1-19-16 One Eighty

¹⁶ But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, ¹⁷ And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

Nehemiah 9:16-17 KJV

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You’ve sinned though saved and now are on your knees

Afraid salvation’s lost, God’s turned His back.

Conviction weighs up your chest to squeeze;

You think your white as snow has changed to black.

Repent! One Eighty what you’ve done right now,

Confess to God your sin with sorrowed heart.

He WILL forgive! God’s mercy will endow.

He loves you SO; you’ll never be apart.

Did He not send His own begotten Son

To pay for every sin on your behalf?

Renounce with all you are for what you’ve done

And know God’s written that sin’s epitaph.

He loves you more than you can ever know.

You are His child! Repent and let it go.

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REMEMBER: Look at all God’s chosen people did after He brought them out of bondage in Egypt. He did not forsake them. He likewise will never, ever forsake you.

1-8-16 The Great Physician

¹⁶ And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mark 2:16-17 KJV

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When you are sick you need a doctor’s care,

For he knows how to bring you back to health.

A broken bone can give you quite a scare;

He knows just how to mend it – that’s his wealth.

When Adam disobeyed it all began,

This plague called sin, a terminal disease.

It permeates the soul of every man,

And keeps us from our God despite our pleas.

The Great Physician came to make us whole.

He had to yield His life and shed His blood.

When we submit to Jesus Christ our soul,

Then we are healed beneath the cleansing flood.

The only way to Heaven’s to get well;

The only remedy: in Jesus dwell.

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REMEMBER: Jesus bore ALL your sins on that cruel cross so that you might be made whole through Him.

6-16-17 Rend Your Heart

¹² Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

¹³ And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Joel 2:12-13 KJV

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It matters not at all how bad you are,

How much a mess your life has turned into;

Your sinful life may seem the worse by far,

But God can still forgive, repent anew.

Turn even to the Lord with all your heart,

And turn away for good your evil ways.

If you’re not penitent don’t even start;

Remorse should be authentic, not a phrase.

Then fast and weep and mourn if you’re sincere;

You should not show it to the world at all.

Repentance rends the heart with woe and fear;

You don’t deserve forgiveness from your fall.

But God is merciful and gracious, too;

If you’re contrite the Lord will pardon you.

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sonnet #391

4-27-15 Greater Than Our Heart

Our conscience will remind us of our past,

To call us guilty o’er and o’er again.

It’s first to blame, but to forgive it’s last,

And quick to say repentance is in vain.

But if our heart condemns us, don’t despair:

God’s greater than our hearts and knows all things.

The final judgment happens over there,

And trumps the heart of paupers and of kings.

The conscience points to worthlessness and death,

The Holy Ghost will show us God forgives.

The sorrow of the world will steal our breath;

Conviction leads to Christ – with Him we live!

Thus Satan will accuse and say we’re wrong,

Yet Jesus says we’re His, where we belong.

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For if our heart condemn us,

God is greater than our heart,

and knoweth all things.

1 John 3:20 KJV

Sonnet #343

10-19-14 The Lord’s Prayer 04: Forgive Us

O Father God, forgive us each our sins,

Not that we do deserve it but through grace,

And when in our repentance then begins

With faith to know that Jesus took our place.

We had a debt to You that Christ has paid,

Then understand that we should be like Him

To thus forgive the sins against us made,

No matter how mundane, how much, how grim.

Let us not think when we forgive a debt

That we should be forgiven just the same,

But with no strings attached to then beget,

Forgiving as You do, no more to blame.

O God, forgive us now on bended knee,

As we forgive our brother faithfully.

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And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6:12 KJV