Monday, January 15, 2018

Now Stand Up!

Last Sunday I preached about the need for repentance. If you understand grace, you are glad for an opportunity to repent. Another very important part of being a Christian is understanding forgiveness, or at least walking in its victory. The Lord wants us to be humble and repent and the reason that He wants this is because it is His desire to bless us, to fill us with joy, to grant us His peace, to enable us to stand before Him free from the fear of wrath.
         Needing to repent regularly does not mean that we live in a state of despair or desperation. It means that we continually get to hear the Father’s gracious words of forgiveness to us in Jesus.
         We need to learn to hear those words, arise to those words, stand up in those words and walk in those words. This is why we stand before the Lord after we confess our sins.
In a liturgical church, everyone wants to comply so everybody stands up. But are you standing, really, even on the inside? Do you know the grace of forgiveness? Are you relieved? Joyful? At peace?

Hear God’s gracious words to you. Believe Him. Believe me when I tell you the Father forgives you. Now stand up!

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