Psalm 51:1

“Have mercy on me O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” Psalm 51:1 (NIV)

I always get nervous filling out forms with pens. What if I mess up? What if I put my middle name where my last name is supposed to go? What if my answer is wrong? I mess up a lot and a pen seems so permanent, so final and scratching out an answer just makes everything look messy.

I used to get really paranoid about the whole thing and then I got my first job at an office and discovered white out. I love the stuff! If you mess up you just blot a little dab over your screw up and wait for a few minutes for it to dry and BLAMO you have a clean slate and can redo it correctly!

In life we can easily believe that are actions are written with a ballpoint pen. They seem permanent, irreversible and when we try to just scratch them out they just make a mess of our lives. But God in his compassion gave us the greatest tube of white out ever in Jesus Christ. His blood blots out those mistakes. And when we mess up, he pours that holy stain remover over our screw up and by the time we are finished praying BLAMO we have a clean slate and the chance to redo it correctly!

It is quite amazing, that He is merciful enough and compassionate enough and in love with us enough to provide a way to blot out the muckity muck messes we make with this flesh of ours. It is a comfort to me that the only thing permanent when it comes to God is His grace, His love, His mercy, and His compassion and there is no sin, no shame, no transgression that is too stubborn a stain for Christ’s blood to blot out!

That is your promise for today!

Psalm 130:3

“If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped.“

Psalm 130:3 (MSG)

I’m a teeth clencher… I can’t help it…. It has become such a habit to me that it is second nature when I am concentrating or reading. I don’t think about it… don’t make a decision to do it…it just happens. This habit of mine is incredibly hard for me to break. I try but rarely succeed because my body cannot resist the urge to clench in certain situations. That is kind of how habits roll… no effort is required to carry them out but an enormous effort is expended to try to stop them because it seems stopping is going against the very grain of who we are.

Habits become some organic act that is part of our being. God works on such a Divine playing field that His habits are blessings. And when one of His children mess up guess what….His automatic response is to just forgive… it’s a habit to Him! There is no decision, no thought, no debate, no internal muscle that He needs to stretch to work it out… it just flows and occurs as a natural extension of Him. Isn’t that amazing? So today if there’s some little thing in the center of your soul you have been afraid to talk to Him about…some little nagging confession you haven’t made go ahead and just lay it out there… give it to Him…He is a habitual forgiver…He just can’t resist the urge! Because He is madly in love with you and eager to forgive!

That is your promise for today!