Repent, therefore, and turn again, for the blotting out of your sins Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. {Acts 3:19}
Always clear things up with the Lord no matter what your sin is. The beautiful thing about Jesus Christ is that once and for all our sins are nailed to His cross, so that today we don’t have to pay the price for our sins. The Bible tells us, “Repent therefore and turn again for the blotting out of your sins…” That means, if we talk to the Lord about our sins and we ask for His grace and forgiveness, we don’t have to suffer the curse of sin. But if we don’t ask for His grace and forgiveness and repent before the Lord and talk to Him about them, we will be suffering the consequences and the punishment for them.
I remember waking up one night from a terrible nightmare. I could feel an evil spirit in the room when I woke up. I was so frozen with fear I couldn’t even move, but I quickly talked to the Lord in my mind and asked Him what’s going on. Why was this happening to me? I couldn’t rebuke the evil spirit out. The Lord quickly showed me in my mind that I have sinned. I have rebelled against Him and disobeyed His prompting upon me during the day to do something, but I ignored the Lord. I remembered that moment He was talking about and I felt terrible, so I repented before the Lord. I usually talk to the Lord before I go to bed, but to be honest I didn’t really think it was a big deal and I forgot to clear myself with Him and talk to Him about it. Even that seemingly insignificant thing of the Lord dealing with me in my spirit during the day and my ignoring Him was sin to the Lord, and I got corrected. It was not insignificant it was a big deal and I knew this. But as soon as I repented and asked for His grace and forgiveness the evil spirit left the room. I was able to go back to sleep peacefully.
It is so crucial to always talk to the Lord about our sin or disobedience or our half-heartedness towards Him. If we’re backsliding and our hearts are not focused on Him or we’re not completely truthful to the Lord, these things are sin to Him. We could be wondering why things aren’t working out in our lives or why things are topsy-turvy and we have no idea what’s going on. It’s time to start clearing things up with Him, because unconfessed and unrepentant sin brings curses, punishment, and death. It will bring evil spirits into your life. It will bring all these little nagging frustrations and things that seem so petty, but you just can’t get rid of them. When you’re walking with God and are always clearing things up with Him there is peace. These things go away. When you go through problems and you cry out to Him for help, He helps you. He hears your prayers. There is always peace with the Lord when we are right with Him and have made ourselves open with Him.
The Bible tells us,
Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. {1 Timothy 5:24}
Here’s another thing. If we’re bringing ourselves to the Lord all the time, being open to Him about our sins and shortcomings, we won’t have to worry about them on judgment day. Whereas if we hide things from the Lord and keep our sins hidden from Him, they will definitely be brought up against us on that day. Why take chances? Why have the fear of possibly not being right with Him when all we have to do is talk to Him?
Some people believe that once you’ve repented when you accepted Jesus Christ, or have been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you’ve been exonerated for good from the punishment of sin. That means you can’t sin anymore. I don’t think so. Why then did Ananias and Sapphira fall down dead when Peter rebuked them for lying in the book of Acts? They were already saved. They were a part of the church. As a matter of fact, they were trying to bring their offerings to the Lord when Peter rebuked them. They kept back part of the sale of their land and lied about it. Peter rebuked them and the Lord killed them. They did not get away with their sins. Apostle Paul states that he brings his body into subjection, lest he too after he has preached to so many might end up lost. {1 Corinthians 9:27} If once saved always saved is true, then why would Paul needed to die daily and bring his flesh from sinning? {1 Corinthians 15:31} Jesus tells us,
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. {Luke 13:5}
Our God is a very merciful God. It is not His will that any should perish but that all would come to repentance. {2 Peter 3:9} It is imperative we take the time out everyday to clear ourselves with Him by talking to Him about any sin (or even any thought or desire that we’ve entertained in our hearts) that we know isn’t pleasing before Him. We could just say to Him:
Lord Jesus, I ask for Your grace and mercy upon my soul. Please Father, forgive me of my sins and anything I have said, done, or thought of and entertained in my heart today that was not pleasing before You. Please Jesus, forgive me and cleanse me from all my unrighteousness. I repent Jesus. Please take my sins away. I love You and my desire is to live a holy and pure life before You. Please help me to live a pure and holy life before You. I thank You Father for Your grace and mercy and forgiveness upon my soul and hearing my prayers. I thank You for Your death at the cross so I can find Your love and forgiveness today. I thank You Jesus and pray in Your most wonderful name. Amen.
If the Lord shows you a particular sin in your life (you will know this when it comes up in your mind as you’re confessing), that is your cue to confess that specific sin and ask for forgiveness and repentance. We want to be found holy before Him at all times. This is possible when we’re always talking to the Lord and abiding in His presence. When He deals with us, especially to turn away from something we shouldn’t be doing, it is imperative to talk to Him about it. Especially when we find ourselves insisting on doing what we want to do. Don’t run away from Him and hide things from Him. He knows all things, even the very intentions of our hearts. We cannot hide anything from Him. We are sinners. We will sin. That’s what Christ came here for, so that we don’t have to die the spiritual death that sin brings. We don’t have to suffer for them spiritually. Why would He die for if we can save our own selves? We don’t become deities just because we are filled with the Spirit of God. We will still have our own will. We will still become tempted and snared. We still live in this fallen world. There is no escape for it except through the constant abiding in the presence of God. But sometimes we don’t do that enough. Often times we lean upon our own understanding instead of walking in the Spirit. Hence we end up sinning and falling. But when we do, all we need to do is confess our sins, repent from them, and He will take them away from us. He can take it to Himself to the cross. This is what the scripture means when it said,
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. {Colossians 2:14}
But it’s not automatic. We have to talk to Him and clear ourselves with Him. What are we waiting for? Jesus is here for us. There is no need to fret about our sins anymore. There is no need to take chances for the punishment we can receive from them. Just confess them to the Lord and ask for His grace and forgiveness. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, He is able to forgive us and take our sins away. The Bible tells us,
For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. {Romans 6:23}
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee. {Isaiah 44:22}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You Father for Your wonderful grace and mercy upon my soul today. I thank You for Your sacrificial death at the cross at Calvary so that today I can find Your forgiveness and mercy. I can find cleansing and a renewing of my mind and Your love for me in my soul.
Father, I pray once again that You would please continue to cleanse my soul from any sin or any iniquity. Cleanse me from any desires that are contrary to Your will and desires. Place in me a heart that desires the things You desire, so that I may walk the way You want me to walk everyday. I repent for any sin or any iniquity. Please forgive me. I pray this Father in Your most wonderful and lovely name, Jesus. I thank You Father. Amen.