Cleansed of "All" Unrighteousness 1-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Cleanse my soul by the blood of the Lamb, that I may draw near to You in worship and prayer, as a forgiven friend, faithful son, and willing servant through the promise and power of Your grace. ... "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery" (Luke 16:18). After nine years of marriage and three children, my first wife divorced me. I disagreed, but under our law it takes two people to choose to get married and only one to choose to get divorced. Though we both shared in many choices and circumstances along the way that may have led to that decision, ultimately it was a decision made without my consent and out of my control. Yet I also bore the sin of a broken covenant with You, no matter whose choice it was. And I bore the sins for all my failings along the way. For a long time, I bore the shame of the sin and carried the burden of the failure under the weight of rejection and regret. I was broken and crushed, feeling rejected and ashamed, but You were there through it all -- even in the times where it may have seemed like You weren't. You kept drawing me to You to draw out my sin, to lift off my burdens, and to cleanse my shame. You used the brokenness of those days to go far deeper in my soul to touch many places of sin and shame, woundedness and pain, bondage and oppression, in many areas of my life. Through my times of surrender and repentance in prayer with You and through the ministry of prayer from the others You sent who listened with me and prayed with me, You loved me through it all. Finally I came to the place of accepting and embracing the fullness of Your forgiveness and grace, refusing to reject it any longer. By Your amazing love and Your amazing grace, I knew I was accepted, forgiven, and cleansed "from all unrighteousness" -- from "all" unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). But even so, I continued to encounter the attitudes and understandings of Scripture of others who believed the sin of my divorce tainted me forever, cancelled my calling, hindered my leadership, and limited my options for ministry, for marriage, and for intimacy with You. I wrestled with Your Word and Your will, with the opinions of others; and like Jacob, I wrestled with You. But moment by moment through the hard journey of those days, it seemed You kept saying to me: "What part of 'all' don't you understand, My son. I have forgiven you and cleansed you of 'all' unrighteousness. My law is just and true, but it is for the purpose of bringing conviction of sin that leads to confession and repentance. Honest confession and true repentance always leads to My mercy and grace. There is no sin for which I will not convict You in My mercy and there is no confession of sin I will not hear in My grace. I delight in restoring and redeeming all who turn to Me with repentant hearts and trusting faith. Do not resist My grace and do not reject the sacrifice of My blood. Believe it and receive it and never let it go. What gift is more beautiful than the gift of My grace? What treasure is more valuable than the treasure of My mercy? It is freely available to you and to all who earnestly repent of their sins and call upon My name. I find joy in forgiving you and I find joy in restoring unto you the joy of your salvation." Yes, Lord. Through Your constant, consistent presence and leading, with breakthroughs and encounters of Your goodness and power along the way, I came to the place of grace and peace in the freedom of Your forgiveness and the healing of Your love. Then in time, I began to sense my heart moving toward another in love. Once again I went to Your Word and wrestled with Your Scriptures about marriage and divorce and remarriage. And once again, I seemed to sense Your Holy Spirit speaking to my human spirit: "What part of 'all' don't you understand? You now have clean hands and a pure heart through the power of My blood and unfailing promise of My mercy and grace. You are cleansed of 'all' unrighteousness. You have a clean slate and a fresh start. My grace means nothing if it does not mean this." Yes, Lord. Without repentance, remarriage would be sin. But by Your grace, I was not without repentance and I was purged of my sin. Though I'm sure many sincere believers would disagree, I believe this is all part of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ -- the gospel of the kingdom of God where there is no sin You will not forgive and no soul You will not cleanse through repentance and faith in submission to You. The only unpardonable sin is the sin of resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit to admit it our sin and turn to You in repentance and faith. Divorce, whether chosen or not, is not the unpardonable sin. "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:11-12). That's how far, O Lord, no matter what the accuser or anyone who agrees with the accuser has to say. As the praise song says: "Thank You for Your blood, Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your victory. Thank You, Lord, for loving me." So today, I can celebrate with joy my tenth anniversary of a new marriage from a fresh start. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who has faith" (Romans 1:16). The road of redemption and restoration has not always been easy these past ten years -- as we would all acknowledge, some days have been unbelievably hard and even impossibly doomed apart from the power of Your grace -- but we have never been apart from Your grace or Your power for a moment. Now I have the joy of a partner who willingly chooses to walk with me though the journey -- in sickness and in health, through selfishness and sin, sacrifice and patience, in good times and hard times, 'til death do us part, in complete dependence on Your grace. We also celebrate a blended family of five children -- who have seen the power of Your redeeming grace to cause all things, even divorce and remarriage, to work together for good for those who love You and who are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). Not everybody understands that kind of grace, that kind of a clean slate and fresh start, that kind of good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ -- but as for me and my house, we do. And we thank You on this day of celebration, thanksgiving, and joy. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com . Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794