Tag: repentance

The Spiritual Journey of Self-Discovery

Acts 26:15
Then I asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

When Jesus struck Saul down, Saul had one important question that he wanted answered. “Who are you, Lord?”

God has placed this question in all of our hearts. When we come to a time in our lives when we are challenged to ask the question, He responds with an answer that convicts us of our ignorance and our weakness. He shows us the way, the truth and the life that is in His Son, Jesus. He shows us a void in our hearts that can only be filled by accepting His Son as Our Savior.

To get to this place and through this place of self-discovery and redemption, we must rely on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a divine gift. The Holy Spirit is the presence of the Lord with us continuously. The Holy Spirit never leaves us. Relying on ourselves, we choose to live in the flesh instead of living a renewed and enlightened life in the Spirit.

Let us make a commitment today to let go of our lives in the flesh. Let us become humbled, broken and repentant. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to show us who we really are. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us Our Savior and our need for Him. Let us submit our new hearts to Him so that we may learn to live in His presence.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us Your Son, Jesus. We praise You for revealing to us that Our Lord is always present with us. We bless the name of Jesus who brings us peace to fill our minds and His love to be our daily portion. We pray, Father, that you will open our eyes to the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus. We ask that the Holy Spirit reveal to us the depths of our ignorance and our iniquity. We cry out, Lord, for the strength and the wisdom to give up our own convictions and delight in doing Your will in our lives. We humbly plead that we will abandon our flesh and live our lives in Your presence. We ask all these things in the name of our ever present Savior, Jesus Christ.

Finding Delight and Joy in the Lord Every Day

Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

When we accept Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior, we are given a new heart. We are given a heart that senses sin and danger. We are given a penitent heart, keenly aware of the things that offend our Lord. We are given a sanctified heart, submissive to the will of God. We are born again into a renewed life.

We are renewed by the Spirit and the grace of God. New light is given to us. A new will filled with new purposes and resolutions is provided to us. In our renewed spirit, we find new affections and desires for God and all things holy. As new men and women in Christ, we find new delights and joys in the Lord every day.

Being born again is the unmistakeable work of the Holy Spirit. We are given a new vision of life – kingdom vs. carnal. We are taught, directed and sanctified by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are equipped to walk in the ways of Our Savior. We are given ongoing access to the One who replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

Let us be aware of the presence of Our Lord in our lives. Let us seek Him for He is infinitely superior to anything that the world has to offer. Let us refresh ourselves regularly in the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the new hearts that You have given us through the redeeming work of Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for the renewed lives we are given through His sacrifice. We pray, Lord, that You will keep our hearts soft. We beseech you to protect us against the world that tries to harden our hearts. We humbly ask that You give us the grace that we need that we may stay refreshed in Christ and be vessels of refreshing to those around us. We pray these things in the name of the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ.

The Joy of a Fully Repentant Life

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Our merciful Lord bears with our wicked world. He defers His anger as so many, all of us included at some level, turn to idolatry, superstition, heresy, disobedience, profaneness, immorality and general lack of reverence for Almighty God. Through it all, Our Father in heaven is steadfast in seeking His will that none shall perish. Having already sacrificed His Son to atone for our sins, He sends His Holy Spirit to set in us a desire to repent of our sins. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins so that we see the desperate need that we have to accept the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ.

Aided by the Holy Spirit to accept the atoning work of Our Savior, we are washed clean of our sins. We then enter into a new period of repentance as we battle our flesh daily. God knows that we must still deal with the corrupt nature of our flesh, so He provides the the Holy Spirit to stand beside us. In our continuous battle against our sin nature, the Holy Spirit will never leave our side. God’s endless patience is evident.

During this daily battle of sanctification, the Holy Spirit shows us our sins in an entirely different light. Instead of just seeing our sins as the iniquity that damns us, we begin to see our sins in light of the pain and suffering that they caused and continue to cause Our Lord. The Holy Spirit helps us take the agony we experience when we realize what we have done and turn it into sorrow and repentance as we consider our past, present and future sin. The Holy Spirit then guides us into a deeper relationship with Our Savior. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit strengthens us as we fall and leads us to victory over sin, sanctifying us for our eternal place of glory.

Let us seek the Holy Spirit for the supernatural aid that we need to recognize and fully repent of our sins. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts to reveal those dark spots that we keep hidden even from ourselves. Let us learn to live in the joy of a fully repentant life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love and forgiveness as expressed through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. We ask for Your forgiveness, Father, for our sins that sent Your Son to the Cross on our behalf. We praise Your Name for the patience that You have with us as we continue to struggle with our sin natures. We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to aid and guide us as we battle against our flesh. We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will strengthens us to turn away from the darkness in our lives today so that we may turn toward the marvelous light of Our Savior for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name of the Chief Cornerstone of our lives, Jesus Christ.

Walking in the Fullness of Our New Life in Christ

Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

The tree that gave its life, so that the formation of the cross was possible, allowed the Cross to meet its responsibility. Without taking the life of the tree, there would be no crucifixion story.

In a similar fashion, Jesus Christ gave up His life so we could meet the requirements necessary for us to be children of God. Without the taking of the life of Our Savior, there would be no salvation story.

Along the same lines, we put our old man to death so that we might shed the ways of wickedness, error and ignorance that are inherent in the will and understanding of our sin nature. By allowing our old man to be crucified with Christ, we take on our new lives in Jesus Christ in which we rely on Him for everything. Without us giving up the life of our sin nature, there would be no sanctification story.

Let us embrace the sanctification process. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to look into our hearts and reveal everything that the old man is trying to hang on to. Let us repent of everything the Holy Spirit shows us so that we may walk in the fullness of our new nature in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the endless grace that You provide us so that we are able to accept Your Son as Our Savior and are able to submit to His rule and reign in our lives. We bless the name of Jesus who died for our sins to make it all possible. We praise the name of the Holy Spirit for preparing our hearts to receive Our Savior and for revealing the darkness in our hearts so that we may submit our old lives for crucifixion with Our Savior. We pray, Father, that You will empower us to go out to tell the world about our salvation story. May we bring honor to Your name, the name of Your Son, Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the Worthy Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The Treasure of Mercy Offered to All

Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

When we think of forgiveness, we usually think of it in terms of how it plays out in our natural interactions with others. We may find it hard to forgive someone who has offended us, but we can usually find the mercy to forgive them under the right conditions. They come to us and express sufficient regret and express a sincere desire that they will never do it again. Conversely, we feel like we should be forgiven if we are willing to express our sorrow for the pain we have caused to another and we are willing to say we will not cause that harm again. In the natural, among people of good hearts, this process works much of the time.

Almighty God looks at forgiveness in a different light. He certainly requires the same natural interactions of forgiveness that we are familiar with. For God to forgive us, He requires us to come before Him humbly and confess our sins. For God to forgive us, He requires us to repent of our sins. But Our Father in heaven also requires supernatural interaction. Because of His holiness, we cannot approach Him with our expressions of sorrow and repentance unless we have accepted Jesus as Our Savior. For Our Savior must first approach the Father as Our Mediator. He must identify us as ones who have been cleansed by His atoning blood. In the supernatural, under these conditions, this process works every time without fail.

Let us repent of every sin and iniquity in our lives. Let us ask Our Lord to forgive us with true contriteness in our hearts. Let us rejoice as we are washed clean of every blemish that separates us from Our Father in heaven. Let us praise the name of Our Redeemer who saved us through the richness of His grace.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect, unconditional love and the mercy plan for forgiveness that You have provided through Your Son, Jesus. We bless the name of Jesus for making it possible for us to come before You with our confessions and our desire to repent of our sins. We rejoice in knowing that Our Savior stands before You as Our Mediator and that His atoning blood covers us so that we are acceptable to receive Your forgiveness. We pray, Lord, that we will always be mindful of what it cost You to reinstate us in Your favor. May the world around us see us in the light of Your favor and be drawn to Your Son to receive the same treasure. We ask all these things in the name of Our High Priest, Jesus Christ.

Only Through Christ Can We Meet the Requirements of the Two Great Commandments

Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

As a result of the disobedience of Adam, we were born with a sin nature. Because of Adam’s disobedience, we naturally put ourselves first in all things. This behavior alone puts us in direct violation of what Jesus taught were God’s greatest commands. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:38-39

The violation of either one of these two commands is enough to condemn us to eternal death. We cannot remove the condemning stain of this sin on our own. There is no escape or recovery from this sin except through the redemption provided through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As a result of the obedience of Jesus to the calling of His Father in heaven, we are made righteous in the eyes of the Father. God removed our sin through the sacrifice of His own Son. He removed our sin in the only way that was acceptable to Him – through the shed blood of His Son which cleanses us. We accept His mercy and eternal atonement through our surrender to His Son, Jesus Christ.

It is important to understand that God does not hold us responsible for inheriting sin. He will not condemn anyone because of the sin that was inherited. He will condemn those that refuse to accept Jesus as the only measure of deliverance from their inherited sin and their ongoing iniquities. He will condemn those who choose to live in submission to the darkness of the flesh rather than under surrender to the light of the world, Jesus Christ.

Let us strive to have those around us see that we love God above all things and that we love them as we love ourselves. Let us show the world what is only possible through Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we ask forgiveness for the sin in our lives. We pray that You will reveal to us all the places in our lives where we are living in darkness, instead of in the Light. We ask You, Lord, for the grace to be able to repent of all the sin that remains in our lives. We thank You, Father, that through Your mercy You have made a way for us to be delivered from the condemnation that we deserve. We praise Your name, Father God, because through Your perfect love we have been given an eternal inheritance that we did not and cannot earn on our own. We bless the name of Jesus who now dwells within us. We pray that we may become Light to the darkness in world around us through His presence. We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

May the Light of Christ Extend to the Outer Margins of Our Lives

Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

As light was the first work in the creation of the earth, so has light been the first work in the creation of new men or women in Christ. In both cases the light was brought forth to overcome the pre-existing chaotic darkness that existed.

Jesus is the light, the truth and the way. No darkness can exist in His presence. When we accept Him as Our Savior, He comes to dwell within us and the process of removing all the darkness from our lives begins. All of our sins are brought into the light by the Holy Spirit. Repentance is required. To do otherwise is to suggest that we are sufficient in our own ways. It is not enough to be sorry for our sins. We must recognize our unworthiness. We must recognize our need to be cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb. We must fully submit to Jesus so that we will have the strength to turn away from the darkness, so that we may live in the light. This process will continue as long as we are in our corrupted bodies. It will not be completed until we stand before Our Father in heaven at His Throne.

From the beginning of time, darkness has been allowed to exist with light. When the new earth is perfected for all eternity and comes into place with the new heaven, the darkness will be put aside forever. When we take our place in God’s kingdom, the darkness in our lives will also be set aside forever.

Let us beseech the Holy Spirit to inspect us. Let us implore Him to reveal every bit of darkness in our lives. Let us repent of the darkness that is uncovered. Let us ask for the grace and strength that we need to learn to live in the fullness of the Light of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for exposing all the darkness in our lives. We pray that we will fully submit to the cleansing process. May Your Light extend to the outer margins of our lives. May no element of our lives be untouched. We pray that the complete work of the Blood of the Lamb will prepare us to take our place in heaven for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name of the Great Eternal Light, Jesus Christ.

Let Us Surrender to His Light

Isaiah 6:5
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

When we go into the presence of God, anything that is not pleasing to Him will come to mind. We cannot get by with a general sense of sinfulness. The Holy Spirit will not rest until we have been convicted of all of our sin, down to smallest transgression.

When Isaiah came upon the vision of the Lord and saw His holiness, Isaiah immediately proclaimed that he was a man of unclean lips. Isaiah knew that he would not be able to serve the Lord without cleansing himself from the sin that he had been shown.

God will work the same way with each of us. Through His Holy Spirit, He will convict us of every single point of iniquity in our lives. Then He will lead us to deeper revelation of the things in our lives that are simply displeasing to Him. The process will continue until we are properly prepared to serve Him.

Let us make time to sit in the presence of Almighty God. Let us surrender to His light so that our darkness will be revealed. Let us repent of the darkness in our lives and choose to walk in the light.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the restlessness that the Holy Spirit brings upon us when we are walking in darkness. We thank You for the absolute focus that You put on our sins, making it impossible for us to take on a vague sense of the sinfulness in our lives. We pray the Holy Spirit will bring our every iniquity into the light so that we may repent and move forward in obedience to Your calling on our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the Perfecter of Our Faith, Jesus Christ.

Relentless Efforts of the Holy Spirit to Reveal Every Speck of Iniquity

Matthew 5:26
Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

In Matthew’s gospel, we are taught that when we have a debt that needs to be paid that we should try to reconcile with the one to whom we owe the debt. We will always end up suffering the consequences of the unresolved debt if we do not try to come to terms with our creditor. We should try to come to terms with the creditor prior to going before the judge. This passage is generally regarded as a teaching about how to handle conflict concerning civil matters.

The same perspective can very easily be applied to sin in our lives. It was necessary for Jesus to redeem us from our sin debt for there is not a space in heaven where the slightest sin is allowed. While our entire sin debt has been paid by Our Savior, it remains our responsibility to come to terms with and repent of all the sin in our lives. We must confess and ask forgiveness for every act for which we deserve to be accused and judged before the Throne of God.

As new Christians, we likely found it relatively easy to identify and turn away from the obvious and grievous sin in our lives. It is probable, however, that as we matured in Christ that the Holy Spirit began revealing to us undetected areas in our lives that held the last parcels of sin debt. These may seem to be the smallest of sins, but they are certainly great enough to separate us from Almighty God. Thus, the Holy Spirit is relentless in bringing to light sins that may have been lingering below the surface in the form of such things as anger, jealousy, gossip, greed, etc.

Be certain that this painful revealing process will continue with us until we breath our last breath. Thank God that He has provided His Holy Spirit to bring us to complete repentance for the sin debt that Our Savior has paid in full for us.

Let us call on the Holy Spirit to inspect us, to enlighten us of any speck of iniquity which remains in us. Let us turn away from all that the Holy Spirit reveals that is dark in our lives. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to overcome the continuing solicitations of the world and the attacks of the enemy. Let us seek to remove the last parcels of sin from our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to spare us from our sin debt. We thank You for Your mercy as You see us struggle against sin in our lives. We thank You for Your grace as You provide Your Holy Spirit to aid us in departing from our errant ways. May Your countenance shine upon as we turn away from our old lives and learn to live according to Your kingdom principles here on earth. We ask all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Choosing to Walk in the Light

Isaiah 6:5
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

When we go into the presence of God, anything that is not pleasing to Him will come to mind. We cannot get by with a general sense of sinfulness. The Holy Spirit will not rest until we have been convicted of all of our sin, down to smallest transgression.

When Isaiah came upon the vision of the Lord and saw His holiness, Isaiah immediately proclaimed that he was a man of unclean lips. Isaiah knew that he would not be able to serve the Lord without cleansing himself from the sin that he had been shown.

God will work the same way with each of us. Through His Holy Spirit, He will convict us of every single point of iniquity in our lives. Then He will lead us to deeper revelation of the things in our lives that are simply displeasing to Him. The process will continue until we are properly prepared to serve Him.

Let us make time to sit in the presence of Almighty God. Let us surrender to His light so that our darkness will be revealed. Let us repent of the darkness in our lives and choose to walk in the light.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the restlessness that the Holy Spirit brings upon us when we are walking in darkness. We thank You for the absolute focus that You put on our sins, making it impossible for us to take on a vague sense of the sinfulness in our lives. We pray the Holy Spirit will bring our every iniquity into the light so that we may repent and move forward in obedience to Your calling on our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the Perfecter of Our Faith, Jesus Christ.