Wondering makes us Wander

There are times that I wonder if God has fully forgiven me for things I have done.  Even though I have fully repented and asked God for forgiveness, it always seems that our sins are far worse than everyone else's, when they really aren't.  Our sins are the same as everyone else's.  A sin is a sin.  That's what I have come to find out.  Every sin is forgivable except completely turning from God and speaking against Him.  I too struggle with the "am I really forgiven" question though.  It was on my mind the other night and I opened the Bible and began reading.  Within a couple of minutes, I found God's Word that completely put my mind at ease and I thought I would share it with you.  I am using the Amplified Bible which I have recently found and love the way it's written.

Psalm 103:2 - 13

²Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits--
³Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,
⁴Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;
⁵Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]!^(A)
6The Lord executes righteousness and justice [not for me only, but] for all who are oppressed.
⁷He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.
⁹He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.
¹⁰He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.
¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].

Notice 103:3?  He forgives all of our iniquities. The definition of iniquity is as follows:

1. gross injustice or wickedness.

2. a violation of right or duty; wicked act; sin.

It doesn't say that he forgives our minor sins.  He forgives us for our GROSS (meaning flagrant or extreme) injustice or wickedness.  He forgives us for violating our Christian duties and wicked acts.  He redeems us from the pit of corruption.  We have a very loving God that angers slowly and even if He is angered, He will not bear a grudge against us.  He will turn His face back to us when we repent and ask Him for forgiveness.  He will remove our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west.  He tosses them away and never looks back.  He expects us to do the same because He loves us and wants us to have Joy in our lives.  There is no room for joy when we are constantly worrying.

Walking With Integrity

As I sift through the news headlines I am disturbed by what I see.  The news is filled with scandals, hate, gossip, vanity, and the list goes on.  Not that the news has changed much over the years, but for me it makes me wonder how we got here and how bad will things get before Christ's return.  Even as Christians we seem to get caught up in worldly affairs and what we know as blatantly wrong by God's standards seems to be the norm in the world.  This begs the question, as Christian's, are we walking with integrity?

Integrity is defined as 1) adherence to moral and ethical principals 2) the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished 3) a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.  To break this down integrity means to be 1) incorruptible, 2) to be sound, and 3) and to be complete.  In other words, as Christian's, are we living the life we know we should be living, and being the light amongst the darkness, or are we reflecting shades of gray into the world?

If we look at some of the things that have just become the norm it really is scary.  Things like premarital sex, drug addiction, cosmetic surgery, body art, divorce, children out of wedlock, adultery, abortion, gay marriage, and the list goes on.  I know all of these issues have been around since the beginning of time, but it just seems to become more the norm.  Take the divorce rate, today the vows that people take when they get married mean less and less, generally speaking of course.  When we say "for better or worse, sickness and in health, till death do us part" it seems more tongue in cheek these days as we have our future spouse sign a pre-nup...really? 

As Christian's it is important for us to live with integrity by abiding in God's word.  We know what is right and wrong and we should live by God's standards, not societies.  Jesus said "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." Matt 5:13. By being salty is having integrity in God's word.  If we go out and live by societies rules then where is our saltiness?  How can we lead people to Christ when we are living in sin and being hypocrites to God's word?  Not that we, as Christian's are perfect, as we are all are going to fall every now and then, but our lifestyle should mirror God's principles.  When our family and friends look at us they should say he/she lives by God's word and does so with integrity.

One of my favorite quotes is by Brennan Manning who really summarizes how a lack of integrity can impact the world when he said "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable".   Are we living with integrity?

TD