1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

      Sometimes, we miss the mark God has set as His standard for righteousness and walking free of bondage. At some point during our walk of faith with Christ, we will sin. The question is, “What are we going to do when this happens?” The voice of conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to our soul is a message that encourages us to quickly come boldly to the throne of God the Father and repent. Heb. 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. When do we need God’s mercy and grace? When we sin, and fall flat on our faces. The mercy and grace God has for us will help us confess our sins and we will be washed of our unrighteousness. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

      Why do some of us keep falling in the same area of sin? Besides the point that sometimes people enjoy the sin they are taking part in, the temptation of sin will keep coming back because the enemy of our soul knows that some temptations work when we are in a vulnerable state within our hearts and minds. It says in the book of Luke that Jesus overcame the temptations in the desert and that Satan would come back and try to tempt Him again when there was more of an opportunity to do so. Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. My observation is that if this happened to Jesus, then we can be sure it will happen to us.

       Someone might say, “But I have been walking with the Lord for years and I still struggle with this sin.” Judas walked, hung out, and was discipled by Jesus for three years, and still fell apart in his soul. Paul and Barnabus taught the deep teachings of the New Testament and had a terrible falling out over an argument about the integrity of Mark. Struggles and temptations will come and keep coming until we have lived and breathed our last breath on this earth. The Apostle Peter had fallen to peer pressure. Paul confronted him because Peter was a pretender who rejected his own principles. Gal. 2:11 However, when Ceʹphas (Peter) came to Antioch, I resisted him face-to-face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 For before certain men from James arrived, he used to eat with people of the nations; but when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcised class. 13 The rest of the Jews also joined him in putting on this pretense, so that even Barʹna·bas was led along with them in their pretense. 14 But when I saw that they were not walking in step with the truth of the good news, I said to Ceʹphas before them all: “If you, though you are a Jew, live as the nations do and not as Jews do, how can you compel people of the nations to live according to Jewish practice?”

      Not only did Peter’s hypocrisy affect the new gentile converts in Christ, but he also had a negative effect on the Jews who also took part in the hypocrisy. Sin begets sin, and righteousness begets righteousness. If these giants in the faith were struggling with the issues of their day, then we need the grace and mercy of our Lord to wash us clean when we repent of our sins. Jealousy, greed, immorality, wrath, blasphemy, theft and murderous thoughts are with us until we leave this earth. We need a Saviour who can keep us from falling and assure us that we will not be lost to the world. The blood of Jesus is the most powerful sin-cleansing gift that God gave us so that we would remain in fellowship with the Lord forever. 2Pet. 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

      Have you found yourself in a place where you have missed the mark AGAIN? Take heart for the throne of grace is waiting for your visitation. There is a place for you at God’s throne to lay your heart down at Jesus’ feet. Ask the Lord of mercy to wash you clean and to give you the grace needed to get back up and go forth in the assurance of your salvation. Come and reason with God even though you feel like an unworthy soul. Isa. 1:18 Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool. It is up to us to come and repent, and it is the Lord’s joy to forgive us. Believe in the saving grace of our Lord for it is life to those who find it.