Category: January 2017

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

During the day, the devil may whisper, “You cannot go into God’s presence because you have not been reading your Bible and serving in church.” Or he will tell you that it is because of the sin which you have just committed. The devil will always make you feel that you are not qualified or clean enough to go near God. But the truth is, regardless of how you feel and what you have done, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

In the original Greek text, the tense for the word “cleanses” denotes a present continuous action. This means that once you are a believer, the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing you from every sin! So you can rest knowing that you are always forgiven in this continuous “wash cycle” of Jesus’ blood. Because you are continually cleansed, you are always in the light. Of course, you will fail here and there, but you are still in the light because the blood is continuously washing you! The Bible says that we overcome the devil, the accuser of our brethren, by the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 12:11) If you have sinned, remind yourself that Jesus’ blood keeps on cleansing you from every sin – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – and move on with God! The devil cannot defeat you when your faith is in the blood that cleanses you continuously.

Some Christians are guilt-ridden because their consciousness of their sins condemns them. Although Jesus’ blood continuously cleanses them, they would rather hold on to their past mistakes and feel bad about them, thinking that they are being humble and holy when they do this. But this is nothing more than self-righteousness. The eternal blood of Jesus Christ offers you eternal redemption and everlasting righteousness. Accept the payment of His blood as the final, perfect and only sacrifice you will ever need!

Hebrews 10:17

…”Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

I think your would agree that Hebrews 10:17 is good news. God sees all our sins – past, present and future – and says, “Your sins I remember no more!” The words”no more” are a strong double negative in the original Greek text. In other words, God is saying, “Your sins I will by no means ever remember!” So has God lowered His standards? No, He is still perfectly holy. He did remember all our sins – 2,000 years ago at the cross. Every sin which we have committed or will commit has been punished to the full in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. That is why today, God remembers our sins no more. We should, therefore, not be sin-conscious.

Each time we feel condemned for our past mistakes, God wants us to remember the cross and say, “Lord Jesus, you were sentenced for this sin I committed. You bore the judgment, so God will not judge me for this sin. You were condemned for this sin, so God will not condemn me for it.” If you don’t look to the cross, you will become sin-conscious and you will walk around with a certain expectation of divine judgment. This will only lead to despair and more sin.

You must come to the place where you know and believe that all your sins are forgiven, and that you are saved eternally. Such security enables you to come to God and receive His grace and power to overcome sin. Hebrews 10:12, 14 says, “But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God… For by one offering He has perfected forever…”

You and I are perfected forever because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross. We are perfected by God’s full acceptance and perfect delight in His Son’s work. Hear God say to you, “I will be merciful. Your sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more,” and live for His glory!

John 10:3

…he calls his own sheep by name…

Do you sometimes feel like you are just a face in a crowd or a number in a system? If you feel depersonalized and dehumanized, that is exactly how the devil wants you to feel – that you do not matter much to anyone, especially to God. But you do matter to God! Did you know that He calls you by name? He knows exactly what you are going through and where you are hurting. He sees you and cares for you, just as He cared for the people when He first walked on earth.

He will do for you what He did for the woman in Samaria. The Bible says that “He needed to go through Samaria” to get from Judea to Galilee (John 4:4). Now, any Jew of His day would have taken a different and longer route to avoid going through Samaria because they hated the Samaritans. But Jesus deliberately took the shorter, avoided route, just so He could stop by Samaria to speak to the woman who had been searching for something in her life to satisfy her. This woman had had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband. Clearly, things had not been going right in her life. She was probably looking for answers and fulfillment, and must have felt ashamed about her failed marriages and current lifestyle. Yet, in spite of all this, she mattered to Jesus! He needed to go to her to minister to her. And indeed, after she met Jesus, the perfect Man, she was transformed. She was no longer ashamed, and went into the city to tell the people about Him (John 4:28-29).

Jesus wants to meet you wherever you are at in life and minister His grace to you. You certainly matter to Him. He came to give you life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). You are not just a face in a crowd or a number. No, He knows you by name and has a personal love for you. And in spite of the mess that you might be in, He wants to meet your every need and make your life beautiful!