March 24, 2016 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

2016 Passion Week Series

Forgiveness Worth Asking For

Christ claimed your sin by calling your sin His own. He took it willingly and yet it could not hold Him the Bible says. How could that happen, by God placing all the sin and sickness from the world upon His Son? How did Christ overcome all our sin? It is only through forgiveness. Yes, Christ asked for forgiveness for your sin that became His sin. He did not hesitate to find mercy from God. When your sin became His sin, Christ knew it needed to be forgiven by God His Father.

Psalm 51 talks specifically about Christ finding forgiveness for your sin/His sin. As we look back to Christ, David looked forward to Christ. David saw Christ so intimately that he wrote about Christ’s passion—Christ’s struggle to ask for forgiveness from His Father. David’s son, Solomon, said his father ‘found great mercy’. This could only happen if David realized how much God loved him through Christ and how great the forgiveness that God granted all of us through Christ’s passion.

If Christ prayed this prayer (Psalm 51) either before or during His crucifixion what should we be praying? What should our attitude and position be toward finding forgiveness? Should it not be as Christ found forgiveness from His Father? We ought to be praying for forgiveness as Christ did! Do not take forgiveness for granted. The Bible says that we must ask and believe in Christ and confess our sins. Christ is our example; we ought to do the same. I believe Psalm 51 refers to every type of sin, the process for forgiveness from sins, to even offering freedom from the destructive power of sin. We need only to pray what Christ prayed and believe that “it is finished”.

What is included in our prayer of forgiveness and what should our demeanor be?

ü Forgiveness is based on God’s mercy and loving kindness, and you can count on God hearing you.

ü Forgiveness includes tender mercies, not judgment or condemnation—ask for God’s record of your sin to be completely wiped out.

ü Forgiveness requires washing and cleansing so nothing of the sin’s residue is left behind or visible.

ü We must acknowledge our sin and realize that the Holy Spirit makes sin exceedingly sinful during forgiveness. We need the Spirit’s help.

ü The ability to sin came to us through the wrong doing of others; sin has a domino effect. We acknowledge the hold sin has on us and ask that it be broken and stopped.

ü God wants us to have truth and wisdom to replace the sin that is taken away.

ü “God, you wash me and I will be clean”—you can count on God to do this.

ü Forgiveness brings joy and gladness, which will cause you to rejoice.

ü Ask God to forgive your sin to the point of ‘never-ever’ seeing your sins again.

ü Forgiveness brings a clean heart and a right spirit—ask for this to happen.

ü “Do not allow sin to take God’s presence or Holy Spirit from you. You will need His presence and the power of the Holy Spirit during forgiveness.

ü Ask for joy and freedom during the process of forgiveness.

ü Be willing to tell others about the forgiveness God gives you.

ü Forgiveness can take away all the ‘guilt of sin’ you have acquired so tell God to give you salvation and righteousness to take its place.

ü Sing songs of praise to God for His forgiveness, realizing that God does not need whatever sacrifices of works you are tempted to do but rather be broken and sorry for your sin alone.

ü Once you have forgiveness ask God to build walls of protection around you—to give you walls of His righteousness and offerings of praise to the God of Gods and Lord of Lords.

Ask for forgiveness as Christ did. Do not be afraid or shy. It is God who wants to forgive. God has forgiven every aspect, type, depth, and kind of sin. Believe, ask and proclaim what Christ claimed for you—total, complete and perfect forgiveness.

WWJWMTD

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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