GOOD RIDDANCE DAY! GIVING OURSELVES A FRESH START!
PASTOR TOKUNBO OSHOKOYA
PSALM 103: 7-19
“The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.
He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him”
Since 2006 a group of people have celebrated an unusual event around the New Year. It’s called Good Riddance Day. Based on a Latin American tradition, individuals write down unpleasant, embarrassing memories and bad issues from the past year and throw them into an industrial-strength shredder.
Or some take a sledgehammer to their good riddance item.
The writer of Psalm 103 goes beyond suggesting that people say good riddance to unpleasant memories. He reminded us that God bids good riddance to our sins.
In his attempt to express God’s vast love for His people, the psalmist used word pictures. He compared the vastness of God’s love to the distance between the heavens and the earth (v. 11).
Then the psalmist talked about His forgiveness in spatial terms. As far as the place where the sun rises is from the place where the sun sets, so the Lord has removed His people’s sins from them (v. 12).
The psalmist wanted God’s people to know that His love and forgiveness were infinite and complete.
God freed His people from the power of their transgressions by fully pardoning them.
Good news! We don’t have to wait until the New Year to experience Good Riddance Day. Through our faith in Jesus, when we confess and turn from our sins, He bids good
riddance to them and casts them into the depths of the sea.
Today, you and I can make it a Good Riddance Day!
Say ‘It ends with me and that today’
‘Pull down your father’s altar.’
Judges 6:25 NLT
When the angel of the Lord called Gideon, he was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress, trying to hide the grain from the Midianites (see v. 11).
God saw him and declared him a mighty man of valor.
That’s interesting, because God was about to use him to destroy the forces of Midian and liberate Israel. But before he could do so, there were a few family dynamics to be dealt with – like the altar his father built to a false god called Baal. It had been in the family for years. So God said, ‘Pull down your father’s altar to Baal…
Then build an altar to the Lord your God’ (vv. 25-26 NLT).
Understand this: things like anger, addiction, abuse, and affairs may be part of your family history, but they don’t have to be part of your future.
Not only will God heal your heart and hurts, He will use you to heal the hearts and hurts of your children.
The generational rubbish can stop here and now. You don’t have to give your kids what your ancestors gave you. Bring it out into the open and lay it before the Lord. Revealing leads to healing.
Having a mature Christian mentor is something that should be considered, please get one! ‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think’ (Romans 12:2 NLT).
Take note, however that the complete change may not happen overnight.
Damage done to you in the formative years of your life will take time to heal, and God will work with you day by day until He has made you whole.
But let the healing begin.
Let us rise up in faith, take control of your life, and declare: ‘It ends with me, and it ends here and now.
Thank You, Father, for freedom from sin and curses.
Why can’t we just use today to pray for ourselves, our families, our relations and the Nation.
- STEALING, LYING AND FALSEHOOD
Zechariah 5: 1 -4
Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
2. WICKEDNESS AND IDOLATRY
Zechariah 5: 5-11
Wickedness and idolatry removed from the Holy Land to Babylon, there to mingle with their kindred elements.
3. THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO MAY DWELL WITH THE LORD
Psalm 15 NKJV
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
I call it ‘Christ-likeness’.
Matthew 5: 2 – 7
Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
What Is Civility?
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL,
FOR THEY SHALL OBTAIN MERCY.
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART,
FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD.
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS,
FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF GOD.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
BELIEVERS ARE SALT AND LIGHT
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Romans 12: 9 -19
Behave Like a Christian
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved,
do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Zechariah 8
‘Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
These are the things you shall do:
Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’ Says the Lord.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:8,9
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and
received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.