underachiever, Function: n: a person (as a student) who fails to achieve his or her potential or does not do as well as expected "I don't feel like a very good Christian at all. Everybody at my church seems to have it all together. Perhaps religion

OOPS I DID IT AGAIN

GOD HATES SIN, BUT HE LOVES YOUBy RON KELLY

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Ron Kelly
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-4008-3

Contents

Introduction............................................................................................ixPrologue: The Sermon behind the Book Sermon Title: "Oops, I Did It Again!".............................xvChapter 1: Just Forget About It.........................................................................1Chapter 2: Stop Faking It...............................................................................9Chapter 3: His Grace and Mercy..........................................................................21Chapter 4: A God of a [begin strikethrough]Second[end strikethrough] Another Chance.....................29Chapter 5: You Must Be Born Again!......................................................................39Epilogue: Be Encouraged.................................................................................49

Chapter One

Just Forget About It

Many of you find it difficult to move forward because you can't seem to let go of your past. You're left with feelings of guilt and shame as your past sins keep resurfacing: suicide attempts, abortions, felony convictions, infidelity and a host of other mistakes. Sometimes, the decisions we make in life create a wedge between us and God, causing us to run away from Him. However, God never leaves us. Jesus, in turn, extends His nailed scared hands, making it clear to him: that whatever he's done was nailed to the cross, and he's welcomed back in the arms of Jesus.

You may remember the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Here, the younger of two sons disrespects his father by prematurely demanding his inheritance. The son goes on to denounce his religion and his God. He takes his inheritance and flees to a distant land, where he wastes his fortune on wild living.

Naturally, he runs out of money. When a severe famine hits the country, the son finds himself in dire circumstances. He is forced to take a job feeding pigs and is so destitute that he longs to eat the food given to the pigs. The young man finally comes to his senses and remembers his father. With humility, he recognizes his foolishness and decides to return to his father and ask for forgiveness and mercy. His father, who had been watching and waiting, receives his son back with open arms.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is a beautiful reflection of the grace and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father. Typically, a son received his inheritance at the time of his father's death. For the younger brother to instigate the early division of the family estate showed a rebellious and proud disregard for his father's authority, not to mention a selfish and immature attitude. Yet his father received him back after all he had done.

This story is an extreme case of blatant disrespect for which the son should have been cut off from his father. In the same way, how many times have we displayed momentary lapses in judgment and totally disrespected our Heavenly Father? If we're honest, we'd all have to admit that we've had moments in our lives when we've been in the pigs' pen. And because of our past actions, we run away from God, and we believe it's impossible to come back after sinking so low. The truth, though, is that it doesn't matter what you've done. We serve a God who says, "I'm waiting for you with open arms. Come back home!"

Back in the 1980s, I was a teenager. Raised in church, I was trying my best to live for God while struggling with the actions and behaviors typical of most teenagers. Around 1985, I became a huge fan of a contemporary gospel group called Commissioned. In particular, their song "Running Back To You" spoke directly to my heart and changed my life forever.

The lyrics include a detailed conversation between a down and out believer and the Lord. At his lowest point he is convinced, that because of his indiscretions and wicked ways, he has reached a point of no return. Pursuing his own desires on worldly things, he literally turns his back on God. At one point in the song, he even tries to tell the Lord that He doesn't understand. Jesus in turn, extends His nailed scared hands, making it clear to this person: that he's welcomed back in the arms of Jesus.

I encourage you to pause and meditate on the lyrics of this powerful song, which still ministers to the hearts of so many struggling Christians today. I even encourage you to watch the YouTube video of Commissioned performing it live during their reunion tour in 2009: http://youtu. be/QtOOOq5NWnU. As well, this song will help you understand how the grace of God is far greater than your sins. Even though you have committed great sins, you need to realize that the blood of Jesus Christ is still greater.

If you are new to Christianity and find this concept hard to comprehend, don't feel bad. It still blows my mind today! But the reality is that God can, and does, forgive us at our worst. So if He forgives and forgets our indiscretions, why can't we? It is clear throughout the Bible that God not only forgives our sins, but He forgets them as well. Take a moment to read and meditate on the following scriptures:

Hebrew 8:12, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

Jeremiah 31:34, "... For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."

As you have just read, when we seek God's forgiveness with our heart, His forgiveness is immediate and complete. Our almighty, all-powerful and all-knowing God loves us so much that He doesn't hold our forgiven transgressions against us. Why? Because the blood of His Son Jesus Christ washes them away!

As believers, we can rest in this truth and rejoice in the certainty that the Lord will not remember our sins anymore. Why should we? 1 John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

In the Bible, the word "condemnation" simply means to fall short of God's glory. Many of God's people are living under a heavy burden of guilt and shame because of their past. As a result, they find it difficult to believe that God will forgive and forget their sins. The act of condemning (or condemnation) will bring unrelenting feelings of guilt and shame, with no hope of mercy or freedom, but the devil is a liar! Romans 8:1-2 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."

So what's the next step after you've asked for forgiveness? How do you become liberated from your feelings of guilt and shame? Paul gives us the answer in Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me; Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I remember visiting with my former pastor during a rough patch in my life. I sat in his study and proceeded to beat myself up...