“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the Truth: ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” 1 John 1:6-10.

As soon as a Believer confesses their sin to the Lord, victory is resumed.  True repentance is a deep regret and sorrow for sin committed against the Lord.  Unconfessed sin is unforgiven sin and it is not in God’s Will for us to live in sin.  When the Believer is outside the Will of God, victory is not attainable.

“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23.

Taking up our cross daily is taking up our victory over our sin nature through faith in Jesus and His finished work on Calvary’s Cross and denying our self efforts to obtain this victory which can only come through our faith in Jesus.  Taking up our cross daily is fighting the good fight of faith…faith in Jesus and His finished work and taking up our victory.

Following Jesus will sometimes lead us into the wilderness where denying ourselves and follow Him becomes a necessity…following Jesus out of the wilderness guarantees our victory.  “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. ¹⁵ And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.” Hosea 2:14-15.  The Lord will give us our vineyards from “thence”…from the wilderness. 

Our faith is authored and finished by Jesus in the wilderness.  Sadly, there are too many who continue to rebuke the “wilderness” instead of seeking the Lord for why He brought them there.  Often we are led into the wilderness for the Lord to reveal to us our own weaknesses.  Sometimes we take longer in the wilderness than others but when we decide to quit our moaning and groaning and look to the Lord for the lesson, our defeat in our flesh is revealed and our victory is resumed as soon as our repentance for faith in ourselves (self will, self efforts, stubbornness) is met with God’s Grace.

“And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Instead of rationalizing one sin by comparing to another sin, look to Jesus for the lesson.  Maybe the Lord is just trying to get you to confess YOUR sin so He can forgive and deliver you from the wilderness….maybe He is trying to show you the door of hope.  When sin is faithfully dealt with through confession/repentance, Gods grace and blessing will always provide the victory.

-Donna Clark Warren.