JESUS THE ONLY HOPE

 Jesus: The Only Hope

Are Christians fools for believing in Jesus? Are we mere sentimentalists, or do we have reasonable reasons for believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? My dear friend, false religion will never satisfy the hungry heart. 

If you go to the tomb of Confucius, you’ll find it is occupied. If you go to the tomb of Buddha, you’ll find it is occupied. If you go to the tomb of Jesus, you’ll find it empty. He is a risen Savior. Hallelujah! 

Now that’s very important because, you see, you can take Confucius out of Confucianism and still have Confucianism. And you can take Buddha out of Buddhism and still have Buddhism. But you cannot take Jesus Christ out of Christianity and still have Christianity, because Christianity is not a code, it’s not a creed, it’s not a cause. It is Christ Himself in you. 

Jesus alone takes the sting out of sin, the pain out of parting, the gloom out of the grave, the dread out of dying. And Jesus alone gives a hope that is steadfast and sure. 

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). 

DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JANUARY 07, 2023.

SUBJECT: DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD!

Memory verse: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3 vs 19.)

READ: Hebrews 12 vs 5 - 11:

12:5: And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My Son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

12:6: For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

12:7: If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

12:8: But if you be without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

12:9: Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

12:10: For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best for them, but He for our profit, that you may be partakers of His holiness.

12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

INTIMATION:

Chastening denotes refining or training that involves discipline and correction by reproving, and admonishing that may involve punishment. Correction by reproving, and admonition, even when it involves punishment, is a vital part of discipline, and discipline means “to teach and to train.” God chastens us in line with the aforestated reasons.

Discipline sounds negative to many people because some disciplinarians are not loving. God, however, is the source of all love because He is love (First John 4 vs 8). He doesn’t punish us because He enjoys inflicting pain, but because He is deeply concerned about our development. He knows that in order to become morally strong and good, we must learn the difference between right and wrong. His loving discipline enables us to do this. And this is to ensure that the glorious destiny He had prepared for us beforehand is not missed by us by reason of disobedience or indiscipline.

God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish but to bring people back to Him. And in Him consists all there is in life. He created all things, and all things are His. He created all things according wHis predetermined purposes, and works to fulfill His purposes and not to make us happy. God may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude if you are lukewarm in your devotion to Him. But He uses only loving discipline. 

Therefore, you can avoid God’s chastening if you are walking in your God’s ordained path of life. And when you fall out of path, you will avoid His discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying His Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can re-ignite our zeal for God when we allow Him to work in our heart.

Now, come to think of it, who loves his child more—the father who allows the child to do what will harm him, or the one who corrects, trains, and even punishes the child to help him learn what is right? It’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but His discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of His love, and ask Him what He is trying to teach you.

Knowing the thoughts of God for us—“thoughts of good and not for evil” (Jeremiah 29 vs 11),—we ought to respond to His discipline (chastening) gratefully, as the appropriate response we owe a loving Father. Instead of accepting it with self-pity, thinking we really don’t deserve it, or be angry and resentful toward God.

Certainly, not every calamity that happens to us comes directly from God. It’s difficult to know when God has been disciplining us until we look back on the situation later. But if we rebel against God and refuse to repent when He had identified some sin in our lives, God may use guilt, crises, or bad experiences to bring us back to Him. It’s noteworthy that sometimes, however, difficult times come when we have no flagrant of sin. At times like that, our response then should be patience, integrity, and trust that God will show us what to do.

Just as success in family life, business, or in athletics, is by hard work and consistent discipline, the Christian life is much the same. Some people think it takes too much work, but achieving anything worthwhile requires hard work. Being a Christian is not a shortcut to an easy life. The chastening of God is all for our own profiting; that we may be partakers of God’s holiness, and the inherent yield of peaceable fruit of righteousness if we are trained by it. When you are wise to obey God’s laws—working hard at living as God asks—you discover that no worldly success can compare with the joy of knowing God.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are a Loving Father, and Faithful Companion. Your thoughts for me; your plans to take care of me and not to abandon me, plans to give me the future I hope for if I obey is unquestionable. O Lord, endue me with the spirit of wisdom and obedience to You for my all round profiting, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

Cast Your Burdens

Ps. 55:22   Cast your burden on the Lord...He shall sustain you.

Phil. 4:6   In everything...let your requests be made known unto God.

I Pet.5:7   Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Job 1:5     Job rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings for all of them.

 

Unpacked Baggage

We cannot properly intercede for others until we have cleared away the baggage of personal concerns, needs, and cares.   We must find a resting place where we can lay down our burdens, in order to bear other’s burdens in prayer.   Hearts that are "overloaded" with care will be distracted in prayer and made ineffective in their intercession.

In Luke 21:34, Jesus warned his disciples to beware of the danger of three distracting pitfalls:

1.  Over-abundance (surfeiting, over-spending, over-charging, too many possessions)

2.  Over-indulgence (drunkenness, lover of pleasures, over-eating, over-playing)

3.  Over-load (cares, burdens, worries, fears of this life)

 

Take Your Burden To The Lord

The most deceptive and innocent looking is the "overload...with cares of this life."   We cannot escape the cares of normal living, but we can UNLOAD the OVERLOAD.   Jesus concludes the issue in verse 36 by saying, "Therefore watch and pray always..."

 

Leave It There!

The solution to overloaded cares is to pray.  That means to bring those excess burdens, cares, concerns, problems, worries, fears, anxieties, and troubles TO THE LORD and leave them there! Too often we take these concerns to the Lord, and walk away just as burdened as before we prayed.  There is no "leaving it there."

 

Cast, Roll, Dump It!

David used an interesting word for "leaving it there."   "Cast thy burden on the Lord." Psalm 55:22   The word "CAST" is the key.  It literally means... ROLL... DUMP... UNLOAD... as one who is carrying a backpack of heavy equipment allows it to slide from his shoulders to another who is stronger, more able to carry the load.

You cannot carry your own burdens and the burdens of others!

Burdens are lifted as we roll them onto the Lord

Practical Disciplines

Pray for yourself:

• Your troubles

• Your aches & pains

• Your faith & faithfulness

• Your courage to witness

• Your heart’s secret goals

• Your needs, provisions

• Your finances, funds

• Your enemies

 

Pray for your Future

• Your plans

• Your goals

• Your ministries

• Your vision

 

Pray for your family

• Each member by name and need

• Salvation of children

• Spouse needs

• Spiritual growth & love of all in family

• Health and safety

• Protection from evil & temptation

 

Pray for your faults

• Your struggles

• Your worries

• Your temptations

• Your wants & wishes

• Your heartaches

• Your failures

SONGS:

Burdens Are Lifted At Calvary / Jesus Knows Just What I Need / No One Understands Like Jesus / What a Friend We Have in Jesus / Take Your Burden to the Lord and Leave It There / I Cast All My Cares Upon You.

Cast your burden on the Lord...He shall sustain you. – Ps. 55:22

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – I Pet.5:7

DO NOT DESPAIR!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JANUARY 06, 2023.

SUBJECT: DO NOT DESPAIR!

Memory verse: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.” (Second Corinthians 1 vs 8.)

READ: Second Corinthians 4 vs 8 - 10:

4:8: We are hard pressed on every side; yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair;

4:9: persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

4:10: always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

INTIMATION:

Do not despair or lose hope in following Christ, the circumstances you may find yourselves nothing withstanding. It’s in situations of hopelessness in your life that God shows up for you, If you do not despair and hold tight to your trust in Him. God will never abandon those who seek Him with all their hearts. His promise doesn’t mean that if we trust in Him, we will escape loss or suffering; it means that God Himself will never leave us no matter what we face. Regardless of how life looks now, God controls the future. He has promised to make everything right when we trust Him with our lives. The Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10 vs 11). 

In our memory verse, and in the passage we read today, the apostle Paul enumerated their encounters during their missionary journeys in Asia. They were faced with so many trials, and were entangled with several dangerous circumstances that at some point the apostle Paul felt that they were going to die and lost hope. They knew not what else to do than to put their hope in God. They realized that they could do nothing to help themselves—they simply had to rely on God, and He never failed them.

The apostle Paul reminds us that though we may think we are at the end of our rope, we are never at the end of our hope. All our risks, humiliations, and trials are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate His power and presence in us and through us to the world.  Circumstances are never so bad that they are beyond God’s help. 

Daniel and his friends; the three Hebrew young men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Aded-Nego— never despaired in the face of trials, even with their lives glaringly at stake. They pledged their utter obedience to and trust in God, and God showed up for them. In Daniel chapter 3, the young men determined not to worship the golden image of the king or any other god, and they courageously took their stand in the presence of the king, even when they risked execution in the fiery furnace. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was enraged when they disobeyed him and ordered they throw the young men into the fiery furnace after heating it twice the former temperature. The young men never despaired. God showed up for them in the furnace; they were unburnt and came out without even the smell of smoke on them.

Daniel also, in Daniel chapter 6, never despaired in praying to His God three times a day, even when faced with penalty of being thrown into the lions’ den should he pray to His God within the 30 days period stipulated by the king for everybody under his rulership to offer prayers to the king alone. When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God showed up for him, and shut the lions’ mouths. He came out the following morning unhurt.

 

We need never despair, the circumstances we are in not withstanding, because we belong to a loving God. And with Him nothing is difficult nor impossible. He knows the end from the beginning, and we don’t yet know what good He may bring out of a seemingly hopeless situation. For the Scripture says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8 vs 28.) God works in “all things”—not just isolated incidents—for our good. And He who called you is faithful and will never deny Himself.

We often depend on our own skills and abilities when life seems easy and only turn to God when we feel unable to help ourselves. But as we realize our own powerlessness without Him and our need for His constant help in our lives, we come to depend on Him more and more. God is our source of power, and we receive His help by keeping in touch with Him. With this attitude of dependence, problems will drive us to God rather than away from Him. Learn how to rely on God.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace not to despair no matter the circumstances I face in life, knowing that You will never leave nor forsake me, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Clothe Yourself In His Armor

What is the first thing you do after taking a bath?  Get dressed!  I am so glad provision has been made for our nakedness! God commands us to “Put on”, as elect of God. We are commanded to “put on the Lord Jesus,”   “Put on the new man,”  and to “Put on the whole armor of God.”   So put it on!  That means dress in it. Reckon it to be so before the throne. Stand in Him complete.

Abraham believed God and it was “imputed” to him as righteousness. That word imputed means it was credited to his account. Though he was bankrupt himself, God applied it to his account because of his faith.  Believe God and apply His provision for your nakedness.

The Old Testament book of Zechariah, chapter three contains a wonderful example of the need to put on, or to reckon ourselves clothed in the righteousness of God, and in the armor of the Lord. Joshua, the high priest, was standing before the Lord and Satan was at his right hand accusing him before the throne of God. Everything Satan brought against him was true except for one thing - God said, “I forgave him. I clothed him. Leave him alone!”  Therefore God commanded the angel of the Lord to take off Joshua’s dirty tattered garments and give him a robe of pure white, a turban on his head, and a scepter in his hand. Then God looks at him and says, “Is not this the brand plucked out of the fire?”

There Are Two Parts to Reckoning:

1.  Principle of Position - seeing yourself in heavenly places as God sees you.

2.  Principle of Practice - exercising authority in Christ in heavenly places

 

Principle of Position

There is a “Principle of Position” that we all need to learn. It is the principle that though we all fall far short of the glory of God, God himself has made provision for us. His provision is that we can put on Christ. We wear his righteousness, his white robe, his crown, his authority. As God sees us in heaven he sees us through his perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ his Son. We are brands plucked out of the fire. Reckon it to be so! See yourself as God sees you… “and you are complete in him.”(Colossians 2:10)

 

“To Reckon” is to appropriate God’s invisible truth as our visible reality.

“To Believe” is to see the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith applies to our hearts the heavenly realities that God already sees.

• Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
• Put on His Righteousness
• Put on the Whole Armor of God

Principle of Practice – Using Your Authority

How do we exercise our God-given authority in Christ?  How do we address the devil in our prayers? (We certainly don’t pray to him.)

Weapons

God has clearly given us “Weapons of our Warfare” for the pulling down of strongholds. Our weapons (the word literally is “strategies”) are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God, and brings every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)

Words

The sword of the Spirit, is the Word of God. God’s word is that which we use as our offense. It cuts, penetrates, convicts, declares, exposes, and casts out the enemies of God. Jesus said, “All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” That is why whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven. (Matt. 16:19, 18:18) That authority is in his word, his ultimate authoritative command. We simply wield the sword. Just point it in the right direction.

Prayers

“Be strong” or be bold, boldfaced, courageous, aggressive, un-intimidated - Eph 6:10

“A hand upon the throne” - Exodus 17:16

“A hedge of protection” - Ezekiel 22:30

“Boldly to the throne of grace” - Hebrews 4:16

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

1.  PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD            Ephesians 6:11-18

2.  BE STRONG IN THE LORD!                 Ephesians 6:10

3.  BIND THE ENEMY                                 Matthew 18:18-20

4.  RESIST THE DEVIL                               James 4:7

5.  CLAIM THE BLOOD                               Revelation 12:11

6.  LOOSE THE CAPTIVES                        Luke 4:18

7.  PULL DOWN STRONGHOLDS             II Corinthians. 10:3-5

8.  PUT A HEDGE OF PROTECTION        Ezekiel 22:30

9.  COMMAND HIM TO LEAVE                  Matthew 10:1

10. REBUKE HIM IN JESUS                      Matthew 17:18

 

It is only when we stand in our own righteousness that we should be afraid to stand before the enemy, for our righteousnesses are as "filthy rags" but the righteousness of Christ is called the armor of God.

Who I am in Christ

Biblical Truths to “Practice Believing”

I AM GOD’S…

• possession

• child

• workmanship

• friend

• temple

• vessel

• co-laborer

• witness

• soldier

• ambassador

• building

• instrument

• chosen

• beloved

• precious jewel

I HAVE BEEN…

• redeemed by the blood

• set free from sin and condemnation

• set free from Satan’s control

• set free from Satan’s kingdom

• chosen before the foundation of the world

• predestined to be like Jesus

• forgiven of all my trespasses

• cleansed by the blood of the Lamb

• given a sound mind

• given the Holy Spirit

• adopted into God’s family

• justified freely by his grace

• given all things pertaining to life and godliness

• given great and precious promises

• authority over all the power of the enemy

• access to God

• been given wisdom

I AM…

• complete in him

• free forever from sin’s power

• sanctified and meet for the Master’s use

• loved eternally

• eternally kept in the palm of his hand

• kept by the power of God

• not condemned

• one with the Lord

• on my way to heaven

• alive, quickened by his mighty power

• seated with Christ in heavenly places

• the head and not the tail

• light in the darkness

• candle in a dark place

• city set on a hill
• salt of the earth

• his sheep

• a citizen of heaven

• hidden with Christ in God

• protected from the evil one

• kept by the power of God

• secure in Christ

• set on a Rock

• more-than-a-conqueror

• born again

• a victor

• healed by his strips

• covered by the blood of Jesus

• sheltered under his wing

• hidden in the secret place of the Almighty

I HAVE…

• access to the Father

• a home in heaven waiting for me

• all things in Christ

• a living hope

• an anchor to my soul

• a hope that is steadfast and unmoveable

• authority to tread on serpents

• power to witness

• the tongue of the learned

• the mind of Christ

• boldness and access

• peace with God

• faith as a grain of mustardseed

I CAN…

• do all things through Christ who strengthens me

• find mercy and grace to help in needs

• come boldly to the throne of grace

• quench all the firey darts of the wicked one

• tread on the serpent

• defeat the enemy

• declare God’s truth

• pray always and everywhere

• chase a thousand

I CANNOT…

• be separated from God’s love

• be lost

• be removed from His grasp

• taken out of the Father’s hand

TRUST AND AWAIT GOD’S TIME!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JANUARY 05, 2023.

SUBJECT : TRUST AND AWAIT GOD’S TIME!

Memory verse: "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie: though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2 vs 3.) 

READ: Daniel 8 vs 16 - 19:

8:16: And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel make this man understand the vision.”

8:17: So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

8:18: Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.

8:19: And He said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation, for at the appointed time the end shall be.

INTIMATION:

God is our Creator, and is 'All-Knowing’—perfect in knowledge. The end of all things are known to Him from the beginning (Isaiah 46 vs 10.). Even when we are yet unformed in our mother’s womb, He knew us and everything about us. God created all things, and planned all things according to His purpose and timing; "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Ecclesiastes 3 vs 1.)  And at the fullness of His time—at His appointed time, He will cause things to happen according to His predetermined purposes. For this reason, He is always on time. He planned the time, and does His bidding at the fullness of the planned time. 

From our perspective, God sometimes seems slow to intervene on our behalf. But what might appear slow to us is good timing from God’s perspective. It’s easy to become impatient while waiting for God to act, but we must never give up on Him. When God is silent and you are in deep anguish, be patient and know that “all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His “ (Romans 8 vs 28). All you need do is sit down and review your life; what God has done for you, and also review the great acts of God throughout biblical history. This will remind you that God is at work, not only in history, but also in your life today.

God will act when He is ready. For instance, children have difficulty grasping the concept of time. “It’s not time yet” is not a reason they easily understand because they only comprehend the present. And as His children, and as limited human beings, we can’t understand God’s perspective about time. We want everything now, unaware that God’s timing is better. When God is ready, He will do what needs to be done, not what we would like Him do. We may be as impatient as children, but we must not doubt the wisdom of God’s timing. Wait for God to reveal His plan. Don’t take matters into your own hands.

God’s answer doesn’t always come the moment we want it. but God answers us when He knows the right time has come. God knows the best time to act. When you feel that God has forgotten you in your troubles, remember that God has a time schedule we can’t see. God may have seemed slow to you when in distress, and every day you longed to be delivered. But God is not slow, He just is not on our timetable. God is not limited by time. It’s easy to get discouraged when years pass by and the world doesn’t get better. 

We sometimes wonder if God is able to see the future. But don’t assume that God has our limitations. God is completely unrestricted by time. Because He is eternal, we can depend on Him. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently for it, for surely it will take place, if God has assured about it. Of course, it isn’t easy to be patient but, “though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come.” (Habakkuk 2 vs 3.) We must trust God even when we don’t understand why events occur as they do.

For instance, who will imagine the Savior of the world working in a small-town carpenter’s shop until He was 30 years old! It seems incredible that Jesus would have been content to remain in Nazareth all that time, but He patiently trusted His Father’s timing for His life and ministry. Like Jesus, we need to resist the temptation to jump ahead before receiving the Spirit’s direction. Don’t jump ahead—trust God’s timing.

Jesus, during His earth walk, demonstrated God’s timing in events. When His friend Lazarus died due to sickness, He took four days to get to this family He loved and often stayed with. He knew their pain but did not respond immediately. His delay had a specific purpose. He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11 vs 14.) God’s timing, especially His delays, may make us think He is not answering or is not answering the way we want. But He will meet all our needs according to His perfect schedule and purpose (Philippians 4 vs 19.) Patiently await His timing. 

God is with believers through every situation, in every trial; protecting, loving, guiding them (Psalm 46 vs 1; 59 vs 16), and has promised He would never leave them nor forsake them (Hebrews 13 vs 5), and will be with them always, even up to the end of age (Matthew 28 vs 20). He knows and loves the believers completely. God is perfect (Matthew 5 vs 48), and consequently, everything about Him is perfect. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows us perfectly. Trust His judgement and trust that He has your best interests in mind (Jeremiah 29 vs 11).

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Faithful Companion, and Loving Father. I know You have the best plan and time for me. Let it be to me according to Your perfect timing, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

CONFESSION OF SIN

 

Confession of Sin

“If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”  1 John 1:9

John, the beloved disciple, warns us against an attitude of innocence before a holy God. To say that we have nothing to confess to God is to call Him a liar, and to practice selfdeception before our Maker.  David says: "Behold I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5)  And Isaiah adds to his own unworthiness before a holy God when he says: "All of our righteousnesses (that is, our best efforts) are as filthy rags."  (Isaiah 64:6) Most of us misread that passage and think that God means “all of our unrighteousnesses.” But it is all our best effort at right living that are still as filthy rags. Even if we could keep all the law and stumble in only one small point we would be guilty of all.

Woe Is Me!

Isaiah, a man filled with the Spirit, a prophet of God, a man above reproach, is a good example of this truth.  In Isaiah 6 he first sees the Lord in all his beauty, high and lifted up, and glorified.  The sight was so awesome that the just and righteous Isaiah fell on His face before God with an acute awareness of his own sinful nature.  He was not exaggerating. He was not bemoaning the sinfulness of other people. He saw himself in the light of God’s holiness and cried "Woe is me I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips."  (Isaiah 6:1-5)

We are not just to come into God's presence presumptuously, but humbly (2 Chronicles 7:14) contritely, with a sincere perspective on our own nature.  We need a vision of ourselves, our true fallen nature, our minds which are unclean, and of which God knows every passing thought. (Psalm 139:1-5)

Bankruptcy

Until we recognize our own state of bankruptcy before a holy God we cannot truly lean upon His Righteousness, without which no man will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)  We would instead come into his presence as the Pharisee, proud, bragging of his kept laws, righteous deeds, his right to gain the Father's favor.   We need to see ourselves as destitute, and totally depraved, without the righteousness of Christ.  We have nothing of which to boast. We, are as the rich church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. We need to see ourselves as God sees us.  “Lukewarm...wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

A.W. Tozer says:

"We need to admit...the shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, the worldliness of our lives,  our fleshly fallen nature that lives on, yet unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated, and the hyphenated sins of the  human spirit, self-righteousness, self-pity, selfconfidence,  self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love, self-indulgence,  and a host of other self-sins.   They are not something we do, they are something we are..."                             

The Pursuit of God

REGARDING INIQUITY IN MY HEART

"If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18

To regard iniquity means to leave it alone, to tolerate it, to know it is there and do nothing about it. It is to hide it, to cover it by excuses, to consider it unimportant, to ignore its dangers.

God considers any iniquity to be an abomination.  An abomination is a horrible disgusting thing. There are no "good guy" iniquities, no little white lies, no insignificant rebellions of the heart!  God calls rebellion in any form "as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry." (1 Samuel 15:23)   God considers sin as sin and all equally appalling to His holiness.  Sin in our heart is to the Lord as festering sores, and maggots in his holy offerings – slimy, crawling, slithering, disgusting, maggots defiling the whole!  (Isaiah 1:6)

Daniel was conscious of the subtle ways in which sin surrounds us and creeps into our thoughts, actions, and in-actions.  In his exemplary prayer in Daniel 9 he identifies nine faces of sin.

WE HAVE ...

1.  Sinned  v 5 Missed the mark, fallen short

2.  Committed iniquity v 5 Deliberate conscious sin

3.  Done wickedly v 5 Life-style habitual sin

4.  Rebelled v 5/9 Said no to God!

5.  Not hearkened v 6 Closed our ears, ignored

6.  Not obeyed voice v 10 Grieved the Holy Spirit

7.  Transgressed law v 11 Legal term, to know law and disobey

8.  Departed from God  v 11 Backslidden, wandered away

9.  Made not prayer v 13 Sin of prayerlessness

 

DEAL WITH SIN !

Jesus emphasized the need to deal with sin each time he spoke of prayer.  In the Lord's prayer he deals heavily with the need to deal severely with sin.   That is, in fact, the primary lesson of the Lord's Prayer.  Immediately after citing it he pointed out the need to forgive as well as ask for forgiveness.   In Matthew 5:23-26 Jesus further deals with sin in prayer by saying that when we come to God's altar with an offering we must first do something about broken relationships before we pray and offer praise!!!  An attempt at reconciliation must be made before our prayers will be heard.  I Peter 3:7 includes the marital relationship as being a hindering factor in prayer.

 

CONFESSION OF SIN

A man that truly enters into the presence of God cannot but help to see himself as unclean.  Even the Scripture admits that "all of our good deeds are as filthy rags."  So was the feeling of Isaiah before the throne in Isaiah 6, and of Daniel in chapter 9.   The holiness of God cannot tolerate the presence of sin!   We are exhorted to confess our sins to God (I John 1:8-9), and even admit our faults one to another (James 5:16) so as to pray effectively and fervently and be healed.

 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SIN
Conviction is seeing sin as exceedingly sinful.

Repentance is "Agreeing with God about my sin," and turning from it.

Confession is exposing it to God & asking Him to forgive and cleanse.

We cannot do penance for our sins, it would do no good. We cannot pay the penalty of our sins. The penalty or "wage of sin is death."  Therefore God has provided a better way. We lay our sins on Jesus.

Isaiah 53 is a magnificent passage that describes the atonement of Jesus Christ for sins. Jesus paid it all on the cross. That is why he could say, "It is finished."  Verse five says, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed."  Verse six goes on, "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all." Verse twelve goes even further, "He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

There is nothing more for me to do but lay my sins on Jesus. That is why the thief on the cross could be saved. He could not do penance. He could not make restitution for what he had done. He could not even prove his sincerity. He simply laid his sin on Jesus and said, "Have mercy on me." That is what Jesus came to do."Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Lay your sins on Jesus - he is your sin-bearer. Then rejoice in what God says he has done with your sins. Confession is not commiserating or grieving over your fallen nature, your secret thoughts, or your sins of commission or omission, but asking and receiving forgiveness and the covering of the blood of Jesus. Do not leave the altar of confession without appropriating the provisions of the cross!. Be forgiven and give thanks.

What happens to confessed sins?

1. They were paid in full - Romans 5:11 / Isaiah 53:6
2. They were forgiven/pardoned  – 1 John 1:9
3. They were laid on him – Isaiah 53:6
4. They were washed whiter than snow – Isaiah 1:18
5. They were covered – Psalm 32:1
6. They were cleansed by blood of Jesus – Hebrews 9:22/ 10:4
7. They were blotted out – Isaiah 44:22
8. They were removed as far as east from west  – Psalm 103:12
9. They were cast in depths of sea – Micah 7:19
10. They were forever forgotten – Jeremiah 31:34

Read Psalm 51 and Psalm 139 as part of your confession of sin.

Song: It is Well.

My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul.