Psalm 103:12

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 103:12

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12   

This is a beautiful passage that shows how complete His forgiveness is of our sins.  First, the idea of the first part of this verse; as far as the east is from the west, denotes as far as possible apart.  We cannot imagine this distance because it is so vast.  And this is how far he has removed our sins from us Christians. They are removed to an eternal distance by the great mercy of God.

However, not only will He separate our sins from us by an infinite distance, but He will also remember them no more.  Note these verses.  “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”  Hebrews 8:12.  And, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25. The meaning of this is that our sins are not charged against us anymore.  We are no longer to be punished for these just as if we never committed them.  This is how God forgives us.

So, if this is so, and our sins are no longer charged to us, and God will never bring them up to us, we should not remember our past sins either.  God has forgiven us, and we should forgive ourselves as well.  So often we look into our past and we go over and over those sins we have committed: that we have confessed to God and He has forgiven, but we have not forgiven ourselves. If God has forgiven us,  we need to forgive ourselves as well.  To hold these things in our hearts and think upon them, condemning ourselves for them, we will not find the peace that God desires of to have.  God spoke through Paul the following, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14.  We must forget sins we have done in the past for they will only hold us back.  They will cause us to condemn ourselves and the enemy will use them against us.  We must put them permanently behind us, just as God has put them as far as the east is from the west, pressing forward in doing the things God has called us to do.

In order for us to be dedicated to the work God has called us to, we must focus on the fact He has truly called us to be His hands and feet on this earth.  Our past is irrelevant because He has forgiven us.  All that matters is us pressing forward, growing in Him and His word; evangelizing the lost and discipling the body.  We are to help the helpless, feed the hungry, and encourage the downtrodden.  We must forget our past. As I said above, it will only hold us back and minimize what we can do.  He desires us to forgive ourselves as He has forgiven us.  And He desires us to live in the peace He provides as well.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Isaiah 58:1

Verse of the Day Devotion.  Isaiah 58:1

“Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sins.” – Isaiah 58:1

The first two words ‘Cry loudly’, seen in the first two words of our focus verse, has the idea of calling out someone with your full throat. By this, the prophet is being called by God to declare loudly and clearly that the house of Jacob is committing sinful deeds, specifically ‘missing the mark’ that God called them to follow, and flat-out being treasonous and rebellious.  This introduction suggests that a judgment speech will follow, but the format that follows is very different from the normal judgment speech. Verse one provides the reason for the prophet’s speech (God told him to cry out) and legitimates the idea that these criticisms come from God.

So, what were these criticisms? He starts by showing there hypocrisy. “Yet they seek Me day by day, and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness, And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.” Isaiah 58:2. The whole description in verse two is appropriate to the character of formalists and hypocrites; and the idea is, that public worship by sacrifice was celebrated daily in the temple and was not held up at any time. It is not improbable also that they kept up the regular daily service in their dwellings. Their priests and prophets consult about the laws and institutions of religion, as if they were really afraid of violating the Divine commands. While at the same time that they are full of oppression, strife, and wickedness, they are scrupulously careful about violating any of the commands pertaining to the rites of religion.

Then in verse three and four. “Why have we fasted and Thou dost not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and Thou dost not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire and drive hard all your workers. Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.” Isaiah 58:3-4. Now God exposes the reality, which was that His people didn’t fast with the right heart and did it only as an empty ritual. Even on a day when they fasted, they still exploited their employees. God didn’t accept their fasting when it wasn’t connected with a sincere heart of obedience. They fasted for needs, certainly; but selfish needs like ‘Help me win this argument.’ or ‘Help me defeat this person.’  Though their prayer was accompanied with fasting, it was still a selfish, even wicked prayer, thus God did not answer. The purpose of their fasting was to glorify themselves, to make their voice heard on high. And God says, ‘No more. You will not fast as you do this day.’ 

Then God describes what He is looking for in us. “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” Isaiah 58:6-7. God tells His people, If you want to fast the way that pleases Me, begin with getting right with your brothers and sisters. Stop oppressing others and reach out to help them. Loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free. How is this done? They had to stop acting wickedly towards others. This means that getting right with God begins by stopping the evil we do towards others. They were to share their bread with the hungry and their clothes with the naked. It was not hide everything for themselves. They had to start acting lovingly towards everyone. This means that getting right with God continues by showing true love to all.

We must be careful that what we do is not to lift up and please ourselves, but to lift God up and please Him. It will not matter if we take communion, read His Word, or go to church if we are only doing it because it is a Christian thing to do.  I did this for many years until God showed me I was not truly saved. And when I finally listened to God and gave my life to Him, I finally understood what the true Christian life is all about. Doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts is not enough, for we can do all we want, but if it is not to please and honor our Lord, it is actually a waste of our time. We need to give Him our life and focus on making Christ the core of our existence, pleasing Him in everything we do and we will be in His will. And that includes loving everyone as Christ loves us. Remember when Christ was asked the question of what is the foremost commandment of them all. “Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31. If we do not love God above everything else, and love everyone as we love ourselves, then all we are doing is going through the motions without honoring and giving our all to God. And this is not what we are to do.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Mark 11:25

Verse of the Day Devotion: Mark 11:25 

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” – Mark 11:25

This idea is found in various places in the New Testament.  We are called to forgive others if we have anything against someone else so that we can be forgiven.  Jesus mentioned it also in the Lord’s prayer, where He spoke of asking God to forgive, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:12.  He attached our forgiveness to how we forgive.  And then a couple verses down He leaves no question of what is intended.  “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:14-15. 

The main reason Jesus came here was so He could pay the penalty we incurred because of sin.  And the only way this could have been done was to have someone who is without sin pay that penalty.  For we read in Romans the following, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.  We all deserve death for we all sinned.  However, one who has never sinned came here and paid our debt by dying on our behalf.  His love was so great for all of us He suffered through the most terrible and humiliating form of death imaginable, crucifixion.  This form of death was designed to cause the most pain possible over the longest period of time.  Many people endured this torture for over a week, while being humiliated due to their nakedness.  Peter put it this way, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth, and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:22-24. 

So, as we can see, Jesus paid the penalty we could never pay.  He did what was necessary by dying for us so that we may be forgiven of our sins.  Therefore, this is why we are called to forgive the sins of others.  We should love others as He loves us.  “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:12-14.  And just as we see with Jesus, no one can carry his love for his friend farther than when he gives up his life.  In other words, he gives up everything that he has.  And forgiveness of wrongs is the greatest gift He gave us, and He commands us to do the same.  

And note what our focus verse says.  “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” Mark 11:25.  It is not just to forgive those who ask, but to forgive anyone of any wrong done to us.  And Jesus exhibited this in the greatest way possible when he said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:36.  They had not asked for forgiveness, for He was still on the cross.  But He asked for His Father to forgive them anyway.  And this is the greatest example of what our focus verse says, when you are praying, forgive anyone who has done you wrong.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Psalm 32:1

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 32:1  

“A Psalm of David. A Maskil. How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” – Psalm 32:1 

This is a psalm of David speaking of how blessed are the people whose sins are forgiven.  This word blessed has the idea of happy.  Therefore, when we replace the word, we see “happy is he whose transgressions are forgiven.”  Happy is the man.  Happy is his state of mind.  This is the condition of a man when his sins are forgiven.  

Now this verse is quoted by Paul in his letter to the Romans.  Here we read “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”  Romans 4:7-8.  The apostle is using this verse in a way that is different than how the Jews understood it in David’s day.  If a man sinned back then, the law required them to present a sin offering to God.  This was a deeply symbolic type of offering where the sacrificial animal was killed and the blood was drained as an offering for sin.  However, David makes no mention of a sin offering.  “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:5. 

Now, Paul says these works, as he calls the sacrifice here, is not a matter of grace, but of the payment of a debt.  However, Paul adds the following, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.” Romans 4:5-6.  David understood this.  His relationship with God made it clear that confessing his sins to God was the means by which God forgave sin.  Acknowledging our sins to God in humility and a contrite heart, not trying to hide it knowing we can never hide anything from Him, is the sacrifice we are to give.   

Unfortunately, we all have sinned.  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, “ Romans 3:23.  And we understand that there will be times of temptation we must endure.  “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.  And we also understand there may be times where temptation my overcome us.  “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2.

Therefore, always remember that we live in a fallen world, and unfortunately we may fall into sin.  David did with Bathsheba which is what David is dealing with in Psalm 32.  And so did Paul which he admitted in his letter to the Romans: “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” Romans 7:19.  However, as David said, instead of trying to hide it, we need to confess it to God, repenting of it and then resting in God’s peace and goodness.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.  And because of this as our focus verse says, “How blessed (happy) is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!” Psalm 32:1.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Matthew 6:14

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 6:14  

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” – Matthew 6:14

Prayer is an important part of our Christian life for it is our time to converse with the God of the universe, the one who created all that is, including us.  What an amazing opportunity.  We can bring to Him our thanks and appreciation for all that He does for us, and we can go to Him requesting help during difficult times.  “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:9.  And there is another area we can go to Him in prayer on, and that is forgiveness for our sins. 

It is sad to realize that we all sin at times after we commit our lives to Christ.  Even the apostle Paul admitted as such regarding himself.  “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” Romans 7:15. He hated some of the things he did, knowing that it was of the flesh. Therefore, it is at these time we can go to before God and ask for forgiveness.  “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:8-9  If we do sin, Christ is our advocate before the Father on our behalf.  “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2. 

Back to our focus verse, we are called to forgive those who sin against us just as God forgave us through the blood of Christ.  We are to show the same grace and mercy to everyone who wrongs us, or even appears to wrong us when in actuality they did not.  We must always assume innocence until irrefutable evidence shows otherwise.  However, in either case, we are required to give the same grace and mercy as was given to us by God for the sins we committed against Him.  Jesus put it this way in answer to a question from Peter regarding forgiveness.  “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22.  This has the idea of as often as sinned against, forgive.

As a final thought, the next verse in Matthew speaks of a serious idea regarding forgiveness.  “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:15.  Jesus spoke of this again as recorded by Luke.  “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:36-38.  Note the last sentence in these passages, “For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:38b.  In essence, however we treat others is the rule on how we  will be treated. Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35).  “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:35.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Psalm 32:5

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 32:5  

“I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.” – Psalm 32:5      

This verse can be an incredible comfort to us whenever we sin.  In earlier verses, we see how blessed the person is who God has forgiven.  “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; Whose sin is covered!”  Psalm 32:1.  We who are Christians and have truly repented and committed our lives completely to Christ have been forgiven.  We could not do anything on our behalf, all we could do was accept the work He did on the cross.  And David next goes further in that our sin is not even charged against us.  “How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!” Psalm 32:2 He has pardoned us completely, we are no longer charged as guilty.

David then speaks about what it was like to attempt to keep silent.  “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.” Psalm 32:3-4.  There was no peace in his life when he kept it all in him.  He speaks of God’s work in bringing him to the place where He finally brings it all out.  Note the wording, “my body wasted away tthrough my groaning all day long.” And also, “For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me,”  We do not know the specific circumstances that brought him to this point, however, it is easy to see that it was heavy on him. 

However, he finally chooses to bring it to God and not try to hide it anymore.  We see this in our focus verse.  “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.” Psalm 32:5.  He admitted to himself that he could no longer keep silent about this, so he confessed it to God.  And what did God do? He forgave him.  And you can tell from the verses that follow David was at peace with God again. 

I have found that in my life, if I slip up and fall into sin, it is so much better to admit to having done it, confessing it to God, and then working with Him to not fail Him again.  Unfortunately, I am still not perfect, I will not lie.  However, I know my heart yearns for His ways and immensely desires to please Him in all I do.  I have learned that it is better to acknowledge my failure to Him and ask for His abounding forgiveness.  He knows everything anyway, so it is impossible for me to hide it from Him, so I might as well confess it.  Sometimes I simply confess it with all honesty, and sometimes I weep in the process.  But after I call on Him, a peace comes upon me, and I then move on, for I know He has, in the words of David, He forgave the guilt of my sin.

I want to encourage everyone that when you recognize you have sinned, just bring it before God.  Do not try to keep it a secret, for God already knows.  And the fact He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), He knew you would do it and He will forgive. So, come clean, confess the transgression to God.  And He will forgive you and remove the guilt from you.  Believe me, it will bring much peace into your life. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.