Daily Devotional for Friday July 21, 2006
A Message for Those Who Feel They have Sinned too Much for God to ever Forgive Them
(Isaiah 59:2; Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:9)
One of the emails I get every day is from people who tell me they have simply sinned too much for God to ever forgive them. Some tell me that they have done things so bad in their life, God could never, ever forgive them. I want you to hear me clearly today. There is nothing, NOTHING that you have ever done that God can?t and won?t forgive you for. The Bible tells us that if you will humble yourself before the Lord and ask Him to forgive you, HE WILL!!!
It is important for you to understand what sin is. Sin by its very definition is rebellion against God. It is your sins that separate you from a Holy God. There are no categories of sin, no such thing as ?good sins? and ?bad sins.? There is a bright line and you are either on one side of that line, in obedience to God and His Word, or you are on the other side of that line, in rebellion to God and His Word. That is why one sin is no better or worse than another sin, since ALL sin is rebellion against God.
The Bible in Matthew 12:31 and 32 talks about the ?unpardonable sin.? My friend, there is only one unpardonable sin and that is rejecting Jesus Christ. The only sin that you can commit that there is no forgiveness for is rejecting Christ. You see, God?s desire is NOT to see men perish for all eternity. Quite the opposite. The Bible tells us that His desire is that ALL come to repentance and none be lost. God doesn?t send men to hell, men choose to go to hell by rejecting Christ as their Savior. Hell was not created for man but for satan and the fallen angels who followed him. You can only get to hell by CHOOSING to go there.
God loved this world so much, He made a way for His fallen creation to be redeemed. That is the reason He sent Christ to this earth, to die for the sins of the world. To die for your sins and mine. You have to understand that the reason God will forgive you for your sins if you ask Him to, is because Jesus already paid for them. Your sins, no matter what they are, can be forgiven because Christ hung on that cross and shed His precious blood as payment for them. That is why there is nothing you have ever done, no sin you have ever committed, that God won?t forgive you for. THE PRICE FOR YOUR SINS HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID!!!
I love you and care about you so much. I know many of you are living today with the guilt and shame of what you have done in your life. You have chosen to listen to the lies of satan as he tells you that you are not worthy of God?s love and forgiveness. You have chosen to listen to his lies as he tells you that what you have done is even too much for God to forgive you for. I want you to know that satan is a LIAR! The TRUTH is that God loves you, He cares about you, and has made a way for you to find forgiveness and have your sins washed away. All you have to do is ask Him to forgive you.
Believing in Jesus is the only way to be saved because it was Jesus who died for your sins. There is no other way to be saved, no other road to God, there is no other plan of salvation! This is God?s one and only plan to reconcile His fallen creation back to Himself. This is the only way that you can escape eternity apart from the God who created you in His own image. It is through His grace and by your faith in Jesus Christ who died so that your sins could be forgiven.
The most important decision you will make in this life is not who you will marry, or where you will live, or what kind of job you will have. The most important decision you will make in this life is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. If you have not done that yet, the Bible says that TODAY is the day of salvation. I would invite you to go to, www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html. Pray to ask God to open your heart, read the words, pray the prayer, and accept God?s gift to you today, the forgiveness of your sins and everlasting life through His son Jesus.
For those of you who already know Christ as your Savior, I would encourage you to forward this message to someone that you know who is lost and without Christ in their life. Maybe they feel, like many others, that they have simply done too many bad things in their life and God could never forgive them. I pray that these words will open their heart to His love for them, and they will ask Him to forgive them of their sins and accept by faith Jesus Christ into their heart and life.