by Jim Hughes
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Ps. 103:3 He forgives all my sin and heals all my diseases.
Don’t overlook the fact that the Lord forgives ALL our sin. When we let Jesus become our Savior, there is not one sin, no matter how big or little it may be, untouched. He is able to do it, and He does. We can’t remember many of our sins, but He knows them all. He knows the sins that we do that we don’t know. By definition, sin is anything that falls short of God’s perfect holiness. We are guilty of an enormous amount of sin, no matter how good we, or others, may think we are.
It is too much grace to comprehend. Jesus forgives each and every sin of our heart. His forgiveness is absolute and unchangeable. Once we are forgiven, God no longer sees our sin. They are covered by the righteousness and holiness of Christ. God will never look beyond Christ to see our sinful hearts.
It does not then give us a license to sin. When we sin, we are showing disrespect towards Christ. We are treating His death on the cross as if it didn’t really matter. We are minimizing the price Jesus paid for our forgiveness. It is why we must always fall on our knees before Him in repentance when we know we sin. He is faithful and just and will forgive us. But when we fail to repent, there will always be a barrier between Him and us that will rob us of the joy of His fellowship.
He heals all our diseases. It does not mean that He will choose to heal us every time we are sick or have a disease of some kind. It does mean that He is Lord and can heal whatever may plague us. We must never forget that Jesus is Lord. He knows best what is needed in our lives in order for us to best serve Him and bring Him glory. Sometimes our illnesses are needed for our development of faith. Sometimes others need to see how we live by faith through our illnesses. Sometimes others need to see how an afflicted person is able to give glory to God, even in death.
We are encouraged to pray for good health,. But we also are to submit to the sovereignty of God over us. It is not our will, but God’s that we should seek. Don’t be bashful about praying for healing, but be willing to accept God’s will if the healing we desire doesn’t happen. Never forget that death is the greatest healing of all; for in death, we are brought into the presence of our Lord.
About the Author:
Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.
C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.
I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.