When I did something wrong the other day, and immediately felt convicted, I confessed my wrongdoing to the Lord, and asked for His forgiveness. Instead of receiving God's forgiveness and cleansing according to His Word (1 John 1:9), feelings of condemnation overwhelmed me. I knew they were from the Accuser (Revelation 12:10), but I still couldn't shake off the awful feeling of heaviness.

Then the Holy Spirit brought to mind some verses from Psalm 130. "Lord, if You keep in mind our sins, then who can ever get an answer to his prayers? But You forgive! What an awesome thing this is!" (v. 3-4) Suddenly, I felt the heaviness lift off of me, and I knew that God had heard my prayers of repentance, and that He had forgiven me.

But there's more. Because the psalmist trusts in the Lord's forgiving nature, and His faithfulness to His promises, he fully expects God to hear and help him in his time of need. "That is why I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for He has promised." (v. 5)

How about you? When you sin, do you allow Satan to beat you up with accusations for a while, before you receive God's forgiveness and cleansing? Jesus didn't suffer and die so that you and I could live lives of guilt and shame. (Colossians 1:22) He died so that we could have ready access to Him and the Father, and so we could live lives of abundance and joy.

Here is God's wonderful promise to us today: "If we confess our sins to Him, He can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins." (1 John 1:9 TLB) Ask the Lord to grant you fresh revelation in this area today, so that you can enter into a more deeply intimate and satisfying relationship with Him than ever before!

Prayer: Lord, help me to love You, seek You, and serve You the way You desire and deserve. When I do sin against You, help me to be quick to turn to You in heartfelt repentance. Cleanse me with the precious blood of Christ, and empower me to be a doer of Your Word, and not just a hearer. (James 1:22) Thank You that as I am quick to confess my sins to You, I will enjoy the sweet, unbroken fellowship with You that is my inheritance in Christ! (1 Corinthians 1:9)