White as Snow

On November 14, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Isaiah 59: 1 – 2

Behold the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Hallelujah! What may sound like rough news to some is shouting ground for us because the blood of Jesus washed away our sins, the only thing that separated us from God. Yahoo! Because of Jesus, our Father hears our every word. His hand is right on our shoulder leading us and protecting us. His arm is well able to save and His ear able to hear. The only thing that blocked Him from us was the veil of sin. Praise God Jesus tore that veil asunder and because he did, we now stand in the very presence of God.

When you know who you are in Christ Jesus, when you get a revelation of the victory He won for us, what was previously bad news becomes glory ground. If you are not 100% sure of your standing, then say this:

“Jesus, I thank you for your righteous blood which has washed away all my sin and iniquity. Lord, I receive your great sacrifice and I accept your cleansing power. I lay my whole life; former, present and future, at your feet, at the feet of the cross. Lord, receive my life as a love offering. Come fill my life, spirit, soul and body with your presence and with your love and be my Lord all the days of my life. Amen.”

Now you are as clean as Jesus’ robes. In fact, God sees His righteousness when He looks at you. You have the saving grace of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit on you and in you. His voice is in your ear and your voice is a melody in His ear. Bless the Lord and be blessed.

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Forgiven

On December 2, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 51: 1 – 4

Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my wrongdoings, and my sin is constantly before me.

Please consider the following passage: “Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have hurled all my sins behind Your back” (Isaiah 38: 17). The reason I wanted you to consider these two passages together is so that we can get at the root of guilt and forgiveness. Notice from the Psalm that it was writer’s own guilt and remorse which plagued him. It was not God’s judgment which tormented him. His sin was constantly before his own eyes. He could not escape it. Contrast that with the passage from Isaiah. Here the speaker was well aware of God’s grace and lovingkindness. He recognized that we deserve the pit of nothingness, to be cast out into the darkness, but that God, despite our many faults and shortcomings has chosen to turn His back on our sins. He has forgiven us and not because we deserve it, for which I am grateful, but rather because of His magnanimity.

I am grateful it is unnecessary to earn the graciousness of God for surely, I would fail. Better that He is kind and generous with forgiveness. The struggle, then, is to let go of our own guilt. It is our guilt and sin consciousness which separates us from God. I chose this Old Testament example so as to frame the New Testament miracle of Christ and his sacrifice. I cannot find the right word to characterize what the Father and Jesus did for us at Calvary because it is so big and so wonderous. What is also worthy of comment, though, is that this great divine exchange of Jesus’ life for our sin began with a Father who, in the Old Testament, chose to cast our sins to His back. He chose not to put them before His eyes. Knowing how flawed we are, He chose, none the less, to put His only child on a crucificial cross.

God paid the ultimate price for us to have our conscience cleansed. He removed the guilt which separates us from Him by giving us a way to purge ourselves of the sin consciousness. This is the great miracle, that we can be guilty and yet clean; that we can boldly draw close to Him. Paul said it this way, “Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need,” (Hebrews 4: 16). We have the right to approach the throne of grace and we can do so confidently because the Father has forgiven our sin and washed us clean. There is nothing we can do to earn this favor. There is no 7-step forgiveness plan. It is done. Yahweh has already done what was needed. Now, we must accept His great sacrifice and receive the miracle of forgiveness, allowing our consciousness to be renewed in Christ.

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