Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up -- here in my heart and every moment of my day (John 12:32). ...
Sometimes I find myself thinking of the regrets of my past. And probably “regret” is just a manifestation of past sins, past failures, past mistakes. But You’re always so kind to come to my rescue. You’re always so loving to remind me of Your mercy, Your forgiveness and Your grace.
In those moments, I often think of the words of David in his Psalm of repentance and prayer, seeking to be restored to his relationship of joy with You. He cried out:
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from Thy Presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit” (Psalm 51:7-12 KJV).
You “renew a right spirit within me” when I come to You like David, in confession and repentance, to embrace the grace of Your forgiveness.
And You are so ready to forgive, to cleanse our hearts, and to restore us to the joy of our salvation in You. You love to bring us back out of the darkness and lift up back up into the high place of Your Presence, when we turn to You with the gift of repentance to embrace the beauty of holiness of heart and life in You. As You said in Your Word through the Apostle John Your early Church:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
So why do we hide in our sins or get stuck in regret or squander the gift of repentance? As You also said in Your Word to Your early Church, when we “Humble (ourselves) in the sight of the Lord, and (You) will lift you up” (James 4:10 NKJV). So Your Word invites us to “Cleanse (our) hands, (as) sinners; and purify (our) hearts, (as) double-minded” so that we can once again “Draw near to God and He will draw near to (us)” (James 4:8).
When You spoke through Your Revelation to John to the seven churches of Your early Church, You called them to repentance so that they could overcome their sins and fulfill their calling, secure in their identity and fulfilling their destiny in You (Revelation 2:1 to 3:22). You reminded them that they had already been forgiven through the finished work of Your Cross, as the One “who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to (our) God and Father” (Revelation 1:4-6). And at the same time, You called them to repentance, so they could walk in the light and be Your light in their world.
You said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.... To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:19-22).
Thank You for the gift of repentance and beauty of holiness. Thank You for restoring unto us the joy of our salvation when we turn our hearts over to You and return to the high place of Your Presence where You set us free from all regret. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be free from regret and restored in the joy of your salvation in Jesus through all He has done for yo, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
My wife Nancy and I are in a season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
