Thank you, father.
Jon:
First, let me tell you that in order for God to move in your life, you have to have all these things that are living in your heart lined up to be given to God. You got to let things go and let's talk about it, and hopefully in today's episode and through the words that God has left for us in scripture, that God's words can show you how God is such a good God that he doesn't count the times we've messed up. I come from a personal place of struggle and I struggle with this because it's so difficult to let things go. Sometimes I have stuck my foot in the wrong place far more times than I can count, but yet I get up every morning and I say thank you, thank you, god, for another day, another chance to be able to honor you with everything I do.
Jon:
In scripture, the apostle Peter approaches Jesus and asks Jesus how many times should he forgive? Times should he forgive? Peter thought that maybe seven times might be fair. But let's talk about that. In today's day and age, most people are hard-pressed to forgive once, let alone seven times. But yet in passage Jesus turns to Peter and in Matthew, chapter 18, verse 21, says to Peter 77 times, 7. 77 times 7.
Jon:
This doesn't mean the literal number of 490 times. For my math geniuses out there, what it means is that there's 365 days in a year, 525,600 minutes in a year, 24 hours in a day. If we committed sin in our heart and our minds accidentally, at minimum twice a day, which it happens way more than that, but at least twice a day. Does that mean that we're done for that? We're through? It doesn't mean that God's grace is like nope, I'm out, there's no way I'm forgiving you because that's it, you don't pass my limit. No, that's not what it means, guys. That's not what Jesus is saying here. What he's referring to wasn't that we should forgive 490 times as a cap, but that the number of times forgiven for all things should never be counted, for God's will and grace is extended to us daily, for the days of our lives. This is our Lord's principle of forgiveness, lord's principle of forgiveness.
Jon:
And when he spoke with Peter, he didn't tell him, and just him, to do this. Jesus also took it upon himself to do this for each and every single one of us. I know I've said it once, I've said it twice and I'm probably going to be saying it a lot more. I've said it twice and I'm probably going to be saying it a lot more the enemy is a deceiver. Guys, tell yourself Proclaim it in the name of Jesus that I'm not falling for the enemy's traps, because I've got Jesus looking out for me. I got the one who conquered all things. Standing by me, sitting by me, walking next to me with wings ofagles, he is. He will lift me out of the pit and to solid ground. He's got my back and he's got yours.
Jon:
So take a second to look into yourselves and dig deep and ask yourselves why do I carry my burden with me? Jesus said you are forgiven. There is no grade for our sin. There's no rubrics, there's no set Like one is worse than the other. They are all equal.
Jon:
Sin, guys, is sin. Our father has already told us that he's willing to forgive you for them, to make you new, like he does all things. And in 1 John 1, verse 9, it says if we confess our sins, god is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Stop letting the enemy deceive you into thinking that you are holding on to something that cannot be saved, that you are beyond redemption, that you are death bound, with nothing to stop you. Death bound with nothing to stop you. Jesus was, is and always will be. He walked before us. He is the way to salvation. All you must do is ask, confess and set your focus on him, regardless of your thoughts and surroundings. He doesn't keep a record of your wrongdoings. He wipes the slate clean every time.
Jon:
Guys, see, I want you to think of right now, a Chinese tradition that's called Kintsugi. Now I may pronounce that completely wrong, but I want to take you down this thought process really quick, because I think that it is so fitting. Now, this tradition of Kintsugi again, I apologize if I'm slaughtering the name here is where they take a broken piece of pottery or ceramic and repair it using gold. They do this so that when it is finished and repaired, they can still see the beauty in the imperfection. However, god would say not to worry, for when you have something that he repairs, he's going to tell you that he's not going to see the cracks. He won't be looking for the imperfections of your past, for, like a potter, he's going to make you brand new, blameless, seamless and without fault, and he does this for you so you can be made to serve him and the Father in all things.
Jon:
See, we tend to hold on to things when they hurt and when it doesn't seem fair. I compared a lot to rainfall or storms, and too often does it seem like the rain never ceases to stop, and that's because you're holding on to that which separates you from our father. Because you're holding on to that which separates you from our father, the enemy has deceived you into believing that you are not worth God's time or effort. You are not worth the forgiveness he is offering you. You rather hold on to the pain and blame God for the problems that arise in your life. Don't blame God for problems. I'll tell you what. Blame him for the solutions. Don't blame him for sorrow, but give him credit for the joy that you feel. He is the sun that breaks through the clouds. In him you won't be worrying about rain, but playing in the puddles, knowing that he is there to dry you and deliver you home where you are safe and where you belong.
Jon:
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you that we fail all the time. It doesn't matter how close you are to God. Our flesh, our bodies are poisoned with sin and we are imperfect all too often. Seek our Father, and in Him you will find your rest. In Him, you will see a broken life being born anew. A heart that has been shattered would be over and over again. You, listening today, are no different than who he made you to be, regardless of your past, regardless of your circumstances, despite your pain and in the face of your greatest challenges. God is the great I am. So be still and know that in him you are worth the price of his son dying on the cross for your sins.
Jon:
When Jesus saves us, our names are written in the Lamb's book of life In Revelations, chapter 21, 27, and in Philippians, 4, chapter or verse 3, it talks about this. Do we suppose that, against our names, god has recorded all of our sins? No, rather, they are blotted out, as it says in Acts, chapter 3, verse 19, and in Hebrews, chapter 8, verse 12, and in Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 34. It says, for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. If God, who rules all things, can forgive us, then why can we not learn to forgive ourselves and not hold on to the shame and guilt and self-trepidation that we have when we look in the mirror?
Jon:
Guys, god is calling out to you. He wants you to know that he loves you no matter your past. He loves you beyond what you think is unsavable. You were made in his image and he is perfect. So everything we do every single day, lord, help us be better at it, make us better, better at forgiving ourselves, better at forgiving others, lord, accepting that you can make something out of us even when we don't believe it. You are not done. God has a purpose. He has a purpose for your life, for the trials that you go through, for the rainstorms that you encounter. He has a purpose for you this week, guys.
Jon:
I want you to write down what it is you feel guilty of, what it is you feel ashamed of, or maybe something that you've been hurt by, or perhaps it's something that you feel that you are just not good enough because of it. I want you to write it all down, make it into a list, make it personal, take that time to dig inside and make it personal, pour it out onto that piece of paper and I want you, when you're done, to fold it up and I want you to pray over it and give it to God. Say, father, you who sees all things, see me in this very moment, see the sin and shame, see me in this very moment, see the sin and shame that I carry and make me new. Lord, come into my life and teach me to forgive myself, as you have forgiven me time and time again. Then, guys, when you're done doing that, I want you to get that piece of paper. When you are done praying, I want you to get that piece of paper and I want you to destroy it. I want you to tear it to shreds. I want you to stomp on it. I want you to burn it. Do whatever I want you to stomp on it. I want you to to burn it. Do whatever it is you need to do, but I want it you to to get rid of it, to obliterate it, to symbolize that what you wrote down the sin and shame and the guilt and that which you've been holding onto, that you took the time to write down Is gone. That, just like that, everything you wrote down, god has forgotten it too. You are new. Your slate has been wiped clean, so walk with the new hope that is Jesus Christ.
Jon:
God, I come to you today weary and full of sin and shame. Lord, I am imperfect in every way, god, and I commit sin, sometimes without even thinking. Lord, my past is haunting and my sin is heavy on me. Lord, I seek your yoke, lord, I seek your strength, for my burden is more than I can bear. Take heed in my cry, lord, and have mercy on me, lord, according to your love and kindness, and as King David said in Psalms 51, wash me thoroughly and blot out my transgressions. Lord, help me find my way in you. Grant me the courage to let go of all that I'm holding on to. My pain is not my identity, lord. My shame is not who you made me to be. Leave me, lord, for I am weary and heavy laden, to a place where I may lay my head in your peace. Lord, I am who I am because you are who you are. Lord, I am no one without you and I surrender what I am to you. Remake me in Jesus' holy name. I pray Amen.
Jon:
To those of you who may not know Jesus or maybe fell away from him due to the struggles of everyday life, I urge you to pray this next prayer with me If you died today, would you be sure that your sin has been blotted out in the book of life? Would Jesus have your name written down? All it takes is a prayer from the heart and all will be made new. Father, I know that I'm a sinner. I carry the weight of my burdens every day. Lord, I know that you sent your son, jesus Christ, to earth to die on the cross and raise from the dead three days later to cleanse me of my sins. Lord, come into my heart and save me from all that threatens to drown me. Let me live my life for you, so that I may honor you with all that I have In Jesus' holy name. I pray Amen. Holy name, I pray Amen.
Jon:
If you were bold enough to say that prayer, I want to be the first to welcome you to God's family, for you are now a brother or sister in Christ, our heavenly father. I want you to know that in Luke, chapter 15, verse 7, it says that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don't need repentance. So I want you to know that right now, at this very moment, there are choirs of angels rejoicing over the choices you made today and, if you haven't heard it yet, I am proud of you. I also want to welcome you to Guidance Life, proud of you. I also want to welcome you to Guidance Light, where our focus is on our Heavenly Father, god.
Jon:
We have multiple platforms, guys, that we push daily content into to remind you that God is Lord and he isn't all we do. We are on Instagram, facebook, spotify, apple Podcasts and so many more platforms. We also have a website where you could do cool things like submit prayer requests, send me emails, even purchase Christian merchandise, and or catch up with the latest episodes, tied with some transcripts. Our excitement is to serve the true living God, and that knows no bounds in us as we are working through him and for him to fulfill the vision that he has given us. I will say this that if you are listening today that I am still in need of all your help, because this channel will not go far without the support that you guys continually give. Please lend me a hand by sharing the content with friends and families, for it goes hand in hand with the mission that God has for us, and that's to spread the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Jon:
This could be the moment, right now, that God is calling you to help guys, so don't ignore it. May God bless each and every one of you to the fullest and deliver you from whatever storm you may be going through. His trials are hard and sometimes it feels like you're alone and the may be going through. His trials are hard and sometimes it feels like you're alone and the silence is deafening, but I promise you his grace will never leave you stranded and his voice is never as far as it seems. Thank you again for everything you guys are doing. May God continue to bless you and guide you through the storms. This is John, with Guidance Light, signing out with all the love in the world. See you, guys, next week.