Pardon Is Not To Make Me More Acceptable to GOD

LORD, as I approach Your throne, my natural reaction is to cry out like Isaiah, “I have unclean lips” (Isa 6:5), and so desire to spill out my confessions of sin before I come close to You.

In the prayer JESUS taught His disciples, the first half of it is words of worship and honor to You. Confession of sin is toward the end of the prayer and then takes up only 1⁄2 a sentence.

Remind me FATHER, You do not throw the robe of CHRIST upon me so You can tolerate looking at me. You do not demand I confess my sin before You let me approach You. You know my frame (Ps 103:14) and my sinfulness does not give You pause.

A woman may forget she is nursing a child, but You will never forget me. You engraved me on the palm of Your hands (Isa 49:15,16) before I did anything right or wrong (Rom 9:11).

You seek and solicit my love constantly. You love me at the expense of Your Son’s blood—at the expense of condescending to beseech me (ref#18, [1 John 4:18]). Have You not rend the heavens and come down to be constantly beside me (Isa 64:1)? You are willing to call me Your bride even when I am unfaithful to You (Hosea 3:1).

I have mistaken thoughts about confession! My natural thought is to dwell on Your assurance of pardon to convince myself that I am now good enough to come into Your presence. FATHER, remind me once again that I am good only because CHRIST has made me His own, not because I have confessed my sins and received Your pardon.

Isn’t this what Job was so upset about—justifying himself before You? Job wanted You to speak to him about his sin—or lack thereof. Did You do that? No, You instead overwhelmed Job with Your majesty
(Job 38:1-41:34).

Astonish me like You did Job. I want to spend the majority of my time with You losing myself in Your love.

“…if the heart be…much taken up with…the eminency of the Father’s love, it cannot choose but be overpowered, conquered, and endeared unto him” (ref#35, p128).

“As praise in the mouth of thy saints is comely, so teach me to exercise this divine gift, when I pray, read, hear, see, do, in the presence of people and of my enemies, as I hope to praise thee eternally hereafter” (ref#76, p204).

You Alone Are GOD

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O Lord my GOD,
You are very mighty!
You are clothed with honor and majesty (Ps 104:1).

For You are great
and do wondrous things;
You alone are GOD (Ps 86:10)—

the only true GOD (John 17:3).

I bow down toward Your holy temple
and give thanks to Your name
for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness,

for You are exalted (Ps 138:2).

Above all things
You have magnified Your name and Your word.
So, I will worship toward Your holy temple
and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness (Ps 138:2).

Relationship

“The Mystery of Christ is to realize that it is indeed just that, a mystery. To represent faith in Jesus merely as something we come to understand and accept is to rob it of the mystery of being in relationship with something that is infinitely bigger and wiser than we are” (ref#137, p32).

FATHER, CHRIST says to me, “’Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country, Let us spend the night in the villages” (Song 7:11 NASU). He does not say, “Go into the country without me”—but, He says, “let us go.”

Re-impress Your image upon my soul that I might never more think it is okay to do anything without You (ref#76, p158). Without You I am an outcast, but with You I can touch Your kingly scepter. Without You “darkness spreads its horrors in front” but, with You “an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon” (ref#76, p158).

Without You “all within me is terror and dismay,” but with You “every accusation is charmed into joy and peace” (ref#76, p158). Without You “I hide my lips in trembling shame;” but, with You “I open my mouth in petition and praise” (ref#76, p158).

“If we don’t want to experience God’s closeness here on earth, why would we want to go to heaven anyway” (ref#78, p58)?

Prayer Facts:

“Satan dreads nothing but prayer—The church that lost its Christ was full of good works….Souls may be lost in good works, as surely as in evil ways. The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer….He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray” (ref#54, p186).

Reasons for Waiting for GOD:

Because Your mercy and lovingkindness endure forever (Ps 118:29), I will wait for You. Because You will be gracious to the sound of my cry (Isa 30:19), I will wait for You. Because You pardon my guilt (Ps 25:11), I will wait for You.
Because You are my hiding place (Ps 32:7), I will wait for You.

Thy Lovingkindness Is Better Than Life

Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, I will bless Thee (Ps 63:3,4) even when I’m a prisoner in the valley and have to backtrack to the elementary principles of CHRIST (Heb 6:1). Thy lovingkindness is better than anything, LORD—even when I’m feeling dejected and alone.

Certainly I would be hypocritical praising You with only the words: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God;…” (Isa 61:10 ESV) when I am so downcast. But, if I read on in this Isaiah prayer I discover a way to burst open the prison door.

“…for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isa 61:10 AMP).

LORD, You have given me a mantel of righteousness—glorious and beautiful (Ex 28:40)! Just by reading these words I find myself standing before You with no rationale to remain in the valley any longer.

FATHER, Your words break the snare of the negative cycle; the door is open and I can escape (Ps 124:7). You give me the strength to believe, “You have clothed me with the garments of salvation; You have covered me with the robe of righteousness.” I do not have to stay a prisoner.

All praise to You, FATHER, for if You are not on my side the enemy swallows me alive (Ps 124:2-3). My help is in You, LORD (Ps 124:8). You give me the faith I need, so with joy my lips bless Thee (Ps 63:3). Thy lovingkindness IS better than life.

Felix-Like

“As Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and his people, about a life of moral discipline and the coming Judgment, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort and dismissed him….” (Acts 24:25 MSG).

FATHER, I watch ____ divert (his/her) attention from You whenever Your names comes up in conversation. I have to say affliction and prosperity have alike failed to turn ____ toward CHRIST. Tears and prayers and sermons have, so far, been wasted on (his/her) barren heart (ref#34, Dec 31st AM).

There must be something of You that ____ disapproves of otherwise (he/she) would not be hindered from acknowledging Your authority (Matt 13:57). (He/She) goes on hardening (his/her) heart when (he/she) puts CHRIST to the test for the purpose of approving Him (Heb 3:7-9). CHRIST does not meet (his/her) specifications as Messiah (Luke 9:22) because (he/she) does not yet have an experiential knowledge of Him (Heb 3:10).

Pride makes ____ critical of Your activities, FATHER. I hear (him/her) criticizing, disagreeing and correcting things of You (ref#124, p118). Thus, I long to see (him/her) approach You with teachable humility (ref#124, p119). I long to see ____ great in Your kingdom.

“Unless you reverse your present trend of thought and become as the little children, in no case shall you enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, he who is of such a nature as to humble himself like this little child, esteeming himself small inasmuch as he is so, thus thinking truly, and because truly, therefore humbly of himself, this person is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (ref#37, p45-46, [Matt 18:3-4]).

Christianity Is Foolishness Until…

FATHER, we are spiritually dead until we receive the HOLY SPIRIT. “…the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God…” (1 Cor 2:14 ASV). Self-initiated faith is lifeless, boring and unsatisfying.

Move ____ to speak to that problem with others. INITIATING FATHER, discharge ____ to tear down myths and tell the Truth. “The majority of people have their morality well within their own grasp, they have no sense of need of the Gospel” (ref#7, Dec 17th). Lead ____ to paint a picture of understanding about the fallacy of bringing one’s self to Christianity.

The golden rule of preaching is “preach CHRIST, not the experience.” “It is never personal testimony that save men” (ref#7, Dec 17th). Propel ____ to not go to the right or left of focusing on CHRIST and His life. Cause (him/her) to remember that “once Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of Him” (ref#7, Dec 17th). “The Gospel of God creates a sense of need of the Gospel” (ref#7, Dec
17th).

“The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness….” (1 Cor 2:14 MSG).

In conversation with others and even in talking to (himself/herself) keep ____ thinking about the reasons CHRIST is “needed” in life.

Benefiting from CHRIST’s Affliction

FATHER, ____, because (he/she) is in affliction, has the opportunity to recognize CHRIST’s activity in (his/her) life. It is true, this affliction will make (him/her) look to CHRIST for help in it, but also, affliction makes CHRIST’s activities more vivid. (He/She) will understand without a doubt that CHRIST takes a personal interest in (him/her).

____ will undoubtedly come to CHRIST begging to be free from (his/her) affliction. But, help (him/her) LORD, look for something better than being affliction-free. For CHRIST’s business is strengthening (his/her) being, animating (his/her) spirit further, and continually adding love to (his/her) heart (ref#61, July 7th).

CHRIST may allow the affliction to remain, for His promise is that He will provide enough strength for each day (Deut 33:25). His grace is sufficient for anything He allows in ____’s life (2 Cor 12:9).

FATHER, it’s possible that this suffering is severe enough it will push ____ to the point of longing for nothing but You. Let this pain make (him/her) behave as a child— willing to completely trust You. Simplify (his/her) life. Reduce (his/her) existence to one relationship—You and (his/hers) (ref#7, July 29th).

Obedience

“His timing is perfect, His will is our hiding place. Lord Jesus keep me
in Your will. Don’t let me go mad by poking about outside it” (ref#84, p218).

FATHER, being obedient to You sounds simple enough, but how do I know it is You giving the orders instead of my flesh desiring to be spiritual? Can I not hear the same words from both You and my flesh?

No prerequisite is required for fleshly desires to enter my head. They are stand-alone commands rising from my depraved nature. They masquerade as important spiritual ideas appealing to my sense of logic. They beg to be put into action.

“Carnal pleasure, worldly profit and honour, the things of sense and time, are the things of the flesh…The favour of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity, are the things of the Spirit” (ref#18, [Rom 8:5]).

FATHER, draw me into submission. Make me wait on You to receive Your revelation in my intuition otherwise my flesh will assert itself (ref#101, p43). If I sense I’m being the boss over any spiritual project, I can be sure it is my flesh directing me. You FATHER, do not delegate authority over the control of Your work (ref#101, p42).

“Despite a great revival in Samaria, Philip was not responsible for the follow-up labor of strengthening. He must leave immediately for the desert in order that a “heathen” eunuch might be saved….All acts are in the hands of the Spirit; believers simply obey. Had it been left to human thoughts and wishes, many places which ought to be visited would not have been, and many others would have been visited which ought not to be. These experiences from Acts inescapably tell us that we too must follow the guidance of God’s Spirit in our intuition and not follow our thoughts, reasons or wishes”(ref#101, p 42-43).

“Jesus takes us over for His enterprises, His building schemes entirely, and no soul has any right to claim where he shall be put” (ref#7, May 7th).

Anger

“…whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17 ESV)

Anger is my announcement to myself that I am seeking my own way and not Yours, FATHER. And the announcement makes me madder—it tells me I’m failing at being righteous—the very thing I want to be known for.

You have taught me so much. I know so much of the right things to do. I’m irritated that I know so much which proclaims to me how often I fail. Ah, but anger clues me that I have fallen into the devil’s ploy of trying to be spiritually ambitions (ref#105, p68).

“The massive interest in self-esteem and self-worth exists because it is trying to help us with a real problem. The problem is that we really are not okay. There is no reason why we should feel great about ourselves. We truly are deficient” (ref#106, p29).

“When a man really sees himself as the Lord sees him, it is not the abominable sins of the flesh that shock him, but the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against Jesus Christ” (ref#7, March 8th).

Pride makes me angry. But how can I let my selfishness upstage CHRIST? CHRIST a continual servant—excepting life as it came—never getting His way—never.

“All He did was for others. When He came from heaven, it was for others. When He laid down His life, it was for others….when He was raised again… it was…to justify others…the position He occupies…now in heaven is for others,…” (ref#100, p139).

“For every one look at myself I must take ten looks at Jesus” (ref#106, p67). Anger begs a “time-out.” And a productive “time-out” is to squelch anger by looking to JESUS.