Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of a time of worship with a group singing … What Can Wash Away My Sin … poignantly singing of the reality that only Jesus’ blood and His sanctifying grace can cleanse us from our sin when we’re willing to confess our sin and come to Him for forgiveness.
==============
Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Samuel 12:22-23 [NLT] … 22 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”
… Once David’s son dies, he shows faith to resume His life as one who lives after God’s own heart, showing faith that he, David, had been forgiven and would one day see his son again in heaven.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Samuel 12:13-31 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David is remorseful after his confession to Nathan and God’s people about the Bathsheba incident a year earlier.
==============
Reference Passage : … 2 Samuel 11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David’s sinful episode with Bathsheba.
Reference Passage : … Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God is faithful and ALWAYS willing to extend His mercies to a repentant believer.
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.
… It has always been the case if we, God’s children, confess and repent of our sins, God is ALWAYS willing to cleanse us.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Tim Gustafson, used a familiar biblical episode of King David’s regret over his sin with Bathsheba to illustrate how we must not let regret/remorse paralyze us from confessing and repenting of our sin. … The ODB author wrote: As a child, she had hurled vicious words at her parents. Little did she know that those words would be her last interaction with them. Now, even after years of counseling, she can’t forgive herself. Guilt and regret paralyze her. We all live with regrets—some of them quite terrible. But the Bible shows us a way through the guilt. Let’s look at one example. There’s no sugarcoating what King David did [see 2Sam. 11].
It took King David a full year to come out of his cover-up of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, her husband, as well as from the prompting of Nathan, God’s Prophet, to breakdown and confess of his sins. And then in 2nd Samuel 12 we read of David’s regrets, remorse, and ultimately his renewal to his faithful relationship with The Lord, which allowed the king to return to faithful battle for God.
We will NEVER be able to be of service to God if we hold on to unconfessed sin, especially sin which is covered-up with our very human isolationism. God’s mercy is always available to remorseful/repentant sinners (see Lam. 3:22-23); and our Lord will ALWAYS cleanse our sin when we’re willing/able to come to Him with a repentant heart, seeking His faithful forgiveness (see 1John 1:9).
So, ... is there anything we need to bring to God’s throne of grace today to be cleansed of all regret and be renewed again to fruitfulness in/from our relationship with Christ?
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your always available forgiving mercy and grace.
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to go to God with any unconfessed sin today to receive His cleansing grace. . … 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment