It’s Time to Wash Your Face

[EA]

It’s Time to Wash Your Face

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][SIZE="2"]1And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

2The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

3But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

4And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

5And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

6And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

7And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

8And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

9Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

11Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

12For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

13And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

14Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

15And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

16David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

17And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

18And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

19But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

21Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst r

[EA]

Unless the past is dealt with, we are not prepared to live in the present nor go on into the future.

Unless the past is dealt with, it becomes a haunting memory that destroys our ability to honor Christ in our daily life.

If we are not careful, the bitterness of the past can linger in our speech, expressions, and actions.

It’s time to wash the past off, so that it doesn’t destroy our future.

You can never go forward with a dirty face.

Sometimes you need to wash the junk of the past off your face.

Some of us are not ready to go forward and receive what God has for us because we're still polluted with the junk from yesterday.

You can’t have a decent relationship with your spouse because you are still nursing bitterness and anger, and massive hurts from previous relationships.

You can't get a new job because you blow every interview. The pollution from the last job follows you to into every interview. You're not ready because you haven’t washed your face from the last situation.

You’ve never washed your face. You’re going around with slime all over your face. Everybody can see that you are polluted and dirty, but you won’t even take the time to look in the mirror to see how ridiculous your unresolved past issues are making you look to everyone else.

[EA]

You are missing God’s

*Favor

*Blessings

* Peace

*Joy

And all because you refuse to let go of the junk in your past. Your bitterness comforts you. You nurse it like a mother nurses a baby. You hold it close. You get angry anytime anyone mentions something negative about your jealousy, or anger, or hurts or bitterness. You love that dirt more than you love God.

[EA]

You have huge issues with God.

You think God is gonna treat you like the momma who didn’t love you. Like the daddy who abused you. Like the husband who left you. You are hanging on to some junk that is killing you.

Some of you need to get up off of the floor and go wash your face. It’s time to let go of the past. It’s time to move forward into the future. The baby’s dead. That chapter of life is gone. It needs to be buried. Because anything that is dead, and not buried, stinks.

[rgcraig]

I use to know someone like this.

[EA]

At some point, you have to let go of "what might have been." What could have been. What you should have done differently. How much better life would be if you had only done this or that. That type of thinking is a curse, and the devil will bang that drum loudly if you let him.

The truth is, anyone can point out failures. But a really spiritual person will light a fire in their heart to push through the filth of their past, and break free into a fresh, clean future.

It's time to move past what others have done to you. It's time to move past what has been. You may have messed up royally. But it's time to get up, wash your face, and go forward.

There is a new life waiting.

You cannot live in the past. You need to refuse to be slapped everyday with the failures of your past. Refuse to let your past define your future.

This is a new day.

Sing a new song.

Rejoice in the God of your salvation.

[tstew]

Very needful advice, EA

[mizpeh]

I was praying for someone today who needs to wash his face.

God mends the brokenhearted and helps us to forgive ourselves and others.

[EA]

Genesis 42: 7-9

And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

[EA]

Genesis 43:29-31

And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

And he (Joseph) washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

__________________________________________________ ________________________

Joseph learned to let go of the past.

His love for his brothers, and father, overwhelmed the evil they had done him.