Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics with the the group Casting Crowns singing East to West ... poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, serve a God of 2nd chances who will cast our sins as far as the east is from the west when we’re willing to confess and repent.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Micah 7:19 [NLT] ... 19 Once again You [God] will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under Your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! .
.. The wonder of our God of 2nd changes, willing - and able - cast our sins into the depths of His ocean of forgetfulness.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Micah 7:1-3, 18-20 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK ... .
.. The Prophet declares God’s willingness to forgive those who are repentant for their sins, casting those sins into the depth of His sea of forgetfulness.
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Reference Passage : ... Psalm 32 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK ...
... King David’s joyful song of what it was like to experience God’s forgiveness after he confessed and repented of his sin with Bathsheba.
Reference Passage : ... Psalm 103:12 [NLT] ... 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
... When we’re willing to repent of our sins, our God is willing - AND ABLE - to cast those sins as far as the east is from the west.
Reference Passage : ... 1Corinthians 10:13[NLT] ... 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
… Paul reminds Christians that no matter what temptations/trials we face, our faithful God can - and will - show the repentant believer a way toward a 2nd chance direction.
Reference Passage : ... 2Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] ... 9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
... The Apostle Paul recalled Jesus’ declaration that His grace actually works best when we’re willing to recognize (i.e., confess/repent) of our weakness.
Reference Passage : ... 1John 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.
... If any of God's children are willing to confess and repent of our sins, our God of 2nd chances is willing - and able - to cleanse us.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Patricia Raybon, uses a story about a bike repair shop to illustrate how Christians are blessed to serve a God of 2nd chances who is willing - and able - cleanse us of our dirtiness and cast it into His sea of forgetfulness. ... The ODB author wrote: At the Second Chance Bike Shop near our neighborhood, volunteers rebuild cast-off bicycles and donate them to needy kids. Shop founder Ernie Clark also donates bikes to needy adults, including the homeless, the disabled, and military veterans struggling to make it in civilian life. [see photo] Not only do the bicycles get a second chance but sometimes the recipients get a new start too. One veteran used his new bike to get to a job interview.
Second chances can transform a person’s life, especially when the second chance comes from God.
If any reader today has taken the time to see/hear the linked song on You Tube and has been willing to meditate on the scriptures above, you know, as does this repentant sinner, that we serve a God of 2nd changes, … a God who is not only willing, but Who has provided a way - THE WAY - for us to bring our sinful past to Him and allow Him, thru our humble confession and repentance, to cast our sins, as Casting Crowns sings, as “far as the east is from the west” and as the Prophet Micah writes, [see highlight passage] into God’s sea of forgetfulness.
And nobody knows those truths any more, or better, than I do, … having come to God as a repugnant, but repentant, P0RN addict over 3 decades ago and experienced God’s forgiveness and cleansing. And now, just as King David wrote about (in Ps. 32), having experienced God’s grace after his confession of sin with Bathsheba, I can, as David did, walk in life, knowing that my God has cleansed me and cast my sin as far as the east is from the west.
And, for any reader, I pray that you have experienced that too; and if you want to discuss that with me, I’m just an email away @ billb13@bellsouth.net .
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, ... for cleansing us from our sins and then being willing to forget them.
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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 and thank God for giving us multiple opportunities to be cleansed of our sins as He promises in 1John 1:9. … 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.</ span>
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