Have you ever wondered why it is that we, as Christians so often turn our back on our Father, who loves us and gave us Christ to bring us back to Himself? It completely befuddles me sometimes to think about why it is that we continue in sin when we have so greatly been blessed by the love of God. I find some comfort in Romans chapter 6, knowing that it is the flesh that we are battling, and also in the knowledge that I have been made a new creature in Christ. However, my heart still longs to be set free from the battle with sin and with Satan. Sometimes I wonder how it is that God can keep loving me after I continue to sin against Him time and time again, despite what He has done for me.
It always amazes me though, when He brings me back to Him and in confession and repentance I find forgiveness from Him. I relish the times that we have together where He takes the time to deal with and heal underlying motives for the sin in my life. He doesn’t necessarily just want our actions to be changed, but He is also, more so, concerned about the nature of our heart. I love that He desires to bring us healing and cleansing where it is so desperately needed in each and every one of our lives. In Jeremiah 33:6-9 God talks about how He is going to bring His people health and healing; abundance, prosperity, and security; and how He is going to cleanse them from their guilt and forgive them of their sin against Him. He then says that the city would be a name of joy to Him, and a praise and glory before the nations because of God’s goodness to them. What a great picture that paints of God’s love in our own lives as well. As God brings us back from our own sin and rebellion against Him we find forgiveness, health, healing, abundance, prosperity, and security in our own lives resulting in our name being a joy to Him and a testimony of praise and glory to those around us because of God’s goodness in our lives.
As I think about these things I am so grateful that God can take the sin and disgusting things in my life and because of His goodness towards me, use it as a testimony of how great and amazing He is. He can do the same with yours as well. Could it be that you are now in a time of sadness or depression because of sin and the constant battle that is taking place? Then take heart. God wants to take your battles, your sin and rebellion against Him, and bring to you forgiveness and healing. In which He is brought much glory, honor, and praise.
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted November 2008
Showing posts with label Forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forgiveness. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
New Found Freedom
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works.” Romans 2:1-6
Such powerful verses these are and God has used them in recent days to teach me much about myself and to convict me of sin in my own life. Even now as we think of standing before God on judgment day we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of whether or not we are as these Scriptures say. Are you as verse one says, one who passes judgment on another while at the same time practicing the same thing? Do you gossip even as you tell others that it is wrong to gossip? Do you lie even though you have told your family that you know it is wrong to lie and get after your younger sibling when they lie to you? Do you look at pornography, never telling a soul, while getting after your friend, who is at least seeking help, to discontinue looking at it? The list could go on and on in regards to what it could be that you are doing in your life and yet at the same time passing judgment on others who are doing the same things. Scripture tells us that those of us who do such things will not escape the judgment of God, but will one day be judged according to our deeds.
Have you, as I have done, taken the kindness of God for granted, not understanding truly what it is to repent. Repentance is not merely lip service to God. Certainly you may agree with God that what you are doing is wrong. You know it is wrong, because you see it as wrong in other peoples’ lives. Repentance though is a complete changing of the mind about what you are doing. Maybe what needs to take place in your life is not so much the understanding that your actions are wrong but that there will be consequences for your actions. God is not a God of lip service. God looks at the heart of a man. If you continue to confess your sin and then go and sin again continually, over and over again, even as you are passing judgment on others God will hold you accountable. God’s kindness ought to lead us to repentance, as the Scripture says. It is in God’s forgiveness and grace that we find the desire to turn from our sin and begin to seek after a life of holiness and honor before God. Understand this though, we all struggle with sin and just because you sin more than once in a certain way or perform the same sin as another after you have passed judgment over their actions does not mean that you need to begin to freak out and start worrying about your relationship with God, simply confess your sin to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and the understanding of how you can completely turn from your sin. It is in the secret hidden sins in our own lives that we most often find ourselves judging others over and those are the ones for which God is going to hold us accountable. As verse six says, God is one day going to render to each one according to His works and if you continue to sin and pass judgment over others for the same sin you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
If God has convicted you of sin in your life today I encourage you to turn to Him, ask forgiveness for your sins, and in your freedom in Christ turn from your sin in repentance, thanking for His kindness towards you. You know, something that I have found interesting as God has convicted me and brought me to repentance is that in this new found freedom God has given me the ability to show love and grace towards those on whom I had previously passed judgment. Neat, huh? Thanks be to God who leads us into triumph!
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted February 2008
Such powerful verses these are and God has used them in recent days to teach me much about myself and to convict me of sin in my own life. Even now as we think of standing before God on judgment day we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of whether or not we are as these Scriptures say. Are you as verse one says, one who passes judgment on another while at the same time practicing the same thing? Do you gossip even as you tell others that it is wrong to gossip? Do you lie even though you have told your family that you know it is wrong to lie and get after your younger sibling when they lie to you? Do you look at pornography, never telling a soul, while getting after your friend, who is at least seeking help, to discontinue looking at it? The list could go on and on in regards to what it could be that you are doing in your life and yet at the same time passing judgment on others who are doing the same things. Scripture tells us that those of us who do such things will not escape the judgment of God, but will one day be judged according to our deeds.
Have you, as I have done, taken the kindness of God for granted, not understanding truly what it is to repent. Repentance is not merely lip service to God. Certainly you may agree with God that what you are doing is wrong. You know it is wrong, because you see it as wrong in other peoples’ lives. Repentance though is a complete changing of the mind about what you are doing. Maybe what needs to take place in your life is not so much the understanding that your actions are wrong but that there will be consequences for your actions. God is not a God of lip service. God looks at the heart of a man. If you continue to confess your sin and then go and sin again continually, over and over again, even as you are passing judgment on others God will hold you accountable. God’s kindness ought to lead us to repentance, as the Scripture says. It is in God’s forgiveness and grace that we find the desire to turn from our sin and begin to seek after a life of holiness and honor before God. Understand this though, we all struggle with sin and just because you sin more than once in a certain way or perform the same sin as another after you have passed judgment over their actions does not mean that you need to begin to freak out and start worrying about your relationship with God, simply confess your sin to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and the understanding of how you can completely turn from your sin. It is in the secret hidden sins in our own lives that we most often find ourselves judging others over and those are the ones for which God is going to hold us accountable. As verse six says, God is one day going to render to each one according to His works and if you continue to sin and pass judgment over others for the same sin you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
If God has convicted you of sin in your life today I encourage you to turn to Him, ask forgiveness for your sins, and in your freedom in Christ turn from your sin in repentance, thanking for His kindness towards you. You know, something that I have found interesting as God has convicted me and brought me to repentance is that in this new found freedom God has given me the ability to show love and grace towards those on whom I had previously passed judgment. Neat, huh? Thanks be to God who leads us into triumph!
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted February 2008
Monday, January 18, 2010
Speak Out - The Wall
A few months ago somebody told me to try and think about what God looks like. It’s clearly impossible to do, God is far greater than we can imagine. I did try though, and I saw the image of a King sitting on His throne. In the time since then I’ve wondered where my place is in that picture. There are different images for different days. One day I’ll be singing and laughing before Him - rejoicing in His presence. Another time He’ll comfort me as it seems all that could go wrong did, and I need the love of my Heavenly Father. Perhaps I did something wrong, and I needed His forgiveness. Where do I go besides kneeling at His feet, begging Him for mercy and the chance to try again?
I hadn’t thought of these images in awhile, but today I had a new one. I felt I had taken a step backwards. Maybe two or three. I could still see my King and hear Him talking to me, but I kept interrupting, "No, not right now, Father. Tell me later, I’m busy doing these things first." Before I knew it, I couldn’t hear His voice any longer. I had taken one too many steps and had to turn my back to keep on my path. I finally realized this isn’t what I want. I wasn’t created for this - I need my King. I turned around to run back to the Father, but something stood in my way. There was a high wall. It was messy and made in a hurry, but there was no getting around it or over it. I reached for it. I hit it. I kicked it. I pounded Nothing came lose. There was no give. I yelled to the King, "Father, I’m trying to come back. As soon as I get this wall down I’ll be back!" After days of trying, I sat down in defeat. Each stone had a word scribbled on it. Unforgiveness. Pride. Hate. Disobedience. Where had these stones come from? I realized these stones were my sin. Instead of confessing my sins to the Lord and asking for forgiveness, I had let them pile up... I began to weep for the time I had lost. The opportunities I had passed by. "Father," I cried, "Father, please help me! Please forgive me!" Suddenly, the stones began to disappear. They were being thrown far away - into the farthest ocean. As the wall was torn down, I saw His Son, Jesus on the other side. Pulling the stones off. He was crying with me, feeling my pain. "Why had He sent His Son to do this? Why must He bear the weight of my sins?" As I was thinking these things the last of the stones fell away, and Jesus came to me. He picked me up and carried me to the King. He set me down before the throne to talk with my Father. I hung my head in shame and let the tears run down my face. "Father...I’m so sorry...so sorry..." I felt a hand begin to wipe the tears away. I glanced up and saw the Father, with tears and a gentle smile on His own face. "My daughter," He whispered, "All has been forgiven."
by Stephanie Kantonen
originally posted October 2008
I hadn’t thought of these images in awhile, but today I had a new one. I felt I had taken a step backwards. Maybe two or three. I could still see my King and hear Him talking to me, but I kept interrupting, "No, not right now, Father. Tell me later, I’m busy doing these things first." Before I knew it, I couldn’t hear His voice any longer. I had taken one too many steps and had to turn my back to keep on my path. I finally realized this isn’t what I want. I wasn’t created for this - I need my King. I turned around to run back to the Father, but something stood in my way. There was a high wall. It was messy and made in a hurry, but there was no getting around it or over it. I reached for it. I hit it. I kicked it. I pounded Nothing came lose. There was no give. I yelled to the King, "Father, I’m trying to come back. As soon as I get this wall down I’ll be back!" After days of trying, I sat down in defeat. Each stone had a word scribbled on it. Unforgiveness. Pride. Hate. Disobedience. Where had these stones come from? I realized these stones were my sin. Instead of confessing my sins to the Lord and asking for forgiveness, I had let them pile up... I began to weep for the time I had lost. The opportunities I had passed by. "Father," I cried, "Father, please help me! Please forgive me!" Suddenly, the stones began to disappear. They were being thrown far away - into the farthest ocean. As the wall was torn down, I saw His Son, Jesus on the other side. Pulling the stones off. He was crying with me, feeling my pain. "Why had He sent His Son to do this? Why must He bear the weight of my sins?" As I was thinking these things the last of the stones fell away, and Jesus came to me. He picked me up and carried me to the King. He set me down before the throne to talk with my Father. I hung my head in shame and let the tears run down my face. "Father...I’m so sorry...so sorry..." I felt a hand begin to wipe the tears away. I glanced up and saw the Father, with tears and a gentle smile on His own face. "My daughter," He whispered, "All has been forgiven."
by Stephanie Kantonen
originally posted October 2008
Speak Out - God’s Amazing Forgiveness
Have you ever done something so terrible that you didn’t think God or anybody else would ever be able to forgive you? This is some thing I have been struggling with for the past couple of months. God convicted me of some things that I was doing at work that were not right. When I finally realized they were wrong, I stopped doing them, but I really didn’t think of them as sin. God finally made me realize that it was sin and I had to confess these things to Him and to my bosses at work. That was one of the hardest things I have ever done because my confession not only affected me, but also my coworkers. There were consequences for everyone and many changes have been made where I work.
When I first confessed these sins to God, I didn’t think He could ever forgive me. I thought I had to do something to help make up for my sin. I finally realized that I couldn’t do enough good works to make up for them or pay the penalty for my own sins. It was like I was putting myself above God by saying that God couldn’t forgive me. He says in the Bible that all we have to do is come to Him in repentance and He will forgive our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. Some verses that have really come alive for me in all of this are:
Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us.”
Isaiah 38:17 “Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
I now know that God has placed my sins behind His back and remembers them no more. When I start to feel guilty about past sins that I have already confessed to Him and He has forgiven, I have to remember that the guilt comes from Satan because he does not want us to live a victorious life. He would rather see us defeated, but we can have victory in Christ.
A quote my mom found for me when I was dealing with all of this says, “The root of the word integrity is integer, meaning something whole and undivided. Integrity means never having anything to hide. Doing so requires inviting God to search our innermost parts as we commit to living lives of integrity. Because ultimately what matters most is not how well we manage what others think of us, but who we are on the inside.” This is how I now want to live my life. I want people to be able to look at me and see a person of
integrity and not one of someone trying to hide something or trying to please others.
I have found such freedom in God’s forgiveness and I urge any of you who are dealing with un-confessed sin or feelings of un-forgiveness to bring all of that before God. He will forgive you and forget your sins. He will also help you through any of the consequences those sins may have caused. He loves you very much and wants you to live in freedom and victory.
by Melina Kantonen
originally posted April 2008
When I first confessed these sins to God, I didn’t think He could ever forgive me. I thought I had to do something to help make up for my sin. I finally realized that I couldn’t do enough good works to make up for them or pay the penalty for my own sins. It was like I was putting myself above God by saying that God couldn’t forgive me. He says in the Bible that all we have to do is come to Him in repentance and He will forgive our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. Some verses that have really come alive for me in all of this are:
Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us.”
Isaiah 38:17 “Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
I now know that God has placed my sins behind His back and remembers them no more. When I start to feel guilty about past sins that I have already confessed to Him and He has forgiven, I have to remember that the guilt comes from Satan because he does not want us to live a victorious life. He would rather see us defeated, but we can have victory in Christ.
A quote my mom found for me when I was dealing with all of this says, “The root of the word integrity is integer, meaning something whole and undivided. Integrity means never having anything to hide. Doing so requires inviting God to search our innermost parts as we commit to living lives of integrity. Because ultimately what matters most is not how well we manage what others think of us, but who we are on the inside.” This is how I now want to live my life. I want people to be able to look at me and see a person of
integrity and not one of someone trying to hide something or trying to please others.
I have found such freedom in God’s forgiveness and I urge any of you who are dealing with un-confessed sin or feelings of un-forgiveness to bring all of that before God. He will forgive you and forget your sins. He will also help you through any of the consequences those sins may have caused. He loves you very much and wants you to live in freedom and victory.
by Melina Kantonen
originally posted April 2008
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