"I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." Isaiah 44:22 NAS

Once again we come to a freedom verse in Isaiah. This verse gives us a future hope from far in the past. About 28 verses and 1 chapter back we were given another example of this verse and saw how the Lord wipes out our sins. He covers all our sins no matter how big, how grotesque, how heinous or horrible they are, He paid for them all. Here in this verse you will some very awesome things.

The first thing you will notice is that the word wiped used here is the same one used in Isaiah 43:25. It is past tense, it is completed, and “It is finished". He has covered all sin once and for all (Rom 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18). Ever notice what happens when the thick clouds come on a sunny day. The sun disappears, the sky darkens and the temperature cools down.

It takes a mighty thick cloud to the cover the sun's powerful rays from shinning through. When we allow sin into our lives it can make us darkened and distant. Sin draws us away from the Lord. It puts distance in our relationship with the Creator. It makes us feel cold inside and sometimes the Lord has to turn up the heat on us to warm up our souls once again.

When we find ourselves stuck in the sin rut we may even feel like we can't come into the Lord's presence. The more sin we allow the colder our lives feel. The havoc of sin makes us feel like orphans on the street. All the while the heavenly Father never feels that way toward us. He has wiped out all our transgressions. He has covered the damaging rays of sin on our lives with His precious blood. Even though we feel distant from Him, He is never distant from us.

Even when we are sinning He is right there with us for He indwells us. You see the enemy and accuser of our souls wants us to feel guilty and horrible. He wants to tell us things like, "Look at you! You call yourself a Christian" or He wants us to believe that we can't go right to God because of our shame and sin. He is so crafty that he will do anything he can to cause you to back away from God's ever abiding love.

Have you ever felt that way after falling to the temptation of sin? Has the enemy come and told you how rotten you are? Our sin does grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) and it does in fact have an effect on our usefulness for the Lord. It can greatly impact a ministry with destructive effects and consequences on the lives of others. We need to remember though that the Father always sees the Son in us.

The Fathers heart and desire is that we would always, always do one thing, that is that we return to Him. He alone covers our sins with His blood and He finished the work on the cross. When we sin we should immediately return to Him and confess our sins right then and there. Don’t let the enemy get a foothold on you with guilt.

Come right to the Lord and do as 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We were forgiven at the cross and that means He has already forgiven us for everything we have done and everything we will do.

We need to confess and acknowledge our sin, repent and move-on accepting His grace. We need to return to Him and His everlasting love.

In His Great Love,
Adam