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Dealing with Sin

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HEAVEN’S CONVERSATION OVER YOUR SIN

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)

As believers we can have no future expectation of sin. John says “if ” we sin, not “when.” And the beautiful promise that comes if we sin is that there is an advocate right there with us! Not an unholy, sleazy, or lazy advocate trying to get us by with “greasy grace,” but Jesus Christ the righteous! Picture this:

You are bound in a sin habit from which you long to be delivered. Day after day and week after week, you continue to struggle, battling the sin from every angle imaginable. After reading books, seeking accountability, and praying desperate prayers you are mentally, emotionally, and physically worn out from the devastating feeling of failure. Every time you fall, there is a genuine sense of remorse paired with a repentant willingness to walk in freedom if only God would crack the door and show you the way out. Well, here is that door...

JESUS TAKES YOU IN THE MIDST OF YOUR FAILURES THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO MASTER, AND HE BECOMES YOUR ADVOCATE BEFORE THE FATHER.

The moment you fall—whatever it is, lust, anger, pride, fear, addiction, you name it—if you are in Christ, I can assure you that Jesus readily desires to present Himself to you as your advocate and helper. He helps you by presenting you to the Father, holy and blameless. That’s right, Jesus takes you in your failures that you’ve never been able to master, and He becomes your advocate before the Father. He starts communicating to the Father on your behalf. Finding freedom from sin habits begins with hearing the conversation that Jesus has with the Father about you. I imagine it went something like this for me:

I am sitting on my bed, hands over my face in disbelief that I fell again. How could I? I was just at church this morning, worshipping the Lord, and just a few hours later I engaged in such a perverted activity. I am such a failure. I’m not the man of God people think I am. I’m not even the kind of man God wants.

As I’m speaking this over myself, hardened in unbelief to the love of God and the reality of what is going on around, Jesus draws close. He sits beside me and places His arm around me. Looking at me, He begins speaking to the Father:

Father, this is your son Peter. Isn’t he amazing? Look at how much he loves you and how much he hates his own sin. Remember when he was four years old, and he put his faith in me and was baptized? I washed him in my blood and gave him my own righteousness. We sealed him with the Holy Spirit, and he belongs to us. The only reason he is lusting after women in this way is because our enemy has blinded him from seeing and believing the love we have for him. I love this man as you do, and I am going to keep pursuing him with my love until it consumes him and overwhelms all of his desires. I am going to pursue him until he is free. I am going to pursue him until he experiences an abundant life.

As I began to believe the patient and kind way Jesus advocated to the Father for me, my faith began to rise. He is for me! He will rescue me! I will be free! I began to believe that the covenant I had with Jesus was not a disappointment to Him. His confident advocacy for my freedom became a source of strength and joy to me. When we can see that God is fighting for us instead of frustrated with us, we will maintain the covenant connection that the blood of Jesus purchased. In the midst of a sin struggle, we will remain positioned to receive life and strength from the only One who can set us free.

If you have not had victory in your struggle against sin, I implore you to put your faith in Jesus Christ, an ever-present help in your time of need. It doesn’t matter how long you have struggled; He remains your constant Advocate and wonderful Savior. His love will never fail you, but it is only experienced in the realm of faith by God’s glorious grace. Faith provides access to what grace provides. Determine in your heart that you will stay in a place of faith, believing in the covenant you have with God that is firmly established by the blood of Jesus. This covenant with God is our only hope of walking in victory. He will not break His covenant with us, even if we sin, because through this covenant we are holy and blameless in Christ.

Take day 35 to yourself.