Day 3 - Week 37 - 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Robert J. Morgan expounds on some of the thoughts I shared yesterday:

One Sunday as I was preaching n my church in Nashville, I said that Christians need to keep "short accounts" with God.  We need to confess our sins quickly and completely so that no corrosion builds up on our spiritual connections with God.  I was interrupted by a young man whom I'd never seen before and have never seen since.  Jumping to his feet, he shouted, "Sir, Sir!  That's not right!"

He had the salutary effect of waking up everyone instantly.  "When we receive Christ as Savior," he insisted, "He forgives our sins, past, present and future.  We never again need to confess sins that are forgiven in His sight."

It's true that all our sins are instantly and forever forgiven---past, present, and future.  Yet Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." (Matt. 6:12).  And, as I reminded my young heckler that evening, 1 John 1:9 was expressly written to Christians.  According to the next paragraph, 1 John 2:1-2, John wrote his book to retard sin in our lives ("I am writing you these things so that you may not sin"), but he added, "If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father---Jesus Christ the righteous One."

It's not that we're saved and lost, lost and saved, over and over.  It's a matter of maintaining constant, conscious fellowship with our Lord.  It's obviously possible for Christians to sin.  I've never met one who didn't.  That doesn't mean we've lost our salvation; but sin does jeopardize the victory and vitality of our faith.  Confession means we acknowledge our failures and humbly ask God's help in overcoming them.

The only thing I can add to that today is that I think there is a danger when we cease confessing to become very complacent in our sinfulness and move into a state of abusing God's grace.  Sin becomes less meaningful to us..."after all, we're only human, God knows we're going to fall short."  That is not where God wants us.  God wants us keenly aware of the specifics of our shortcomings, He wants us to be grieved by them, and He wants us to grow and move forward.  Confession keeps us in that state of relationship and humility...always aware of who we are and always aware of the tremendous gift we have been given in God's forgiveness.

Day 2 - Week 37 - 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

If/then ----
If we confess our sins...
Then He will forgive and cleanse us.

We always have a part in God's promises to us, don't we?  Confession to God is essential for us to be continually humbled and brought into an honest realization of how needful we are of our Savior.  Without confession, we can quickly become prideful and arrogant, easily forgetting who we really are and how far from God's standards we come.

I know there are some who confess with a blanket confession, "Please, Lord, forgive me for all of the sins I have committed today" (which I have also often prayed), and others who go even farther saying that once you have confessed yourself as a sinner before God in need of His forgiveness that additional confession is not needed. 

But, for me, the best time of confession is when I review my day and really think about all of the places that I missed God's mark and bring those times before Him and ask His forgiveness.  That time allows true self-examination and allows me to see just where it is that the Holy Spirit is convicting me to improve.  It also prompts me to try to make my list just a little shorter the next day!

When we bring our sins and our sinfulness before God, then He has promised that He will not only forgive, but He will wipe our slate clean, cleansing us from all of the filth that we have encountered.  I take great joy in this, because it assures me that my past failures are stripped from who I am today.  I can walk in the light of the knowledge that I do not have to carry the burdens of all of my past sins today or in the future.  I am cleansed and I am free of them.  If I choose to do so, then I am not fully trusting God's promise to me of His faithfulness and justice to forgive.

Sometimes it seems we can accept God's forgiveness for everyone else, but not ourselves.  The promise is for me as well as for you.  Let it take hold in your heart that God is ready to forgive you and to cleanse you...the "if" is on us....confess to Him.  He is ready to hear our words of humble confession.

Day 1 - Week 37 - Standing on the Promises of God!

Just for fun tonight, let's review our verses in reverse subject order, most recent first!  Maybe I'm wanting to do this because I'm loving dwelling on these promises and I just want to say them first...anyway, let's start with the Promises, then Praise, Assurance, and finish up with the Gift of Prayer:

Promises of God (10):
Matthew 6:33  But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)
Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

And right on the heels of 1 John 1:7, we'll add 1 John 1:9, a wonderful promise of forgiveness!

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

Now on to our other verses:

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

The Gift of Assurance (10)

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.

1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 53:5 But 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 . (KJV)

Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

The Gift of Prayer (3)

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

1 John 5:14   Now this is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15   And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

What is your favorite section so far?  Hard to say, isn't it?  All of God's Words are such sweet gifts from Him and serve such purpose in our lives.

Our new promise is one that we cannot be thankful enough for...God's wonderful promise of forgiveness.  This is one that I know by the end of the week we will have solidly embedded in our hearts because it truly is such a reassuring promise of God's faithfulness to us---even in the light of our unfaithfulness---He will do what He has promised when we come before Him in humility and honesty. 

Thank You God for never shutting the door on me---Your forgiveness has always been there waiting!

Day 7 - Week 36 - 1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

Back home again after a wonderful time with Robert's brothers and sister, Don, Gary and Mary and their spouses, Freddie, Deb & Shorty.  Couldn't ask for a more fun group to spend a long weekend with.  We always spend so much time laughing (and eating!) and just having a good time.

I've said before that I've been blessed with good Christian friends, but I don't know if I've ever paid tribute to the good Christian family that I was born into.  My mother and daddy raised me and my two sisters, Mary and Rita, in a home where there was no doubt as to their faith and their absolute desire for their children to become Christian women with a strong, unwavering trust in God.  Mother and Daddy did their very best to always walk in the light, not only because they knew that's where their lives would be the most blessed, but also because they so wanted to be good examples to their children.  And they were...I continually hold them up as my pattern of living, and I usually fall short. 

Not it's my turn as a mother and grandmother to continue to make it my goal to walk in the light, turning away from the darkness, so that my children and grandchildren can see the difference that such a life walk makes.  Robert J. Morgan makes this statement about our verse this week:

John was writing to church members, encouraging them to walk in the light and to confess their sins in order to keep their relationship with the Lord sweet and strong. 

That's what I would really like my children and grandchildren to see exhibited in my life...a sweet and strong relationship with the Lord.  Something that is so appealing to them, that they want the very same type of relationship.  Something that they see that they just would not want to miss out on. 

Morgan goes on to say something more about the closing of the verse that is also a very good reminder to us about the importance of confession:

Perhaps there is a sin into which you repeatedly fall.  It's unhealthy to allow that sin to remain unconfessed.  If we know Jesus as our Savior, we don't lose our salvation every time we sin, but we do lose something of the sweetness we should have with our heavenly Father.  We lose a clear conscience and an untarnished walk.  How wonderful to confess our sins and walk in the light as He is in the light.

Makes me realize that unconfessed sin, and repeated sin that I'm not turning from, starts snuffing out the light of God in my life.  More and more darkness creeps in and God's way is not as easily seen.  IF I'm going to have the kind of faith walk that will make my life an appealing one to those who are most important to me, then I must be mindful of the sin in my life that is trying to go unnoticed.  Admitting my sin, confessing it and claiming Christ's blood over it, allows the light to shine brighter and keeps my relationship with my Father open and honest and sweet.

Shine, Jesus, shine!!  Bring all my sinfulness into the light so that I can truly see anything that is offensive to You,  for it is You that I live for and You are the One that it is my pleasure to please!

Day 5 - Week 36 - 1 John 1:7 "7 "But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

Fellowship - it's a promise to believers in Jesus Christ. I'm getting to experience sweet fellowship with my brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws this weekend. I'm starting to believe that true fellowship brings with it true acceptance and love---because that's what is being exhibited this weekend and it is what should be exhibited among those who call each other brothers and sisters in our faith. Too often we get hung up on our petty differences and miss the sweet fellowship that we've been promised. I think God must be saddened when He sees that because He knows the joy we are missing!

Im so lucky to be able to share in the Hodges' family's truly amazing fellowship---their parents did all the right things to instill in their children a family bond that has not diminished one little bit over the many years since they were all growing up in one household. They are still the brothers and sister that joke and kid and laugh and sometimes cry over family stories and memories. And they love each other fiercely. And, luckily for those who marry into this great family, they extend that same love to us.

I love this family...but I also know I'm a part of an enormous family of believers who are called to love each other fiercely and not only to stand by each other but, I think, to even enjoy each other! Think how that picture must please our Father!