Day: July 16, 2021

The Storm Front

by JacobUncategorized

I grew up in the Midwest. In the Midwest, we have all types of weather.

There are heat waves. There are blizzards. There are cold outbreaks that make it so cold your face hurts the second you walk out the front door.

We have thunderstorms, flooding rains, hailstorms, and windstorms. We have tornadoes. And sometimes, we get all of these springtime weather events – the wind, the rain, the hail, the booming thunder – rolled together into one.

Whenever a cold front comes to visit in the spring or summer, you can get a huge line of thunderstorms to form ahead of it. This is called a squall line, and these things can bring some pretty scary weather.

They can bring damaging winds, winds capable of tearing the rooves off of houses. They can bring large hail that ruins crops and smashes windows. They can bring tornadoes, which slice through towns and take out longstanding buildings. They can bring flooding rains, which cause water to flow across streets like a whitewater rapid.

These are some pretty terrifying storms. Yet they often come with their own sort of reward. Before the storm hits, you’re usually suffering beneath the heat and humidity of summer. You walk outside and your forehead starts to sweat within seconds. Nobody wants to work in this type of heat.

But then comes the cold front, which – after an evening of furious thunder and driving rain – changes out that summertime mugginess for the clarity of dry, tranquil weather. It’s not uncommon for the high to hit 95 degrees one day, have severe storms that evening, and then to enjoy weather in the 70s the next day.

As I’ve stepped back to consider this, I have come to realize that this is a portrait of what often goes on in our own lives. We experience the stifling heat building up – the pressures, the conflicts, etc. – and it eventually reaches a point where it becomes practically unbearable. Then the storm front hits and all is washed clean.

We can breathe. We can think. There is release. There is peace.

God has a way of using intense trials to clear our lives of debris.

Before the trial – whatever it may be – we often get our priorities mixed up. We put things ahead of God. We start chasing our own desires, plotting our own paths, and seeking our own will.

Yet God does not intend for us to do life that way. He intends for us to do life His way, which is ultimately the best way. Whether we believe it or not, He has a will for each and every one of us. He has a personal will for each one of us; for you, for me, for everyone who is His child and is called according to His purpose.

God is a God of good gifts and free support. Yet when we start to walk out from underneath His proverbial umbrella, we step out into the rain. We expose ourselves to all sorts of things that might be bad for us.

Case-in-point: I’ve known lots of Christians who have gone through seasons of their lives when they were not walking in God’s will. I am one of them.

In one particular season of my life – a season where I was most assuredly not walking in the will of God – I became involved with sinful behavior that I had no business being involved with. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was disobeying God. But I did it anyway.

Over the weeks and months, I built up guilt and shame. I would cry every time I even thought about God. What I was doing broke my heart, but my flesh pulled harder than my soul. I kept indulging in this sin. I kept disobeying God, running from Him.

And then the storm came.

For a month and a half, I was crushed. The person who I’d done all this sinful stuff with, and who I thought I was in love with, decided to leave me. It came out of nowhere, at least at the time.

One day, she and I were tight.

The next day, she left.

This marked the beginning of a period of crying, seeking the Lord, and searching for answers. It was a time of great repentance. If I could have donned sackcloth and anointed myself with ashes, I would have done so. I was like David after his sin with Bathsheba.

I was crushed.

You see, all that heat and mugginess had crept into my life. It had gotten to the point where I was unable to work, unable to focus, unable to do anything except follow my sinful flesh. But then God called me back to reality. It was a tough break; it meant many days and hours of mourning, tears, repentance, and pain. It was a time of great shame and a feeling of great loss.

But it happened, and once the storm was over, I felt better. I was refreshed. I truly felt at peace and ready to pursue the Lord wholeheartedly once more.

Today, brothers and sisters, I have come to say this: although the storm may be intense, it is often God’s way of bringing peace. It feels uncomfortable, tumultuous, as though your world has been flipped upside down.

Storms are rough. Life gets tough.

But God is with you through it all. And when He brings you out the other side, once the storm clouds have rolled away and the sun has risen on a new day, you may find that it’s easier to breathe and easier to focus.

Do not fear the storm. Trust God in the midst of it, as Paul did when he was imprisoned. Trust God in all things; have faith. Put on His love for you.

He will not lead you astray.

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The Power of God

by JacobUncategorized

God is powerful. I mean really powerful. In fact, the power of God is something that we cannot really comprehend. Just when we think we’ve got some kind of handle on it, something new is revealed and our minds are blown again.

Sometime last spring, I stumbled across what is perhaps, in my opinion, one of the greatest sermons of all time. It was given by a preacher with the name of S.M. Lockridge in the early 1980’s out of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego, California. I think it’s only an excerpt (click here to listen on YouTube), but it sure is impactful.

Anyway, a major theme that runs through this message is one that I needed – and continue to need – to hear. You see, Lockridge quotes many Bible verses throughout this 14-minute long video. He visits the Old Testament, where he references Psalms and Isaiah. He also visits the New Testament, quoting from Matthew, Revelation, and Mark. And all throughout these verses, he is proclaiming a message of great consequence….

God is powerful. All powerful.

He is so great, so far above us in every way, that we cannot even begin to comprehend His outstanding glory and might. He is to us as the sun is to a speck of dust.

Just think about that for a moment.

Genesis 1 tells us that He created the world in seven days. A huge ball of rock, metal, soil, and water, weighing in at a combined 13,170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds, and He just snapped His fingers and it appeared! By contrast, the biggest structures in human history took decades, even centuries, to build. If we were to unite today as a species and direct all our efforts into constructing the biggest thing ever, we couldn’t build in a century what God did in a split second.

But our Creator didn’t stop there.

While He was forming the earth and separating out its seas and continents, He also created the entire universe. Now the universe is an unfathomably huge place – it’s so wide, our most powerful telescopes cannot see to its end. Light is the fastest thing known to science, and it takes 4 years to travel to earth from the nearest star aside from the sun. It’s estimated that the light from the edge of the observable universe would have to travel for over 12 billion years before reaching us.

Yet God created it all with the gesture of His hand. It takes the fastest thing in the universe an unimaginable amount of time to cross it, yet God just pointed his finger and said, “let it exist!” And it obeyed. Atoms popped into being, energy formed, stars and planets and solar systems came to be. He spoke, and it was so. The great nothingness obeyed Him at His word.

He is extraordinary, and worthy of all praise simply on the nature of who He is.

Now, here’s where things get even more mind-bending: that same God who made the earth also made you and me. The same God who can think an entire planet into existence knitted you together in your mother’s womb. He knew how all your days would turn out before they ever came to pass. And furthermore, although we are all sinners, this God gave us His only Son. He sent Christ to come, live a perfect life, and then die on the cross so that we would be justified and made alive in Him. The God who made the sun, the moon, the earth and the stars… He also made you. He lived for you, died for you, and arose once more for you.

Is that incredible or what?

Here in this world, we’d be absolutely shocked if the president, the prime minister, the king or the queen – whoever our leader is, wherever we live – came up to us, addressed us by name, and offered to take us out to dinner. We’d be shell-shocked. Beyond stunned.

Yet what many of us fail to realize – and I myself used to be one of them – is that we do have a King who knows us. We have a King who cares about us. We have a King who laid down His very life on Calvary so that we could live forever with Him.

That King is Jesus Christ.

That King has supremacy over all creation. It says in Colossians 1:15-17,

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Yes, all things hold together in Him. The stars shine because of Him – He is the one who allows them to go on doing so. If Christ gave the word, the sun would suddenly cease to give its light. If He gave the word, water would flow uphill. If He gave the word, the planets would fly out of their orbits and careen into the blackness of outer space.

All things, everything that ever has been or will be, hold together in Him. And that same Christ desires a relationship with you.

He desires you to lay down your life and come to Him, surrendering all you are to all He is. He is Lord, and He is Savior. He is Friend, and He is King. He is everything, or He is nothing. He gives life, and without Him there is none.

He calls to you. Will you answer?

For the Christian, will you answer His call to keep up the fight? Temptation is powerful. We all make mistakes: I have made them, you have made them. Our adversary, the devil, is always working against us. He’s warring for our joy, for our very life, and he is seeking whom he may devour. Do not let him devour you. Hold strong to the Lord, serving Him with a willing heart, no matter what you’ve done or how far you’ve slid. God is powerful enough to deliver you and set you upright. If He spoke the universe into being, imagine what He can do with your life if you’ll let Him.

Now, to the one who does not believe, will you answer His call in your heart? You can fill that emptiness within you with a lot of things. You can fill it with drugs; you can fill it with money. You can fill it with relationships, or even volunteer work. You can fill it with a career, or with achievement.

But it’ll never be enough.

Only Jesus Christ is sufficient. Only He can truly fill you with light and with love, with peace and contentment.

Come to Him. For He says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10). Lay down your life, surrender to Him, and know true peace, joy, and contentment forevermore.

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Who do You Live For?

by JacobChristian Living

Today’s culture is selling you something. It’s written all over the commercials you see on TV. It’s in books, it’s in songs; it’s in movies and shows. It is the driving force behind almost every popular movement that springs up, dominates the airwaves, and then dies down again. It saturates our academics and forms the foundation of our commerce.

It is all-reaching, and no matter who you are or where you live, there is no escaping it.

Do you know what it is?

It’s selfishness.

We live in what is perhaps the most self-centered culture the world has ever known. Commercials bombard us on a daily basis with the promise that we can “have it all.” Self-help books peddle the idea that the only way to be happy is to ‘learn to love yourself.’ Business ethics have largely gone by the wayside, and the preferred method to get ahead is to be the one who pushes everyone else down in a ruthless climb up the corporate ladder.

The phrase used to be, “Nice guys finish first.” But in recent times, that’s been replaced by the far more sinister, “Nice guys finish last.”

Indeed, the world’s teaching is that the one sure way of getting ahead in life is to focus entirely on you. How often have you heard people say that they’re “going to focus more on me?” How often have you been told that you must “love yourself, no matter what?” Or what about this one: “Your only responsibility is to yourself?”

Let me ask another question: is this a right way to go about life, or is it dreadfully wrong? If we go to the Bible, we’ll see the answer provided to us as clear as day.

We will start with a visit to 2 Timothy 3, concentrating on verses 1 through 5.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

That’s quite an indictment on these men and women. Nearly twenty different words and phrases are used to describe their conduct, not one of which is positive. Now, note also that verse 1 contains within it the phrase, “in the last days.” On this topic, the MacArthur Study Bible commentary states,

“The word for “times” had to do with epochs, rather than clock or calendar time. Such savage, dangerous eras or epochs will increase in frequency and severity as the return of Christ approaches. The church age is fraught with these dangerous movements accumulating strength as the end nears. The last days. This phrase refers to this age, the time since the first coming of the Lord Jesus.”

Following from this, it’s clear that we are indeed living “in the last days,” and have been for nearly two thousand years. However, as the time of Christ’s return draws nearer, the severity of sinfulness and deceit will increase, giving rise to an era marked by increasingly selfish, dominating, calloused, and unloving individuals.

Sound familiar?

Moving on, James 3:16 gives us another (much shorter) passage on the vices of selfishness.

“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Once more, we see another fundamental force of our culture outlined in this text. How many times have you felt a hot surge of anger when someone else got what you thought you deserved? We all feel this way at times – I certainly have – but many people in today’s world are allowing this type of behavior to define them. We are taught by prevailing cultural wisdom that jealousy is good, and that it’s perfectly healthy – even expected – to have selfish desires that nearly control your life.

Yet the Bible tells us that wherever jealousy, wherever hardness of heart, wherever self-seeking, self-centered ambitions exist, there will be consequences. Such is our society today – a culture filled with selfishness and envy, a culture where revenge is looked upon as a virtue. It’s a society wherein parents are subservient to children, abusive spouses are ubiquitous, and minor disagreements are met with furious retaliation.

It’s all the horror and darkness in this world that causes many an idealist to look out the window and muse something like, ‘We humans are terrible. We ruin everything we touch. We wreck the environment and oppress the weak, and we just carry on like nothing is wrong.’

Indeed, to the one without Christ, there is no hope. We live in a dark world, a world filled with selfishness and injustice and sin, and that’s not going to change, at least not for now. But for those who have Jesus, there is hope. There is hope overflowing, hope that never ends, hope that abounds to the ends of the earth.

You see, God is not mocked. He is not caught by surprise. He knows our predicaments – every one of them – and yet He chose to send His only Son to die for us that we might have life, and that in that life He might have the ultimate glory.

He came to testify; He came to die, He came to be buried and then triumphantly rise again to the glory of God, having dealt sin a mortal blow. On that cross, Jesus Christ gained a resounding victory over death. He put Satan to utter shame. He destroyed the works of the devil. When He arose, He got up with every bit of power He possessed – which is to say, all the power there ever has been or ever will be – and He spread His arms wide.

He told us, in John 14:6,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.  From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

What a promise we have in our God! What an amazing Lord He is, that He would leave His place in heaven to humble Himself to the point of death on a cross.

With His sacrifice, God opened the door to Himself. He opened the door to eternal life in Him, to peace in this life, to abundant love in our hearts. But what He also said was this, in Luke 9:23 –

“…If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Today, most are familiar with the idea of salvation by faith alone – this is known by the Latin term Sola Fide – but comparatively rarer in teaching is the material found in Luke 9:23. Quite simply, to follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross day-by-day, and follow after Him. This isn’t optional. It isn’t an add-on, or a side activity. Following Christ requires one thing – your entire life. All you are, all your dreams, desires, faults, flaws, failings, and talents, belong to Him if you wish to follow Him.

Thus, I ask you: who do you live for? Modern culture teaches us that the highest purpose of life is to live for you. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches the exact opposite: to truly live, you must live for Christ. In Galatians 2:20, the Apostle Paul makes an incredible declaration of faith and surrender to the Lord,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

These are not the words of a man who begrudgingly served the Lord Jesus. Paul speaks his praises without reservation, without inhibition. His writings are full of reverent obedience and heartfelt joy towards God, and towards the Son who brought him out of a life of sin and into a life of eternal significance.

Paul was content wherever he went. His joy and faith lied in Jesus, and Jesus Christ never failed him. Jesus never failed any of His apostles. He never failed any of His followers. He is the great shepherd who lays down His life for the flock, and who came to earth to serve the lowest of the low, that He might ascend to the highest of the high.

Christ, the suffering servant, the one who paid it all, now sits at the right hand of God. And He will never fail. He cannot fail! It is no more possible for Him to lose than it is for fire to become ice, or for the sun to become the moon.

But to truly know Him, to truly receive Him, we must surrender to Him. We must abide in Him. We must “take up our cross” and follow Him.

This will mean forsaking some of our own desires. It will mean giving up some of our perceived “freedom” to act in whatever way we want.

It will mean that we no longer live for us, but for Him. All those ideas about “focusing on me” or “being responsible only for myself” will be thrown out the window. Our idols, whatever they may have been or are, must be exchanged in favor of the One who is truly worthy of our worship and admiration.

Lay down your life and live for Christ. He is the only One who cannot fail, and the only One worthy of all praise and glory. He is the greatest friend you can ever have, the strongest king, and the closest of all brothers.

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Psalm 51: Create in Me a Pure Heart

by JacobChristian Living 
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51: 10-12)

Even the most devoted Christians fall victim to sin.

Sometimes, it comes upon us suddenly and with little warning. We stub our toe and say something we shouldn’t. We hear about what happened to one of our family members and a flash of red-hot anger wells to the surface. Perhaps we even sin without fully knowing it – driving over the speed limit (and thus breaking the law), or failing to give thanks to God for something He provided for us.

‘Minor sins’ such as these (and I put the term in quotes because these transgressions are no less sinful than any others) are often looked upon in daily Christian life as nuisances. They’re typically the reason we sit down and say to ourselves ‘well, we are human, after all.‘ But at the end of the day, we can be rest assured these sins are forgiven us. It’s quite easy for us to look past a stray curse word or even a speeding ticket. When it comes to ‘nuisance sins,’ we often have little trouble resting in the power of Christ Jesus.

But what happens when our sins aren’t so small? What happens when we’ve really crossed the line, when we feel that we are so far from forgiveness that we might as well give up?

King David answers this question for us in our selected passage of this post: Psalm 51:10-12.

King David’s Series of Sins: a Background (2 Samuel 11:5-27)

One calm evening, with his entire army out at war, David took a stroll upon the roof of his palace and saw a beautiful woman bathing nearby. Enticed by her beauty, he sent someone to go and find out about her. One thing led to another and the two – King David and Bathsheba – slept together. Of course, the king was interested in nothing more than simply enjoying her for one night, and so he sent her back home the next morning. But some time later, he received what must have been a heart-stopping message: I am pregnant.

Now, this situation was complicated even further by the fact that Bathsheba was married. And not only was she married, but she was the wife of Uriah, one of David’s high-ranking warriors. David knew that he could not have the truth become known, so he started plotting to cover up his misdeed.

First, he attempted to send Uriah home in the hopes that he would make love to Bathsheba, thus covering up David’s role in her pregnancy. But Uriah did not go home, instead electing to sleep outside the palace.

David’s next plan was to get Uriah drunk, once again hoping that he would go home and spend the night with his wife. However, the solider did not return home as the king had anticipated.

Finally, feeling completely exhausted for options, David arranged for Uriah to be taken into battle. During the fight, the Uriah’s unit was commanded to suddenly fall back, leaving the solider behind to be killed by the onslaught of enemy forces. The plan worked just as David had hoped: Uriah was killed, excuses were made, and the cover-up was complete. When Bathsheba heard word of her husband’s death, she mourned, and then David took her as his wife.

However, according to 2 Samuel 11:27, “…the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”

Psalm 51: Following David’s Lead

As any moral person can attest to, what David did was not only bad; it was very bad. Planning the death of an innocent person is nothing short of despicable.

But unlike many sinners found throughout the Bible (cough, cough, Pharisees), David did not remain unrepentant. In fact, Psalm 51 was written as a plea towards God for forgiveness. It portrayed a man who was broken and sorrowful in the aftermath of a series of sinful actions and decisions.

Because of this, the chapter serves as a shining example for what to do when we feel like we’ve stepped beyond the ‘acceptable’ limit. Whether it’s a nasty word you said against someone, a conflict gone too far, or even the committing of a crime, you are not beyond God’s forgiveness.

With this in mind, let’s look at repentance and hope in light of Psalm 51.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God…”

To properly understand David’s plea for ‘a pure heart,’ we first must understand God’s will for our lives regarding purity. There are many verses in the Bible which speak to purity or some version thereof, exalting its virtuous place in the Christian life. Here are just a few of them:

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." - (Matthew 5:8)

 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." - (1 Timothy 4:12)

 "How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word." - (Psalm 119:9)

Clearly, purity is an integral part of God’s will for us. And given that it is of such importance to a healthy Christian lifestyle, we would be well-served by following David’s lead and asking God for a clean heart.

In my own experience with sin and darkness, I know that one of the biggest things getting in the way of my repentance is a certain ‘dullness’ of heart that follows the disobedience. I will commit a sin and then feel a dirtiness that causes me to run from confessing it.

It is during these times that I often bow my head and say something to the effect of, ‘Dear Father, I know that what I have done is wrong. Moreover, I know that I had every opportunity to stop it from happening, yet I still chose the pleasure of sin over the beauty and truth of your Word. I am sorry. I pray to you, Father, that you would create in me a pure and clean heart so that my focus might return to you.’

Psalm 37:4 tells us that God will give us the desires of our hearts. If one of our desires is to see our heart made right with God, then He will most certainly grant that request. Pray for your heart to be made pure, and God will wash it clean!

“…Renew a steadfast spirit within me…”

If the restoration of purity to our hearts is the first order of business after sinning, then the ‘renewal of a steadfast spirit within us’ comes soon after. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines steadfast as ‘firmly fixed in place: immovable.’ A second definition of the word, varying slightly from the first, is ‘firm in belief, determination, or adherence; loyal.’

When these definitions are looked at in light of the context of the verse, it becomes clear that they’re both pointing towards something which is firm, strong, and steady. In other words, the proper antidote for a sin-stricken heart is for one’s spirit to be renewed and strengthened by God.

Consider this: one of God’s foremost desires for us is that we would seek Him with all our hearts. How better can this be done than through a spirit which is strong and resolute? If I am being told to run a marathon, shouldn’t I be in shape first?

Paul often likens the Christian walk to a race. He tells us to ‘Run in such a way as to get the prize’ (1 Corinthians 9:24). So if we’re running a race – a spiritual race in which the prize is eternity with Jesus Christ – then having the strength and endurance to do so is paramount. And we ourselves do not possess this quality of strength; rather, it is given to us by God. As Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Our salvation was and is entirely through God’s grace. It’s all about Him. And when we are called to the Christian walk which follows salvation, we are also called to make sacrifices. We are called to lay down our lives. But God tells us that He will never leave us, not even until the end of the age. We don’t ‘run the race’ purely out of our own strength. If our salvation was solely through God’s will, then our strength and renewal will also be through God’s will.

So if you feel as though you’re beyond forgiveness, follow the example of David, and ask God – with all sincerity and humble reverence – to strengthen and sustain your spirit. He will answer you. After all, if our God is for us, then who can be against us?

“…Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me…”

Oftentimes, one of the most potent feelings we experience after committing a sin is that of a disconnect from God. We turn our heads to the ground and wonder ‘How can a holy and pure God love me after that?’

Although having a repentant attitude towards sin is vital in the Christian life, one of the greatest things about our salvation is that we don’t need to be trapped by feelings of guilt and sorrow. Christ has, once and for all, freed us from these through His work on the cross. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” An entire article could be written over this one line, but its essence can be summed up in a few points.

  1. Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow are different. They produce different mindsets, have different effects, and yield different results.
  2. Worldly sorrow is inherently self-based. It dwells upon sin’s negative impacts on the sinner himself, and, in many ways, it is a form of pride. Such sorrow is of no redeeming value in a person’s life.
  3. Godly sorrow is the opposite of worldly sorrow. Instead of brooding over the sin’s personal impacts for long periods of time, one recognizes it, confesses it, and then receives God’s forgiveness. Because all sins will be forgiven for the person who is a follower of Christ, (Mark 3:28) the transgression has been washed by the sacrificial blood and is no more.
  4. Although Godly sorrow will produce repentance and genuine forgiveness, it does not stop sin from taking its toll in this life. All of us are capable of making decisions, including bad ones, and each decision carries consequences.

As we bring our focus back to the verse at hand, we see that David was pleading for the Lord to remain in him. In doing so, he was practicing Godly sorrow. Did he feel bad for what he did? You bet. And was he full of regret? Of course he was. In fact, the prophet Nathan informed David that his rebellious act would result in the death of the child which was conceived (2 Samuel 12:14). David then did everything he could to save the child – fasting, lying on the ground, and praying for days on end – but it was to no avail.

Once the son had died, David rose from his fast and worshipped God. When questioned by his servants regarding his behavior, (it would have been customary to fast after the death of the child) David said, “Now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23).

David not only fully repented of his actions in the presence of God, but he also gave his sorrows and grief to Him. Instead of dwelling on his sin’s consequences, David acknowledged his wrong, asked forgiveness, and – most importantly – centered himself back upon the Lord.

“…Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

It’s a fundamental fact of human nature that we often lose sight of what’s important. Starting a new job, for example, may come with feelings of great joy and great potential. You might even feel limitless in those first few days. Yet after a time, most people tend to settle into a routine, and their work turns from enjoyable to tolerable to downright monotonous. The novelty has worn off, leaving nothing behind but mere duties to be fulfilled.

Sadly, the same thing can happen to our walks with Christ. What was once full of wonder and excitement can, after a period of time, become commonplace. This is exactly what happened to David before the events of 2 Samuel 11 and 12 even took place; in fact, 2 Samuel 11 opens by informing us that David remained behind while his army was out at battle. In his boredom and complacency, David sought out the companionship of Bathsheba, setting the whole series of events into play. The king had lost his joy in God, and was now seeking to replace it with sinful actions.

A lack of joy in God is one of the root causes of sin. If we don’t have our eyes set on Him, then who (or what) will we turn to? Human beings have a built-in desire to worship something greater than ourselves – just look at how many religions we have across the world. If we aren’t setting our sights on God, we’ll turn to idols and substitutes. Ephesians 4:27 covers this idea very well by saying, “Do not give the devil a foothold.”

In my own personal experience, I’ve battled against various temptations and desires which are at their strongest when my joy in God is at its weakest. The more I would give in to these sins, the lower in quality would be my experience with God. Imagine your relationship with God as a living thing, and then imagine sin as a poison. The more poison you put into the relationship, the weaker and less healthy it will be.

David knew this truth all too well. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba, lied to cover it up, and ultimately arranged the death of Uriah, he was suffering from an already-weakened relationship with God. The more he sinned, the worse his relationship got, until he reached the point where in his repentance he cried ‘God, please! Please restore your joy to me, please give me a spirit that loves you and is willing to follow you!’ God’s response (through the prophet Nathan) was essentially the following: I forgive you, and I have made you whole again. The consequences of your sin will still remain, but I have healed your spirit.

If you’ve committed a major sin, or you’ve been locked in a pattern of sinning, God is waiting. He’s working in your heart; He is leading you to see the error of your ways. He loves you with an everlasting love, and it brings Him no greater joy than to see His children walking in Him with delight.

If you truly desire to be made new again, to set your sin behind you, to renew your faith as David did, then simply confess this to God and receive it by faith. The more you pray, the more you read the Bible, and the more you apply scripture to your life, the greater your joy in the Lord will become. After all, Matthew 21:22 says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Our Lord is a God of love. Will it be easy to follow Him? No. Is our walk always full of happiness and prosperity? Not in the slightest bit; believers around the world both past and present often experience some of the worst persecution imaginable. But by turning our hearts back to Him, and focusing ourselves on Him as David did, He will heal our hearts and spirits from sin’s horrible stain. And one day, when we meet Him in heaven, our sin will be wiped away completely, just as He promises! Every tear, every ounce of pain, every trial – it will all be made right in the perfection of eternity.

As I bring this to a close, I’d like to leave you with one last verse: Matthew 28:20, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” God makes us a promise, and He will never go back on His word. Trust Him, turn from your sin, and ask for your heart and soul to be made clean.

Thank you for reading.

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