Cleanse Me

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Cleanse Me------------------------------ Date: 1/23/2001
Keywords: "cleanse" "compassion" "forgiveness" "mercy" "sin"
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Passage: Psalm 51:1-3*

1. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

2. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

3. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Questions

1. Is God big enough to handle your sin?

 

2. What does he want to do with it?

 

3. Have you asked him recently?

 

Practical help

At the eXXit team headquarters, we get many e-mails from readers who express despair at their addiction to pornography. Their plight is like in Verse 3: they are continually faced with the fact that they're not able to stand on their own against this raging torrent of sin.

Sometimes it's time to give up. Not give in, but give up the struggle to do it on your own. God is merciful, and he is able to forgive. His forgiveness is constant, but experienced most fully only when you fall on your knees before him like David in this psalm. David's sin was little different from yours; he had just been confronted by someone who knew about his adultery, and about his subsequent murder of his lover's husband. How bad can things get? Certainly your struggle with porn isn't worse and less forgiveable?

My most recent experience with forgiveness was amazing. It was in my marriage -- my wife and I had had a fight that went on for a couple of days. I was full of anger and bitterness, as well as guilt. She called me at work, we talked, and we each both asked for and received forgiveness from the other. I hung up the phone and somehow the anger, bitterness, and rage was simply gone. Nothing remained of it. Maybe that's a little taste of what it's like when God forgives. It's not really understood until you say the words, "Please forgive me."

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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.