Joel 2:12-13 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and
mourning.” Rend your
heart and not your
garments. Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and
abounding in love, and
he relents from sending calamity."
Repentance from the
heart. What does that mean? Most of the time, we equate the heart with
emotions and while that's true, it not the full meal deal. When we look at
our hearts spiritually, we see emotions. We see good and bad responses to
people we perceive to have harmed me (whether true or not). We see the very
core of my being... who we are underneath all the garbage that life has thrown
at us. We see our own woundedness, which we can run from or face (by the way,
it's excruciating to face the woundedness, but the freedom on the other side is
sooooo much better). We may see our anger/rage/retaliation/hatred. We may see
what we consider 'little sins' or 'humongous sins'. Whatever we see - it's
because the Lord wants us to see it at that moment.
When at the very core of
who we are/were, we repent - it's not easy. It takes an act of our wills. It
takes turning our minds over to the Lord - our thoughts - our preconceived ideas
of what repentance should look like and what the Lord is going to
do.
When we get in touch with
those deep emotions that sometimes have been hidden for - oh, let's say
approximately 43 years, hypothetically speaking - TEARS ARE GOING TO FLOW...AND
FLOW... AND...... The Great Surgeon has prepped us for this very time - that we
always knew would have to come someday, if we want to move ahead in the Lord.
Those emotions, those thoughts (ie. lies), those wounds have been there for
possibly a very long time, but the Lord knows exactly what He's doing and He's
not going to stay digging around in that place any longer than He has to in
order to get it all out. As He's taking it out, our tears act as cleansing
agents of the Lord - He making that place brand new.
When we see our sin, He
doesn't want us to stay there... and He certainly doesn't want us to He wants us
to become lost in our guilt (or fall into the enemy's trap of condemnation -
"You are just too sinful for God to forgive you" Etc...etc...
etc....
No, Father wants us to
realize that no matter what we've done, that we can return to Him with all our
heart. ALL OF OUR HEART means everything inside of us as much as we are able
and sometimes with fasting, but more than likely with weeping and mourning -
and it does so totally feel like our hearts are being ripped to shreds. That's
the rending of our heart... He doesn't care about outward appearances, 'oh, I'm
sorry I did this or that, God' and go on with our lives, but He not out to see
us suffer either. What He does want is a heartFELT repentance and for us to
return to Him - His peace, His love, His joy, His grace, His mercy, His
kindness. He's not angry with us, He LOVES us. He treasures us.
If there's anything
between us and the Lord today, let's return to Him - get with a trust friend, if
need be and go to Father together. Let's start today to make things
right.
I Repent - Fight the Fade
... (a little 'Rockish')
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