COMFORT FOR THE PENITENT
Verse for Today: Saturday, April 02, 2011
Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Comfort is needed and desired only by those who mourn over themselves and their situations. Mourning is possible only when a person is fully aware of his inadequacies and sinfulness. Willingness to mourn over their sinful situations is the proof that they are genuinely penitent before God, and that is the way to receiving the comfort that God grants. God is not looking for the proud who think that they do not need any repentance. But if the proud repent and go to Him, He will grant them also comfort and joy. If we look into ourselves we will be able to see how wretched we are. When I feel that I am a wretched person because of my sinfulness, I can only see hellfire in front of me. The only way such people can escape hellfire is to look into themselves and see their true condition and repent. Thus when they cry over their sinful condition and be broken in their unworthiness to receive pardon and joy from God, they would find a reason to go to God who is out there to receive them. He will not despise any repentant person who goes to Him asking for pardon. Such people who are truly repentant will receive God’s comfort, and will continue to live a life of repentance all the days of their lives. Thereafter, each time they go to the presence of God, they will be aware of their unworthiness and repent as did Isaiah, Moses, Paul and others. The very presence of God will make them aware of their unworthiness which will make them mourn. The sinful environment in which they live also makes them mourn over it. They will also cry over the foolish things they did or said in life, and ask God to rule and overrule the consequences of their sins and situations. Their prayer to God always will be to deliver them from the snares of sinfulness that is around. Such people are comforted by the Lord through His Spirit and Word. He will fill their hearts with His joy in all circumstances and help them to look to the future when He will take them to a sinless state in Heaven to be with Him forever.
Dear reader, are you a candidate for mourning before the Lord today? Are you aware of your utter sinfulness and depravity and willing to cry over the various ways by which you have hurt the heart of the Holy God? Do you see how your acts of omissions and commissions in life have caused you to grieve the heart of God? Are you able to feel how unworthy you are to go to God with your needs? Now is the time to go to the Lord with a penitent heart and confess your total unworthiness before Him. If you mourn over your inadequacies and unworthiness and confess it to God, He will certainly wipe away all your past and fill your heart with His forgiveness and the joy that is attached to it. He will give you true blessedness which will fill your heart with the joy that will be your strength to live day by day in total dependence on Him. He will help you to enjoy His comfort in life. Your past will try to haunt you with its consequences in your life, but you can claim victory over the intimidation of your past through the forgiveness God has granted you. You do not need to worry over those sins that He has forgiven you because when God forgives, He also forgets. He will never remember any of those sins that you have confessed. This is the reason why you become acceptable to Him in His presence. God’s comfort is like the comfort of a mother for her little child. He comforts, strengthens and empowers you to overcome the struggles and battles that you are dragged into by the enemy of your soul and will give you victory over your situations and circumstances and in all that you do for His glory. Let this comfort of the Lord be your strength to face your unknown tomorrows. Today let us enjoy the comfort of the Lord and gratefully express our hearts to Him and live with such a thankful heart for His glory.
2 Corinthians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.
Thought for Today
God’s forgiveness and comfort are available to those who are genuinely penitent and brokenhearted and willing to express it through mourning before Him.
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