New Day

                Many times, we will be put into situations where we wish that we could have a second chance to do something again. We wish that we could answer our boss differently, say something different to our loved ones, take something back that we said to our friends, spend our day a different way. We all have felt, at some point in time, regret. Some of you say that you do not live life with regrets. Well, even so, at some point in time in the past you regretted something. You have to feel regret in order to learn. Regret isn't always huge, but it comes in all shapes and sizes.

                Now, no one can go back in time and get that second chance. It just doesn't happen that way. But, here is the good thing about God. He does something better than just give us a redo. He gives us forgiveness. Now, why is forgiveness better than a redo? When you redo something, you don't always learn. When you get forgiveness, you keep the mistake and learn your lesson while moving forward and learning what forgiveness looks like. You grow when you go through trials and tests.

                The awesome thing about God is that He doesn't hold your sins against you once you ask for forgiveness. Now, many people will try to tell you otherwise, that God is some guy floating int he sky bringing wrath down upon people. That is a lie. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." The old things are gone when you find yourself in Christ. All sins and mistakes are forgiven and you start fresh.

                Sometimes, we have days where we know that we did wrong and feel as if God won't forgive us if we came to Him yet. As if we have to have a time out from forgiveness. Or, we feel as if when we ask for forgiveness, we have to wait for it to kick in. Neither one is true. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." There is no delay, no time limit, no open and closed hours on God's forgiveness.

                If we ask God to forgive us from our sins and mean it, confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive. That means that He will forgive us, it is a guarantee. A promise, and God has never broken a promise. He can't break a promise. So ask yourself this: What is keeping you from repenting of your sins and starting a new day?


                                                                                                                                         -D