(Psalm 51:7-11 NLT) Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” I have been studying grace for about a year now and one of the most amazing aspects of God’s grace I’ve learned is that we gain access to it when we get to the end-of-ourselves. Said another way, when we finally get to the point where we know our ability is inadequate and our strength will fail, it is then that we completely rely on God’s strength. In the New Testament Paul learned that God’s strength is made perfect (or mature) in our weakness. Paul explained that when he was weak, in his own ability, he was then able to be MADE strong, in God’s ability (see 2 Cor 12).
In the 51st psalm we see an earthly King who is at the end-of-himself. David had gotten to the point where he was too comfortable with the power he had been given as a monarch. He was in authority, but he got so comfortable in the authority that he failed to acknowledge the fact that he was also under authority. David knew he was not a self-made man, he was a God-made man, but during the episode with Bathsheba and Uriah he had forgotten it. David disrespected the God who had been protecting and blessing him all his life.
In this psalm we see David’s brokenness. David realized the error of his ways and he knew his sin had tainted him before his Holy God. David asked to be washed and cleansed. David craved the joy and intimacy he once had with the Father. David asked the Lord to restore his joy. David was being haunted by his sin, day and night. He asked the Lord to remove the guilt and shame. In a cry of desperation David exclaimed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” David wanted to be clean, he wanted to be restored, and most of all, he did not want to lose the relationship he had with God.
So what does this mean to you today? I will only give you two things today.
1. Sin disrupts your intimacy with the Father. While sin DOES NOT break your relationship with God, it does disrupt your fellowship with Him. Let me explain why. The Lord does not want you to wallow in shame, guilt and condemnation, satan wants you to do that. The Lord wants you to quickly repent, to receive the forgiveness that He already gave you (before the foundations of the world), to forgive yourself, and to move on. If you focus on the sin you won’t be able to focus on your divine assignment, you won’t have any confidence towards God, and you won’t walk in SuperNatural power. The disruption in intimacy is actually on your part and not God’s. When you focus on the sin you committed, YOU allow the sin to disrupt your fellowship with God. God is not holding the sin over your head, you are. It’s not like God needed to wait until Thursday to find out what you were going to do on Thursday. He called you and blessed you before the foundations of the world, in spite of the many times he knew you were going to mess up. But if YOU focus on the sin, YOU will allow it to keep you from the intimacy Jesus died to give you. Receive forgiveness, FORGIVE YOURSELF (many people have a hard time with that), and move on.
2. God’s strength is made perfect in your weakness. When you attempt to live with your own ability, attempting to fulfill God’s Law, earning your way to God’s best, you are living your life with your own power. The Law focused on man working for God, grace focuses on God working for man. Under grace you realize that you can’t fulfill the Law. Under grace you know you are not worthy and you will never be worthy of God’s best. Under grace you stop trying to live your life under your own power. Under grace you get to the end-of-yourself, you surrender to God, you ask for His strength, and you are able to receive SuperNatural power because your own strength is not in the way. When you know you can’t, you receive the fact that He can. When you know you are weak, you open yourself up to receive God’s strength. When you know your effort will only lead to failure, it is only then that you surrender to God and you receive the SuperNatural power that leads to victory in Christ. Grace is not about you, it is about what God wants to do through you. When a Holy God operates through a flawed man He gets the glory and not us.
Closing Confession: Father, Your grace is amazing to me and I am extremely thankful that You extend grace and mercy towards me. Jesus died for my sin (all of them); past, present and future. When Jesus was on the cross all my sins were future to Him. He did not die for a portion of my sins, He died for them all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, my sin had left a crimson stain, but He washed me white as snow. When I received Jesus as Lord I was forgiven of all my sin. I was washed by the Blood of Jesus and I am now clean by Your grace. I am not perfect, but I am forgiven. When I sin now, satan comes to attempt to get me over into guilt, shame and condemnation. I declare, by faith, that I won’t let him. I am quick to repent and access the forgiveness You already gave me. This helps me to maintain the intimacy I have with You. You never stopped looking at me differently, but on those occasions where I allowed myself to wallow in the sin, I saw myself differently and I was stripped of my confidence towards You. That shall not happen again. When I sin, I am quick to repent, to access the forgiveness You already gave me, to forgive myself and to move on. I know I am not perfect and I don’t claim to be. Actually, that is the power of Grace. You don’t use me because I am perfect, You use me because You are. You don’t use me because I am so good, You use me because You are. You are a Holy God and You choose to use me, knowing I am not holy without You, and You use me by Your grace. When I am at the end-of-myself and my ability, it is then and only then, that I truly surrender to You, to be used of You, for Your glory. I used to live by works, where the emphasis was on what I did for You. Now I live by grace, where the emphasis is on what You do for me! I have tried both, works and grace, and grace is much better! I shall live grace-minded the rest of my life. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
