Richard Roberts
I was preaching at a church in Florida several years ago, and as I gave an invitation, many people came forward to give their lives to Jesus. When the invitation was over, and after I’d prayed and rejoiced with people who were crying with joy, there was one man standing over at the side who had come forward to give his life to Jesus, and yet he looked so sad.
As I looked at his face ― not with my physical eyes, but in my spirit ― I saw the words, “The Past,” written across his forehead. At that point, I remembered that earlier in the service the pastor had dedicated several babies to the Lord. One was a little girl in a long, white christening gown. She was a beautiful child, perhaps seven or eight months old. The Lord impressed me to have the family bring that little baby back to the platform.
They brought her to me. As I held this little girl, I talked to her and told her how beautiful she was. She just looked at me with her little head bouncing around.
I began telling her, “You are so beautiful, sweetheart. Now I want to talk to you about your past.” She just looked at me and kept bouncing her little head. Then I said, “Oh, I forgot, you don’t have any past.” Of course, everyone laughed and chuckled.
Then I turned to the man who seemingly had “The Past” written on his forehead, and I said, “And, my dear brother, neither do you! Jesus has forgiven you and wiped out the past.”
Suddenly, in my spirit, I saw the words of his forehead vanish, and the frown, the sadness, came off of his face. The joy of the Holy Ghost came into his life, and God delivered him!
When God said He would cleanse us from all unrighteousness and forgive us of our past if we just ask… He will (1 John 1:9)! And when He does, take it from God’s Word ― the past is over!