Rejection

Condemnation is a tool that the enemy uses to make us feel worthless in God's sight - he will attempt to bring shame for past mistakes and to distort our view of the love of God. Romans chapter 8 opens up with these words:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Condemnation can sap our strength and distort our thinking. Revelation chapter 12 describes the enemy as the "accuser," and if we allow the accusations against us to take hold, we can have a difficult time maintaining our focus on who God says we are and how He desires for us to live. We have to take the tools that are found in Revelation 12:11, which says: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."

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Our past does not have to determine our future, I've heard it said. But, wounds and pain from the past can certainly negatively impact our present. That is why we need to appropriate the grace of God. Romans 13 states:
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The Bible is an expression of God's amazing story - first of all, it is His story; in the pages of the Scripture, we learn about Him.

But, it's also our story - how humanity fell, but God sent His Son so that we might be united with Him and be brought into a relationship with Himself.

And, there are certain principles that contribute to that story - and in the Scriptures, we see a classic battle between good and evil, light and darkness, life and death.  And, we see the presence of the Victor, our Lord Jesus!

Doreen Virtue is an author who has experienced that victory in Christ - you see, for a season of her life, she was known as one of the foremost New Age authors.  A Faithwire article relates:

...Doreen Virtue was one of the most well-known figures in the New Age movement. She was a successful author and purveyor of “angel cards,” an occultic tool, until she had a stunning awakening in 2017 that imploded her worldview and led her to embrace Christ.

But, Virtue is now telling people not to buy her items any more. 

According to the Faithwire article, Virtue said on the “Ex-Psychic Saved” podcast: “I’m devastated that some people may be in hell now because they were following my work,” adding, “It’s heartbreaking every day to realize my old work’s out there and what I did.” The article continues:

But Virtue relies on the Lord, telling host Jenn Nizza she’s grateful God opened her eyes and heart to the Gospel and saved her “while there was still time.”

“It’s a miracle,” she said.

Faithwire notes...

...she took a truly dark path into the New Age and soon found herself doing readings and using angel cards to try and channel spirits to convey information.

Eventually, these activities intensified, and she moved into creating her own angel card decks, finding massive success selling them to others in the New Age movement. At the time, she assumed God was on her side and she was doing His work; now, she believes otherwise.

But, God's Word spoke to her powerfully. She is quoted as saying, “I really thought I was a Christian doing God’s work...I had no idea that I was an abomination to God by doing and teaching divination until 2017 when I read Deuteronomy 18:10-12, and I was floored when it says there that anyone who does these things … is detestable [and an] abomination to God, and the veil was lifted. I just … fell to my knees.”  Her response?

“I … gave my life to Jesus,” she said. “That was the autumn of 2017 and, ever since then, I’ve just been telling people, ‘I’m sorry I made these cards. Please don’t use them.’”

Doreen Virtue's angel cards are ungodly items that she now realizes were ill-advised and an affront to God. She's telling people not to use them. You know, our stories may be littered with mistakes that we are perhaps ashamed of, sins in plain sight, or regrets that we have accumulated.  Satan wants to play the "accuser" to us, but we can receive God's grace and, if necessary, His forgiveness.  Our past is part of our story, but God is telling a greater one, of how we have overcome our past failures in order to grow, to learn, and to allow Him to have His way in the present. 

We can allow our mistakes, our perceived failures, to hold us captive, and we have to make sure that we concentrate on the grace of God. The truth is, none of us are perfect, but we develop a self-condemning attitude when we concentrate too much on where we have missed the mark.  Beating ourselves up for failing to be perfect is a dangerous, self-defeating proposition. We will mess up along the way, but we have to continue to move forward in Christ.