When You Need to Know You are Forgiven and Loved
I need God’s forgiveness!
No matter how hard I try, I mess up the obedience and love part of my life every single day!
I don’t obey God the way He wants me to. I don’t even obey Him the way I want to.
I tell Him how much I love Him but with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength … I fall short again and again.
Remember Paul’s words…
I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18
Yeah, that’s me!
Maybe, like me, you ask God for His forgiveness but continue to beat yourself up over your weaknesses and failures … especially those things you keep on doing even though you know better and desperately want to stop.
If so…
Let’s take a look at God’s word of truth…
When You Need to Know You are Forgiven and Loved
The first thing you and I need to remember is God is the perfect Father…
♥ God made you and loves you so very much!
He does not hold your sins against you. He wants to forgive you … so much so, that He sent Jesus to suffer your punishment and mine. He suffered and died to pay the price that set us free!
“I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” Isaiah 44:21b–22
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ.
Oswald Chambers
♥ God wants us to surrender our failures to Him.
Why?
Because when you and I confess and repent…
- We agree with God that our failures are sins that go against His will.
- We take an honest assessment of our lives and realize our need for Him.
- We acknowledge our sorrow for what we’ve done or what we’ve failed to do.
- We ask Him to give us the desire and help we need to obey Him in the future.
- We admit that we are totally dependent on God … we need Him.
Confession and repentance are the flat-out falling of the sinner before the Savior. It humbly recognizes that He is King of kings and Lord of lords, that He is God and well, we are not.
And the good news is…
If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9
And it’s not only a washing away the marks of sin, but it’s also … the power of the Holy Spirit to change stony, stubborn hearts into kind, responsive hearts.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26–27
How cool is that?!
♥ You and I are more than just forgiven; we are new creations!
Through Jesus death and resurrection and through the power of His Spirit, you and I have a new perspective and a new heart.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
We are being made new every day. We have a new covenant … a promise, written on our hearts that gives us a personal relationship with the God of the universe.
We belong to God!
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1a
If you’re like me, though, you still have past failures/sins that haunt your thoughts and wear you down.
If so, this is the best news of all…
♥ Sins that have been confessed and repented are forgiven and gone for good!
We don’t need to wallow in self-loathing and memorialized guilt.
Even when our faith is weak, our conscience is sensitive, and memories haunt us God’s word affirms that through Jesus every confessed sin is gone for good!
I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Psalm 32:5
His love is as high as the heavens and His forgiveness is as far as the east is from the west.
He does not punish us for all our sins;
He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:10–12
I love this quote!
“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” ~ George MacDonald
That’s it! LIFE! NEW LIFE! REDEEMED LIFE!
♥ You and I can LIVE celebrating God’s forgiveness and love.
Jesus is both willing and able to forgive us. It’s not some reward He holds in front of us trying to get us to do better.
It’s a gift of love.
Love confirmed on a cross two thousand years ago.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Love so complete it has one desire…
“The desire of His heart is always restoration – not condemnation. When we truly repent, God will forgive us.” Mary Southerland
When you and I struggle with guilt. When it’s hard to let go and move on … stop and remember just how much God loves you.
He is greater than your feelings.
He is your loving, forgiving, heart changing Giver of LIFE!
That my friend is a reason to celebrate with joy!
Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
Psalm 32:1 and Romans 4:7
And if for just a moment you’re thinking…
You don’t understand. You don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know how far I’ve fallen away. How I’ve ignored and neglected Him.
Read these words from Charles Stanley…
“When you stray from His presence, He longs for you to come back. He weeps that you are missing out on His love, protection and provision. He throws His arms open, runs toward you, gathers you up, and welcomes you home.” ~ Charles Stanley
One of my favorite parables is the story of the Prodigal Son.
The image of the Father watching and waiting for His son to return home. The picture of Him running to embrace the child who had rejected His love and squandered His blessings.
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:20
That’s the Father who loves us!
May you and I keep returning home in humble repentance knowing we are forgiven and loved … the celebration of LIFE is just beginning!
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Your post today, Deb, dovetails with the sermon our pastor gave yesterday. I’d say that’s definitely a God-incidence! Yes, God is our good, good Father, waiting with open arms for us to return to Him.
Blessings, my friend!
Don’t you love when God does that?! The other day the Psalms I read went perfectly with what I was reading in the prophets. And I thought all the Psalms were written much earlier. Still so much to learn and I love that the Lord is willing to patiently and faithfully teach. Blessings my friend!
Hello Deb ??♀️
I pray that you are doing well.?
God is a good Father and I go to Him for everything…. I see Him before I begin my day.
On good days and not so good days my
Heavenly Father always me in His Loving arms!
Whatever season I’m in,I no longer fear or worry
for my Lord,my best friend will carry me through!
Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Raquel
Blessings to you, Raquel! Amen! In His loving arms is the best place to be!
Deb, I needed this reminder today – and everyday! Hope you are having a wonderful week! Katy @ SYE
Praying God will recompense a hundred fold anyone and everyone I have hurt in the past. As only He can heal and restore in proper measure for their good.
Amen, Lee! Thank you so much for visiting and for joining the conversation! God bless you!