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Day 3 Psalm 103 Devotional

By September 28, 2016October 6th, 2016Daily Devotional

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Pray:

Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word.  Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.

Read:

Psalm 103:9-12

“He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Understand:

Sin angers God. Hebrews 12:6, “For the LORD disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.” There are consequences to our actions. David experienced the Lord’s discipline personally. When we experience the Lord’s discipline, we shouldn’t run from Him. Instead, we should run back towards Him.

Because of His great love (“hesed”-His loving kindness), He completely separates sin from the sinner by forgiving it. David understood the power of God’s forgiveness. God cleanses, and then He moves on. He does not hold our sins over us. Instead, He frees us from the slavery of sin and sets us free to experience a new life.

God chooses not to treat us as our sins deserve, but instead forgives our sin! He pours out His mercy on us; He doesn’t give us what we deserve. Think about it…if we received what we deserved, we would be in hell separated from God forever.

God completely separates sin from the sinner by loving them, pouring His mercy and grace out on them, and forgiving them “as high as the heaven above the earth…as far as the east from the west.”

Apply:

How far is the east from the west? Head west…drive it, walk it, get in a rocket ship and go…and no matter how far you travel, you’ll never reach the east! It’s impossible. This is how far God has removed our sin from us.

There is great joy for us, because as followers of Jesus, the penalty of our sins has been paid on the cross.

We have been rescued! We, like Paul, when reflecting on our sin, can say “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,  because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 7:24-8:2

Sin, guilt, and shame…the tools the enemy uses against us, have no standing with God; we are fully accepted and declared righteous in Jesus. We have become a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come. God does not remember our sins in the way He treats us; in fact, He treats us as an heir of God and co-heir with Christ.

Remember: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Take a moment and ponder the forgiveness you have in Christ; think about what it means to be an “Heir of God”.

Offer your praise to Him now.

Live:

(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.) Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.

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