CONFESS YOUR SINS

WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL

MAY 7,  2021

TOPIC: CONFESS YOUR SINS

BY T. O. BANSO 

“When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat” (Psalm 32:3-4 New Living Translation).

It is easier for human beings to lie than to confess their sins. It is more convenient for us to deny than confess our sins. Some, rather than own up, would even engage other people to defend them. Sometimes people succeed with their lies but this is dangerous.

It gives them the impression that they can always get away with any sin. Therefore, the devil deceives them to continue in their sinful ways. He hardens their hearts. He is only setting them up for great humiliation, punishment, and destruction. Numbers 32:23b says your sin will find you out. In other words, your sin will catch up with you. (Holman Christian Standard Bible). Your sin shall overtake you (Douay-Rheims Bible). If not now, but, surely, later.

The exposure of your sins could even be posthumous as in the case of a highly revered Christian leader who passed on some months back.  The scandal is threatening the continued existence of the ministry he founded and left behind. His Ministry and the Christian community, including his admirers, were embarrassed. The sins you’ve successfully covered up may be exposed after you die.

Nobody is an angel. You may have committed one sin or the other at a time in the past but don’t become enslaved to it. Let it not become your addiction. Repent and confess your sins today. Don’t persist in your sins. Many years ago, it was after a pastor suddenly died that it was exposed that he had another wife somewhere with children.

You could lie and successfully cover up your sin, which encourages you to continue. Satan will assure you that after all, nobody knows and nobody will know! He will tell you you’re smart! But you will be digging your own grave. Repent and confess your sins instead of continuing in them. If you don’t repent, one day your secret sins will be uncovered and you will be disgraced while you’re alive or after your death.

Everyone has sinned and has come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Hardly is there anyone who has not sinned and lied to cover up sin in the past, either before or after salvation. Abraham lied when he was Abram (Genesis 12:13, 19) and after his name was changed to Abraham! (Genesis 20:2). He lied by telling a half-truth.

Lying is part of the desires of the sinful nature, and should be part of the old things that have passed away for anyone in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). All liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).

God knows the truth about every sin we commit. It is useless trying to make excuses or completely deny it. Human beings may not know; we may deceive them. As long as we continue that, we’re keeping secrets with the devil, and he will not only blackmail us with them, he will help us not to repent and confess.

David says in Psalm 32:3-4, “When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat” (New Living Translation). This is what happens when you don’t confess your sins.

But see what David did: “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (verse 5 New Living Translation).

All that God is asking the sinner (non-believer) to do is genuine repentance and put his faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Sinners will go to hellfire not because of their sins, but because of their failure to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ.

God told the Israelites, in Jeremiah 3:12-13, to acknowledge their sins. “Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your charms to alien deities under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the LORD” (New King James Version). Forgiveness and healing always follow confession of sins (2 Chronicles 7:14). Confess your sins.

Saul did not immediately confess his sins. On the two occasions that he flagrantly disobeyed the LORD, he never asked for His forgiveness. In the second instance, he even reduced it to a personal issue between himself and Samuel and begged Samuel to forgive him.  “Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.  Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD” (1 Samuel 15:24-25 New King James Version). He asked for Samuel’s pardon, but what of the LORD’s forgiveness?

Saul promoted sacrifice above genuine repentance. “Then he said, ‘I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.’ So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD” (1 Samuel 15:30-31 New King James Version).  That was not genuine repentance. He was only interested in looking good before men.

Initially, he lied to the prophet Samuel that he had obeyed the LORD (1 Samuel 15:13). It was after Samuel asked him about the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen he was hearing (verse 14) that he confessed that he had not obeyed God completely. He didn’t confess his sin, unlike David when the prophet Nathan confronted him with his sin with regard to Bathsheba and Uriah.

David said he had sinned before the LORD and the prophet Nathan immediately said the LORD also had put away his sin (2 Samuel 12:13). That was genuine repentance – no lying. In Saul’s case, Samuel didn’t say the LORD had forgiven him, apparently because he hadn’t repented genuinely. He only wanted to worship the LORD!

Also, after conducting a census of the Israelites, David willingly confessed that he had sinned. He did that before the prophet Gad delivered God’s message of judgment to him (2 Samuel 24:10). David said in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise” (New Living Translation).

In 1 Kings 21:27-29, after Ahab had heard the judgment of God over him and his house, the Bible says he tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his body, fasted, lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. This touched the heart of God and He exempted him from the promised disaster (verses 28-29). Confess your sins.

Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (New King James Version). If you’ve covered your sins before, as a child of God, you’ll notice that you lost your peace and joy. But when you confessed them, your joy was restored, though each time you remember the incident, you still feel bad. Godly sorrow works repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Do not trivialize sin. Don’t cover up your sins – confess to men where necessary.  Covering your sins is one sure way to give the devil control over your life and torment you with guilt and loss of peace and joy. Satan will deceive you to continue in your sins, telling you nobody will know. It is a lie. You will only be postponing the evil day. The devil is setting you up for a big fall! He’s leading you to eternity in hellfire.

Confess your sins and put the devil to shame. Let your confession not be lip service. Confess and forsake. Repent; don’t pretend. Repentance means that you turn away from sin and turn back to God. Repent; don’t conceal.

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you

PRAYER POINTS:  Father, I repent and confess my sins to you. I repent; I will not pretend. I repent; I will not conceal. I receive the grace to confess to men where necessary. No more cover-up or denial.  Satan, I shall no more keep secrets with you. Father, forgive me all my sins. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. (Psalm 51:12).

(For over 600 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).

T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org