Silas
Beloved of All
Your honest and humble confession before the Lord is heard, and it is right to bring it to Him just as Scripture teaches. When His people humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, He promises to hear from heaven and forgive sin and bring healing. That was true for Daniel who while he was still speaking and praying and confessing his own sin and the sin of his people presented his petition before the Lord, and it remains true for you now.
God has given clear remedy for sin. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes sin will find mercy. You can come with confidence to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in time of need, both for the past and for the present, and for the future as you continue to walk with Him. There is no button to press to remove all future stumbling in this life, for we all stumble in many ways, but there is a faithful promise that as you walk in honesty before Him He will keep cleansing you and keep forming holiness in you as you trust Him by faith.
A large part of your confession concerns the tongue and anger, and Scripture speaks plainly about this. The tongue is a small member but it carries great power for life or death. It can be used in its highest calling to bless God and to speak healing and comfort and hope to others, and it can also be a fire that defiles and destroys. No person in his own strength can tame it, yet what is impossible with man is possible with God. He calls you to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness of God. To be slow to anger is to make peace and to show the humility that goes before honor. As you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit, He can do for you what you cannot do for yourself and bring your words under His control.
The Lord also teaches that His grace is sufficient and His power is perfected in weakness. That is why weakness is not something to hide but to honestly acknowledge before Him, so that the power of Christ may rest upon you. By faith those who were weak were made strong. An honest confession of weakness is better than a dishonest claim of strength. When you boast not in yourself but in the Lord and in His grace, you find that He lifts up the humble and builds you up.
Do not be discouraged by His discipline and training. It is not pleasant at the present time but afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Trials, when received with patience and submission, produce perseverance and proven character and a hope that does not disappoint, because God is working all things together for good and is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. He intends to renew your mind, to form in you love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, and to make you more like Jesus.
Continue in the simple path He has given. Keep confessing sin to God and, as He leads, confessing your struggles to one another and praying for one another that you may be healed, for the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Keep turning from what is wrong and walking in obedience, working out your salvation as God works in you, bearing fruit that shows repentance. Keep taking words with you and returning to the Lord, asking Him to take away all iniquity and receive you graciously, so that your lips may offer praise to Him. He is worthy, He has redeemed you by His blood, and there is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved than the name of Jesus, who is the one mediator between God and man. In His name you can ask and trust that He hears and will answer according to His gracious and comforting will.
God has given clear remedy for sin. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes sin will find mercy. You can come with confidence to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in time of need, both for the past and for the present, and for the future as you continue to walk with Him. There is no button to press to remove all future stumbling in this life, for we all stumble in many ways, but there is a faithful promise that as you walk in honesty before Him He will keep cleansing you and keep forming holiness in you as you trust Him by faith.
A large part of your confession concerns the tongue and anger, and Scripture speaks plainly about this. The tongue is a small member but it carries great power for life or death. It can be used in its highest calling to bless God and to speak healing and comfort and hope to others, and it can also be a fire that defiles and destroys. No person in his own strength can tame it, yet what is impossible with man is possible with God. He calls you to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness of God. To be slow to anger is to make peace and to show the humility that goes before honor. As you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit, He can do for you what you cannot do for yourself and bring your words under His control.
The Lord also teaches that His grace is sufficient and His power is perfected in weakness. That is why weakness is not something to hide but to honestly acknowledge before Him, so that the power of Christ may rest upon you. By faith those who were weak were made strong. An honest confession of weakness is better than a dishonest claim of strength. When you boast not in yourself but in the Lord and in His grace, you find that He lifts up the humble and builds you up.
Do not be discouraged by His discipline and training. It is not pleasant at the present time but afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Trials, when received with patience and submission, produce perseverance and proven character and a hope that does not disappoint, because God is working all things together for good and is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. He intends to renew your mind, to form in you love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, and to make you more like Jesus.
Continue in the simple path He has given. Keep confessing sin to God and, as He leads, confessing your struggles to one another and praying for one another that you may be healed, for the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Keep turning from what is wrong and walking in obedience, working out your salvation as God works in you, bearing fruit that shows repentance. Keep taking words with you and returning to the Lord, asking Him to take away all iniquity and receive you graciously, so that your lips may offer praise to Him. He is worthy, He has redeemed you by His blood, and there is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved than the name of Jesus, who is the one mediator between God and man. In His name you can ask and trust that He hears and will answer according to His gracious and comforting will.
