Confession Is Good For the Heart

Psalm 32 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!  3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.  4  Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.  My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.  5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.  I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”  And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. 6 Surround me with songs of victory.  8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.  9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”  10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.  11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!  Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

So you've sinned.  You've done something awful, terrible....maybe something you deem unforgiveable.  I've been there.  I pretty sure many of us have.  David had.  He took another man's wife.  He impregnated her.  He then had the man killed.  He tried to hide his sin, from others, from himself, and from God.  None of that worked.  As the months went by he grew weaker and more burdened.  When we carry our sin, hide it in our heart and put it "out of sight" as it were, we do not go unscathed.  We do not walk freely or joyfully away from doing wrong and hiding it.  Eventually the prophet Nathan confronted David.  David then admitted his sin, he confessed before the Lord his guilt.  

Rather than rejecting David, the Lord forgave him.  When we think of our most grievous sins, it's hard to imagine forgiveness.  But our Father offers it when we come to Him.  And there is even more than that!  Today, as I read this Psalm I saw so much more blessing from confessing.   There's joy (v 1).  Our guilt is gone (v5).  The floodwaters of judgment will not overwhelm us (v 6).  The Lord is our hiding place, we don't hide our sin, He hides us and protects us from trouble.  (v 7).  We are given songs of victory.  Christ is our victory, He has won it for us. (v 7).  The Lord will come along to guide us and steer us in the right direction (v 8-9).  We will be surrounded by unfailing love (v 10).  

Confession brings more than just forgiveness (although that in and of itself is enough).  It brings God's Presence, His joy, His protection, His guidance, His victory and His unfailing love.  Are these not all good reasons to confess, to stop trying to cover up our sin, hiding it even from God and ourselves?  This does not mean you need to shout it from the rooftops.  Some things we are to confess to others, some things are just between us and God...but bringing our mistakes and sins to Him, we receive so much in return.  He lifts the burdens of our heart, lifts His heavy hand that is upon us and leads us with His righteous love.  Don't be afraid to come to Him with your worst.  This Psalm gives us the comfort and assurance that we need to face our Lord with our barest heart.  

Lord, thank You.  Not only are You faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), You give us beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3) when we bring our sin to You.  There is none like You.  I am so grateful to be Your child.  

Do not be afraid to confess.  

Waiting for Clarity

Waiting on God.  We hear that term thrown around so much.  "I'm just waiting on the Lord...."  And none of us like to wait.  And even less than liking to wait is the trusting God for the answers, even when it doesn't line up with mine. I think of the people Jesus healed that had been blind from birth, plagued for years with crippled legs, bleeding diseases, and other infirmities that they carried until the Savior touched them.  

But it's not just physical healing we wait for.  It's answers to God visits!  Sometimes our Father comes along and shows us a sign, but we can't figure out what  He is wanting to say.  That happened to me yesterday.

I went for my annual mammography.  The practice of this facility is to give you a card with the name of the person who checks you in and the person who does the mammo.  The ladies sign their name to the card and you are asked to do a short survey on the care you received while there.  

As background for the day I was meeting a friend to go to another friend's house so we could clean for her.  She has cancer and would be having houseguests the next day and wanted the place spruced up.  She is unable to do this as the cancer has really taken a toll on her body.  The doctors feel there is nothing left to do for her.  

At the mammo center I was talking to the technician about how my cousin/godchild had just rang her bell after finishing a years worth of treatment for breast cancer.  She was cancer free!  Thank You Lord.

All this to say, when I walked out of the facility I looked at the card they ladies had signed.  Strangely enough, the woman who registered me was named Fran.  And the technician was named Brenda.  I did a double take.  

The woman whose house I was headed to clean is named Fran.  My cousin is named Brenda.  This was just the oddest coincidence.   I really don't understand what it means.  Will it be a miracle, a lesson....whatever it is or will be I don't think this happened by accident.  This is a God thing.  He has something in store.  

Of course I know what I'd like to see.  I'd like to see our friend Fran restored to full health like my cousin was.  But God is God and He has the best plan.  I look forward to seeing it unfold.  

Lord, You do nothing without a reason.  I don't know what this all means, but I know that You are good and wise and loving.  Please take care of Fran today.  Give her Your peace, Your healing and Your hope.  Let her body be free from pain today.  I thank You for Brenda's healing.  I thank You for allowing her to stay here on earth with us, especially with her daughter.  You are so good to us.  Glorify Your Name in all of this.  It's in the Name of our Savior we pray.  Amen.  

Be at peace in the waiting.  

Curiosity Killed the Soul

This week's woman of the Bible in our ladies study was Herodias, the infamous woman who told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.  This woman was filled with wrath and a lust for power that rivaled Jezebel's.  We are never told what happened to her but I don't imagine she met with a good end...or a good eternal destination.  

In reading the story of Herod and Herodias my interest was stirred when I looked at the relationship Herod Antipas had with John the Baptist.  Herod knew that John was a good and holy man, and he respected John.  Yet that's as far as it went.  John told Herod what was right and wrong.  He told Herod what God desired, and what God abhorred.  I can only think that deep down Herod knew he was wrong in marrying Herodias.  He may have respected John, but he didn't listen and believe enough to change his heart.  He didn't go any further than mild curiosity.   Matthew 14, Mark 6  

Herod also had an opportunity with Jesus Himself.  He had heard about Jesus and was delighted at the opportunity to see Him for himself.  He was curious and wanted to be entertained.  But even with hearing John and seeing Jesus, Herod's only goal was to satisfy his curiosity and gain favor with the people.  He never let either man's message reach his heart.  Luke 23:7-12 7 When they said that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.  8 Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. 9 He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. 10 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. 12 (Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.)

This all made me think of other's in the Bible that were curious about Jesus, but never seemed to go beyond that (That we know of, but maybe we will be surprised when we get to Heaven).  The first that came to mind was Felix and his Jewish wife Drusilla.  Many times he listened to Paul's story and heard the truth about Jesus.  But it seems he never turned his heart to God.  The same could be said of Governor Festus, King Agrippa and his wife Bernice.  All listened to Paul.  All had a curiosity about him and his claims, but it seems that none made a true commitment to Christ.  These stories can be found in Acts 24-26

Who had a bigger opportunity than Pilate?  He had a personal audience with Jesus Himself.  He knew Jesus was innocent by listening to him and because his wife had told him she was warned in a dream.  He listened to Jesus and was in the very Presence of God Himself.  Did he ever go beyond political expediency and intellectual curiosity to true salvation?  We will not know in this lifetime.

How about you?  Is your relationship with the Lord based on saying a prayer and then just living your life as you were doing?  Is it based on an intellectual agreement but not on a heart commitment?  Do you spend time seeking His face? Learning His desires?  Do you spend time in His Presence in prayer and study of the Scriptures?  Or do you say a quick prayer before bed and occasionally watch a TV preacher...basing your faith on someone else's work and relationship with the Lord?  All of us need to drink deeply of the Living Water, Jesus Christ.  John 7:37-38 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”  

We are looking for a deep, abiding relationship with Jesus, not a passing acquaintance.  One of my favorite verses is Revelation 3:20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.  This verse speaks of opening our hearts to Jesus and spending time with Him as a friend.  Time together.  Fellowship.  Sharing life with Him.  And He with us. I can picture this as a time of laughter, talking, and sweet comfort.   This is not a quick pray and goodnight. It's a time of togetherness, of bonding. 

I felt really impressed to share this visit here.  God wants people to come into relationship with Him, not just be mere visitors.  He wants family.  He wants us to be that family.  

Lord, give us hearts to go past intellectual knowledge of You.  Go down to our hearts and souls and spirits.  Let us open up to You completely and do what we need to do to be in this loving relationship with You.  We don't want a passing acquaintance, but a living, breathing fellowship with You our Creator and Savior.  Convict us if we are treating You casually, as a curiosity and not the King of the Universe Who loves us and desires our company.  I pray this in Jesus Name, amen.  

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.

Individual

Do you ever feel like a blurred face in a sea of other blurred faces?  Blending into the crowd, unseen, unvalued, unheard?  In this world that is pretty common and in some cases very true.  Even in churches-especially larger ones, people can be lost in the shuffle.  It can be sad, empty and lonely.  

Our Father does not see us that way.  In Him we are seen.  We are heard.  We are loved and valued.  Last season's Bible Study Fellowship was in John and that was what the Lord impressed on my heart the most.  God's individual, personal, love for me.  It wasn't just He loved His church and I was part of that.  No, it was He loved me, Madeline, intimately, all-knowingly and personally.  His care was geared to my personality, my needs and my heart.  This season's BSF is in Revelation and I was struck again by this deeply personal level of love my Father and Savior have for me.  

Revelation 2:17  Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven.  And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.  

A name that only I would understand.  God sees exactly who I am.  He knows exactly how I think, how I feel and what I need.  And He gives me that name.  A new name, for the new creation I am.  INDIVIDUAL!  Isaiah 43:1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.  He calls us by name!  

There's a deep peace and appreciation for being fully known and fully loved that is only found in our God.  In all our flaws and failures, He sees beyond and sees who we really are. His beloved child.  I can't find the words to describe the depth of His knowing and the immensity of His loving---in spite of what He sees, beyond what we feel.  

As we read through the Bible, we see God dealing with people as individuals.  There was never "one size fits all" with Him.  He met Moses' feelings of inadequacy with someone to help him speak to Pharoah. (Exodus 4:1-17)  He told Jeremiah not to fear being too young, God Himself will fill His mouth with the right words. (Jeremiah 1:1-10)   Go to the Gospels and see how often Jesus dealt with people in a highly personal way.  Meeting them exactly where they were. The Samaritan woman at the well.  He specifically went through Samaria, at a specific time because He knew she would be there. (John 4:1-30)   Even Peter, who He personally and lovingly restored after He failed so miserably when Jesus went to the Cross. (John 21:15-21)

God loves you.  Specifically. Deeply.  Knowingly.  Eternally.  Personally.   Don't fail to miss this message and eternalize it's meaning.  You are not a face in the crowd.  You are the apple of God's eye.  He sees you and hears you.  You have been engraved on the palms of His hands.  Isaiah 49:16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.  Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.  Trust this!

Lord, I am so glad You've been taking patient time in teaching me this.  It's something I so desperately need and want.  I know I am not alone in feeling like You love me because I am Your child--in a group.  But it's so much more than that.  You love ME.  You love each of us as INDIVIDUALS.  I've heard it said that if I was the only person on earth, Christ would have still gone to the Cross.  That is how You love us.  As if we were the only person on earth.  And yet You knit us together with others to be Your church and family.  You are awesome and I am so beyond blessed and thrilled.  Lord, please plant this truth in each of our hearts.  Let us believe beyond what we feel to the truth of Your Word and the power of Your love.  In Jesus' holy and precious Name.  Amen.  

Believe.