“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:3 ESV) 

God gives us what we need, not what we deserve.

“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. (Psalm 103:10 ESV)

Confess your sins to God and be forgiven and blessed 

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer… I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1-5 ESV)

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:2-4 ESV)

He removes your sins 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ESV)

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12 NLT)

Therefore…

“As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:7-9)

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:1-4 ESV)

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1 ESV)

 Quotes:

“No child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness.” - John Bunyan

“I believe that as often as I transgress, God is more ready to forgive me than I am ready to offend.” - Charles Spurgeon

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” (2 Cor. 1:21-22)

Sealed: Certified or authenticated; Closed, firm, fixed, shut, impenetrable. In biblical times as today, is used to guarantee security or indicate ownership. Ancient seals were often made of wax, embedded with the personalized imprint of their guarantor. The Roman authorities used such a seal to secure Jesus' tomb (Matt 27:66). A signet ring was also called a seal.

You are sealed with the Holy Spirit after you hear, trust and believe

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:13-14 NKJV)

Therefore…

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:20)

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” (John 6.27)

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:3 ESV)

Sing praises to Him

“Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!” (Psalm 105:2 ESV)

“Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!” (Psalm 135:3 ESV)

With Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs

“Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…” (Eph. 5:19 ESV)

Praise Him with musical instruments 

“Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!” (Psalm 150:3-5 3 ESV)

Make a joyful noise to the Lord with gladness

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” (Psalm 95:1 ESV)

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:1-5 ESV)

Therefore…

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” (James 5:13 ESV)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16 ESV)

“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.” (Psalm 104:33 ESV)

“A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:1-5 ESV)

 Quote:

“Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.” - Martin Luther

“Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother, and naked I will return. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away! May the name of the Lord be praised’.” (Job 1:20-21 GW)

 Job lost everything yet praised God

 In a series of one horrific disaster after another Job lost everything he had, including his children. He even lost his health and was blamed for all his problems by his friends. To top it all off, his wife told him to “curse God and die”. In the midst of his great loss and grief, Job did something remarkable; he worshipped God and said, “The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away! May the name of the Lord be praised.” Job recognized God as his creator, provider and the final authority, no matter what should happen to him. This attitude pleased God. Eventually his health returned and God blessed him with twice what he had lost. 

Believing that God is the Lord

“You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them.” (Neh. 9:6)

“For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.

“But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isa. 66:2)

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Col. 1:16)

“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” (John 1:3)

God the creator is worthy of our worship and praise

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)

“O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” (Isa. 37:16)

Therefore…

“Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” (Psalm 100:3)

“Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!” (Psalm 147:2-5)

Quote:

“Stay strong! Your test will become your test-imony, your mess will become your mess-age.” - Max Lucado

“Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (2 Tim. 2:7 ESV)

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and understanding 

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” (Prov. 3:13-18 ESV)

Trust in the Lord and not your own understanding 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3;5 ESV)

God’s Words imparts light and understanding

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130 ESV)

God’s understanding has no limit

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:5 NIV)

Seek understanding like searching for hidden treasure

“Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Prov. 2:2-5 ESV)

“The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Prov. 20:25 ESV)

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov. 2:6)

Understanding will guard you

“Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil…” (Prov. 2:11-12 ESV)

“And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (Job 28:28 ESV)

Therefore…

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” (1 Cor. 2:12 ESV)

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)

“Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.” (Prov. 19:8)

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Cor. 10:13 NLT)

Don’t cheat on your spouse 

“You must not commit adultery.” (Exo. 20:14 NLT)

“Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.” (Heb. 13:4 NLT) 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27-28 NIV) 

Don’t cheat others

“You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exo. 20:17 NLT) 

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.” (Lev. 19:11 ESV)

“The LORD detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.” (Prov. 11:1 NLT)

“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,  a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” (Prov. 16:16-19 NIV)

Don’t cheat God

“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” (Acts 5:1-9 NIV)

Cheaters are wrongdoers and will not inherit the kingdom of God 

“Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:8-11 NIV)

Therefore…

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” (Prov. 10:9 ESV)

“Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.” (Rom. 13:8 NLT)

Quotes:

“The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty. And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too.” - Stephen Covey 

“The first and worst of all, fraud is to cheat one's self. All sin is easy after that.” - Pearl Bailey

“Each man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well -he has changed his market -cart into a chariot of the sun.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.” (Psalm 66:10 ESV)

 Test: the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined; a means of trial.

 The Lord tests hearts

“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.” (Prov. 16:3 ESV)

 Testing faith’s genuineness  

“So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” ( 1 Peter 1:7 ESV)

 Testing produces steadfastness

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4 ESV)

 Therefore…

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12 ESV)

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12 ESV)

 Quote:

“To learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.”  - George Mueller

“Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.” (1 Sam. 10:6 KJV)

Transformed by the power of God

The above passage talks about being turned into another man when the Lord comes upon you. That’s exactly what happens when you are transformed by Jesus Christ. You actually become “a new creation”.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17 ESV)

It’s like putting on a brand new self

“And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Col. 3:12 ESV)

Jesus described this transformation as being “born again”

“As Jesus talked with Nicodemus, He said, “‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.”’ (John 3:3-7)

The Apostle Paul described this transformation as having Christ live in him

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20 ESV)

This transformation happens through faith in Jesus

“If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9 NIV)

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13 KJV)

Therefore…

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom. 12:2 ESV)

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18 ESV)

Quote:

“The same Jesus Who turned water into wine can transform your home, your life, your family, and your future. He is still in the miracle-working business, and His business is the business of transformation.” – Adrian Rogers

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Prov. 16:3 ESV)

We are created for good works 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10 ESV)

Be steadfast, immovable 

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Cor. 15.58 ESV)

Be an unashamed worker for God

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15 ESV)

Therefore…

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Col. 3:23-24 ESV)

“For we are God's fellow workers.” (1 Cor. 3:9 ESV)

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (Phil. 2:12-16 ESV)

Quote:

“It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think he must prefer quality to quantity.” - George Macdonald