Honest Reflections

One-minute read.

Joy and gladness.

Broken bones symbolize sin. When we reach our breaking point and break, we become usable. To make bread, you must break the egg. The baker cannot use the gooey insides to form the dough until the egg cracks. If you put a whole egg into the mixture unbroken, it does nothing to help the process. But a broken egg becomes usable. And so do we.

When we admit our brokenness to the Lord and allow Him to transform us, we will rejoice with joy and gladness. Only in my brokenness do I become usable.   

“We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Trust God. Admit your brokenness and experience His grace. If we don’t break, God can’t use us. As we become part of the Lord’s family, our brokenness becomes part of His recipe. The unfolding story of creation requires us to allow God to use us as He will. Only the Creator knows how the parts blend to draw people into His eternal kingdom. In our breaking, we become usable. The minute we confess our brokenness and turn to Him, God’s divine recipe comes to fruition.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for using us in our brokenness. To break, we must trust. Strengthen our trust in You as we humble ourselves. Let us share our vulnerabilities with You and allow You to use us as You will. Help us fulfill our part of Your story as we give our hearts and minds to You. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Purge me.

Begging the Lord to cleanse him, David prays for forgiveness. The psalmist desires cleanliness from his transgressions, a purification like the priests did for the Israelites in the Old Testament. Once a person had met the requirements for purification, the priests took hyssop, a wild shrub from the mint family, and sprinkled it on them, symbolizing cleansing. Metaphorically, the ritual made them pure, whiter than snow, signifying the person’s forgiveness and renewal.

God’s pleasure brings joy to the heart; allowing the Lord to search and purify us makes room for His delight. Not wanting any to perish, the Lord gladly receives our offering when we turn to God in repentance. Becoming one with the Creator requires us to humble and submit our spirit to His. Receiving God’s Spirit in us purifies us. Only the Lord’s grace and mercy can make us whiter than snow. We can’t experience God’s presence without our repentance. Sin separates us; confession unites us.

Communing with God begins when we receive His forgiveness and cleansing. Seeking the Lord’s wisdom helps us maintain the connection, keep us humble, and move forward. Without an internal renewal, we become misguided. But when the Lord searches our hearts, and we respond in repentance, He keeps us on the right path.

Prayer:       

Lord, thank You for Your Spirit within us that cleanses and purifies our hearts. Heighten our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Let us quickly confess our sins, maintaining a right relationship with You.  As we become more like Christ, let us glorify You in all we do. With You, we can overcome the mountains of this world and find victory. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Secret heart.

Wisdom from on high gives us guidance in our Earthly affairs. We can’t recognize our sins without the Lord’s help. The Ten Commandments give us a moral compass, illuminating our misdeeds. We wouldn’t know we have anything to confess without God’s laws. Accepting the Lord’s influence helps us acknowledge and confess the transgressions we keep hidden in our secret hearts. In truth, we keep nothing secret from God, even though we think we do.

When I read my Bible in the morning, I get prickles when I have unconfessed sin. Striving to obey God requires me to let Him search my heart. Only then can I peek into the secret places and find the hidden transgressions I haven’t acknowledged. Once I do, I can confess them and heal, finding freedom from the bondage.

Admitting our faults and seeking help strengthens us. What seems like weakness helps us grow stronger. Maintaining a growth mindset, we see failures as opportunities to learn and improve. Following Jesus helps us grow. The more transparent we become with the Lord, the more we blossom as a new creation.

Let God’s wisdom into your life, and find freedom as you recognize and confess sin. Grow each day into the Lord’s perfect design.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for blessing us with Your wisdom. Help us to humble ourselves before You, accept Your guidance, and apply it to our earthly affairs. Let us discover the sin hidden in our hearts, acknowledge it, and let it go. As we grow and blossom into a new creation, let Your light shine brightly through us to the world. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Righteous verdict.

David is not excusing his behavior but illustrating the distance between him and God. Sin separates us from our relationship with the Lord and others. Human nature cries out to God for help.

“For I do not understand my actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Romans 7:15

Paul summed up our humanity well in his letter to the Romans. Even the writer of most of the New Testament struggled against his natural desires. We easily succumb to the things we don’t want to do or don’t do what we want. David knew the difference between right and wrong; only with God’s wisdom could he find a remedy for his sinful heart. 

God knows everything; we can’t hide our sins from Him.  Knowing that should help you confess to the Lord the areas you need help with. God loves you; nothing can stop Him from caring for you. Honestly, telling the Creator your struggles helps you defeat them. Instead of doing what you don’t want, partnering with God enables you to do what you want: love Him and others well.

Christ draws us into a relationship; sin separates us from it. Following Jesus will help you have strong relationships, not only with God but also with others. Trust Jesus and His promises and live abundantly in Him.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for Jesus. As we recognize our sin, help us confess it to You and receive Your grace. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear the truth in all things. Strengthen our relationships with You and others as we apply Christ’s teachings to our lives, overcoming our poor behavior and responding like Jesus. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Against the Lord.

David, the author of Psalm 51, knows who he sinned against, God. Instead of arguing against divine justice, the psalmist admits his guilt. Only when we confess our sins can we begin to heal from them. But introspection takes work. We must objectively examine ourselves and find faults no one likes to discover.

When I first started writing devotionals, I had a friend who would periodically send me notes about mistakes I made in my writing. At first, I felt offended. But then I realized I had to learn to take feedback to become a better writer. When people give me their opinion, I evaluate it, keeping the meat and removing the bones. Only then can I become a better writer.

To become more like Jesus, we must acknowledge the areas of our lives that need work. Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and laziness all lead us down harmful paths. If we learn to identify these in our lives, we can confess them to the Lord and ask for His help overcoming them. When we sin, we do so against the Lord, hurting Him more than anyone else. God helps us defeat the sins that separate us from Him, cause us harm, and break our relationships. Then, we become more like Christ, shining His light to the world around us.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for loving us despite our sins. Thank You for helping us overcome our human tendencies and become more like Jesus. Make us sensitive to the Holy Spirit, identifying the sin in our lives, confessing it to You, and finding victory over it. As each day passes, help us become more like Jesus, loving the world one person at a time. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Sinful heart.

Besides the Lord, no one knows our sins better than we do. From stealing penny candy at my uncle’s country store to forging my mom’s name on absence notes so I could skip school and lying to my professor in college to get him to let me retake a test, from birth to now, I know my transgressions. I only talk about some of them with God and my therapist. The Lord loves us despite our sinful ways. He loved us before we ever thought about loving Him.

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Jesus came to Earth as an act of love, knowing our past, present, and future sins. Because of Christ’s actions on the cross, we can confess our sins, confident the Lord will still love us. The Lord doesn’t expect perfection, but He does want honesty. Sharing our sins with God cleanses us and helps us overcome them. Admitting we have a problem leads us to solve it. We can’t solve what we don’t acknowledge.

Understanding that the Lord already knows my secrets helps me live an honest life. Truth always reveals itself; I’ve learned in five and ½ decades of living that honesty up front saves heartache in the end. No use trying to hide from God, He already knows. Accept your limitations, admit them to the Savior, and experience the Lord’s grace and mercy. Nothing will heal your heart faster than the Lord’s unconditional love.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for loving us despite our sins. Help us live honest lives as we become comfortable identifying and acknowledging sin. Let the Holy Spirit nudge us from within our souls if we start down a forbidden path. Give us the strength to overcome our past discretions and live fully for You.  IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Act of grace.

Nothing feels better after a long day working in the yard, covered in grit from head to toe, than taking a shower. Cleansing our bodies with warm water rejuvenates, giving us new life. In the same way, when the Lord gives us grace, it washes away our sins, purifies our hearts, and renews us. Unlike taking a physical shower, turning on the water, scrubbing ourselves clean, and rinsing off, receiving God’s grace requires only one thing: that we receive it. 

Nothing we do earns the Lord’s mercy; we can’t work our way into heaven. God’s grace rains down on us from above, washing us thoroughly without human effort. Forgiveness blots out sin. As we receive the Lord’s grace and accept His gift, we must give it to others.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

God’s grace multiplies; His never-ending stream of mercy flows into us and out to others. The more we learn to accept divine forgiveness, the quicker we forgive others. If you read the Bible 4 or more times a week, your likelihood of sharing your faith increases to 228%.[i]  Leading with grace will share the Gospel faster than anything else. Divine forgiveness leads to forgiving others and sharing the love of Jesus.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for leading with divine forgiveness and showing us how to do the same. As we learn to accept and receive Your gift of mercy, help us share it easily with others. Strengthen and encourage us as we walk through the day, facing giants we didn’t see coming. Help us find victory in Jesus as we follow You.  IJNIP. Amen

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[i] https://www.centerforbibleengagement.org/research

One-minute read.

Divine forgiveness.

We can do nothing to earn God’s grace. The Lord gives us His mercy when we cast ourselves upon Him, asking for it. Defined as “courteous goodwill,” grace comes from God’s goodness. Of course, if we don’t acknowledge we need the Creator’s mercy, we can’t receive it. Some people struggle with admitting they have sin in their lives. Everyone has distorted thoughts, and if we believe them, they will take us away from God.

Distorted thinking blinds us from reality. To receive God’s grace, we must discover the lies we believe and replace them with truth. Anyone who says they don’t sin has distorted thinking. Only when they remove the lie can they admit their shortcomings and turn to the Lord for help. Accepting Christ into your heart helps illuminate the lies, replace them with God’s truth, and receive His mercy.

When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He freely gives us His mercy. God blots out our transgressions. Jesus shows us a different way to live, leaving our sins behind and discovering a new life. Let down the walls of your heart, confess your transgressions to the Lord, and let Him cleanse you. God has fresh mercies for us every morning. No matter what happened yesterday, today, we can try again, hopefully doing better than the day before.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for freely giving us grace when we turn to You.  Illuminate any distorted thoughts in our mind, replacing them with Your truth. Help us live fully in Christ as we pursue new life in Him. With each day that passes, let us become more like Jesus. Assist us in making better choices today than we did yesterday. Let our actions glorify and honor You. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Rejoice in forgiveness.

Becoming upright in heart means receiving God’s forgiveness. Whatever sins lie in your past, the Lord forgives when you lay them at the foot of the cross. We can let go of our old ways and begin anew. Changed behavior reveals an upright heart and relays a profound apology.

Nothing reveals my sinful nature more than becoming one with another person in marriage. Maintaining a healthy relationship requires changes in behavior, not just an apology. When Ron feels I don’t appreciate him, I must evaluate what I’m doing and then change my behavior. Saying “please” and “thank you” helps me remember all he does for me and appreciate him. But he can quickly feel taken for granted if I don’t say the words. 

In the same way, when we confess our sins to the Lord, we can rejoice at the opportunity to change our ways and become more like Christ. Instead of continuing down a sinful path, we course correct and follow Jesus, doing what He would do. The closer we follow Christ, the more upright our hearts become, giving us plenty of reasons to rejoice and thank our Savior.

Shout for joy as you receive the Lord’s forgiveness. Each day, we become more like Christ, putting away our old selves and cloaking ourselves in Jesus’ love.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for forgiving us. Help us become more like Christ as we change our ways and do what Jesus did. Let us overcome the desires of the flesh as we apply Your word to our lives, allowing it to transform us into new people. Hear our shouts of joy as our hearts become upright and our lives reflect Jesus more and more each day. IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Steadfast love.

Surrounded by God’s love, we can rely on the Lord to protect us from life’s storms. During gusting winds, His protection keeps them at bay. We can always turn to the Lord at any hour, and He will answer our cries. But those who deny God’s existence can’t experience His presence or protection. Without belief, we can’t find what Jesus offers. Sorrows abound for those who live life without Christ.

Without hope, sorrows abound. Jesus gives us hope that today’s troubles won’t last because His death on the cross overcame them. We find the hope of victory and the strength to persevere with Christ.

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

If you don’t believe in Jesus, you have no hope. The troubles that ail unbelievers overwhelm them because they can’t see any way out. But for Christ’s followers, He shows us how to overcome today’s problems because we hope for a better tomorrow. In the light of eternity, the issues of today pale, and mountains become molehills as we focus our eyes on Jesus and trust in Him.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for giving us hope through Jesus. Praise You for overcoming the troubles of this world and giving us peace. As we face today’s mountains, help them become molehills as we focus on Your promises. Let the promise of eternity remind us that the troubles of this world will pass, and one day, we will live in heaven with You.  IJNIP. Amen