Everyone wants to enjoy long life, but few people truly know how. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary What a perfect passage to begin a another year of reading through the Bible with! Moses spoke these words to Israel just as they were about to cross the Jordan river to posess the Promised Land. In these words, God speaking through Moses gives His people (both Israel and us) the key to enjoying long life: that you, your children, and their children "may fear the LORD your God... by keeping all of His decrees and commands (v2)." These promises of enjoying a long life in which things "go well" and in which "you may increase greatly" clearly are made in general terms. Normally, blessings will follow obedience, but not in every specific situation. Sometimes faithful saints will experience long periods of frustration or even early death, while other times those who have no fear for God will seem to prosper. What's really interesting about these words is that the key to enjoying the good life doesn't just involve blindly following commands, but rather the good life is rooted in theology. Truly successful people must fear God; that is, they must know both who and what God is, as well as how we as people relate to Him. Today we begin our year long study of theology with this basic truth that God's people have been reciting since they stood on the banks of the Jordan: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Dig Deeper You may not be on the cusp of settling into a new land, but we are beginning a new year, so it's a good time to take stock and reset your course where needed. Notice here that as Moses prepares Israel to move in that he mentions nothing about the hard work or logistics that will be needed to feed and house all of the people. Certainly these things are important and necessary - in fact, if you keep reading this passage, God promises to provide these things (v10-12) - but housing and food production are not the top priorities. The priority God gives us, His people, is to first of all know Him (which is a lifelong endeavor). This priority is the one which must "be on your hearts." The second priority then is to teach this theology to the subsequent generations. How will your new year reflect these top priorities? This first, foundational theological lesson - that God is one - doesn't seem complicated or even profound, but understanding this is critical. Sin seeks a multiplicity of gods, all of which have the intent to derail you from these top priorities of knowing the true God and helping the coming generations to know Him. Sin wants to dominate all of your heart, soul and strength. The best way to stay focused is to do what you're doing right now - learning theology directly from God's Word as you study it throughout the week and hear it preached on the Lord's Day. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you end 2023 and begin 2024, that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Your entire faith can be expressed in one simple word! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 129 Q. What does that little word “Amen” express? A. “Amen” means, This is sure to be! It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer, than that I really desire what I pray for. Summary Faith is fundamental to Christianity. In fact, as Reformed Christians, we hold it to be on of the five core doctrines of our salvation (We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, all of which we learn through Scripture alone, to which we give God alone all of the glory. These tenants are often referred to as The Five Solas (alones) of the Reformation). As critical as what faith is to your salvation, it's the object of your faith - the thing you believe in - that makes it effective. Many Christians would reply that they have their faith in Christ alone, and that certainly would be a correct answer! But Psalm 145 helps remind us that there's more to the answer; our faith is not just in Christ alone, but in the Triune God that Christ is part of! Our God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - "is righteous in all of His ways and faithful in all He does (v17)." The LORD is the one who "hears our cries and saves us (v19)." In other words, while your salvation is secured because of the work of Christ alone, your faith must be rooted just as much in your loving Father, who is "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love (v8)," and in the Holy Spirit who "is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (v18)." Dig Deeper The simple little word, "Amen," one which you've likely said thousands of times in your life, is one of the few words that all of God's people throughout all of history have in common. It is spelled and pronounced the same way in the Biblical languages that it is in English: Hebrew: אָמֵן (ʾā·mēn) Greek: ἀμήν (amēn) The word amen means much more than 'the prayer is over and you can open your eyes now.' When you finish your prayers with this powerful little word, you are grounding both your prayer and your faith in the certainty and truth that your Triune God will "fulfill the desires of those who fear Him," because you know that "He hears your cries and saves you (v19)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD, who is near to all who call on Him in truth (v18); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you end 2023 and begin 2024, that your mouth will speak in praise of the LORD (v21); ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 22

Jesus began teaching us how to pray 1,000 years before He was born! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 128 Q. What does your conclusion to this prayer mean? A. “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” means, We have made all these requests of you because, as our all-powerful king, you not only want to, but are able to give us all that is good; and because your holy name, and not we ourselves, should receive all the praise, forever. Summary It's so easy to short circuit our prayers by bypassing the first two steps Jesus taught us - acknowledging who God is and then aligning our lives with His will - and jumping right to the matter that likely drove us to pray in the first place: asking God for what we need. One thing that seems to be missing from this AAA prayer pattern is any sort of thanksgiving or even confession of sin. It's not that those components aren't important; they're critical! But King David here demonstrates that when we acknowledge and align well, the elements of thanksgiving and confession will naturally be included. As David extols God's attributes, he quickly concludes that since "everything in heaven and earth is yours (v11)," and that "wealth and honor come from you... you give strength to all (v12)," then it's fitting to "give you thanks, and praise your glorious name (v13)." Dig Deeper It might surprise you when you go to read the Lord's Prayer in the accounts where Jesus first taught it, which are recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. It seems like a big chunk of what we've come to call the Lord's Prayer isn't even mentioned by Jesus! The words "For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory" are missing from the gospels. What's going on here? Is this the result of some big conspiracy to add words to the Bible that were never there in the first place? Of course not. Jesus did speak these words, just not in the instances where he taught His disciples (that's us) to pray. This past year, we've been unpacking our only comfort, that we belong body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Our journey has taken us through 259 (we'll finish up at 260 tomorrow!) passages. We've read from at least 47 different books of the Bible, spending just slightly more time in the New Testament than what we did in the Old Testament. Of course all of these words we've read are the words of God Himself. The comfort Jesus speaks to you comes through the entire Bible, not just in the red letters of the gospels! Remember, in teaching you this prayer, Jesus isn't commanding you to simply mutter the same words over and over as if they're a magic spell. Rather, He taught a pattern in which your prayers should ordinarily conform to. So it's fitting that we end the prayer Jesus taught us in the gospels with the words He spoke through His Holy Spirit in inspiring David to pray 1,000 years before Jesus came to Earth: Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor... Yours, LORD is the kingdom; you are exalted over all (v11). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Since wealth and honor comes from God, and He is the ruler of all things, pray that you will use the blessings He's given you in a way that honors and glorifies Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 21

Extend the blessing you get at the beginning of the week by praying as Jesus taught you throughout the week. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 127 Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies— the devil, the world, and our own flesh— never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory. Summary Yesterday we read Peter's aweseome benediction (the word benediction literally means "good speech." They're words of that often get used to pronouce God's blessing upon His people at the close of our worship services). Today we're focusing on one of the many benedictions Paul wrote. Just like many of the prayers we read in the Bible, this benediction fits the AAA pattern! It begins by acknowledging who God is: the God of peace. What a tremenendous relationship you have with God! So many people, both historically and today, only know of God's wrath and anger at their sin, but because of Christ, you know your Father as the God of peace! The benediction goes on to align your life with God's will. But notice who it is that's aligning you: God Himself is sanctifying you, making your life reflect who He's declared you to be, so that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless when Christ comes again. You're also promised here that the One who has called you to this salvation will be faithful and will do it! This is why Jesus could promise that He will give you anything you ask for in His name! Dig Deeper A benediction is usually something that pronounced over you. It's not a team effort that you help implement. You sit with your head bowed or your hands outsretched as these words are spoken, and you passively receive the blessing they convey. How else could it possibly be? After all, our Father is omnipotent and holy, whereas we are weak and fallen. But you don't often stay in the place where you receive benedictions. You go back to your world, so to speak; to the chores, tasks, work and relationships that never seem to go as they should. The busyness creeps back in and before you know it, you're completely distracted and overwhelmed by life. Instead of experiencing blessing and peace, somehow you drifted far away and find yourself surrounded by temptation. That's why Jesus commanded you to pray often that you would not be lead into temptation, but instead, delivered from the evil one. He doesn't order you to pray these words because the Father needs a reminder to keep leading you down the straight and narrow, but because you need continual reminders to be led. Praying these simple words, that you'll be led away from temptation, is a benediction-extender. It takes that blessing you often receive at the beginning of the week and extends it over you, shielding you from the assaults daily life comes at you with. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God of peace; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll not be led into temptation, but instead that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless until the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 20

Build a rock solid foundation in a world of shifting sand! Check out what we have planned for 2024! Thank you so much for being part of our daily Bible reading plan in 2023! Many of you read along with us each day this past year as we came to understand our only comfort in life and in death by using the Heidelberg Catechism to help us work our way through the Bible. In doing so, we got to read from over 50 different books of the Bible, from both the Old & New Testament. Each week day we read, summarized what the passage said, and the dug deeper into how it applies to our lives. We finished each daily post by praying the passage back to our Father. As we shift gears into 2024, we're going to work our way through the Belgic Confession of Faith in order to build up a rock solid foundation in a world of shifting sand. Here's a preview: We hope you'll join us in 2024! If you have benefitted from being part of the Bible reading plan, please consider sharing your experience on your social media. It's personal mentions and suggestions that have driven our growth the most. Also, if your congregation isn't formally participating, recommend it to your pastor. We can supply a weekly bulletin announcement and overhead screen graphic. Thanks for reading with us every day. Remember, everything else you read, see and hear today will fade away, but the Word of the Lord is Unfading Truth!

How would you act differently if you knew a lion was seeking to devour you? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 127 Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies— the devil, the world, and our own flesh— never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory. Summary Peter's tremendous benediction begins with a call to humility, to literally put yourself under God's mighty hand. You're not to do this out of a sense of groveling, as if putting yourself down low will somehow enhance the chances of God giving you what you want, rather, it's as you yield your will to His that you will be lifted up when the time comes. Verse 7 is well worth memorizing: "cast all of your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you!" But these words of comfort are followed by a stark warning: a reminder that you live in the midst of a great spiritual war, and your enemy is on the hunt. Perhaps these words seem a bit over the top here, as if Peter's getting a little carried away with his rhetoric. But he's not; if anything, Peter is using quite restrained language here, compared to the vivid war scene John reports in Revelation 12. The last thing Peter wants to do in this passage is frighten you. Yes, the devil is prowling around seeking to devour you, but you can and must resist him. What Peter wants you to know here is that although this roaring lion can hurt you - even rip off an arm or leg, so to speak, if you stand still long enough - but ultimately all the beast can do is seek to devour you. The devil can not completely devour you because of what Peter teaches us in his first four chapters, and accentuates in today's final verse: you've been called by God to belong to Him, so you can be certain that the God of all grace will Himself fully restore you and complete the work He's begun in you. Dig Deeper Certainly we'd all be much more alert if we could actually see the devil prowling around us like a lion. The distractions the world throws at us wouldn't divert our attention one bit if we could see its sharp teeth and smell its acrid breath as the hellish creature roared at us. Just remember that even though the spiritual realm is beyond what we can sense, it is no less real than the physical things you can see, touch, hear, smell and taste. So take Peter's warning/blessing here seriously! You're given three instructions you must follow to keep the devil at bay: Humble yourself and cast your anxiety upon your Father, which we've already reviewed; Be alert and of sober mind: This lion rarely relies on brute force. His most effective strategy is to lull his prey to sleep with worldly distractions and anxieties. Keep your mind sharp (sober) by reading and thinking about God's Word every day. Let go of the distractions you can't avoid by casting the anxiety that results from them onto your Father! Resist him: Ultimately you are stronger than the lion! But certainly not in your own strength; you must stand firm in the faith! Remember that it is God who makes you strong, firm and steadfast in Christ. This is what you're praying for when you pray the simple line, "Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The God of all grace, who lifts you up in His mighty hand; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God for the strength to be humble and alert, so that you can stand firm in the faith and resist the devil; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 19

Merry Christmas! Here's a morbid reminder that will bring you comfort! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 127 Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies— the devil, the world, and our own flesh— never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory. Summary A voice tells the prophet to "cry out," and when Isaiah asks what he is to proclaim, he's told to announce what ought to be obvious: that life is fleeting. What's here today is gone tomorrow. Just like the grass and flowers of the field radiate beauty for a moment, before quickly disintegrating to nothing, so it is with our lives. The same breath of the Lord that gave us life also blows it away. This proclamation that ought to be obvious ends up hitting most people like a ton of bricks. If you're reading this, it means you've done a pretty good job at surviving. Somehow you've figured out how to make it to another day, and by using the skills and talents you've developed over the years, it's quite likely that you'll be able to survive tomorrow and into the foreseeable future as well. This feeling of self-sufficiency numbs us to the transient reality of life, that the day will come in which, just like last year's landscaping, we'll wither and fall away. While it's good to be reminded of our mortality, that's not the reason the prophet is instructed to make this proclamation. All people know they're going to die at some point; they don't need a prophet to inform them of that. Dig Deeper It's likely that you have faith that when that day of death comes for you, the Lord will be there to carry you through it to Him. This is where you depend upon Him the most, since the self sufficiency that's carried you to this point won't be of much help you then. This is our only comfort after all, that our souls belong to our faithful Savior in death! But this is exactly the reminder that the prophet was sent to bring: that you must depend upon God just as much in the here and now, to know that He's our only comfort in both life and in death, both body and soul. You need continual reminders that everything else around you will fade away, but that it's the Lord's "power" and "mighty arm" that "tends His flock like a shepherd and carries them close to His heart (v10-11). This is what you're praying for when you pray that God will lead you not into temptation: that instead of depending upon fleeting self sufficiency, you'll be firmly rooted in the forever eduring Word of God. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Word endures forever; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will lead you away from the temptation of self-sufficiency; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 18

The force of forgiveness is designed to break and reform you. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means, Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors Summary Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A ball that's dropped to the floor will likely bounce right back into your hand. David shows us here in this final passage of his confession of sin that this law of physics applies to theology as well. The force of God's forgiveness rebounds in David's life as he "opens his mouth to declare God's praise" so that "his tongue will sing of God's righteousness." As is often the case when heavy physical force is applied, damage occurs. This is the case spirtually as well. When a person confess his sins, and God echoes back with overwhelming grace, it results in a "broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart." But the spiritual 'damage' forgiveness results in does slightly differ from what might be expected in the physical world. A ball will continue to bounce in the same direction until it finally runs out of energy. But God wants more than just a formulaic, mechanical response to the force His forgiveness brings. David realizes this as he writes that God "does not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it." In other words, God's not interested in a perpetual pattern of sin which leads to sacrifice/confession leading to forgiveness leading to diminishing thanksgiving which brings you right back to sin again... Instead, God wants Zion - His people/Church - to be built up and strong. So He applies the force of His forgiveness to change the direction of the lives of His people. Dig Deeper After experiencing the force of God's forgiveness in his own life, it drives David in a new direction. He writes, "Then I will teach transgessors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you (v13)." Teaching sinners God's ways certainly includes teaching them His law so they no longer transgress it, but primarily it means helping them understand God's ways of grace and forgiveness. This can be demonstrated on a much smaller scale when you show them forgiveness for the ways they've hurt you. This is exactly why Jesus teaches you to couch your requests for forgiveness with evidence of your ability to forgive others. It's not at all that God's grace is conditioned upon your actions, rather your actions in forgiving others evidence that you're being shaped by God's forgiveness rather than just mechanically expecting it. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: "O God, you who are God my Savior; my tongue will sing of your righteousness." ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Confess your sins, and pray that the force of God's resulting forgiveness will break your sinful spirit and then build you back up; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 17

Confession demolishes filthy sin and constructs a clean heart in its place. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means, Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors Summary It's easy to think of the confession of your sin as a purely negative act, in that you're asking for your sins to be taken away, or negated. But our passage today helps us understand that confession involves two distinct aspects: the removal of sins for sure, but also the restoration of godly behavior. Earlier in Psalm 51, David asks for his sins to be washed away (v3), and his iniquity to be blotted out (v9). This necessary first step removes the filfth and decay brought about by the sins being confessed. In today's passage, there are three actions David asks God to perform within him: to create a pure heart, to renew a steadfast spirit, and to restore the joy of salvation. These requests are sandwiched around the key ingredient for the new life that David is asking for: the internal presence of the Holy Spirit. Think of the process of replacing delapidated buildings with new construction. The project isn't finished once the old buildings are mowed down and hauled away. In fact, that's often the quickest and easiest part of the project! Raising up the new buildings takes hard work, resources and time. This is how confession works: it's not just asking God to demolish your sins and haul them away (that's actually the easy part!), but confession also must involve inviting the Spirit to (once again) begin new construction in your life. Dig Deeper Too often people equate forgiveness and salvation as nothing more than a bunch of divine do-overs, as if whenever you mess up God's expectation for perfect righteousness in your life, you can simply confess your sins and God will give you another new blank slate so you can try again. Of course the big problem with this type of thinking, aside from the fact that it's completly contrary to scripture, is that it's totally hopeless. Even if you were given an infinite amout of do-overs, you would never meet the perfect standard God requires. David wrote Psalm 51 roughly 1,000 years before Jesus lived, so David had no way of understanding the theological details describing how Jesus would become the perfect righteousness we need in order to satisfy God's demand. But even so, David knew he didn't just need his sin demolished and taken away, he needed a pure heart and steadfast spirit built back up in the spot that sin had been, and he knew that he was completely reliant on the Holy Spirit to construct these things within him. So confess your sin often, just as Jesus commands us in the Lord's Prayer. But in doing so, don't just ask for another hopeless do-over. Instead, pray that Holy Spirit will fill the void left by the blotted out sin with the pure heart and steadfast spirit you need. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father; who restores to us the joy of His salvation; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray your sins will be taken away and that the Holy Spirit will create, renew, restore and grant you a pure heart. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 16

Confession of sin seems scary, but it always leads to relief and joy. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means, Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors Summary Generally, confession isn't something most people look forward to. It's hard to admit guilt even to other people, much less than to our God and Father! So it's not surprising that most people do all they can to keep themselves distracted from their guilt rather than subject themselves to the anticipated pain of confession. But as we read David's inspired words today, it certainly doesn't appear that his confession of one of the most heinous sins committed in the Bible is a painful process! Quite the opposite! Confession is a cathartic - that is, purifying - process. David asks our Father to cleanse him so that he will be clean, and to wash him and make him whiter than snow. He writes of the relief from the bone crushing weight of the guilt that had been pressing down on him. Imagine the transformation necessary for crushed bones to rejoice! (Side note: notice there in v8 that God was the one using David's guilt to crush his bones! In this way, God graciously used pain to bring David to salvation.) Ultimately, confession of sin doesn't just polish up our transgressions so they don't seem so bad, rather it completely removes them. That's what David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, asks for here: for God to blot out all of his iniquity. Dig Deeper It seems to make sense: big sins require big confessions. David's sin was much more than a tryst with a beautiful woman; it drove him into a conspiracy that led to betrayal, treason, and murder, which ultimately caused his entire country's downfall. But then we behold the overwhelming beauty of his confession here in Psalm 51, and our perception of David drastically improves. Just like in a cheesy romantic movie, the wayward protagonist eloquently apologizes to the woman he loves, and just like that, all is better. But that's not what's going on here at all. God didn't accept David's confession because somehow its beauty was sufficient to overcome the sin being confessed. God accepted David's confession because of His unfailing love and compassion, which we read about a couple of days ago. Here's a few things to keep in mind about confession: Since poetic beauty doesn't improve a confession's efficacy, you don't need to worry about making them eloquent. You just need to demonstrate sincerity and admit your guilt. Notice David never mentions any of the particulars of his sin in his confession. Confession is less about giving God a list of what you've done wrong, and more about demonstrating sorrow and repentance. While there generally should be some correlation between the magnitude of a particular sin and the process you utilize to confess it, remember that all sins, big and small, must be confessed (even the sins you're unaware of). The best way to do this well is to follow Jesus' simple command: Continually repent and pray often that God will forgive your debts as you trust in Christ's atoning blood. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father; who crushes our bones when we hide our guilt, but then causes them to rejoice when we confess our sin; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Confess your sins and pray that God will forgive your debts as you trust in Christ alone. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 15