Love of mercy and peace, pour out a rich blessing on this dear reader, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Yesterday's sermon was on forgiving ourselves. If you're like me, we're usually hardest on ourselves. We looked at the story of St. Peter from Luke 22:54ff, where Peter denies knowing the Lord three times before the rooster crowed once. Most of us would have said, "That's it! I'm useless for the Lord! He'll never forgive me and even if He does, I can't and won't forgive myself." Thankfully, the Lord knows better then we. In the passage from Mark when the angel makes the declaration that Jesus is risen, he makes sure the message gets to the disciples "including Peter." That spoke to my heart as I read it and I pray it speaks to you as well. The Lord did not hold the denial against him; He moved on, and thankfully so did Peter. For just 7 weeks later, Peter preaches a sermon that reaches 3,000 converts. Peter moved on, and so can we.
Have you thought about God forgiving you specifically for what you've done? This means moving away from a generic, "Forgive me my sins" prayer to a "Dear Lord, you know I have that sin of ___________ and I'm asking that you forgive me." That gets to the core of our need to confess and once we do, we are forgiven. God also forgives us instantly. God forgives us completely. God also forgives us repeatedly. And God forgives us freely. With the same power behind the resurrection, God forgives us. And we should, if we want to move on and be useful for God's Kingdom, forgive ourselves.
PRAYER: Loving God, I pause to confess my sins. I am guilty of _______________ and I ask that You forgive me. And help me also forgive myself so that I may move on with my life so that I may serve You. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
