Saturday, September 21, 2019
Welcome to Scripture Saturday!
This coming week's memory verse is 1 John 1:9,10...
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us. (NIV)
To confess means, “to say the same as.” When we confess our sin, we are willing to say and believe the same thing about our sin that God says about it. (Read Luke 18:10-14.) God knows every secret of the human heart, and He stands ready to forgive us. There is only one condition: we must confess.
"Confessing" is a present tense verb. This means we should continually confess our sin - this isn’t a once for all kind of thing. Each time we sin, we must ask for forgiveness - admitting to God that what we have done is sin (against His commandments and His will for us), asking for His forgiveness. He is faithful and just and will forgive us. “Because of Jesus’ work, the righteousness of God is our friend – insuring that we will be forgiven because Jesus paid the penalty of our sin. God is being faithful and just to forgive us in light of Jesus.”
Sin separates us from the One who longs to enjoy unbroken fellowship with us. When Adam and Eve first sinned, their disobedience caused them to hide from God. Note that the first recorded question in the history of the universe was not, “God, where are you?” but “Adam, where are you?”
No one can hide from God. God observes us through eyes of love, much like a father who carefully watches to see if his child will own up to wrongdoing. Have your times of personal worship felt lifeless and dry? If your actions or attitudes have erected a barrier between you and your Lord, confession will knock it down. Blessings await you. (A.Slick)
