DAY 5

GRACE, REPENTANCE, SALVATION, HEALING, RESTORATION & ACCOUNTABILITY

Hello family☺️, It is DAY 5 (final day) of the series on sexual immorality and restoration. I pray you get blessed as you read. Thanks. God bless.🙏🤗

We have talked a lot about the various types of sexual immorality such as pornography, masturbation, sexting, prostitution, fornication, sexual thoughts,  homosexuality, bisexual and adultery. I really hope we have learned not to get involved in such sins and flee from them. However, some of us might say, “Esther, I already committed one or more of this sexual sins, what do I do?” I want you to know that there is still time to let go of those sins and come back to God.

1 John 2:1-2 (NLT) says, “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. BUT if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

GRACE!!! There is grace for you. This is God’s free gift and unmerited favor to us. We did nothing to deserve it but he willingly gives us grace because of his love for us. He gave his only beloved son to die for our sins. “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ  –2 Corinthians 5:21(NLT). Christ already died in our place so we might live.

Some of our friends who committed sexual immoralities have suffered various consequences. Some died, some contacted some viruses, some damaged their uterus (womb), etc. However, God has also spared some of us several times. God keeps giving us chances, and we say to ourselves, “I am so lucky.” We begin to think that we must be so special and different. But may I tell you, that is no lucky, that is GRACE. God given grace upon our life. We shouldn’t take it for granted.

To fully receive God’s grace we must repent of our sins. We need to learn a lesson from the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32 – NLT). The prodigal son went to his father, “I want my share of your estate now before you die.” And the father divided the inheritance between his two sons and gave him his. The prodigal son packed his bags, moved to a distant land and squandered all his money, and he was left starving. We are also like this, we pray to God to bless us and when he does, we pack our bags and move into the world, do what the world does, commit all kinds of sin including sexual ones.

But, there is one thing the prodigal son did, that some of us are yet to do. HE RETURNED HOME. 

Luke 15: 17 -18 (NLT) Says, “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” He returned home to this father, but some of us are yet to come to our senses and decide to return home too. We have an eternal inheritance waiting for us, we shouldn’t throw it away for temporary worldly pleasures which will lead to eternal damnation and alienation from God forever.

So, let us sincerely, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord – Acts 3:19 (NIV). By repenting you confess your sins to God, apologize for them and ask for forgiveness. You also make a commitment to stop sinning and not return to your old and sinful ways. James 4:7-10 (NLT) says, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

Many of us do not know that there is grace for our sins, while many believe that they have sinned too much and can never for forgiven. I want you to know that the blood of Jesus Christ is much stronger than the blood of any animal and it had been shed for the forgiveness of all who come to him. All you have to do is repent of your sins and accept Christ into your life as your personal lord and savior if you are an unbeliever. Surrender your life to him and allow the Holy Spirit to start his work in your life and let God the father prune you.And if you are a believer, but you lost your way, please return home like the prodigal son, get your healing and be restored back to the Father (God). Pray to God. Say father, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me – Psalm 51:12 (NIV). I can assure you it is not going to be easy whether you are a returning believer or a new believer. In fact, Jesus said in Mark 10: 27 (NLT), “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

Because, after your salvation that is not the end, In fact, it is the beginning. Sanctification is still needed. You must start living a life set apart, holy and led by the Holy Spirit. So, Let’s “Put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires… Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him – Colossians 3: 5 -10 (NLT).”

There are some of us who have asked for forgiveness, but deep in our hearts, we still feel guilty. We feel like God hasn’t forgiven us yet. I want you to know that you are completely forgiven of your sins. The devil doesn’t want you to know that and he wants to keep messing with your head. The Bible says in Psalm 103: 12 (NIV), “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” He completely erases and removes our sins. So, remember that every time and you will no longer experience guilt but the peace and love of God. He has forgiven you, accept his forgiveness and forgive yourself. It is time to move on into God’s purpose for your life. Don’t let the past keep pulling you back. And just like the apostle Paul said, focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead – Philippians 3:13 (NLT).

Accountability is also imperative. You need someone who you can count on to hold you responsible for your actions and encourage you in your relationship with God. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NLT), “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” So, do away with those ungodly friends and get yourself some real godly friends who are ready to support, encourage, fight and pray with you. People who are willing to tell you the truth even if it going to hurt you. Individuals who are ready to tell you what is wrong and what is a sin.

Also, Don’t trust in the number, trust in the TRUTH. Don’t say, “After all, I know many people that do it, are WE all going to hell? I hate to say this my dear, but if  God’s word says what you are doing is wrong then it is wrong, and if you persistently indulge in it then you are not safe at all. God is a just judge, and he will judge us all according to our deeds. Right or wrong. Exodus 23:2 (NIV) says, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” Your safety is not in the number but in the truth of the word of God.

So, whatever is causing you to indulge in sin, do away with it and cut it off. Matthew 5: 29 – 30 (NLT) says, “So if your eye, even your good eye causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand even your stronger hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

So, no matter what it is or who it is, if it is doing you more harm than good, then it is time to do away with it. Even if it is a childhood friend and they don’t hold the same godly beliefs that you have chosen to believe in and they keep dragging you back to your old sinful ways, then it is time to say goodbye. The Bible warns us in 1 Corinthians 15: 33 (NIV), “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

The painful truth is some of us want some sins in our lives. But, I pray that God will open our eyes and soften our hearts to receive his word and love, and will help us realize what is best for us early. Because believe it or not, Jesus is returning soon. So, let us, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near – Isaiah 55:6 (NIV) and let us work hard to enter into the narrow gate while we can (Luke 13: 24) because only a FEW will find this gate. It really makes me wonder all the time what will happen to the remaining “MANY”. We must also know that “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires – Romans 13:11-14(NLT).

Even King Solomon, who was the wisest and richest man and had 700 wives and 300 concubines said in Ecclesiastes 1:2 (KJV), “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” He said everything is vanity and meaningless. We shouldn’t waste over lives chasing over things or indulging in sexual sins that one day we will look back at and regret. Let’s make it a new year resolution to drop those sins and accept christ into our lives and if you already did but lost your way, make it a new year resolution to be restored back to God. Come back home. 🤗🤗

Thank you so much for reading and sticking around for the past 5 days.

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have a question, need encouragement, support, accountability or have a prayer request. Just fill out the form on the CONTACT  page.

Please, drop your comments, share the post and tell your friends and family about it. Let’s get as many people as possible on the right path before it is too late. 😉

God bless. Much Love❤️

Esther Ademiju😘