Things I've Struggled With... || Moving Forward

Wow... Where to start on this post... 

If you remember near the end of my first post (The one on purity) I mentioned a post that I wanted to do connected with the verse: 

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18) 

I hope that this post makes sense, I'm having trouble pulling all my thoughts together... 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.  When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.  For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.  Selah.  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.         Psalms 32:1-5 

Many of us, myself definitely included, have made some bad decisions in our life.  These decisions might have led to some sins that might have left you 'scarred'... scarlet sins.  These sins are the ones that aren't easy to conquer, and when you have there are still consequences for them.
I was recently at a point where I had gained victory over a sinful period in my life.  But, I still felt 'dirty'.  I'm sure many of you can relate to this feeling.   I can't say that all of a sudden, I was revealed a great insight which helped me past this feeling.  For me, relief came after months and months and long months of praying and seeking God's comfort and peace.  But I have good news for you! A few months ago, my Pastor preached a message from the above text: Psalms 32:1-5.  Let me just draw your attention to the first two verses for a moment.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.  

Just stop and think on those words!  What a comfort.  Blessed is the man... the forgiven man!  Trust me, I'm not perfect, but Praise God, I am blessed.  I have been forgiven!!
But, wait!  What about the third and fourth verse.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.  For day and night thy hand was heavy upon: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.  Selah

It sounds like a totally different thought to me.  David had been at the place I'm talking about.  That most of us have experienced.  Let's continue to verse five:

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.  Selah

This is the moment that changed David's life.  If ya'll are still with me, I'd like to go in depth with this verse.  This is what can change your life!

We need to 1) acknowledge our sins.  To know and make known to others.  We need to 2) uncover our iniquities.  We need to 3) Confess the error of our sin.   We can get so wrapped up in knowing that we sinned and wshew, now it's past but we don't realize the root of that sin.  Even after we get past that sin, we need to examine what we did in our life to get to that point.  Finally, we need to 4) Cast it down.  So many times, we can acknowledge our wrong, and set it aside.  Even turn from it.  But, sometimes even unconsciously,  we keep it in arm's reach.  Then when the temptation arises it's right there for us.  This was made so real for me last October when I went with our group of teens to a Youth Rally.  The theme was "Cast thy Burdens" and they did a skit about the luggage that we can pick up through life.  Although it's a little different from the sin burden we are talking about right now, the same concept applies.  Instead of just setting it aside, we need to CAST IT DOWN!  Break it, abolish it's grip on your life.  Most importantly, cast your sins on Jesus.  He's already carried the burden on Calvary! Ladies, when you conquer those sins, don't just stop there.  Let me paint a picture for you...  A champion, he's just conquered his challenger! We can imagine that champion standing next to his 'conquered prize' as he is cheered on for his victory.  We need to be different than that!  When you defeat Satan and the sin in your life, don't stand around waiting for the applaud.  Get away from it!  Run... remember the victory isn't your's at all.  Let God stick around for the victory!  Just return to your safe place under His Wing!

Now, once you've done all that... comes that change in your life that you've been looking for.  Blessed is the forgiven man!!  All that was listed above wasn't meant as an encouragement to dwell on your sins for the rest of your life, but to thoroughly examine what has happened in your life, and then claim the victory through Christ!

I hope this post was an encouragement to you.  Most of all, I hope it made sense!