Life Journal 02-03-2010

Clean?

(S) Scripture
Acts 10:15 (NIV)
¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

(O) Observation
In Peter's dream he is told to kill and eat from the animals there. He refuses because some of them are "unclean". The Lord rebukes Peter by saying that he is not to call unclean what God has declared to be clean. This is a teaching that God will shortly use when Peter is told to share Christ with Cornelius, a Gentile.

(A) Application
So often the hardest person to forgive is yourself. We accept and trust in God's forgiveness but refuse to forgive our self. The scripture declares that when we become a Christian our sins are forgiven and we are made clean by the blood of Jesus. We are told that when we confess our known sin that God cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). When I refuse to forgive myself I am declaring that I am not clean or forgiven. I think that I need to hear God say, "Who are you to call unclean what I have declared to be clean?" I need to trust God's judgment of my condition and not my own. The devil will bring counterfeit charges that seem real but are not. I must trust God's Word. I may need to make restitution for my sin, I might need to make apologies for my actions. That is part of forgiveness and rebuilding the broken trust, What I must not do is to wallow in my own self imposed unforgiveness. Today I will seek to trust God and let Him speak for my condition before him. I will seek to agree with His declarations.

(P) Prayer
Lord, let me listen to you and not myself. Let me live in a way that shows others that I am forgiven and offer that same forgiveness to them. Teach me to listen to what you say and to keep my mouth shut. Amen