You can be forgiven... of anything (yes, anything!).. because of the blood of Jesus.
If you follow my blog you know that I believe STRONGLY in grace. I believe in the God of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth... well, you get the idea... I believe that Jesus forgives. But HOW does Jesus forgive?
The forgiveness of Jesus is made possible because He shed his blood on the cross of calvary. But let's go back before that. Leviticus 16 talks about the sacrifice the priests were to make in the Old Testament. The priest was to take the blood from an animal and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. In doing that, the sins of the people were atoned for or covered, for another year.
Now fast forward to the New Testament. When Jesus died on the cross He became the lamb that was slain. He shed His blood so our sins can be forgiven.
But why blood? Why did blood have to be shed? Leviticus 17:11 says "For the life of the flesh is in the blood." Literally, there is life in the blood.
As a kid I can remember singing;
"There is power, power, wonder-working power,
In the blood, of the lamb.
There is power, power, wonder working power,
In the precious blood of the lamb."
And, there is power in the blood. The blood forgives.
I am thankful that Jesus shed His blood for me. I am thankful that His blood covers my sins.
Remember this; ANY sin you have committed can be covered by the blood of Christ. Yep, ANY sin. Doesn't matter what it is. You can be forgiven.
That silly and stupid mistake you made in high school? Yep, Forgiven!
The mistakes during the wild & care-free years of college? Yep, Forgiven!
The things you have said that you regretted saying? Yep, Forgiven!
The things you did and you KNEW you shouldn't have but you did them anyway? Yep, Forgiven!
You name it... & pick some tough ones... Yep, Forgiven. If you ask Jesus to forgive.
But there is another side to this. You can be forgiven and, ANY sin someone else has committed can be covered by the blood of Christ. Sometimes we have a hard time with that. We can be forgiven AND others can be forgiven as well.
So, it's Friday night. You have had a busy week. Work was tough. You were at the ball-field with the kids several nights. As you look ahead to Saturday, it's full of shopping and kids activities. So, Saturday night, you put the kids in bed... you watch a little TV to wind down... you go to bed..
Sunday morning rolls around... you wake up and... you are tired... Your body says "sleep a couple of extra hours... you deserve it."
BUT you had said you were going to church. You told a friend you would come to church. But, you are sleepy.. and tired.
When you are feeling like that... and we all do at times... remember the blood of Jesus that forgives you of your sins... get up... get dressed and go to worship because Jesus shed His blood for YOU.
If you have asked Jesus to forgive you, you are forgiven. Worship Jesus because He forgives us of all our sins.
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