“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)
My darling sisters,
Someone needs some encouragement today! Someone is believing the lie that she has gone too far in her sin to ever be truly forgiven. Someone does not understand the perfect blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse her completely from her sin. Someone believes the falsehood that she can never be used in any meaningful way to minister to anyone else because she has blown it. Forgiveness is not dependent on my feeling forgiven. It is dependent on what the inerrant, living Word of God which says:
Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19 (NIV)
If we have confessed our sin, our God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). If we are walking under a load of condemnation after we have humbled ourselves before Jesus Christ and have turned away from our sin, we are forgiven–whether we feel like we are or not! Our sin has been tread underfoot and it has been thrown into the sea of God’s forgiveness. He remembers it no more. If we have confessed, turned away, and still feel the crushing load of guilt, we actually have a problem of unbelief! We have come to believe the lie that His promises are not for us. Girlfriends, our God never lies to us–ever.
Instead of coming to Jesus over and over again to beg for forgiveness that was given the moment we confessed our wrongdoing, we need to start praying like this:
16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
Instead of saying for the thousandth time from a crushed heart, “Lord, forgive me,” let’s start praying for the ability to grasp His love for us that surpasses our own human understanding that will allow us to leave the guilt behind. It’s time to stop asking for forgiveness and start praying for faith to thank Him that we have been given it by Him!
One of my favorite Wayne Watson songs is called “The Touch of Master’s Hand” based on a poem by Myra Brooks Welch. I encourage you to scroll down to my playlist and listen to the song while you follow the lyrics.
The Touch of the Master’s Hand
Well, it was battered and scarred
An the auctioneer felt
It was hardly worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin
But he held it up with a smile
“It sure ain’t much
But it’s all we got left
I guess we ought to sell it too
Now who’ll start the bid on this old violin
Just one more and we’ll be through!”
And then he cried,
“One, give me one dollar
Who’ll make it two?
Only two dollars
Who’ll make it three?
Three dollars twice
Now that’s a good price
But who’s got a bid for me?
Raise up your hand
And don’t wait any longer,
The auction’s about to end
Who’s got four?
Just one dollar more
To bid on this old violin.”
Well the air was hot
And the people stood around
As the sun was setting low.
From the back of the crowd a gray-haired man
Came forward, picked up the bow.
He wiped the dust from the old violin
And tightened up the strings
Then he played out a melody pure and sweet,
Sweeter than the angels sing
And then the music stopped
And the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
He said,
“What am I bid for this old violin?”
Then he held it up with a bow.
(Chorus)
Then he cried out,
“One, give me one thousand
Who’ll make it two?
Only two thousand
Who’ll make it three?
Three thousand twice
Well, that’s a good price
But who’s got a bid for me?”
The people cried out,
“What made the change
We don’t understand?”
Then the auctioneer stopped
And he said with a smile
“It was the touch of the master’s hand!”
Now you know
Many a man with a life out of tune
Is battered and scarred with sin,
And he’s auctioned cheap to a thankless world
Much like that old violin.
Then the Master comes and the foolish crowd
They never understand
The worth of a soul
And the change that is wrought
Just by one touch of the Master’s hand!
Jesus, you are the Master! And under Your miraculous touch we find Your forgiveness and life that is true life.
Good news for this day.
I love this song, too. Makes me feel worthwhile,