When God Cleans Your Cup

THIS WEEK’S BOLD STEP DEVOTION

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”
(Psalm 51:1–2)

The other day I reached for a cup in the cabinet, ready to pour some water, and I noticed it wasn’t clean. Without thinking, I set it aside and grabbed another cup. None of us would ever fill a dirty cup with clean water… we’d wash it first. Yet how often do we come to God asking Him to pour into our lives without first inviting Him to clean what’s on the inside?

Psalm 51 gives us an honest look at David facing that same reality, though it didn’t happen right away. When the prophet Nathan approached him, David didn’t immediately confess his sin. Instead, he reacted with anger toward the “rich man” in Nathan’s parable, failing to see himself in the story. Only when Nathan said, “You are the man,” did David finally grasp the depth of his sin and respond, “I have sinned against the Lord.” That was the exact moment he stopped hiding and brought his sin fully before the Lord.

There’s a big difference between admitting and confessing your sin. Admitting says, “I messed up.” Confessing says, “I’m broken and need You, God, to make me whole.” David wasn’t merely acknowledging his behavior; he was owning the deeper brokenness within him that only God could heal. That’s why confession must be a regular part of our walk with God because it restores the fellowship that our sin disrupts. Just as a dirty cup can’t hold clean water, an unconfessed heart can’t fully experience the joy, purity, and closeness God longs for us to enjoy.

The good news is that once God cleans our cup, He doesn’t leave it empty. He fills it. He renews our spirit, reawakens our joy, and restores our calling! Confession opens the door for God to write a new chapter, covering the old story with His grace like whiteout on a page. When we offer Him a humble, repentant heart, He not only cleanses us but empowers us to serve Him with renewed purpose and a full heart.

Bold Step Challenge:
Set aside 10 minutes today to pray through Psalm 51. Ask God to reveal anything in your heart that needs cleansing and then invite Him to wash it, renew it, and fill it with His presence and purpose.

Prayer:
Dear God, I come to You asking for a clean heart. Wash me, renew me, and restore the joy of Your salvation in my life. Remove anything that interrupts my fellowship with You and fill me again with Your presence and purpose. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Listen to the sermon: Confession and Cleansing

Part 1Part 2

Ministry Update from Mark

Last November marked 30 years since my dad, Robert Allen Jobe, went home to be with the Lord. Time has softened the ache but deepened my gratitude for a pioneer, maverick, pastor, and missionary whose grease-stained hands and grace-filled heart shaped so many lives. With a booming laugh and a life lived wide open, he could fix an engine, preach a sermon, and mend a heart all in one day. His legacy endures in the churches he built, the people he loved, and the faith he passed on. Though he rests in a cemetery north of Burgos, Spain, his voice, courage, and joy still echo in my soul—“the memory of the righteous is a blessing.”