The joy of a life forgiven

I want to direct your attention to a developed thought that I know will bless you for the rest of this year. I ask the Lord to give me the same dedication and passion for this message that he gave me this morning and that I can share it effectively with you as well. Psalm 32, we go to the word of the Lord. Says:

“…Blessed is he whose transgression has been forgiven and his sin covered. Blessed is the man, the woman, whom Jehovah does not blame for iniquity... in another passage of the Bible it says who Jehovah does not blame, that is, he does not attribute guilt even though he has it ─ whom Jehovah does not blame for iniquity and in whose spirit there is no cheating. While I kept silent my bones grew old in my moaning all day, because your hand was heavy on me day and night. My greenery turned into summer droughts, I declared my sin to you and I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Jehovah, and you forgave the wickedness of my sin. For this all saints will pray to you at the time when you can be found. Certainly, in the flood of many waters they will not reach him.

You are my refuge, you will keep me from anguish, with songs of liberation you will surround me. ─ This is a promise from the Lord, ─ I will make you understand and I will teach you the way you should walk. Upon you I will fix my eyes. Do not be like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be restrained with a bridle and bridle, otherwise they will not come near you. There will be many pains for the wicked, but mercy surrounds him who hopes in Jehovah. Rejoice in the Lord and rejoice righteous and sing a joy all you upright in heart..."

The Lord bless his word. It is a beautiful psalm. The joy of a spared life. The joy of a spared life. Let me tell you the origin of this meditation and this text.

Again, as I often do, I was asking the Lord for a word for you just starting the second Sunday of the new year. I still feel like we're still taking off for this new year. And it occurred to me how important it is to have counsel from God, to have direction from God, to know how to obtain wisdom and guidance in the paths of life. This year we are going to have situations in which we do not know what to do, perhaps complex situations, family, financial, perhaps even legal, relational, work, many things. We have to know how to receive counsel from God to do the right thing.

I thought, okay, that's what I always want the Lord to speak to the people, how to receive advice from God in the coming year and in your future life. And that passage came to me because God has so many things in our spirit there. One continuously reads the word of God and as if those texts are floating to be grabbed. People talk about the cloud, the cloud, on the computer today, like everything is up there in a cloud. Every now and then you reach out your hand and take something out of the cloud and bring it down.

In my spiritual cloud there were many... and this text came to mind. I was telling the brothers this morning, that is why it is so important to have the word of God moving within you. When you continually meditate on the word of the Lord, God will always have something to lean on. When you need a word from God, a text, a hymn, a chorus, a word that someone gave you, something that you read a long time ago will come to your mind, and that will be the word from God to you.

That verse that says 'I will make you understand and teach you the way you should walk' came to mind. I said how precious that is. That is a good text to support me to talk about advice, direction. And that was one of the last thoughts I had last night before going to sleep, because it came to me while I was getting ready to go to sleep. I didn't want to lose sleep anymore so I left it there in the cloud. And this morning I got up and searched to prepare the message.

“I will make you understand and I will teach you the way you should walk”, I went to Psalm 32 in the concordance. I will make you understand and I will teach you the way you should walk. And what a beautiful promise of God to us. I am going to give you understanding and I will teach you the path in which you should walk.

But then when I began to explore, I realized that this promise is inserted in a series of other thoughts, preconditions, it is a whole system that makes this promise of God possible for our lives. And then I understood that this promise is part of a whole meditation on forgiveness, confession of sin, repentance, bringing our burden and our debts before the Lord.

In order for us to receive advice, wisdom, teaching, we have to be clear, have clear accounts with God. So, this whole psalm is a beautiful meditation on the confession of sins, on coming before God and acknowledging our faults, asking the Lord for forgiveness and being forgiven by God. That is the precondition for a blessed life, that is why it says, blessed is the person whose debt, his sin has been forgiven.

I want to speak to you, brothers, about this, that for us to have good communication with God we first need to have a clear relationship before the Lord. This is a maskil psalm, it is a type of psalm that has to do with wisdom. It is a psalm of instruction and this psalm is giving us a very powerful teaching about the importance of forgiveness in the lives of the children of God, and of confessing our sin.

So, the psalmist begins with a general thought saying, what a blessing, how lucky he is, how lucky he is, how blessed is the person whose transgression has been forgiven and his sin covered. The man or woman whom Jehovah does not charge with iniquity. That is a very important thing that we have to remember.

Now, here it says three things, it says that we have to be forgiven, our sin and that God does not accuse us of iniquity. And I think there is a lesson there that we have to take into account. When God forgives us, there are many things that happen in our life.

It says, whose transgression has been forgiven, it's like let's say a person, who has committed a crime and should be sentenced for that crime, but he goes to a judge, and that judge forgives that person's sin. there is a judicial transaction, that judge says, you know what? You should go to jail, but you're forgiven. And that is what happens when we confess our sins before God, our debts before the Lord. The first thing that happens is that this debt is erased from the record. God blots out our iniquities when we confess our sins before the Lord.

The devil can no longer come and take hold of that to attack you, to criticize you, to hurt you. God has said, you are forgiven. That person, when he is pardoned by law, his record is clean again.

And secondly, he says, that person whose sin has been covered, that is, I see in this, it is like when one has sinned one is ashamed of oneself, is ashamed of others many times, is ashamed of God. it is like a person who is naked and devoid of dignity because all his nakedness is open. But someone comes and throws a cloak over him and covers his nakedness and the dignity of that person is restored.

So when we are forgiven by God I believe that this also means that we are free to appear publicly and to walk through life without a sense of shame. We can accept God's forgiveness and live with a clear conscience, we can move in life, transact different things. We don't have to have that thing like persecuting us continuously, I sinned, I did this, I did that. No, if God forgave you, don't look back, look forward and live life confident that we've settled accounts. I do not have to be visiting that sin again, I am going to move forward now with a clear conscience before God. God covered up, God hid my sin.

And in the third place, he says that good fortune to whom Jehovah does not accuse of iniquity. That means, brothers, when God forgives, God forgives. When God forgives you don't have to feel like you can't get back before God. God already healed you, God forgave you, God no longer has a grudge against you, and you can freely appear before the throne of God. God is not like remembering and squeezing your sin in your face. God is a simple hearted God, when he forgives you, move on because God is already fine with you and you are fine with God if there is heartfelt repentance.

Now, that is the essence that we, brothers, in order to effectively live the Christian life, we have to have a life of continuous appearing before God and ask the Lord for forgiveness for our debts, our sins and be truly repentant.

I like this psalm because this psalm calls you, it calls me, to a life very aware that I continually need God's grace in my life. You know what? While we are on earth we are inevitably going to offend the Lord, because that is the nature of human life, that is the nature of the human condition. But that is why it is so important that in us there is always an attitude of continuous recognition of our sins and that I continually need God's grace and mercy.

I believe that God wants, brothers, that we continually examine ourselves. But I want to say this, that it is not examining ourselves with a sense of paranoia, it is not with a sense that I am dirty, like those people who have a compulsive neurotic disease who are always washing their hands because they feel that they always have germs. No, because there is a way of feeling guilty that weakens you, neurotizes you and slows you down and prevents you from living a happy life. And that is very dangerous and the devil often wants us to feel dirty and that we are always looking behind us to see when God is going to give us the next lash.

No, I am referring, brothers, to an attitude of preventive humility before the Lord that recognizes that I need the grace of God 24 hours a day. And that there is also a disposition in us, brothers, to please the Lord and to change our lifestyle.

I believe that one has to live a repentant life all the time. Nor am I referring to an attitude where, oh, God already forgave me, God is good, God is merciful and then you live like a scoundrel, like a lawless goat as Gregory says many times. I'm not referring to that either. I am not referring as they say out there to a cheap grace. No. I am referring to the fact that I believe that all of us, if we are honest, including the speaker, have to be continually aware that there are things in my life that could be improved, there are things in the past year, yesterday, that would have I could live better before God and that is why I need the grace, the mercy of God continuously.

Listen, brother, because there are many people who I believe abuse the Lord's mercy and grace, they don't examine themselves, we don't examine ourselves. We believe that by coming to church and paying a little offering to God, as if everything is fine now and there is no inner sense, from the heart, Lord, have mercy on me. I need your grace. I need your forgiveness.

And that then we can come before God and receive that balm of forgiveness and grace. What the psalmist calls us here, brothers, is a life of confession, a life of recognition of our sins, our faults before the Lord, not underestimating the holiness of the Lord.

I believe that this year God wants you and I to live with a renewed sense of reverence for God's holiness and our debt, our sin before the Lord. God wants a people grieved by their sin.

But again, it is a paradox because on the one hand we feel sorrow for our sins, but on the other hand we also know that we have a merciful God who takes pity on us. For me that is an ideal balance because there is a type of Christian and there is a type of legalistic church that is always whipping people, and what they have is a whip with four small brass balls to give people and open ditches in the back, and there is no medicine. That's bad.

There are churches, on the other hand, that everything is grace, grace, grace, do not preach anything that bothers people, that makes them uncomfortable with their lifestyle, their situation, their practices, because God is a God of mercy and love and God understands you, etc. and that too is terribly irresponsible.

And I believe that there is a balance between those two things of a church, a man, a woman, who recognizes his sin, recognizes that he needs to improve and is aware of it and is overwhelmed in a sense and ashamed because he knows that one always remains short before God and who confesses his sin and makes a healthy and honest resolution to improve and change his lifestyle, but who also knows that God is a merciful God and when we confess our faults he covers us, throws us the mantle of the blessing and says, okay, let's start again.

The Bible is full of such examples. I refer you to the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. The publican was a scoundrel, a city or government employee who abused his position and was corrupt and did harm with his behavior and this man, he says, who comes to the house of God, and there is another next door who is a guy who believes he is holy, perfect, and has not repented from his heart, does not recognize his faults, he is only seeing two or three little things. I tithe, I go to church, I do this, I do that, and he only sees things grosso modo but he has not seen from the heart all the things that are rotten inside.

It says that the publican beat his chest and said, have mercy on me, Lord, a sinner. There was a radical recognition of his sin and I assume that there was also a desire to change, because the Bible says that God saw his attitude and he went home justified.

And that is what I mean, brothers, it is an attitude where you cry for your sin, you know that you have failed. But that does not paralyze you either, it allows you to continue living because you receive God's mercy, you know that God is forgiving you and that you are going to be better, you are improving, you are progressing, you are doing everything you can. There is sorrow in your heart because of your sin.

That is why I like Psalm 51 which says, you will not despise a contrite and humiliated heart, oh God. I think of the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul was a man who served the Lord, he had lost everything for God, he had sacrificed so many things in his life. God had used him so greatly and yet he said, I am the chief of sinners. Because Pablo knew that despite everything he did, there was always something he could still improve. There was drama in his life.

He says that God allowed him a thorn in his life, and he asked the Lord many times, deliver me from this, he says, it is a messenger of Satan, a thorn in his flesh. And he asked the Lord to free him, and God told him, no, I'm going to leave him there so that you learn to be humble. And he said, well, Lord, that's fine, whatever you want.

In other words, I believe that every man, every woman of God, no matter how much they do and work for the Kingdom of God, should always know that there are things that you owe to God and that only by God's mercy does he not throw you away lightning that splits you in half, and sends you to the bottom of hell. Because God is merciful, and that prevents us from being proud, arrogant, legalistic, accusing others and assuming that we are the last Coca Cola in the desert. No matter how much we give to the Lord, we are always going to be indebted to God, brothers, because that is human nature.

I believe that when you recognize that, that covers you, the devil cannot accuse you. Because when he wants to accuse you, God tells him, no, man, but he already betrayed that guy 10 years ago, look here he is, I already forgave him. And he has to leave with his tail between his legs to look for another sin to accuse you of, because that one… look, constantly betray yourself before God before they come and denounce you. That is the best.

Keep short accounts with God. As soon as you discover something in your life that is not correct before the Lord, throw yourself at the feet of the Lord and cry until you runny nose and ask for forgiveness, repent, get up and there restored and move forward with a greater purpose of serving God.

Look at what the psalmist says, "while I kept silent my bones grew old, in my moaning all day..."

While I kept silent, about what? Of my sin There are people out there who keep quiet about their sins and believe that if they keep quiet God won't notice, and neither will the devil. And that is the biggest mistake of all. God always realizes because he is God and the devil because he is old and has been on earth for many years, he has his spies out there.

He knows that while one is silent, while one hides his sin, while one calls it something else, oh, that is a weakness that I have, that is a defect that comes from my parents, that runs in the family, no, it is that I I am honest. No. It's not that you're honest, it's that you're hard-mouthed, it's that you're cruel to people, it's that you abuse words. Don't call it honesty. Do not hide your sin, do not disguise your sin, do not hide your sin, do not hide it, do not look at others worse than you, so that you can feel better than others.

Many times the inmates in jail have a system. People, for example, who are child abusers, treat them very badly in jail because the inmates say, no, that is something that cannot be forgiven. That is nonsense, that is for them to feel better than the other. Oh no, at least I don't abuse children. Yes, I killed 17 women but never abused a child. It is the man always trying to find something to hide his sin and not look at himself.

Ah, no, I'm not like those people in church who come and are in front, and raise their hands, and are crying, no, I'm sincere with God. Lie. You are saying that so as not to admit that you have a sin that you have to confess before the Lord. Those hypocrites over there. No, confess your sin, don't look at others. Look at yourself and recognize where you are according to God and do not look around, do not look at anyone else to feel better than anyone or worse than anyone. Don't compare yourself to anyone. You and God. Do not hide your sin, acknowledge it before the Lord. I confess.

That is why I say that this psalm calls me to a life of healthy confession where I know that I owe the Lord. I am never going to be able to be perfect with God but I am going to repent, I am going to acknowledge, I am going to confess and I am going to make a healthy resolution to move on, because if I don't, that is going to be like a nail that is going to dig into and it's going to get inside me, a nail that doesn't want to come out. Do you know what happens? That drives the meat, forgive the graphic. A tumor that wants to come out, you have to cut it, you have to remove it because it is obstructing a nerve, it is obstructing the flow of blood, it is obstructing something, a breath.

And in unconfessed sin it is so. Many of us live a sinful lifestyle, brothers. And that is a tumor that is increasing, it is growing. We hide it and when it gets too big, we cut it off a little bit so that a little bit of breath can come out, but we don't cut it off completely. And sometimes we cut it a little more but we leave the root because we want it to come back again. Don't be fooled. God knows. God knows what I mean.

I have struggled a lot with my own sin to not be a good psychologist of sin. I know what the games we play with God are like, brothers. My God, what he wants is a radical operation. There are things in your life and in my life that we are going to have to hand over to God to uproot them, because if he doesn't uproot it, the cancer will sprout again. Hey, and it's going to hurt.

That main demon that is there in the background is going to scream like a bug when they want to rip it out of its flesh, it is going to scream, but you have to do it, you have to confess, you have to give your life, you have to say, Lord, radically I regret it and I'm going to live a life...

I encourage you this year, just as I encourage myself, that it be a year of, Lord, now, cut the tumor, nip it at the root. I confess my sin. Because when you don't confess it, when you don't repent from your heart, look, he says, my bones have grown old, there is decay. The hand of the Lord is heavy, it has become heavy on you, as if God is putting pressure on you. That pressure is weakening you spiritually. Every day you are sinking deeper into sin.

He says, my greenness turned in dry summer. Do you know what happens? When the grass is not watered and the sun begins to shine on it and burn it, it becomes dry, straw, barren, thin, and unconfessed sin, the sin we do not deal with, the sin we do not repent of leads to spiritual sterility, it simply leads to living on the surface of spirituality but not going deep in the Lord, because there are bills to pay, there are things to settle.

The psalmist says, while I was silent I did not recognize, I concealed, I projected my sin onto others, I blamed others for what I do, I did not recognize my behavior, I remained in an inadequate lifestyle, the hand of the Lord worsened about me. My life dried up inside me.

Now, glory to God, that the psalmist did not stop there. The psalmist goes to something else, and says, my sin that I declared, that is, he realized what was happening in his life and then he finally went to the Lord, he went to the temple, he went to a friend, and I confessed to him Let's pray together. He cried out before God. He says, I declared to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.

In other words, that's what we have to do every day, brothers. Come before God, acknowledge our sins, confess them to the Lord, repent from the heart, settle accounts with God and look what happens when you do that: and you forgave the wickedness of my sin.

I put a note here next to my Bible, it says, there is no resistance, God is willing. In other words, from the moment he acknowledges his sin, God tells him, and you forgave the wickedness of my sin.

Look, the moment you open up to God right away God's mercy is ready to flow again. That's why I tell people, don't be afraid, don't play games with God because you can't play with God. and secondly, it is because when you are honest with God immediately God settles accounts with you and he already finished there. He already says, okay, come on, let's move on. Now, everything is fixed. God is willing to forgive when there is heartfelt repentance.

Because otherwise the alternative is stagnation. Remember the prodigal son? He went to a distant place, full of pride, full of arrogance, carnality, joy in the things of the world and not in the things of God, and he says that one day he came to and said, you know what? I'm going back to my father and I'm going to apologize. And his father immediately pounced on him from the moment he saw him and not only restored him to the status of a mere servant of his house, as he thought he was going to do, but restored all his dignity, put on him the mantle of royalty again about him. He restored him to his status as a son, gave him back all his property, his position.

Because that's how God is. That is why I tell you, brothers, all of us must always be ready to come before the Lord and keep our accounts clear before God, rejoice when we discover that there is something that has to be dealt with by the Lord, because if you ask the Lord, he will help you move forward.

And then the psalmist says, for this all saints will pray to you at the time you can be found. In other words, given the fact that God is so willing to deal with us and forgive us, that is why we must pray before the Lord, that is why we must confess our sins. Do not hesitate and bring our needs and our condition before the Lord.

And so now comes a list of additional benefits, which come as a consequence of this life of preventive confession and continuous recognition of our lack and our needs before the Lord.

Look at what he says, certainly, the flood of many waters will not reach him, you are my refuge, you will keep me from anguish. One of the benefits of being forgiven by the Lord is that God will always be with you to rescue you in the day of distress. When you are clear before the Lord, when you know that you are never going to earn God's justice by your own works, then now God is free to help you when you are in trouble and in trials. In the day of distress the Lord will bring you forward.

I told the brothers last Sunday, brothers, I do not promise you a year free of tests, but I do promise you a year full of victories. Anxieties are going to come, perhaps trials are going to come into your life, I don't know what awaits you ahead, nor what awaits me, but one thing I know is that if I am well with God, if my life is clear before God, even if I fall into the pit, the Lord will get me out of there.

The Bible says, many are the tests of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him from all of them. The psalmist says, I patiently waited for Jehovah and he took me out of the pit of despair, from the miry mud, he placed my feet on rock and straightened my steps. Hallelujah!.

When you are right with God and when God is free, because you have previously settled accounts with him, and you have covered yourself with the blood of Jesus and you are willing to please the Lord, then you are already free so that God will always help you. get out of the problems that may come into your life.

This year you can be sure that God, if you find yourself in an urgent situation, even if it lasts one day, 10 days, three months, or six months, the Lord will get you out because he watches over his children. But it is important that you are clear in front of him and that you have settled accounts with him.

It says here too, with liberation songs you will surround me. You know, brother, the person who is right with God and his iniquity has been forgiven, is a person who is always celebrating one victory or another. He always has a word of joy to give to the Lord, he always has a testimony of something that God did and brought it forward. Liberation songs.

I could say so many things that God…so many liberation songs…this very week Friday started with a lot of things and problems and construction challenges and other things, and by the end of the afternoon, all of that was resolved. Incredible. Liberation songs.

God gave me wisdom, can I share a little testimony about that? Liberation songs. Look, we want to start laying bricks this very week, even though it's winter and that has some complexities, but there was an obstacle that we needed to see a person, an authority from the City of Boston, as soon as possible. If this person did not give the approval we could not start laying bricks and it seemed that we had to wait too long. There are some opportunities that we have to take advantage of right now, and the architect told me, no, it can't be done this week, there's simply no way.

I kept quiet and got frustrated inside but I was driving to another meeting and I got one of those things, that sometimes I get, and I said, you know what? I am going to call that person directly. There in the City of Boston, as Queen Esther said, I cannot go there to see the king because otherwise they will cut off my head. I said, you know what? I am going to entrust myself to the grace of the Lord. This is a man that through all these years of building, from time to time when I've been in a big bind I've begged him for mercy and I've gone in my capacity as a pastor and said, I'm not here. as a professional, i am here as a pastor i am concerned about my church and i need you to give me an exception to this.

And that man is very difficult to reach. The architect never gets it, but for some reason I always get it when I call. It's a rare thing. Nobody gets it. The last time about 3 years ago I called him and he said, how did you get me? Nobody finds me on this phone ever. He was kind of upset and frustrated that I caught him on the phone. He says, no one gets me when they call.

And in fact that time I presented my case to him and he gave me grace. And this time I said, Lord, I hadn't even formulated the words, but I said, Lord, although I'm not sure what I'm going to say to him, if he answers I'm going to take that as evidence of your grace and I'm going to tell him what let me out Hey, I was driving, I was late for a meeting and the phone rings twice, hello? I'm not going to say whose name it is, and I said, thank you Lord. And so I proceeded, and I told him, look, I know that this is something exceptional, my architect is afraid to call you again. He left you a message but I need this and this. I am calling as a pastor, I am not calling as a contractor or anyone else. Sometimes you have been kind to me and this is what I need. We have a need and it is a bind, otherwise we are going to lose a great opportunity. He said, don't worry, I'm going to call the architect and we'll figure this out.

I closed the phone and called the architect. I told him, wait for a call from this person. and when I'm talking to him he tells me, here he is calling me right now, I have to close the phone. It was this man calling him. Liberation songs.

Brothers, because God does not make everything easy for your life, but when you trust in the grace of the Lord, I know that I am not perfect, but I know that I have grace before God. he knows my heart.

So, when you have that confidence, you dare to do things. When you're in trouble, you say, well, me and my God are fine, it's not that I don't have sin but he knows all my life, he knows that I'm lying at his feet and that I'm clear, I'm transparent in front of I have nothing hidden before him, I have his love, I have his grace, I have his mercy. You go into the very pit of hell and you know that God is with you.

And that gives you authority. Many times we are like Adam and Eve, we have our sins covered up, we cover ourselves with leaves and God knows. And when God wants to come and talk to us, we hide from him because we have no authority. When you know that you need God's mercy and that everything God gives you is because he is merciful, compassionate, tender, forgiving and tolerant, it immediately lowers the Lord's guard. What God does not like is arrogant people, dishonest people, people who cover their sin, people with a double heart, but when God sees a contrite, humiliated, transparent, sincere, simple heart, the Lord does not know what to do to bless that person.

That is why I ask you, brothers, let us be tender towards God. let us be transparent with the Lord, let us be humble before our brothers and before our God because that will always make testimonies in our lives, samples of God's favor. We will have a fight, we will have a battle, we will have moments of trouble, but the Lord will deliver us from all of them and there will always be a song of liberation in our mouths.

And then, there is the promise of which I was telling you, the Lord says, I will make you understand and I will teach you the way you should walk. When you are upright before God, when your heart is clear before the Lord, look, God gives you wisdom, gives you understanding and teaches you every day the path in which you should walk. Every day God's advice comes into your life.

I depend on it, as a pastor, as a father, as a husband, as a counselor, as an administrator, as a person who is involved in so many different environments, I continually, Lord, give me wisdom. Give me an advice. How do I solve this? Tomorrow I have to preach and I have nothing, Lord. I don't want to preach a generic sermon because anyone can do that, I want a prophetic word. Where is your word? Where is your advice?

And I depend on God, brothers, 24 hours a day. I can't tell you how many times while I'm driving, Sir, I have an appointment, I have someone to advise, something to say, a situation to resolve, an important meeting. Give me the floor, give me the advice.

And when you have clear accounts with God, all the lines are clean. You can receive, there is no interference. The word of the Lord comes down clear, it is not like when you are in the tunnel that you hear the broken voice of God, the devil is throwing all kinds of interference and you do not know what he is saying to you. No, when your life is clear, the Lord speaks to you in high definition, it is clear. The word of the Lord comes perfectly clear to you. God gives you understanding. You intravenously receive God's revelation, God's advice for your life.

Your life is a life of wisdom, of well-made decisions and of correction, when you were wrong, the Lord directs things in a good direction. I will teach you, I will instruct you, I will make you understand. Hey me, what? That's a global thing, I'll make you understand. in other words, will you know who you are? How is the world? How is life, death, illness, human relationships, finances, work, marriage, children? I will make you understand and I will teach you the path where you should walk.

But it all starts with having clear accounts with God. A life of confession, a life of recognition and a life of healthy resolutions, honest resolutions to improve the way we walk with the Lord. I will make you understand, I will show you the way.

And finally he says, on you I will fix my eyes. What a beautiful promise. Can you visualize that? Upon you I will fix my eyes. I hope you feel that when you walk the eyes of the Lord follow you wherever you go. Because if God is watching you, brother, all is right with the world.

David lived persecuted for that. Look at what Psalm 33, verse 18 says, "...behold the eye of the Lord on those who fear him, on those who hope in his mercy to deliver their souls from death and to give them life in time of famine..."

I had told them about that dream that I had of the Lord in the form of a lion of the tribe of Judah, and what I saw was this lion, Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, setting his eyes on the City of Boston covered in a swarm of demonic spirits. And when I saw the eyes of the Lord in that dream, they were powerful eyes, eyes of authority, eyes of wisdom, and eyes of mercy. And I knew that simply looking at him was enough to exert control.

Do you know that God is extremely economical? God does not have to be hitting bats and taking out a spear and a sword and cutting… no, no, God simply looks and he with his eyes he rules the universe. He doesn't have to flinch too much.

So if God is watching over you the Lord's protection is over your life, in God's control, God's blessing. I always say, Lord, that your eyes do not take off my life. May your eyes not be removed from this Congregation. May you always be looking out over this little piece of land at 68 Northampton street, because if you are looking out over this community, this community will prosper and be blessed.

Now, how do you make sure that the eyes of the Lord will be on your life? Keep accounts short. When you offend the Lord, immediately confess and make a healthy resolution to be better and do not cover up your sin.

There is a corrective verse, it says, do not be like the horse or the mule without understanding that must be held with a bridle and bridle because otherwise they will not come near you. what does that mean? Do not be obstinate, do not be rebellious, do not insist on your sin, but be submissive, be tender towards God.

Don't be rebellious. Brothers, there are people in the Kingdom of God and even in this church who have been there for years and it is always the same thing. They never change. It is always the same. His temperament does not change, his character does not change, his personality does not change, his practices do not change, and we need to change our attitude. There are things that are hurting your life, there are things that are hurting your loved ones. There are things that are preventing the grace of the Lord from flowing in your life and God says, do not force me to be cruel to you. Do not force me to exercise discipline because otherwise you will not obey me.

We always have to try to get ahead of God and confess our sins before the Lord, and change. I want you to make a firm resolution this year to give God all those things that do not please him. You know what they are. Don't give them a different name. And remember that I am always calling you to go deep into those things that displease the Lord.

Because many times we think that I am not an adulterer, I am not stealing from anyone, I have not killed anyone, I do not go around kicking old ladies in the street, I do not steal sweets from children. There are things, there are other attitudes, there are things deep in our hearts, there is pride, there is rebellion, there are bad attitudes, there is verbal abuse, there are grudges that we have not released. There are things that are attitudes that are not grotesque sins, but are equally harmful tumors in our lives.

And I truly believe that the man, the woman of God reaches maturity when he stops worrying about grave and serious and ugly things and enters that ethical area of life. Those sins are decent and elegant, but they are sinister and they are destructive and they are just as damaging to spiritual growth. Give those things to the Lord too, confess your sin so that God's discipline does not fall on your life.

And then you can have all those benefits that God talks about. I am the first one that I have to tell him, Lord, help me to be honest and transparent with you, have mercy, have mercy on me, oh God, according to your mercy, according to the multitude of your pities, erase my rebellions, wash me more and more of my wickedness and cleanse me of my sin because I recognize my transgressions and my sin is always before you, against you only have I sinned and done evil in your sight, so that you may be recognized righteous in your word and considered pure in your judgement.

Behold, in evil I have been conceived and in sin my mother conceived me, behold, you love the truth in the intimate and in the secret, you have made me understand wisdom. Unify me as a hyssop and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow, make me hear joy and happiness and the bones you have crushed will recreate.

Brethren, that is the attitude. Read Psalm 51 for your devotional this week. That is the attitude that God wants 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds a minute. A contrite and humiliated heart, merciful, tender towards God, recognizing that from the moment you get up, what's more, while you are dreaming you are already sinning and you need God to always be covering your wickedness.

And when you live like this, the devil won't know what to do with you. God's mercy will cover you time and time again, God willing that this be the attitude of this Congregation.

We're going to stand up, we're going to surrender to the Lord. Let's not be rebellious. Let us not be arrogant before God. Humble, submissive, lying on the floor in the presence of the Lord, trusting in his mercy, every day. That is what I want for my people, it is what I want for myself. I have to meditate on this sermon 10 times, me first.

It's up to all of us, brothers. God wants us to give our lives to the Lord. If you have not given your life to Christ on this day, stop playing with God and take refuge in the arms of the Lord. I want to invite, if someone has not given their life to Jesus yet, and wants to do so on this day, if you want to raise your hand, I want to pray for you and place you in the hands of the Lord.

Will there be someone who has not given his life to Christ Jesus yet and who has not confessed his sins before the Lord? God bless you, my sister, amen, amen. the Lord knows your heart, and that is where justification begins. Justification begins with an acknowledgment of sin. There is no need to be ashamed of that. On the contrary, what a privilege to be able to shed that ugly and dirty mantle and receive the mantle of justification that God wants to put on us.

There will be someone else who says to the Lord, Lord, I repent of my sins and give my life to you. Amen, God bless you, sister. Amen, God bless you. Here too, hands going up. Glory to the Lord. Hands raised in repentance.

Upstairs maybe someone too? I can ask you to come to the front here quickly. Come here for a moment. I want to pray for you and give your life to the Lord. Someone to accompany those lives. Come here, don't worry. This is between you and God only. Come. I want to put you in the hands of the Lord and present your life and I want you to walk like that, as we have said, honesty, honesty, sincerity before the Lord. Come over here.

May this be the motto this year for you and me. Sincerity before God. Transparency before the Lord. Don't cover up your sin. Die, this is the year to die, this is the year to define, this is the year to decide. This is the year of clarity before the Lord. Define us, Father, once and for all.

We give you everything we have and everything we are. Sincerity says the Lord, sincerity, transparency before me, says the Lord. Give me everything and confess everything to me and I am more than willing to walk with you. I will never reject you, I will never whip you, I will never send you back from my throne in shame. If you approach me contrite and humiliated, my hand of mercy will always extend to you. And my forgiveness will always be upon you.

I do not condemn them. If there is repentance I do not condemn them, says the Lord. Walk with God this year. Walk with Christ this year. What you do to pass here in front, seal it in your heart. Write it down somewhere, put a piece of paper in your bedroom, somewhere that you will see it every day. Lord, I gave you my life, I gave you my heart, I recognized my sin before you. Now, I want to live in that honesty.