Comments on: Lessons From USC http://www.marvinlwilliams.org/self-examination/lesson-usc/ the soul musings of a man living between two worlds Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:55:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jason http://www.marvinlwilliams.org/self-examination/lesson-usc/comment-page-1/#comment-616 Jason Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:32:20 +0000 http://www.marvinlwilliams.org/?p=2191#comment-616 Good questions. I'm reading the opening chapters of Deuteronomy right now and what is hitting me is that God is calling out His people to submit to a radical new ethic of relating to God and to one another. I think it is significant that he begins with confession. In chapter 1, Moses rehearses Israel's rebellion against God and the consequential 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. But the purpose of confession is not to keep one in a perpetual state of guilt, but to do just the opposite. Confession forces us to take personal responsibility for our actions and their consequences. Confession also empowers us to move ahead by laying our sins at the foot of the cross, accepting God’s forgiveness and not taking those burdens with us into our future. Take note of the number of times God tells them to “go”, “get moving”, “set out”, “advance” (depending on your translation). He tells them to stop wandering, to break out of their holding pattern of past failure and move into the blessing that He has in store for them. He further adds that there is also no need to live in fear or discouragement. I believe this applies to both the past (no guilt) and the future (no worries because God is in control as He has already proven). Action Step: Admit it, quit it and get on with it. From USC we can learn that confession is a necessary first step from moving ahead into our future without the weight our our past failures. Good questions. I'm reading the opening chapters of Deuteronomy right now and what is hitting me is that God is calling out His people to submit to a radical new ethic of relating to God and to one another. I think it is significant that he begins with confession.

In chapter 1, Moses rehearses Israel's rebellion against God and the consequential 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. But the purpose of confession is not to keep one in a perpetual state of guilt, but to do just the opposite. Confession forces us to take personal responsibility for our actions and their consequences. Confession also empowers us to move ahead by laying our sins at the foot of the cross, accepting God’s forgiveness and not taking those burdens with us into our future. Take note of the number of times God tells them to “go”, “get moving”, “set out”, “advance” (depending on your translation). He tells them to stop wandering, to break out of their holding pattern of past failure and move into the blessing that He has in store for them. He further adds that there is also no need to live in fear or discouragement. I believe this applies to both the past (no guilt) and the future (no worries because God is in control as He has already proven).
Action Step: Admit it, quit it and get on with it.

From USC we can learn that confession is a necessary first step from moving ahead into our future without the weight our our past failures.

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