You Will Cast All Our Sins Into The Depths Of The Sea. -Micah 7:19

God has graciously provided a way for all our sins to be forgiven. This verse uses powerful imagery to describe the total forgiveness available through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, God’s forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice is so complete; it is as though all our sins have been cast into the deepest part of the sea, never to be retrieved or brought up again.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net. 

This verse is so comforting that God forgives all our sins. I grew up in the Catholic Church and it was hard to keep track of my sins to confess them to the priest. Sometimes, I would make up sins to confess, because I was too embarrassed or couldn’t remember them. I would pray through the rosary beads, but I never felt forgiven. The more I tried not to sin, the more I sinned, until my sins became so great that I quit going to church and confession.

Then 14 years later, I attended a Presbyterian Church where I understood that we can accept Jesus Christ and His death on the cross; and at once have all our sins forgiven. This includes all past, present and future sins. I went home and prayed to accept Him as my Lord and Savior, and a huge weight was lifted from me.

Have your sins become too great a weight to bear? If so, Jesus Christ is the answer. He is God’s only solution for all our sins.

The Bible says that all have sinned in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (NLT)

Even though we deserve to be punished, God sent Jesus to earth to be a sacrifice for all our sins. Jesus lived a sinless life and died on the cross for us; thereby taking our punishment. God raised Him from the dead proving that Jesus’ sacrifice was acceptable to God.

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25 NIV)

Through personal faith in Jesus Christ and because of God’s grace, we can be forgiven for all our sins and receive the gift of eternal life as Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NLT)

There are many wonderful Bible verses that promise and describe God’s absolute forgiveness for us through Christ:

• Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (NIV)

• Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (NIV)

• Jeremiah 33:8 says, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.” (NIV)

• Psalm 103:12 says, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”(NLT)

You may be wondering if being forgiven means we won’t sin any longer. No, in fact Christians go through times of great temptation and testing.

James 1:13-15 says, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (NIV)

God does not tempt us, but we are tempted by our own desires (the flesh), the world (1 John 2:16), and the devil.

When we do sin, we can confess our sin to God and ask Him to forgive us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NIV)

It is so wonderful to have assurance that we have been forgiven and received salvation!

1 John 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (NIV)

The Bible says that we can know that we have been saved and that we have eternal life.

Perhaps you’re not sure if you have been saved or maybe you have doubts about your salvation. If so, then don’t delay; today make sure you are right with God and pray to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or pray a prayer of recommitment.

Are you rejoicing and giving thanks to God for His forgiveness and salvation?

Please click here if you would like to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19 ESV) | CLICK TO TWEET

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• Podcast: Isn’t Christianity arrogant to claim to be the only way to heaven?

• Podcast: Since Jesus paid the price, is everyone heaven-bound?

• Four Powerful Proofs Jesus Lives

• How I Moved from Doubting My Salvation to Assurance

• Podcast: What exactly is hell?

• What Caused Me to Doubt My Salvation

• Forgiving is so Important It’s Scary

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Personal Contact With Jesus Alters Everything. -Oswald Chambers

Personal contact with Jesus alters everything, because when we encounter Him; we are never the same again. That’s because Jesus is in the business of changing people and transforming lives.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net. 

I grew up in the Catholic Church and my family never talked about how Jesus alters everything. We attended a mission where the priest spoke Latin and I learned from a young age about the separation between Catholics and Protestants. I am grateful for my catechism instruction about God, confession and forgiveness.

I was taught that the Priests prayed to Jesus and honestly, I felt more comfortable praying to Maryand the saints, because they seemed more approachable. If I lost something, I prayed to St. Anthony and for hopeless situations, I prayed to St. Jude. I had various prayer cards to remind me who to pray to and for what reason. Later, I understood that they were human beings as we are and in need of forgiveness as well.

I reserved prayer to God only for extreme emergencies. I was too afraid to address Jesus directly and I had a large wooden crucifix in my room that was scary.

Before I became a Christian, I was too afraid to have personal contact with Jesus because of my sins. I didn’t understand that He died on the cross so that I could approach Him, based not on my goodness, but on His atonement for my sins.

Everything changed when I became an adult and I understood the message of the Gospel. This led me to pray and accept Him as my Lord and Savior.

Here are 4 of many ways that I and others have experienced the reality that personal contact with Jesus alters everything:

1. We understand our need for forgiveness.

Jesus alters everything because, we see clearly and understand that God is holy and we have offended Him.

I don’t know if you have given much thought to the subject of sin before, but personal contact with Jesus alters everything because we recognize His holiness and standard of perfection. As a result, we have to admit that we have broken both God’s and man’s laws.

The realization that we are sinful leads to a change of mind and heart about Jesus.

Personal contact with Jesus alters everything, because it’s only through His perfect life and death on the cross for our sins that we can be reconciled to God. This truth leads us to acknowledge that we need Him to be our Savior. When we comprehend His love and suffering on our behalf; we want to follow Him as our Lord, and with His help, live differently.

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NLT)

Godly sorrow is genuine remorse that we have offended God; versus worldly sorrow that can be summarized as self-pity with no intention of changing.

2. We find grace and mercy.

Personal contact with Jesus alters everything, because through the Gospel instead of receiving condemnation, we find grace and mercy. We see Jesus waiting, not to condemn us, but with open arms, to forgive us because of the cross.

We recognize that we are dependent on Him for His grace and mercy.

• 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (ESV)

• Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (ESV)

Not only do we receive forgiveness through Jesus, but God gives us the free gift of eternal life as well.

Jesus took our place on the cross and received the punishment and death that we deserved, so in exchange we can receive His righteousness.

3. We become born again.

Personal contact with Jesus alters everything, because when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior; we become born again, (John 3:3-8).

Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

Through Jesus we receive a new heart and a new Spirit. God gives us new life through Christ. He transforms us!

4. We receive the Holy Spirit.

Personal contact with Jesus alters everything, because when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit and we become empowered to live for Him.

Luke 24:49 says, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (NIV)

John 14:16-17 says, “16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you.”(NIV)

In Christ, we have access to His power to live. He gives us new desires and thoughts. He sets us free from bad habits and things that once enslaved us. He gives us power to resist temptation.

Jesus gives us love for Him and others. In addition, we’re no longer comfortable with sin. He helps us to confess our sins and bring them into the light to receive His forgiveness, (1 John 1:9).

How have you discovered that personal contact with Jesus alters everything?

Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Please click here if you would like to do so now.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. Oswald Chambers | CLICK TO TWEET

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Never Be Afraid To Trust An Unknown Future To A Known God. -Corrie Ten Boom

We all face an unknown future, but we do not have to be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

Corrie Ten Boom and her family faced an unknown future as they were arrested for hiding Jews and sent to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Corrie was the sole survivor of her family and her powerful story recorded in the book, The Hiding place; is one of courage, sacrifice and forgiveness.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net. 

The thought of an unknown future is terrifying to me, because I tend to crave security and stability. I don’t like surprises, but we live in very uncertain times. The other night as I watched the news I became so afraid by the threat of North Korea sending a nuclear bomb. So, I asked my husband what he thought would happen and he reassured me with the reminder that this action wouldn’t serve the leader of North Korea or his country very well.

I sure hope my husband is right. But, afterwards I realized that no matter what happens, I don’t need to be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

We all face an unknown future because even our best laid plans can change at any time. We all have unexpected situations and circumstances that happen sometimes.

I don’t know what kind of trouble you may be facing right now. You may be dealing with the loss of a loved one, an illness or another type of tragedy. But, I do know that those who know the Lord can trust Him with an unknown future.

And while the future is unknown as the Bible says:

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? Ecclesiastes 8:7 (NIV)

We can find security and stability for life when we know the Lord.

Psalm 121:3 says, “He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;” (NIV)

In addition, the Bible has many reassuring verses that remind us not to be afraid.

• Psalm 112:7 says of the righteous, “They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them.” (NIV)

• Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (NIV)

• Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” (NIV)

• Psalm 118:6 says, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (NIV)

If you are struggling with worry about an unknown future as I was; take comfort with the truth that God knows everything ahead of time and He is never surprised.

Isaiah 46:10 says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”(NIV)

13 Who can fathom the Spirit[a] of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? 14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? Isaiah 40:13-14 (NIV)

We face an unknown future, but God is in control and His purpose will prevail. He has perfect knowledge and understanding. He has no equal and He is good.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

We don’t know every detail of what will happen in the future or even in the next 5 minutes, but God’s plans are to give us hope and a future.

Also, we can look to the Bible to read about some future events that will take place. God has revealed many prophecies that have been fulfilled or future prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled through His Word.

We don’t know everything that’s going to happen, but God has told us what we need to know.

Our part is to trust Him as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV)

We don’t have to be afraid to trust a known God with an unknown future.

Are you going through an uncertain time and feeling afraid?

Please click here if you would like to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. | CLICK TO TWEET

Additional resources about related subjects on this site:

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• How Biblical Thought Replacement Creates Time and Energy

NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth