Our Daily Bread 20 December 2023 ODB Devotional Message
Read Our Daily Bread 20 December 2023 Wednesday ODB Devotional Message written by Kenneth Petersen and Today’s Insight By K. T. Sim
TOPIC: Forgiveness and Forgetting
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Bible in a Year: Micah 1–3; Revelation 11
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. – Isaiah 43:25
Today’s Scripture
Isaiah 43:18–25
Insight
God’s people in Israel and Judah were unfaithful. They’d stubbornly refused to repent and return to God (Isaiah 43:22-24). He’d warned them that He’d use foreign nations to punish them for their covenantal unfaithfulness (7:18-25; 10:3-6; 39:6-7). Against the backdrop of their severe chastening, He reminded them that as His chosen people, they had an unbreakable bond with Him and assured them of His unfailing love: “You are precious and honored in my sight, and . . . I love you” (43:4). God said He’d rescue, redeem, and restore them once the disciplining was complete (vv. 5-21). In His grace and mercy, He’d remove their guilt and forgive their sins (v. 25). This forgiveness wouldn’t be based on what they deserved but on who God is: “I do it because of who I am. I will not remember your sins anymore” (v. 25 nirv).
Our Daily Bread 20 December 2023 ODB Devotional MESSAGE
Jill Price was born with the condition of hyperthymesia: the ability to remember in extraordinary detail everything that ever happened to her. She can replay in her mind the exact occurrence of any event she’s experienced in her lifetime.
The TV show Unforgettable was premised on a female police officer with hyperthymesia—to her a great advantage in trivia games and in solving crimes. For Jill Price, however, the condition isn’t so much fun. She can’t forget the moments of life when she was criticized, experienced loss, or did something she deeply regretted. She replays those scenes in her head over and over again.
Our God is omniscient (perhaps a kind of divine hyperthymesia): the Bible tells us that His understanding has no limit. And yet we discover in Isaiah a most reassuring thing: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions . . . and remembers your sins no more” (43:25). The book of Hebrews reinforces this: “We have been made holy through . . . Jesus Christ . . . [and our] sins and lawless acts [God] will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:10, 17).
As we confess our sins to God, we can stop playing them over and over in our minds. We need to let them go, just as He does: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” (Isaiah 43:18). In His great love, God chooses to not remember our sins against us. Let’s remember that.
Reflect & Pray
What regrets do you harbor in your memory and play over and over again? How can you give them to God and release the past?
Dear God, thank You for forgiving and forgetting my sins.
Our Daily Bread 20 December 2023 Wednesday ODB Message. Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY
