Friends in Christ Weekly Message
March 21, 2015

Generous in love - God, give grace!
     Huge in mercy - wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
     soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
     my sins are staring me down.
You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
     it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
     whatever you decide about me is fair.
I've been out of step with you for a long time,
     in the wrong since before I was born.
What you're after is truth from the inside out.
     Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
     scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
     set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes,
     give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
     shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Psalm 51:1-10 (Message*)

The prophet Nathan confronted David about his adultery escapade with Bathsheeba. After that, David wrote this psalm. David committed some awful sins, but he always came back to trusting in a loving God.

When we sin, we need to confess our sins before God as David did in this psalm. We need to accept the consequences of our actions. Then we throw ourselves on God's love, grace and mercy.

We need to offer ourselves up to God's cleansing power. We need to allow God to enter into us and make us new from the inside out.

We can trust in God's love, grace and mercy. It doesn't matter what we've done, if we come to God genuinely repentant and ready to give ourselves over completely to Him, He will enter into us and give us a fresh start. Dear friends, let us confess our sins and open ourselves to God's amazing love and transforming power in our lives.

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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