I’ll be honest. The New Testament is an easier read than the Old Testament for most people. It gets to the point, and it’s easier to see how it applies to your life. It gives us succinct stories, answers to our questions, and great snippets of verses to quote regularly. Bada bing, bada boom. The Old Testament can get a little long in the tooth. Sure there are some exciting stories of the earth’s beginnings, some cool miracles, some comforting psalms, and wise proverbs, but much of it comes down to this king, and that battle, and genealogy after genealogy, and all the “thou shall”s and “thou shalt not”s. How is this relevant to my life? Why do I care who wins this battle, or how closely that king followed God? Why do I care how many sons that guy had? And why are there so many weird laws back then? These are all questions I’ve struggled with as I've read through the Old Testament, and many times when I’ve started, I don’t get much past Genesis or Exodus before I lose interest and flip back to the New Testament. My New Year's resolution back in January this year was to read through the entire Bible. This is something I’ve done a time or two before, but this time around I've found that God has opened my eyes to a few things, and I'm developing a greater appreciation for the role the Old Testament plays in my life and in my views of God. Hopefully some of these things will inspire you to read through yourself. 1. God’s Not Done Yet – Be PatientAs you read through some of the stories in the Old Testament, you’ll find that the world back then isn’t so unlike our world today. Sometimes the world just seems hopeless, people around us have lost all interest in the God of the Bible, and no one cares about His ways. Everything seems to be going downhill fast. I have found myself thinking on more than one occasion during my reading, “Man, that sounds just like today!” Nothing has really changed. But you know what? God is still here. People are still following Him, even after all those seemingly hopeless times throughout history. After periods of severe disobedience by God’s people in the Old Testament, a leader would rise up who turns things around, and the people would recommit themselves to following God. Sometimes this takes generations though. You have to be patient and keep reading to see the entirety of what God is doing. I’m realizing how small a blip in history my life is. I can only see the here and now, but God has been constant from the beginning of time. He’s seen generations after generations, good times and bad times, abundance and famine. None of those people living through some terrible times in the Bible knew what the end of their story would be. We have the advantage of seeing their “future” (now history), but at the time, they weren’t any better off than us. They didn’t know; they were just living in the moment. This inspires my confidence in God, knowing that He’s not done yet and that He survives the worst times of our world’s history. I just have to keep “reading” and wait for His next move! In your own life, you’ve probably been through some slumps that seem like they will never end. Marriage or money problems, sickness, depression, maybe even war depending on when and where you live. You might even be in one of those slumps right now. But you know what? God’s not done yet. He’s come through time and time again for people throughout history, and those people too probably thought everything was all over. Sometimes people even die before they see the end of the story, but I promise, God’s not done yet. So how does that help you if you might die before you see better times? That brings me to my next point about what the Old Testament teaches us. 2. Life Isn’t About You We don’t like to hear that, and this isn’t what the world teaches. The world tells us that we’re special, we deserve everything we want, it’s OK to do whatever we desire, and it’s OK to believe anything that sounds good to you. That’s all a big lie. As big a deal as someone like Moses or David or Solomon or any of the famous Old Testament characters were, they were still just a name in a long line of genealogies. They all did some good, if only a little, just like you. They all sinned, just like you. They all died, just like you will. And the story went on after them, just like it will go on after you’re long forgotten. Depressing? Only if you believe life is about you. So what’s it all about then? How do you fit in? The One constant from the beginning of time into eternity is the triune God Himself. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It’s all about Him, and the Old Testament shows that time and time again. God created, God led his people, God performed miracles that continue to be told to this day, and God sent prophets to tell about the coming Messiah, His Son, who would appear in the New Testament to save mankind from the eternal consequences of their own sin. All other people come and go, but God is forever. People may play a small role in God’s plan, but it’s not about any of them. Your perspective changes when you recognize that everything centers on Jesus, God Almighty. Instead of looking at everything wrong with your own life, or spinning your wheels trying to make something great of yourself, you seek to understand what God is doing in the grand scheme of things. You seek to know Him and to make Him known. When the focus is off yourself and your immediate circumstances, you find greater purpose in life. Your short time here on earth is a thread that God has chosen to weave into His story, even if you don’t recognize how. But he put you here, so that means you’re valued by Him! The Bible is full of many great leaders and many great players in God’s story, but all those seemingly insignificant names in the genealogies are part of God story too, and so are you. Each one of those names in the long boring lists of Chronicles had a life. They had jobs to go to, and kids to chase after, and sickness in their families, and arguments with their neighbors. Zoom in close up on any one of those names and you will realize how small each person is in relation to God’s big plan. It’s like looking up at a starry night sky and thinking about how far away and how vast the universe is, and how big the God is who created it all. It’s really quite humbling. 3. It’s One Big StoryIf you open up the Old Testament and read a few verses or a chapter, chances are you won’t feel particularly nourished or enlightened or see a ready application for your life. (Kind of like how most of your own days don’t seem particularly special.) The Old Testament isn’t like that. It’s about a bigger plan and a bigger story, and you don’t really start to see how everything fits together until you read through its entirety. It takes time! But just like life, over its course you can start to see how it all ties together, and you begin to see the bigger story unfolding. You will learn about God’s steadfast character as He interacts with people throughout time. You will learn about people in general, and how often you can relate to situations or to how someone else responds to life’s challenges. You’ll see God come through on His promises. You’ll just get to know Him. Not just about Him, but you’ll get to know Him. A Challenge and Some TipsI challenge you to read through the entire Old Testament. When you’re deep in the trenches of a boring section, keep going. Instead of trying to find little applications from each verse and chapter, keep your eyes open to the bigger picture. Skim over the genealogies if you need to, and just know that they’re there and that God had a purpose for them. Watch the story of God’s people unfold as He creates them, leads them, saves them, gives them what they want, saves them again from what they thought they wanted, and so on. The more you read, the more you’ll start to see reflections of your own life and your own time in history. You’ll see God more. You’ll see His full character and His thoughts and His ways of operating in people’s lives.
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What I’m about to write might sound like heresy to some, but I think I might be on to something. I’m going to suggest that it’s OK if you, a Christian, don’t have your devotional time every day. What?!!! While I write from the perspective of a woman, what I have to say may apply to a lot of men as well. A Background Story When I was single, I didn’t have a whole lot going on besides my day job. I was involved with some church activities, and visited my parents regularly, but other than that, it was just God and me. It was a time of my life when I would sometimes spend as much as two hours at a time reading and studying my Bible, and I loved it. In my pride, I thought this was a reasonable expectation for everyone, and I looked down a little on those who didn’t spend as much time being “spiritual”. And then came along my first boyfriend. Oh, the excitement! I finally knew what it felt like to be “twitter-pated” with love, and he was all I could think about. I tried to continue my lengthy Bible study sessions, but just couldn’t focus anymore. I remember sitting on my couch with Bible in hand, saying to God, “Sorry God! I’m sure this will pass, but I just can’t concentrate right now!” My boyfriend soon became my fiancé, whom six months after engagement became my husband. And so began a new chapter of life. Now I really struggled to find time for God. I knew it was important, but my former alone time, was now “us” time, and as newlyweds, my husband and I were inseparable. We didn’t really know how to do things apart anymore; it didn’t feel right. Eventually we moved past that phase, but then in addition to my full time job, my role as a wife was filled with things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, budgets, and all sorts of things that didn’t consume my time as a single lady. I was responsible for the care of another person, and I quickly found out that all my Bible study time hadn’t prepared me for that. I didn’t know how to cook at first, and I’d never paid much attention to nutrition or health concerns that I would need to know to be a good helper to my husband. The Church as a whole had not prepared me to be a good wife (even though I thought I’d be a great wife, with all the bible study I’d done!) I had studied all sorts of things about purity, and the role of a wife as far as submitting to and respecting my husband. But it was all spiritual and head knowledge, without any practical applications to actually be a helper to my husband, or how to show respect. (I quickly found out those things are harder than they sound!) Basically, I had to work overtime to compensate for my lack of knowledge and skill in these areas. What Does It Mean to Be A Good and Godly Christian? But back to my main point. For the first several years of my marriage, I didn’t feel like I was being a good Christian in the sense that I wasn’t reading my Bible every day, and wasn’t sitting down to pray like I should. My world was consumed with busyness and daily activity. What does the Bible say about all this? The “Proverbs 31 woman” is revered by Christian women everywhere as the ideal role model of what a good wife and woman should be like. Did you know that not once in that chapter does it mention her sitting down to have a “quiet time,” prayer, bible study, or going to church? Nope. She was busy doing things to care for and look out for her family! That was her role. It does mention that she “fears the LORD.” I have no doubt that she probably did pray and at least listen to godly teaching in the synagogues, but that wasn’t the focus of her time. Her attitude was one that had reverence for God, and out of that reverence for her Creator, she served her family. Everything this “ideal” woman did came from a place of communion with God, and it was likely an ongoing thing for her. As she worked, maybe she talked to God. It doesn’t say that, but if your heart isn’t in that place, the fruit of your labor probably won’t result in praise and blessing from your husband and children, like this Proverbs 31 woman received. Our Traditions vs. the Desire of God I was frequently (and sometimes still am) torn between how to use my time: I want to read and study my Bible, but I also know I have pressing responsibilities around the house, or things my husband has asked me to do. In addition to the Proverbs 31 passage, consider the following: Jesus to the Pharisees: “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” (Mark 7:9-13) This is like me saying to my husband, “Sorry, I can’t cook dinner for you – I’m giving my time to God and have to go read my Bible.” Or, “Sorry I didn’t iron your work shirt for today; I was too busy praying.” God doesn’t look kindly on that. He has called me as a wife to do good to my husband. To honor him and take care of him. Our Christian “tradition” is to make sure we spend at least a half hour doing our “devotions” every day, but sometimes, that just isn’t possible if we are going to follow His command of loving our neighbor or our family. Sometimes what pleases God is putting down my Bible and living it instead. So Should We Give Up Reading the Bible If We’re Too Busy? All that being said, we do need spiritual nourishment. I’m not writing this to give anyone an excuse to fill their time with busy activities and never spend some alone time with God. If you can’t find time for God because you’re “busy” on Facebook or watching TV or over-committed to extra-curricular activities, perhaps you need to rethink your schedule. You know what I mean. It took me years of marriage to finally find a sweet spot in my day where I was consistently alone with minimal responsibilities when I could spend 15-30 minutes reading my Bible. My husband and I already get up very early, so getting up earlier to find that time isn’t really an option for me. While he’s getting ready for work, I pack up food for him to take along to the office. We sit for a few minutes and have coffee together, and then after he leaves for work, I get myself ready and head off. When we get home from work, the routine is to cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, prepare anything for the next day, and have our “settle down” time together, which usually involves watching an hour or so of TV. While the TV part isn’t a priority for me, it is a priority for my husband to have that wind down time with me before we go to bed, so the together time is important for our marriage. But there is a short slot of time in the morning after he leaves for work before I have to start getting ready that I had been using to skim through Facebook. It didn’t seem like it was an unreasonable thing to do, as it wasn’t much time, and in a stupid way made me feel more productive to fill my time with Facebook and “squeeze” it in! One day I decided I changed my priorities. I thought, “Instead of reading Facebook, what if I read my Bible instead?” Since it was only about 15 minutes or so that I had, it didn’t really seem like enough time, but God is good. I was surprised at how much I could actually read in that amount of time, and even if it wasn’t a lot of words getting read on some days, what I did read was something that I could cling to for the day. You do need God’s Word, so you should absolutely strive to find time for it. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be a source of guilt for you, if you miss a day, a week, or whatever because you are legitimately busy serving your family. We need God’s Word:
I look back on my years as a single lady and realize that my extensive time in God’s Word acted as “fertilizer” for the fruit that I know bear as a married woman. I learned a lot in that time that that has stuck with me, and I’m glad that I used my time in that way during that chapter of my life. I may never have another time like that, and it built a solid foundation for my faith that has seen me through many hard seasons. But now in my current chapter of life, I do what I can. I rest in God’s grace and seek to serve Him and spend time with Him in new ways that might not involve sitting down for 30+ minutes alone with my Bible. I no longer feel guilty if I miss my daily devotional time because I am fulfilling the role God has place me in a wife. This song has been echoing in my mind and heart for the last several days and is so rich with God's goodness and truth. As its words flow across the melody in my mind, I'm reminded of so much truth from God's word. It's always been important to me to make sure what I'm singing is Biblically sound- there is a lot of bad theology in song lyrics, so it's good to test them against Scripture. This one passes the test! If you like, you can first listen to the song here by Selah: After you listen to or read through all the lyrics, see below for the corresponding truths straight from God's Word and a few of my own comments on what these words mean. It's so easy to sing songs in church without really thinking about the words, but when I do consider the lyrics, this one fills my heart with praise to God for his goodness and mercy. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart No tongue can bid me thence depart When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me To look on Him and pardon me Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness The great unchangeable I AM The King of glory and of grace One with Himself, I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God With Christ my Savior and my God
Now let's break it down and see where in the Bible these lyrics come from. I've selected some appropriate verses for each section, but it's not an exhaustive list. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" (1 John 2:1) "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5) "But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16) "The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 8:23-25) "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:8) Guys, this stuff is so rich and so awesome. I could include so many more Bible verses that speak to this part of the song, but I've got to limit myself! Seriously, read the book of Hebrews if you want more context on all this. When we belong to Jesus, our plea before God is strong and perfect, because it's Jesus making that plea for us! He's our Advocate and our Intercessor and our Mediator. He knows our weakness and our sin - He lived among us, but He lived perfectly. He is the Son of God, God Almighty, and He is willing to extend grace to us when we come to Him. God is love, and Jesus is God. My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:16a). This is what God said to Zion when they thought He had forsaken and forgotten them. I also can't help but think that this is symbolic of us being crucified with Christ: our names are graven on his hands, and his hands were pierced through on the cross, as He died for our sins. I couldn't find any direct Scripture references to our name being written on God's heart, but I think it carries the same idea that God knows those whom are His, and has a permanent relationship with them. He won't forget us! (If anyone knows of a Bible verse where that second phrase comes from, please feel free to comment below!) I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30) As long as Jesus is on the throne of God (which is forever), we don't have to worry about being separated from Him. He has us in His hand and He's promised that He has us forever! When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:9-10) "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10) Satan is an accuser and a deceiver. He's a tempter. He'll get under your skin and remind you that you haven't kept God's law perfectly and that you're guilty. He'll try to discourage you. He might lie and tell you that God won't forgive you. He'll make you feel real bad and cause all kinds of doubts. Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9) When we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can't be fooled by Satan's lies. Jesus has promised us forgiveness. We only need to acknowledge our sin and look to Jesus for forgiveness and new life. Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) Jesus lived without sin and died on our behalf so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin. We no longer have to carry the burden and weight of sin! We no longer have to worry about eternity when we belong to Christ. For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 3:23) "Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him." (Isaiah 30:18) "Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith.'" (Galatians 3:11) "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7) We talk a lot about how God is love, but God is also Just. This means that he wants justice for wrongdoing, and He can't just look the other way when we sin. But His love and justice come together in the person of Jesus Christ. He accepts the death of Jesus in our place to pay the price for our sin. Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) "and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:15) "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption," (1 Corinthians 1:30) The great unchangeable I AM "Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you." Now they may say to me, "What is His name?" What shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and he said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) "Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” "(John 8:58) When Moses asked God what His name was, God gave him the name "I AM". Basically that means that he is ever present and eternal. Jesus later reiterated this phrase "I am" making a claim to be God himself - there was no mistaking his claim, as those who were listening picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy when they heard this. The King of glory and of grace "Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah." (Psalm 24:10) "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) One with Himself, I cannot die "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Ephesians 2:4-5) "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:4-10) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24) When we put our trust in what Jesus did on the cross, something radical happens. A spiritual transformation happens, and we receive the promise of eternal life as a new creation. My soul is purchased by His blood "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18-19) To "redeem" means to "buy back." Jesus bought us back with his own blood (the price to pay for sin is death), so that we belong to Him. My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God "to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1) "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," (Ephesians 2:4-6) "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3) I've never been good at admitting I'm wrong. I'm much better at talking my way around (or out) of things, making excuses, and casting blame. Sometimes even lying, if I really get backed into a corner. I hate that I do that. I'm always caught off guard when someone freely admits when they've screwed up. It's actually like a breath of fresh air, and instead of thinking less of them, I find myself having a greater respect and admiration for them! But I really struggle to remember that when it's my turn to admit I'm wrong. I've been reading through the Old Testament, and found myself in the 9th chapter of Ezra today. I caught that breath of fresh air as Ezra prayed to God admitting and confessing the sins of the people of Israel. What sin? God had instructed His people not to intermarry with the people of the surrounding lands, not because they were lesser people (after all, God created them all!), but because these people didn't follow God. When you hang around people who are up to no good, it's really easy to fall into their bad behavior. God wanted the best for them. (After Jesus died and rose again for the sins of the world, both Jews and the rest of us alike were invited into God's family, and now the only "intermarriage" that's a problem is when those who love and follow Jesus marry people who don't.) Anyway, that's the context of this passage, and here are the words of Ezra: But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the LORD my God; and I said, "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day. But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. We all have stuff that we need to admit to; the Bible calls that "confession." When we humbly admit when we're wrong and come clean, God promises to forgive us. That's awesome. "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9) |
AuthorFull time office worker, full time wife, and full time lover of Jesus. I'm kind of a Bible nerd, and I have a passion for finding ways to introduce Jesus in a practical way to everyday people doing everyday things. Archives
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