Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in YouTube images and song with the group Casting Crowns singing … East to West … poignantly singing of how our faith in the completed work of Jesus, our sins are cast in His sea of forgetfulness and we stand cleansed before His throne of grace.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 103:11-12 [NLT] … 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
… How wondrous is God’s unfailing love that He would remove our sins utterly and completely.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 103:1-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David, recognizing God’s vast, faithful, unfailing love, praises His God for His forgiveness.
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Reference Passage : … Isaiah 1:18 [NLT] … 18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord … “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
… What a deal; and all we have to do is recognize and receive His saving/sanctifying grace!!
Reference Passage : … Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s mercies and His grace are ALWAYS available for those who’re willing to confess, repent, and receive His forever gift of forgiveness.
Reference Passage : … Micah 7:19 [NLT] … 19 Once again You [LORD] will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under Your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
… When we surrender to God’s grace and are willing to confess and/or repent, God will toss our sins into His sea of forgetfulness.
Reference Passage : … 1 John 1:9 [NLT] … 9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
… God’s wondrous willingness to cleanse us completely from our sins when we’re willing to humbly and honestly confess and repent.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Marvin Williams, uses an interesting New Year’s event which people use to try to rid one of past guilt for past issues or memories. The ODB author writes … Since 2006 a group of people have celebrated an unusual event around the New Year. It’s called “Good Riddance Day.” Based on a Latin American tradition, individuals write down unpleasant, embarrassing memories and bad issues from the past year and throw them into an industrial-strength shredder. Or some take a sledgehammer to their good riddance item.
An interesting mental exercise to try to cast past memories or troublesome issues into the past and move on into the new year. Each year I go thru a similar meditation by pulling up a poem, written by the stellar Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll, entitled “Start Over,” where I launch myself into the New Year with a “start over” mentality [see photo]. You can read this powerful poem AT THIS LINK.
However, the basis of my New Year’s meditation is much more powerful than those who practice “Good Riddance Day.” My “start over” attitude is based in the truth of the Scriptures above, where the various authors of God’s word recognize God’s willingness to cast our sins and past wrongs into His “sea of forgetfulness,” (see Micah 7:19) and cleanse me of the sins of which we’re humbly willing to confess and repent (see remaining Scriptures above).
So, I’m praying that all reading here with me will join me to praise God for His faithfulness and the grace He’s willing to exercise in letting us say “GOOD RIDDANCE” to our sins as we move into the new year.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your faithfulness and willingness to cleanse me (us) of my (our) sins.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to praise God with a robust “HALLELUJAH!!” for His willingness to let us start over in the new year [or even today!] with a clean slate. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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