"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
...who forgives all your iniquities..."v.3
"Who redeems your life from destruction..."v.4
"The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger,
and abounding in mercy..."v.8
"He has not dealt with us
according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities...."v.10
"As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions
from us..." v.12 ~Psalm 103
The children and I read in the book of Joshua today, and twice in one chapter, Jehovah was referred to as "...the Lord of all the earth...". That was noteworthy, not only for the Israelites, but for us. The Lord of all the earth. And tonight, juxtaposed with the lovingkindness and mercy of that same Lord of all the earth, is forgiveness so deep and infinite I can't wrap my mind around it.
I raise my hand tonight and say, "I'm guilty." Guilty of slipping into complacency. Of forgetting the great work of God in cleansing me. Sometimes guilty of believing forgiveness of one like me is even possible.
I find it interesting that when I lose sight of that amazing love, it is usually a person who redirects me and sends me fleeing to the arms of Jesus by their lack of forgiveness. By their pain. By the pain that I have caused. In all my teaching time together with the children, I try to honestly deal with life and choices, with consequences and fruit, with repentance, forgiveness and restoration. The truth is, that the children will each have to make decisions in their own lives and live with the results of their choices. My prayer, of course, is that they choose what is good, because even though they can and will be forgiven by their heavenly father, wrong choices leave scarring and wreckage that may be lifelong.
10 comments:
great post - i love that psalm!! :)
blessings in His name!
That is sooo good!! What a heart felt post~
Thank you for sharing your heart~
~Cinnamon
You were reading in the book of Joshua? So are we! We are reading through the Bible as a family and right now we're in the book of Joshua! Last night, we read about how the Israelites captured and destroyed the city of Ai. Very clever battle plan and amazing victory! I enjoyed reading your post. ~Blessings, Eden
So true, and just the way I was feeling this morning also.
So true, so true. And lovingly said. Sometimes it's a fine line to walk between knowing/remembering what a wretch I am in light of "The Lord of all the earth" & that He has forgiven...AND forgotten...all of my past. Intentionally. What a wonderful, awesome, loving God we serve.
Blessings from snowy Ohio...Kim<><
Great post Mrs, Regan! It is so encuraging to me to know we serve a God who forgives and forgets. I make so many mistakes, but He is so faithful, dispite my many downfalls. I love this psalm for that great reminder. We serve an awsome God!
God Bless,
Kelsey
By-the-way, I meant he forgives and forgets in that he said our sins, once forgiven, are as far as the east is from the west. He most certainly does not forget us, his children... Just some confirmation! What I wrote had come out sounding funny. :)
Kelsey
Isn't it wonderful that HIS love is so constant...that when we recognize we have made a mistake ~ that we blew it...He then gathers us close and says - Trust in ME...I AM the God of Abraham, Issac & Jacob and also yours!
Thank you dear friend for sharing your heart!
Maria
Good reminder. It is just too easy to let our sights get focused on the wrong things and our own plans. Have a blessed day.
My favorite Psalm.
Many blessings,
Joshua :)
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