WORDS for your PSYCHE - Part I

Topic: Forgiveness, Mercy and Repentance

“Oh, what joy for those who disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” (Psalm 32:1-2 / NLT)

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love! Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! Wash away my wrongdoing! Cleanse me of my sin! For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin.” (Psalm 51:1-3 / NET)

“Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! May the bones you crushed rejoice! Hide your face from my sins! Wipe away all my guilt! Create for me a pure heart, O God! Renew a resolute spirit within me!” (Psalm 51:7-10 / NET)

“The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:17 / NLT)

“…you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me…You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you…Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults. I - yes, I alone - will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” (Isaiah 43:22-25 / NLT)

“I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away yours sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” (Isaiah 44:21-22 / NLT)

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!” (Ezekiel 14:6 / NIV ®)

“But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.” (Ezekiel 18:21 / NIV ®)

“’Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’ declares the Sovereign Lord. ’Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?’” (Ezekiel 18:23 / NIV ®)

“Repent! Turn away from all your offences; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.” (Ezekiel 18:30-31 / NIV ®)

“Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: ’Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.’” (Hosea 14:2 / NIV ®)

“’Even now,’ declares the Lord, ’return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments.’” (Joel 2:12-13 / NIV ®)

“Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love....” (Joel 2:13 / NIV ®)

“And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18 / TEV)

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ’Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?’ ’No, not seven times,’ answered Jesus, ’but seventy times seven....’” (Matthew 18:21-22 / TEV)

“When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. So he called the servant in. ’You worthless slave!’ he said. ’I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.” (Matthew 18:31-34 / TEV)

“When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him...Jesus said, ’Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” (Luke 23:33-34 / ASD-NIV)

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery...and said to Jesus, ’In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’...Jesus...said to them, ’If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw stone at her...’ At this, those who heard began to go away...Jesus...asked her, ’Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ’No one, sir,’ she said. ’Then neither do I condemn you.’ Jesus declared. ’Go now and leave your life of sin.’” (John 8:3-7 and 10-11 / ASD-NIV)

“It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 / NLT)

“…be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32 / NLT)