God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. His Son paid the price to free us, which means that our sins are forgiven.
(Colossians 1:13-14 GW)
Are you hurting and broken within?
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself?
Do you thirst for a drink from the well?
Jesus is calling
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ*
Have you ever used wood to build something outside, and several years later given it a thorough cleaning because the bright, yellow-like color of the original build has turned gray? Why do things that are left outside to the fresh air and cleansing sunshine STILL need to be washed off? Yes, pollen happens, but that’s seasonal. I think the answer (at least in part) comes back to pollution in the air. I can’t fully explain it, but I do know that fresh wooden picnic tables and 2×4’s turn gray within only a few years.
Just like that air pollution sticks to those boards and changes them, the spiritual pollution in the spiritual/emotional atmosphere we live in sticks to us. Derogatory words spoken to us. Cruel and demeaning actions taken against us. Reports of war, rumors of war, and suffering. Grief, loss, unforgivenenss, abandonment, fears, and other emotions. Outright demonic oppression or attack. All these things (and more) can weigh on us and “color” us gray. After a while, they can rot our souls – and we may or may not realize that it has happened. If we aren’t regularly “washing” our souls in the Word, repentance, prayer, fasting, and other spiritual disciplines, we can even come to the point of being spiritually semi-dead or even dead.
Ash Wednesday is this week and begins the spiritual-cleansing season of Lent. The 40 days before Easter (which is March 31 this year) are, historically, a time of self reflection and prayer. Some people fast from foods, social media, or other things – giving up an earthly desire in order to make more space to seek after a Kingdom purpose. However you choose to spend the season of Lent, I invite you to think about the ways in which the “fresh wood 2×4’s” in your life have become grayed by the pollution of this world. God, what in my life needs to be worked on so that I can become more like Jesus? What sin do I need to confess and repent of? What struggles do I need to surrender to you? What habits or character issues do I need your help to work on? How can I better honor my King and Savior with my thoughts, words, and actions? This cleansing process doesn’t have to be heavy or condemning. Being cleansed of our sins and struggles is like laying down burdens. Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29 NLT)
The invitation is always to come to the wide open, loving, and grace-giving arms of Jesus.
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today, there’s no reason to wait
Jesus is calling
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes, a new life is born
Jesus is calling
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood*
Forgiving God,
Thank you for your invitation to come to you when we are weary and heavy laden so you can give us rest. Thank you that your yoke is easy and your burdens are light. Thank you that Jesus can wash us from the pollutants of this world and return us to full life in you. Today, we examine ourselves and ask you to give us mercy from your fountain of forgiveness, because know your abundant love is enough to wash away our guilt. Your compassion is so great; take away this shameful guilt of sin. Put to death whatever is worldly in us: sexual sin, perversion, passion, lust, and greed, anger, hot tempers, hatred, cursing, obscene language, lying, all similar sins, and everything else Holy Spirit may point out to us. We are new persons in Christ, and desire to be continually renewed in our Creator. You delight to set your truth deep in our spirits, so come into the hidden places of our hearts and teach us wisdom. Purify our consciences! Make these lepers clean again! Wash us in your love until we are pure in heart. Keep creating in us a clean heart, Holy Spirit. Fill us with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you. Satisfy us in your sweetness, and our songs of joy will return, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
*”O Come to the Altar” by Wade Joye / Christopher Brown / Mack Brock / Steven Furtick (c) 2016 Be Essential Songs
Through our union with [Jesus] we have experienced circumcision of heart. All of the guilt and power of sin has been cut away and is now extinct because of what Christ, the Anointed One, has accomplished for us. For we’ve been buried with him into his death. Our “baptism into death” also means we were raised with him when we believed in God’s resurrection power, the power that raised him from death’s realm. This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins! He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! (Colossians 2:11-14 TPT)
Therefore, put to death whatever is worldly in you: your sexual sin, perversion, passion, lust, and greed (which is the same thing as worshiping wealth). It is because of these sins that God’s anger comes on those who refuse to obey him. You used to live that kind of sinful life. Also get rid of your anger, hot tempers, hatred, cursing, obscene language, and all similar sins. Don’t lie to each other. You’ve gotten rid of the person you used to be and the life you used to live, and you’ve become a new person. This new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator. (Colossians 3:5-10 GW)
David’s Confession
God, give me mercy from your fountain of forgiveness!
I know your abundant love is enough to wash away my guilt.
Because your compassion is so great,
take away this shameful guilt of sin.
Forgive the full extent of my rebellious ways,
and erase this deep stain on my conscience.
For I’m so ashamed.
I feel such pain and anguish within me.
I can’t get away from the sting of my sin against you, Lord!
Everything I did, I did right in front of you, for you saw it all.
Against you, and you above all, have I sinned.
Everything you say to me is infallibly true
and your judgment conquers me.
Lord, I have been a sinner from birth,
from the moment my mother conceived me.
I know that you delight to set your truth deep in my spirit.
So come into the hidden places of my heart
and teach me wisdom.
David’s Cleansing
Purify my conscience! Make this leper clean again!
Wash me in your love until I am pure in heart.
Satisfy me in your sweetness, and my song of joy will return.
The places you have crushed within me
will rejoice in your healing touch.
Hide my sins from your face;
erase all my guilt by your saving grace.
Keep creating in me a clean heart.
Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you.
May you never reject me!
May you never take from me your sacred Spirit! (Psalm 51:1-11 TPT)