1 John 3:19-24
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (ESV)
God is Bigger Than Sin
Thursday after Holy Trinity
3 June 2010
No one is beyond the rescuing hand of God. "God so loved the world." He loved a world full of sinners just like King David and just like you. God would be incompetent indeed if he could not forgive your load of sin. What kind of God would be defeated by the weight of your sin? A small god indeed. Not the God of Jesus Christ. Confess and He will take the awful load. Your sin is not greater than God.
Cyril of Jerusalem
"God is loving to man, and loving in no small measure. Do not say, 'I have committed fornication and adultery, I have done dreadful things, and not once only, but often. Will He forgive? Will He grant pardon?' Hear what the Psalmist says: 'How great is your goodness, O Lord ' (Ps 31:19)! Your accumulated offences do not surpass the multitude of God's mercies. Your wounds do not surpass the great Physician's skill. Only give yourself up in faith. Tell the Physician your ailment. Say like David: 'I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and the same shall be done in your case, which David says immediately: 'and you forgave the guilt of my sin' (Ps 32:5)."
Prayer
How great is Your mercy, O Lord, that You, the Great Physician, take away the sin-sickness of Your patient away by taking it into Your own person. Amen.
For all those struggling to forgive those who has sinned against them, that the Lord would give them strength to forgive as they have been forgiven
For Chaplain Donald Ehrke (U.S. Army) that he would be brought home safely through the merciful care of Christ our Savior
For those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, that they would grieve as those who have hope in the resurrection of the flesh and the life of the world to come
Art: MICHELANGELO, Buonarroti The Fall and Expulsion from Eden 1509-1510