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Friday, May 12, 2017

Dealing With My Sin - King David (2)


                    The Path To Renewal & Restoration
(Written by Kevin A. Hall)

What do you do when you have hit rock bottom? What steps does a person need to take in order to be restored to God? At some point you will eventually need to cross this bridge, as I have. I have a Tshirt from my trip down that path with safe return, thank God. I thought about the Psalmist David and   found in his writings a guide for such a trip. If you spend time reading his letters of praise and/or reflection, you can sense his passion. My thoughts go back to a time of David's greatest pain – running away from his own son (Psalm 27). Yet again, we see him in reflection after his failure with Bathsheba. 
What do I do to get back in good grace with God? What of my spiritual state after falling so badly? Psalm 51 is a surrounding text in which David describes his experience in greater detail. Do you remember the details of David's failure? He took another man's wife, covered up the affair, she became pregnant, David frames the husband, the husband dies as a result. Some time after, God seeks out David with a confrontation by the man of God:
                                    
                                   The Path to Renewal and Restoration - Psalm 51

o   Call out to God for forgiveness - In verses 1 – 2 David asks God to have mercy on him and wash away his sin. He calls on God after being called out on his sin because he knew and recognized God’s character of love and compassion. This is revealed during the time of Moses in Exodus 34:6 – “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

o   Don’t minimize your sins. In verses 3 – 5 David encourages us not to hide or cover up our actions. While our sinfulness affects others, we are really sinning against God.
o   Get back into fellowship with God – In verses 6 – 12 he expresses the contrast between being in fellowship and out of fellowship. He longs for the joy of fellowship:
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (51:8)
Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (51:12) 
Spend time with God and the people of God.

o   Pray for a Pure Heart. 
“David had been a slave to lust, drunk with power and stained by murder.” How does such a person get back into fellowship with God? David knew God’s nature so he prayed “Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (51:10), and he goes on.. “and sustain me with a willing spirit.” (51:12)

We know that God is in the Forgiveness and Restoration business. Guess what? He is also in the Heart Purification Business - The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). The following is a helpful guide along the path to Renewal and Restoration:

                                                                                  
                                    Practical Steps to Dealing with Sin

Understand that all believers face the same challenge – the problem of sin in their lives. We all sin and are prone to fall into sin. Scripture is clear - “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:18) That being said, when we sin, Christ is our advocate. He has already paid the price for our sin (1 John 2:2)
Falling into sin may not happen immediately – Do not allow compromises to take permanent residence in your life. Eliminate Compromises!
Watch out for Indulgences – You are never too big, too powerful, too spiritual, too good to fail. You cannot keep on feeding the flesh expecting to reap spiritual fruits. The Apostle Paul encourages us to dwell on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and of good reputation (Philippians 4:8) Examine what you are consuming – books, movies, television, conversations, magazines, media. Replace harmful indulgences with wholesome material. Spend time in the company of like-minded believers; in prayer and reading the Word of God.
Do not evade your responsibilities -  The enemy takes pleasure in isolating the children of God. If you find yourself neglecting responsibilities, this is often the first step to spiritual decline. “God has a plan for our lives. He has laid certain responsibilities upon us, and when we avoid them with excuses or rationalizations, we open a Pandora’s box of assorted temptations that weaken our will to walk with God”.
If you sin, know that it brings unhappy consequences that God may not see fit to eliminate-  The effects of your sin may be far reaching and long lasting. David repented and was forgiven, but the consequences of his sin reached his family and the latter half of his life/ministry. Consider this!
You are not alone in this!  Don’t feel ashamed to ask for help. You may not be able to handle this one on your own. It’s good to have an accountability partner who will keep you in check. You may have to confess to the person you wronged. This is a good step towards receiving forgiveness.
If you commit sinful acts, then confess the sin and receive forgiveness through the death of Christ. God can renew anyone and wants to restore any relationship that has been damages by the effects of sin. Remember, He is in the business of Restoring and Forgiving.

True Confession involves a commitment not to continue in sin. This takes effort. Pray for strength to defeat the temptation the next time. Don’t live in your sin. God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
I pray this helps you down the path to restoration. Blessings!

References:
Charles Swindoll, David – A Man of Passion and Destiny (Dallas, Texas: Word Publishing, 1997)
Life Application Study Bible (Zondervan, 2000), 2094
Richard L. Strauss. “Caught in the Tempter’s Trap – The Story of David and Bathsheba”
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson.  The Jesus Walk Bible Study Series. “Psalms: Finding Forgiveness and Restoration.”
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