God isn't forgetting what you are doing right! (From Facebook, Friday, December 17, 2010)
"As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."( Psalm 103:12, NASB)
A conversation today has started to percolate in my spirit a new awareness of God's great love for us. As Christians we are used to hearing that when we repent, our transgressions have been wiped clean. This is the permeating truth which is the great promise of our salvation: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NASB) Also familiar to pilgrims progressing on the path is that God will not remember our transgressions because of His great mercy and grace: "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25, NIV)
As the conversation progressed, it dawned on me: What many of us don’t think about is the fact that God isn’t wiping out our RIGHT doing when he blots out our WRONG doing. He is making us acceptable and perfect in His eyes by the blood of Jesus: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, NIV) and washing us as white as snow: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”(Isaiah 1:16-18).
The difference is this: while He is blotting out your transgressions, also known as failures, He is not blotting out your successes! My pastor of 9 years, Pastor Brian Zahnd, made frequent reference to Edison’s invention of the light bulb. Edison was quoted in an interview as saying that he had discovered “1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb.” Edison did not consider himself a failure, and I would conjecture that there are few who would!
The only failure is a failure to keep trying.
I want to encourage believers to understand one thing: God remembers your successes, and He is extremely proud of you! We focus in Christians circles on the fact that God is proud of us “no matter what” and “even if” we fail. True, true, true! But what about God being proud of us after the sin is out of the way…..
…….and celebrating our successes?
I am convinced that God is bursting with pride and cheering you on when you do the right thing, NO MATTER WHAT! Just like a parent cheers and applauds when their child takes the first wobbling steps, just like when the same parent jumps up and down in the stands when the teenage son or daughter wins the big game or brings down the house with a stellar musical performance, God is cheering us on where we are in our successes in life. This applies as well to the mature believer. While God can expect more from a brother or sister who has been on the road for a little longer, He does not stop valuing your successes! Period. Exclamation point.
So. Let yourself off the hook today, and then begin to joy in what you are doing RIGHT! Because God is!
A conversation today has started to percolate in my spirit a new awareness of God's great love for us. As Christians we are used to hearing that when we repent, our transgressions have been wiped clean. This is the permeating truth which is the great promise of our salvation: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NASB) Also familiar to pilgrims progressing on the path is that God will not remember our transgressions because of His great mercy and grace: "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25, NIV)
As the conversation progressed, it dawned on me: What many of us don’t think about is the fact that God isn’t wiping out our RIGHT doing when he blots out our WRONG doing. He is making us acceptable and perfect in His eyes by the blood of Jesus: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, NIV) and washing us as white as snow: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”(Isaiah 1:16-18).
The difference is this: while He is blotting out your transgressions, also known as failures, He is not blotting out your successes! My pastor of 9 years, Pastor Brian Zahnd, made frequent reference to Edison’s invention of the light bulb. Edison was quoted in an interview as saying that he had discovered “1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb.” Edison did not consider himself a failure, and I would conjecture that there are few who would!
The only failure is a failure to keep trying.
I want to encourage believers to understand one thing: God remembers your successes, and He is extremely proud of you! We focus in Christians circles on the fact that God is proud of us “no matter what” and “even if” we fail. True, true, true! But what about God being proud of us after the sin is out of the way…..
…….and celebrating our successes?
I am convinced that God is bursting with pride and cheering you on when you do the right thing, NO MATTER WHAT! Just like a parent cheers and applauds when their child takes the first wobbling steps, just like when the same parent jumps up and down in the stands when the teenage son or daughter wins the big game or brings down the house with a stellar musical performance, God is cheering us on where we are in our successes in life. This applies as well to the mature believer. While God can expect more from a brother or sister who has been on the road for a little longer, He does not stop valuing your successes! Period. Exclamation point.
So. Let yourself off the hook today, and then begin to joy in what you are doing RIGHT! Because God is!
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