March 4th, 2023
by Noah Hefley
by Noah Hefley
An older fellow asked his granddaughter, “What did you learn in Sunday School today about God?” She said, “What I learned is that God never says, ‘Oops!’”
That is funny—but true. God never makes a mistake. However, we sure do! We have a lot of “Oops” moments! We make many mistakes, and over a lifetime, we commit a lot of sins! Yeah, we all have sinned… (Romans 3:23). But all who have sinned have not learned what to do about their sin. We learn what to do with our sin in scripture:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
This verse teaches Christians how to deal with particular sins and the secret is to be willing to confess our sins. Note, in the verse, it is conditional: “If we confess…” we are forgiven. Here, John is not teaching how to have a relationship with God but how to maintain fellowship with God. As Christians, we don’t lose a relationship with God if we sin, but we sure interrupt our fellowship with God when we refuse to confess our sins. Our confession of sins needs to be personal: “If we confess…” So it needs to be my individual faults. My job is not to confess someone else’s shortcomings, but my own. It is also confessional: “If we confess our sins…” (v. 9). The word for “confess” here is “homologeo” meaning “say the same thing.” It is plural sins which means it is particular sins. Only confession of our personal sins brings about spiritual renewal, so let us pray that God will put His finger on our particular sins. Further, may we always be willing to confess our sins and make right what we have done wrong.
I read about a group travelling on a chartered bus in Utah on a scorching hot day, and a lady called out to the driver to see if he could get turn up the AC. The driver hollered back, “It’s on Max.” The lady replied, “Well, Max must be getting all the air ‘cause we’re not getting any of it back here.”
If the fresh air of God’s blessings is not blowing on you, maybe there is something in the way and maybe that something is sin. My advice to you: Deal with it, so you might receive the fresh air of God’s blessings!
Devotedly yours,
Pastor Ron
That is funny—but true. God never makes a mistake. However, we sure do! We have a lot of “Oops” moments! We make many mistakes, and over a lifetime, we commit a lot of sins! Yeah, we all have sinned… (Romans 3:23). But all who have sinned have not learned what to do about their sin. We learn what to do with our sin in scripture:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
This verse teaches Christians how to deal with particular sins and the secret is to be willing to confess our sins. Note, in the verse, it is conditional: “If we confess…” we are forgiven. Here, John is not teaching how to have a relationship with God but how to maintain fellowship with God. As Christians, we don’t lose a relationship with God if we sin, but we sure interrupt our fellowship with God when we refuse to confess our sins. Our confession of sins needs to be personal: “If we confess…” So it needs to be my individual faults. My job is not to confess someone else’s shortcomings, but my own. It is also confessional: “If we confess our sins…” (v. 9). The word for “confess” here is “homologeo” meaning “say the same thing.” It is plural sins which means it is particular sins. Only confession of our personal sins brings about spiritual renewal, so let us pray that God will put His finger on our particular sins. Further, may we always be willing to confess our sins and make right what we have done wrong.
I read about a group travelling on a chartered bus in Utah on a scorching hot day, and a lady called out to the driver to see if he could get turn up the AC. The driver hollered back, “It’s on Max.” The lady replied, “Well, Max must be getting all the air ‘cause we’re not getting any of it back here.”
If the fresh air of God’s blessings is not blowing on you, maybe there is something in the way and maybe that something is sin. My advice to you: Deal with it, so you might receive the fresh air of God’s blessings!
Devotedly yours,
Pastor Ron
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