An Ongoing Need

We are cleansed, and maybe, just a little bit I'm growing closer to Jesus' perfection. Like Job and Joseph the end result will be awesome! But He must be first! Less of me, more of HIM!
Like Mr Kroll and Beckett's 'Faithwalk' description of sitting down to a clean plate, I get to be "Holy"!

The blessed hope and the love of God that we spoke of yesterday is only attained when we confess our sins and repent. It is a first step to receiving salvation and as Paul said in Romans 10:11, "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved". Job shows the need for humility, to accept God at his word, not to challenge his instruction. The reward for this is the blessed hope and as Paul further says in Romans 10:12 "As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

There seems to be a clear pattern taught in the bible concerning sin and how to deal with it. In the life of Job it seems to involve an acknowledgment and recognition of Job's sin via his foolish words which were a direct affront to the character of God(His infinite wisdom and power). He seems to be very specific in the confession of His sin. There seems to also be in verse 4 a supplication for a gracious and merciful response from God so job can be set straight. Thirdly there seems to be thanksgiving at the realization of God's unmerited favor received and the blessing of God whereby He realizes that He knows God(as opposed to just knowing about Him) as a result of this experience. The parable of the prodigal son seems to show similar steps
he came to his senses(started thinking right about his predicament) he confessed his sin(particularly who he had offended)he repented or turned from waywardness toward home, he acknowledged his need of mercy and grace.
This morning I was specifically dealing with an issue of sin in my life and I felt strongly that before I made any decisions I needed a word from the Lord. How appropriate I need to confess and forsake my sin but I also need to be humble enough to receive what i do not deserve God's grace and forgiveness.

I can relate to what Job says - "therefore I despise myself". After I sin badly, I have a hard time escaping the self-loathing that usually accompanies sin and repentance. I know that God forgives those who confess honestly and repent, but I don't immediately feel better; like I can't forgive myself it seems! Can someone help explain how they deal with this?

The two passages tell us that we must confess our sins if we are to have eternal life. God is faithful and just even though we do not deserve His mercy, compassion and forgiveness. It also teaches us that we must be humble, we must listen to, see and walk righteously. God knows that we are not perfect so when we err we sin we must take responsibility for our sins. If we confess them to Him, then He will forgive us no questions asked.

We can learn from Job to be peninent and give God the respect He deserves. It is not all about us it IS about God. God dos not need us but we need Him. Without Him we are nothing. Even though God does not need us He loves us and through His love and care for us we can learn from Him and trust and obey what He says, because He alone truly cares for us. When we walk uprightly He will not allow anyone to pluck us from His hand.

A lot os us do know how blessed we are to have a Saviour who truly loves us!

I recently began attending Celebrate Recovery and the associated 12 step program due to the past 15 years of a secret life in which I desired freedom. The passages highlighted in this blog hit close to home with how I found freedom.
I became suicidal after the weight and burden that my guilt and shame accrued in my spirit. In desperation I tried to “fix” my problems on my own, and although temporarily successful, I wasn’t able to eradicate my sin completely. So I cried out to God in my time of need, and I came across James 5:16 which is a sort of parallel to 1 John 1:9 in that is says “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.”  And although God was aware of my sins, and I confessed to God and begged for HIS help, I never obeyed what God was specifically asking me to do…confess to others and let them into my introverted life, open myself up to other Christians and be transparently honest. That’s how my healing came about, not to just try to stop doing the wrong I was doing, but open up and REPLACE the wrong with things that brought real satisfaction, like relationships with other believers, being involved in the 12 step group of recovery, and now from doing “Meet with God”, I found the “Powered by 4”, which I am really getting a lot out of, not just encouragement, but fulfillment in a structured reading. I love to just read the bible, but I get so much more out of this type of structured study.
God promised me I would be healed if I obeyed HIM and confessed, and He has been faithful to his promise.
 Thanks Tami

I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit that guides us. It is our conscience. We should listen to it. As King David said in the Psalms, it feels so good to ask forgiveness and know that we are clean before our God. We are not clean because of what we do, but because of what He did and does for us. Both Job and David learned this lesson and are good examples for us.

ERIC, I try to remember that my Lord's mercies (compassions) are new each morning, and that He wants me to have that fresh start. To not be àble to avàil myself of it, hinders my growth in His grace He wants me to have. Also. The more I hide myself in the Word after a failure, I feel the refreshing of being washed clean again in the Water of the Word. It's sort of like when Jesus wanted to wash Peter's feet, and Peter wanted to be completely washed. Jesus explained only the feet would be necessary (but, there's a whole sermon in that). Eric, it's good when we are able to feel conviction, as the Word and Holy Spirit arè what bring about change in us. So..we must simply allow the change to begin! Move forward. A step at a time; stay hidden in the Word. Growth will come, and we will have reflected HIS glory. The Father will be pleased with us again! Notice, the heaven and earth was changed (Gen.1) when the Spirit moved. Hope this may help. Blessings, Susie

I enjoyed todays lesson and all the comments. I use to cry for hours on end over my sins and my fears. I took it before the LORD too. I went forward on an alter call to get prayer and I laid down before The LORD and I cried and the weight of the world was lifted off of me that day. I haven't cried as much since. Christ sure is good. Lately I read it is not good to be sorrowful and I've been thinking on that as well and if I feel sorrow coming over me I send it back. That is different then being repentant though I think. We do need to confess and be humble in our confessions to our God. He then forgives us. I think forgiving ourself is something we need to do as well. Trust Christ has taken our sin and removed it as far as the east is from the west.