Sunday, August 14, 2011

Wash Me Clean!

"Wash me thoroughly from my
iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me....

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within
me.
Do not cast me away from Your
presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit
from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your
salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit."
Psalm 51: 2-3; 10-12

"When I kept silent about my sin, my
body wasted away
Through my groanings all day long.
For day and night Your hand was
heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as
with the fever heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, "I will confess my
transgressions to the LORD";
And you forgave the guilt of my sin."
Psalm 32:3-5

My heart aches. Lord, why do I continue to sin against You? I have failed You in so many areas of my life. I feel as though my sin is too great to be forgiven. But then...I am reminded of your promise. The blood of Christ is sufficient to cover all my sin. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

I would never want anyone to think more highly of me than they should. Rather, I would desire them to think more lowly of me because they don't know my heart my what I struggle with inside. There is nothing to hide. There is nothing to lose. I am a sinner saved by grace, but I struggle.

I lack joyful obedience and struggle with a rebellious spirit.
I speak before I think and I lack humility.
Pride runs through every vein in my body and is a daily war to overcome it and replace it.
I want things to go my own way and I want to be my own authority.
I struggle with the need to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.
I am double-faced at times and I try to be someone who I am not.
I don't keep short accounts with others and when my unrepented sin begins to pile up, my heart is weighed down and I give up on any chance of changing.
I feel like I have failed my God-ordained authority. I know that the greatest freedom comes in submitting to that God-given authority.
I want others to think well of me, and yet I know in my heart that it would be hypocritical for me to make believe I am all that I want them to think I am.
A resolution of Jonathan Edwards has stuck with me the last couple years and I have pleaded with the Lord to help make it a reality in my life.

"Resolved never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life."
Oh, if that were only true of me. I want to be resolved, by if this were the last hour of my life, I know that I would fail. I am a wretched sinner saved by the pure mercy of God and there is nothing I could ever have done to be deserving of the love God has for me.
Although I struggle with so much sin and pride in my life, I desire so much to overcome them and to be like Christ.

I desire to obey my parents and God-ordained authority joyfully and to respect their leadership and decisions.
I desire to be humble and to think carefully before I speak.

I don't want to be double-faced, but rather, I want to display the life of Christ through my thoughts, words, and actions.
I desire to keep short accounts with my family and friends and to humble myself and to ask for forgiveness.
I desire to lay down my pride, my sinful choices, my lack of submissiveness for Christ and to give Him my all so that I may serve Him whole-heartedly with a clear conscience.
All of this is impossible without Christ. I will never be perfect here on earth as Christ was, and I will continue to sin. But I have no pleasure in my sin and I know that with God's help, I will be able to overcome my sin and live a God-honouring life.


Romans 6:5-7
"For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for he who has died is freed from sin."

I have taken these 35 reasons from Alex and Brett Harris's blog: www.therebelution.com

35 reasons not to sin:
1. Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2. Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
3. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5. Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6. Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
7. Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
8. Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9. Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10. Because my sin saddens the godly.
11. Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12. Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13. Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14. Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15. Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16. Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17. Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18. Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20. Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21. Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
22. Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23. Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
24. Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25. Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
26. Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
27. Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
28. Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29. Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30. Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31. Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32. Because to sin is not to love Christ.
33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34. Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it's own.
35. Because I promised God He would be Lord of my life.


Believers are dead to sin, Alive to God.
1 Corinthians 7:23  "You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men."

How can I thank the One who died for me and has forgiven me of all my sins - past, present, and future. I will serve no other - only Him alone!

 

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