OUR HOPE: Our Forgiveness

‘You forgave the iniquity of Your people and covered all their sins.’ Psalm 85:2 (NIV)

Have you ever done or said something that you instantly regretted?  What about when you thought about it later on?  There is something that is planted inside each living human being that is called a conscience.  Unfortunately, we often ignore it.  Its little messages to us are useless.  But the consequences of sin will appear sooner or later.  That’s when we say, ‘I wish I had listened to my conscience!’.

Christians need to be listening to more than a simple ‘conscience’.  Our conscience should be the Holy Spirit.  He is sent by God to be the barometer by which we can measure the wisdom of our actions and speech.  He has many other jobs to do where we are concerned, but this is one of the biggies.  We choose to say and do things that are not of God if we are not reminded continually of right and wrong.  We can quickly fall prey to the enemy  if we choose to ignore the small, still voice of the Spirit.  God has a purpose for instilling us with the power of the Holy Spirit with our salvation.  We must be wary of rebuking His authority to lead and advise us.  Many of us pay large amounts of money to those who invest our cash for us, and we listen to them, don’t we?  So why would we refuse the free advice of the God in Heaven who loves us like no one else?

Jesus died on the cross to save us.  We have been freed from the eternal consequences of sin, and given full forgiveness by His grace and mercy.  Don’t say you don’t deserve it.   None of us do!  I know people say they can’t accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior because they have not yet cleaned up their act.  He wants you just as you are, and right now!  If you have received Him, you have experienced the grace of His forgiveness.  You cannot be too dirty for Him.  He will meet you right where you are, at this very minute, and when you say yes to him and confess your sin  to Him, you are forgiven, born again, purified of all iniquity.  Are you still a sinner?  Yes! And so am I!  But do we have to wallow in our sin and feel like we are not acceptable in His sight because of it?  Absolutely not!  Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly (John 10:10).

Our forgiveness is offered to us freely, because of Jesus’ love for us.  He is Our Hope, and He will extend forgiveness to any who asks with their hearts.  Freedom is ours because of His walk to Calvary and by the power of His resurrection.

Look at the sweet face of the candlestick cherub in the picture above.  I see purity, freedom from sin.  When we trust Jesus, confess our sin, and accept His forgiveness,  that same sweetness appears on our faces too!

‘ I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’ Hebrews 8:12 (NIV)

Blessings!