“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Do not let the shadow of sin continue to shade our future. We can all have the future God has planned for us if we choose to repent and turn to God so that  our sins may be wiped out —if we choose to grow and develop a relationship with God,  the times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

When the unhelpful past calls, switched it off – delete it.  We may need to accept some finite disappointments, but never to lose infinite hope – make it a point to let the disappointments fashion and shape us into a resilient and stronger person for the future; the responsibility  for our future is upon each of us and is impacted by our actions going forward, and with the help of God, we will triumph. We do not need the approval of others especially when what they approve of is wrong, and when what we have done is right in the light of the revealed word of God.

Philippians 3:13, “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”

Let’s not be shackled by the past, cut it loose and press forward towards the future!

Forgiveness of sins by God

God is rich in love and mercy. The confessing our sins before God alone and repentance is the key to being forgiven.

It is God’s deep desire to see you turn to Him and receive forgiveness for your sins! “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

Read more of what God said in the passages as quoted from God’s manual for mankind:

“…..Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”  Jeremiah 31:3

“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

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

In John 8:3-11, an actual story is narrated where a woman was caught in the very act of adultery and they brought this woman before Jesus. Jesus said unto them in verse 7,

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

In verse 7

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

In verse 9 –verse 11

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

“He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.”                            Micah 7:19

Titus 2:14 “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Jesus told us a parable to demonstrate how our heavenly Father God wants to love, accept and forgive us when we turn to Him. In the parable, Jesus told of the son who took half his dad’s money and ran away, then returned home bankrupt and his father saw his son and was moved with compassion.

Luke 15:20, tells us how the father received his son, .. “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. ..”

That is how God, our heavenly Father sees us, welcomes us, forgives us and loves us even after we’ve really messed up, and then turn back to Him! He is moved with compassion and welcomes us with open arms.

“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25

“And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17

AGAIN… God is rich in love and mercy. The confessing our sins before God alone and repentance is the key to being forgiven.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.” Psalm 103:17-18

“It is a broken spirit you want—remorse and penitence. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not ignore.” Psalm 51:17 

East and West will never meet. This is an illustrative portrait of God’s forgiveness – when He forgives our sin, he separates it from us and will not remember it. We need never wallow in the bygones – God has wiped our record clean, when we have a remorseful and repentant heart – putting our trust and faith in Him.

God is the Lawgiver and Judge. God knows our human condition, but our weakness should not be used as a justification for sin. God is merciful, compassionate and is concerned for us. At the Cross of Calvary – when Jesus died for us, God’s mercy and justice met. We need to repent, trust & believe God – His mercy takes everything into account and He will then deal with us compassionately.

……..

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.” James 3:13

Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.
 If you are willing and obedient,
    you will eat the good things of the land;
but if you resist and rebel,
    you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:18-20

God is the God of the second chance and has condescended to come down to our level and asked us to reason with Him (the all wise God – the Infinite God invited us to reason with Him.) If we are willing and obedient ,  in other words REPENT, He will forgive our sins, if we continue to sin – resist & rebel we will be destroyed. God has spoken, we MUST take heed.

Puffin (Fratercula arctica) have penguin-like colouring but they sport a colourful beak that has led some to dub them the “sea parrot.