God's Forgiveness

Good Evening to All!

Daily Inspiration from the NIV

God's Forgiveness

Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit....

I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD'----
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

Psalm 32:1-2,5


Isn't this Psalm wonderful to reflect upon? When I read this passage, I really started to think back on things I had done for which I have been forgiven. I am so unworthy and yet God sees me as a "finished product" or "the person I will be when He decides to call me home. He doesn't see my flaws, my short-comings. He knows my past, present and future, and I am so thankful for that, because I am very sure that if He were to allow us into heaven on merit, I would not make it. My past is definitely not without its moments of bad choices which I have made, my present could use some definite priority fine-tuning, and I'm sure my future will probably leave a lot to be desired, at least in the realm of "being ready for my Savior to come and take me away.

No matter how hard we try, we will Never Measure Up as being worthy of His mercy. We can be the most spiritual God fearing person in the world and we will still be unworthy. BUT.... That's just it. If we live for Him everyday, and talk to Him, as well as doing our best to do His will be developing a relationship with Him. The more we do this the closer to Him we will become, and after a while, His wants become our wants. Our old habits die out and we will become in tuned with our Father.

I am definitely not saying that all of this is automatic. Anything worth having takes effort. I relate this to associations with people. Have you ever notice when your children for example hang out with how shall I say, non-mischievous children, they tend not to pick up their good habits, and yet let them be around rowdy unruly children and all of a sudden they start acting just like them? I like to think of this as along the same lines. The devil makes picking up bad habits for the flesh a lot easier than resisting and leaning toward the wants and desires of God, but if you stay in communication with God, then it will be easier to resist temptation to revert back to your bad habits, or "mischievous friends".

While it is true that God has forgiven us for our transgressions, He expects us to repent, or turn away from our sins and not do them again. This is why Paul said to die daily. He means to repent for our sins and not keep doing the same thing over and over again.

My whole point for this commentary is that so many people truly believe that because Jesus died on the cross for us and our sins are forgiven, then that is an automatic pass to heaven. I'm sorry to let them know that according to the Bible, that it not correct. To get to heaven, it takes having a personal relationship with God, not just being an acquaintance. Also, repentance, living for God, being baptised in the Name of Jesus are also requirements to being saved according to Acts 2:38.

So, all in all, yes we have been forgiven of our sins, but that alone will not get us to heaven. Keep your eyes looking upward and on the prize.
Oh, just a little funny here, when I first got serious about church and started studying, I honestly thought when He talked about looking upward He meant with our physical eyes. I thought to myself, how does one do that without tripping, running into things or falling on our faces. You will be happy to know that I have since learned He was talking about our spiritual eyes. In other words , constantly strive to live right, according to His Word, and let your soul be ready for Him when He comes for us.

Good Night to All and May God Bless.

Love & Prayers,