If you’ve never truly had an encounter with God, His forgiveness can be extremely difficult to comprehend. In Ephesians 3:16-19, Paul says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
So then, how do I adequately describe an encounter with God such as this? I’ve primarily experienced it during worship, when my mind is focused on Him, how wonderful and loving He is and how much He loves me and how intimately He knows me, and then He touches my heart and I just melt, poured out before Him and crying; I realize how truly undeserving I am of his love and mercy and I freely acknowledge all the mistakes I’ve made that would separate me from Him. Then, when I am broken open and vulnerable, His unconditional love and mercy comes rushing in to fill me to overflowing, and I feel a level of love, peace, compassion and acceptance I cannot possibly find anywhere else on earth with anyone else. No condemnation, only love, forgiveness and acceptance.
A couple of weeks ago at church, we were singing one of my newer favorite worship songs, How Beautiful, and I was having another encounter with God as I describe above. I’ve been praying for a while now that God would help me learn how to forgive myself. You see, I’m still carrying the weight of a grievous sin I committed about 30 years ago before I knew God, and in my mind and heart I know that He has forgiven me, but subconsciously I still find it difficult to forgive myself. And it was during this intimate experience with God that I heard him speak into my mind and heart:
Is not my sacrifice enough? Is not my blood, spilled out for you, enough?
Well, that just broke my heart wide open because I never thought of it that way before. By not forgiving myself, when God already had, I was essentially saying that I didn’t think his sacrifice was enough to cover my sin and that the blood he spilled on my behalf was somehow insufficient! “Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar.” Romans 3:4.
Friends, let me be an encouragement to you today. There is no sin so great that God cannot forgive! Read Psalm 103 – it tells us the benefits of loving and knowing God:
- The Lord forgives all your sin (just some of them? No, ALL of them.)
- He heals all your diseases (just some of them? No, ALL of them.)
- He redeems your life from the pit
- He crowns you with love and compassion
- He satisfies your desires with GOOD things
- He works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed
- The Lord made his ways and his deeds known to mankind, and this is passed down to use in the Bible
- The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love
- He does not treat us as our sins deserve
- He does not repay us according to our iniquities (sins)
- As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear (worship) him
- As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions (sins) from us
- As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion (to show mercy, to love) on those who fear (worship) him
- From everlasting to everlasting (throughout eternity) the Lord’s love is with those who fear (worship) him, and his righteousness with their children’s children (grandchildren), with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts
The Bible even tells us in Isaiah 43:25 that God “blots out” our transgressions and remembers them no more. Talk about a ‘do-over’!
And in Hebrews 10, it is explained how ritual sacrifices and blood offerings are no longer required to atone for sin – that we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. In fact, in Hebrews 10:17 the Holy Spirit testifies to us about this:
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
Friends, I encourage you to take action and choose your eternity today. Take your hurts and your sins to God and ask for his help – do not wait another moment! There is healing and forgiveness with God, and grace, mercy, compassion, peace and eternal life to boot!
Until next time, be blessed!
CHOOSE YOUR ETERNITY 