Not how bad you are, but how great HE IS! Daily Devotional, May 17, 2010

Daily Bible Reading - Numbers 26, Psalm 69, Isaiah 16, 1 Peter 4

Psalm 69:30-31 “I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.”

This verse tells us that praise and thanksgiving will please God more than sacrifice. In the Old Testament the sacrificing of animals was the form of repentance and atonement of sin. Thankfully, our repentance no longer requires sacrificing animals in our place, because Jesus took our place when He died on the cross. In modern day terms this passage is saying that God is more pleased with our praise than he is with our repentance.

The problem with many religions is that they focus so much on the confession of sin and not enough on glorifying God. There are some religions that even feel they need to inflict physical pain on themselves if they sin against God. They fail to realize that the more we glorify God in our lives the less we will need to confess, and that “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

We may not inflict physical pain but perhaps we fall into the trap of dwelling on past sins, failures or mistakes thinking that we deserve to live in the bondage of shame. If God thought we deserved to live in condemnation, He wouldn’t have sent His only son to die for us! Sometimes the guilt and condemnation we carry around with us becomes our badge of honor, and instead of living in freedom we are walking around with our heads hung low. It isn't true humility or true repentance, it's just flat out unforgiveness.

We may believe that God has forgiven us, but when we don't let it go - we are harboring unforgiveness! That's right -- we haven't forgiven ourselves! Forgiveness goes beyond forgiving others, it also requires you to forgive yourself by accepting God’s amazing mercy.

If we don't forgive ourselves, we are making what Jesus did on the cross a travesty. Christ didn't die so we could live in shame! We should follow the advice of this Psalm and be reminded that He is much more pleased with our rejoicing than our sacrifice. We should be praising God for his mercy, forgiveness and grace in our lives rather than negating what He did by pinning ourselves to the mat with condemnation. We should be focusing not on how bad we are, but on how GREAT HE IS! If we chose to magnify Him rather than our weakness, we begin to walk in His victory, power and presence in our lives. We start realizing that Greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

There is a difference between condemnation and conviction. Conviction is that healthy reminder from the Holy Spirit that pricks your heart. It prompts you when you have done (or are about to do) something that you shouldn't be doing. Condemnation is from the enemy, and all it does is tell you that you have failed, you are worthless and that you can never do anything right. This can be one of the most cunning and deceptive tools of the enemy. Don't accept his lies. You haven't failed, you are not worthless, God loves you and not only extends His forgiveness but wants you to forgive yourself as well! Condemnation only pushes you towards sin because we feel hopeless. The devil would love to heap enough condemnation on us that we decide to give up. Conviction stings but it still brings hope, condemnation brings only hopelessness.

Repent of your sins and walk away from them, but don’t forget that it pleases God more when you chose to focus on how great HE IS rather than on how bad you are.

Thanks for reading,
Mel Miller