“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
One interesting truth about the Lord is that He forgives us without measuring the sin on a scale. If man were God, no one will merit forgiveness as the Bible clearly states that our righteousness is like filthy rags. God has not stopped to invite man to the table for dialogue, irrespective of class, education, social status, race, color, biology, and age. Additionally, His invitation is not a court sentence. This is an invitation to the mercy table where the blood of Jesus atones for the sin of man. What I find fascinating is that God is the one who is extending the invitation, even though man is the sinner who has gone astray. He made His stand of love known to man when His demonstrated that love by sending His Son as a sacrifice for the sin of man. Man has been invited to this table by the blood of Jesus Christ. God has given man His ALL, there is nothing more than this. Man has a choice to come to the table and dialogue with Him, there is no sin that calvary did not carter for. Come just the way you are to the altar, the fresh blood of Jesus Christ is there ready to cleanse everyone one including; families, children, cities, the church, spiritual leaders and leaders of nations, and the general nations, for we all have sinned before this Holy God.
Why cry for Mercy? The wrath of God is ready to be revealed. Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds."
Leviticus 26: 40-42 “But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies— and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”
Transgression: Willful disobedience: An act that goes against the Law. Judges 16:17 “So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man." Samson knew he was never supposed to allow his hair to be cut. Each time we tell a liar, disrespectful we are committing transgression
Iniquity: Premeditated. 2 Samuel 12:9 “Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.”
If we reflect on the verses above it means we have all sinned. We cannot go before the Lord and pray with asking for forgiveness and mercy. Mark 11:25 "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins”. Daniel 9:9 says “To the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness even though we have rebelled against him.” How can we stand before this Holy God and expect our prayers to be heard if we don’t come asking forgiveness and pleading for mercy?
Ask for forgiveness for yourself. Psalm 32:5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Ask for forgiveness for rejecting the word in God. This is the crisis of the church and nations. 1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king."
Ask for forgiveness for the Church. Jeremiah 14:20 “We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.”
Ezekiel 18: 30-32 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one in accordance with his conduct,” says the Lord God. “Repent (change your way of thinking) and turn away from all your transgressions, so that sin may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed [against Me] and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live!”
Ezra 9:6-7 "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and put to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.”
Ask for Forgiveness for your family. Nehemiah 1:6 “may Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father's house have sinned.”
Isaiah 65:7 “Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says the Lord. “Because they have burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
Psalm 79: 8-9 “O do not remember against us the sins and guilt of our forefathers. Let Your compassion and mercy come quickly to meet us, for we have been brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; Rescue us, forgive us our sins for Your name’s sake.”
Ask for forgiveness for your city. It is important to ask for forgiveness because the Lord says in Jeremiah 29:7 “seek for peace and prosperity ... how can we seek when we have gone astray. The first thing to do is ask for forgiveness. Ezekiel 9:9-10 “He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”
Daniel 9:5 “we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.”
Ask for forgiveness for the sin of our children. Job 1:5 “When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts."
Ask for forgiveness for the Ministers of the Gospel. Jeremiah 23:1-2 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:14 “And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."
Jeremiah 10:21 “For the shepherds have become senseless and do not seek the LORD. Therefore, they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.”
Jeremiah 12:10 “Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.”
Ask for forgiveness for the Leaders of the nations. Isaiah 1:23 “Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.”
Ask for forgiveness for the nations. Isaiah 1:4 “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.”
Jeremiah 3:12 “Go, proclaim this message toward the north: 'Return, O faithless Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,' declares the LORD. 'I will not be angry forever.”
JOIN US EACH NIGHT ON OUR PRAYERLINE AT 9:00 PM EST