03-02-13 Repentance and The Mind

Psalm 106:7-12 "When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. Then they believed his promises and sang his praise."

Psalm 106:19-25 "At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. So he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord.

Reading these two portions of Scripture, we can probably see so many similarities to our own lives. The Lord brings us our of our individual Egypts (bondages). A portion of time goes by and we somehow forget what the Lord has already done for us as we run into yet another obstacle in our lives. We fret and despair and don't even give a thought to the fact that He led us out of our bondage - so maybe, just maybe, He can get us through this one. Our minds don't even go there. BUT GOD... in His mercy AND for HIS Names' sake leads us through our Red Seas on dry ground. I wonder how fast some of them went across... I know we would've totally repented before we got to the other side of the riverbed... I imagine they moved pretty slowly with the children and cattle and such. "Oh Lord, please don't let those walls of water come down"... can you imagine walking through that - it probably wouldn't have been in complete confidence that I would've looked at the walls of water and strutted my way through. No, I would've been going through the whole list of grumbling and complaints and asking forgiveness. Of course, my mind would be sayng, those waters are going to fall sometime. God is not happy with you. Might as well stop repenting, those walls are going to come down. Our minds so totally imagine the worst possible scenario most of the time, BECAUSE satan can influence our minds - IF we listen and then dwell too long on what he whispers into them.

Knowing what I know now about Jesus... I would probably do the same thing. Then hopefully would've fixed my gaze on the other side and stopped even being the least bit concerned about what my mind was saying. Listening instead to the Spirit inside of me.

It was only after the waters covered the Egyptian Army that the people gave a huge sigh of relief, rejoiced and praised God and believed His promises.

Then in the SAME CHAPTER.... we read their making God out to be a cow??? Seriously, like worship no graven image (idol, etc) didn't pertain to them? Oh, God had just written the Ten Commandments and Moses was bringing them down the mountain. Their sin was in doing what they thought best (I think we covered that in detail already). Father wanted to destroy them - He was angry. They disobeyed... ummmmm, were in defiance of what their God had said. And at the time, there was no Jesus Who had paid for their sins. Moses stood in the breech - brave man of God he was. And God repented - He relented and yet the people did not believe his promises. WHAT? Well, remember repentance in it's basic sense means changing our minds - God changed His mind. There are other places He did this.... Read Genesis 18 about Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah.... God does change His mind. His mind is not influenced by the enemy though. Ours is. And this repentance is slightly different from Acts 11:18's "Repentance unto life". God didn't repent because he was sorrowful for having committed some sin. He 'repented' - changed His mind out of His compassion and to show His great power.

American Bible Tract Society Dictionary: "repentance unto life," is sorrow for sin, grief for having committed it, and a turning away from it with abhorrence, accompanied with sincere endeavors, in reliance on God's grace and the influences of the Holy Spirit, to live in humble and holy obedience to the commands and will of God."

OUCH and double OUCH. It's really not enough to do a 180 turn-around (remorse), unless we also resolve to do what is right and actually start to do it.

It starts in our spirits..... We purpose to turn from sin. The Spirit of God who leads Who influences our Spirit leads our minds to turn away from sin. To turn away from listening to the lies of the enemy, to turn away from listening to our emotions (that, by the way, can also be influenced by the enemy) - and to turn to GOD ALMIGHTY - our FATHER - our DAD - our Common Denominator (He's the same for all of us). He is our Friend, our Comforter, our Refuge to run to in times of trouble, THE Mighty Fortress - that hides us from the enemy - but He is also a Holy God and Father, Who's very Presence commands our respect and reverence.

Let's give him today the honor due His Name (as much as our finiteness will allow) and truly turn from our wrongs towards the new LIFE He offers us.

Change Me - Unknown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m8Ivi4Gu-I

03-01-13 Repentance and Faith

Acts 20:20-21 ^"You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."

So, what do we know so far about repentance? That it requires a broken and contrite heart; that pride will keep us from it; that it's a matter of the heart and not just the intellect, and; we have to exercise our will to do it, lay our will at the feet of Jesus and then follow the Father's will.

What about faith?

I brought out the Funk & Wagnalls 'New' Standardard Dictionary of the English Language (the 'new' 1938 edition). Back then, they had much more time of their hands because the definitions are 'loaded'. The very first definition says:

"A firm conviction of the truth by what is declared by another by way either of testimony or authority, without other evidence; belief in what another states or affirms, or testifies, simply on the ground of his truth or veracity; especially (as distinguished by mere belief), practical dependance on a person, statement or thing as trustworthy; fiducial as opposed to merely intellectual belief; trust."

Veracity = truthfulness

Fiducial = of the nature of faith, or practical confidence, as distinguished by merely intellectual confidence.

I'm going to unpack that just a little bit and go so far as to say: "Faith is based on mere belief as opposed to intellectual belief on the testimony or authority of another - without other evidence." I think maybe at least some of us have read something similar to that somewhere in the Word of God. Oh yeah, it's in Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Mr. Funk and Ms. Wagnall's (yes, you read that right) and the many, many men and women who contributed to this edition, must have read their Bibles - at least the ones who gave this faith it's definition!

When we come to Father as His children in humble repentance and we are exercising great faith in our God. I believe that in His mercy, but also because of this act of faith, Jesus moves into action. Imagine for a moment, Jesus at the Right Hand of Father. As we humbling draw near to God's throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), Jesus becomes very excited. As we repent for our wrongdoings, He jumps up, points at us and while looking between us and Father, says, "See, look at (insert name here). See, Dad, what they're doing? They are at the foot of My Cross and turning their hearts and wills back to You. My Blood now covers them - they are worthy to be in Your Presence!!! Isn't that the most WONDERFUL thing you've ever seen??" And Father smiles and huge, wide smile, with tears of joy flowing down upon the throne. He is moved so much by the faith of the one repenting that He turns to Jesus, then looks at us and says, "I forgive you."

Faith not only moves mountains, but it moves something bigger, the Heart of God Himself. Reach out in faith today and let repentance free you.

This song has been stirring in my heart all week. I just have to 'get it out'...

The Touch of the Master's Hand - Wayne Watson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyt3-Uy4gVQ

02-28-13 Repentance and The Will

Ok, so I searched and searched for a verse or few from the Word of God that mentions anything about doing OUR will. I searched the NIV, NRSV, NKJ, Amplified and even The Message - Biblegateway.com is so user-friendly ;). You know what I found? NOTHING. At first, I was like, "God did I hear you right - because I can't find anything about doing our will in any Bible." He was like, "That's the point." OH.

Now, the various versions of the Bible do say a lot about doing the Will of God - but oddly enough, is strangely silent about the will of us. Think about this: What is our will in regards to sin? Isn't it pride? Isn't it self-seeking? Isn't it all those 'I's' that we saw in Job yesterday? Isn't it all the 'I's' that brought lucifer down? Sorry for those English majors... I can't bring myself to give him any credit - even capitalizing his 'name'.

That song by Frank Sinatra.... My Way. REALLY?? How'd that work for you?? I know it hasn't worked in my life... no matter how I sliced it. Has it really worked in any of our lives?? There's a saying, My way or the highway. REALLY?? I'll take the 'High'way, thank you very much.

Our will says, "I'm ok" when we're not ok. Our will says, "I can do this by myself" when we really can't do by ourselves (and we'll likely find that out the hard way). Our will says, "I don't need God to heal me, where's that other self-help book?". Our will says.... blah, blah, blah.... oh yes, it's alive and doing very well without needing anything from anyone, thank you very much. Our will always says 'there's a better way and I'll find it all by myself'.

But... what is God's will? You know, our Father - the One who came to earth in Jesus and suffered death because He loved us so much. By the way, Jesus did the will of His Father, not His own - or else I wouldn't be sitting here writing this and you wouldn't be sitting there reading this. This may raise a little anger in some... where's that coming from... oh, our will.

Now, our will is God-given. It gives us the ability to choose. Do we choose to do the will of God or do we choose to do our own will - God has left that up to us. Sometimes what we sense God wants us to do just may be the hardest task we've ever done in our lives... thus far. We can choose not to do it -in which there will more than likely be some kind of consequence (even as 'small' as a knowing that we should have done it) - and by the way, that would be OUR will for us. Or we can listen to God and do what He says, which would be HIS will for us.

Let's repent for 'doing things our way' and choose to use our will to do the will of our Father in our lives.

If it's a heartfelt repentance, it may be painful. It won't stay that way. He wants to bring us joy, even as He bring Him joy and this where sorrow and joy, emptiness and fulfillment meet... in repentance. .Jesus didn't come to condemn (I think I've said that before....) - but Jesus said, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Jesus came to give us LIFE. In return we give our lives - our wills over to Him. Don't worry, he'll take better care of our will than what we have ;)

May this song bring us to our knees and then empower us through the Holy Spirit to walk a life pleasing to God.

Not My Will - Acappella

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyraSCAPlQ

02-27-13 Repentance and The Heart

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')

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agvtNXC0yEc

02-26-13 Repentance and Pride

Job 42:1-6 "Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” "

One day, way back old, old, days - satan asked to test (after some conversation with God). What followed -- to say that Job was a man who had some major calamity in life is a gigantic understatement. In ONE day, he lost his oxen, donkeys the servants who took care of them to raiders; he lost his sheep and their servants to fire; he lost his camels and their servants to other raiders; and, finally all his sons and daughters to a whirlwind or a tornado! And YET, he stays humble and mourns the losses, but then WORSHIPS the Lord!!! Wow.... just wow.

Next he's afflicted with boils all over his body that itched and caused open sores and incredible pain. His friends was even unrecognizable to his friends. This went on for some time. Of course, his friends tried to comfort him and 'figure out' what was wrong to cause of all this. I don't think I would've been as patient as Job was with his friends constant babbling (well-meaning babbling, I suppose) and looking for answers.

Finally, he breaks and really let's loose... he starts out with sarcasm with his friends. Then, he accuses God of making his life bitter. It seems that in chapter 27, he presumes to know God's ways - how He deals with me and how He work, along with His infinite power. Then, in chapter 29 - he shows his pride by saying how good he was. In verses 7-25 (19 verses), he reference to HIMSELF 36 times!!! And satan's downfall was filled with 'I's also... and not as many as far as what's recorded.

I can imagine the Lord looking at Job with his eyebrow up and saying, 'REALLY. You REALLY think that you did all of that - that you were ALL that? Now, what part do you think I played in the abundance and grace that was on your life previous to all of this?' Basically, when Job FINALLY finishes his rant, the Lord speaks (Job 38 into 42.... and He shows Job what he just said. Now, Luke 6:45 says "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." The Lord shows Job his heart and what it was full of.

When it was presented to him by the Lord Himself, he came under conviction (not condemnation - which the enemy tries to put on us). Conviction leads us to do something about whatever was just shown us. First, to ask forgiveness - then to repent (to totally do a 180). The Lord spoke, Job LISTENED, and then he answered by humbling himself (causing himself to come back under the Lord's authority and rule) and repents in dust and ashes. He saw his own unworthiness and sinfulness compared to a holy and righteous God. Maybe the dust signified that he felt lower than the dust... and the ashes meant maybe meant he saw his own humanness next to the Awesome, Incomparable God of the Universe. Regardless of what these meant, this was a HEART-FELT repentance. There was sorrow and grief involved. I'm sure there were tears when he realized who/what he had become. Not tears of self-pity, but tears of a sorrowful heart that knew he was holy ground and that only God was all-together holy and to be revered. There was a holy reverence for God. Job vacated the throne of his own heart and was asking God to take that place of honor inside.

I believe the Lord was right beside him the whole time he was in that grief and repentance, just as he has been/is/will be with us when we realize(d) the extent to which we have fallen and truly from the heart repent and turn from our sin.

Then He blesses us.... maybe not with material possessions (but maybe so) - but for sure with peace, joy, that fresh and cleanness inside and out. We can't help but praise Him... this is what He wants. Relationship restored. He wants his son - His daughter to come back home so He can gather them up in His arms and hold them close to His heart.

I know that's where I want to be... how about you?

Undo - Rush of Fools

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIVaTPdh_ig

02-25-13 Repentance and Brokeness

Psalm 31:17 "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."

Isaiah 57:15 "For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."

At some point or another, I'm 99% sure that most of us have seen our hearts as the above picture depicts. Borken, tattered, pierced through, shattered. Sometimes a kind word or a 'bandaid' helped. Sometimes there actually needed to be some intense work of the Holy Spirit to stitch the Love of God over through and over a gaping wound. Sometimes, it cracks right down the middle and we feel like it's breaking in two - emotions go flying love/hate - kindness/bitterness, etc. The wound may be fresh and very fragile because the would just occurred or it was just uncovered from a long time ago or we remember something that we did and that caused the crack to form. We don't think we can let anyone touch it because we just know it will totally breaking apart. So, maybe we isolate or put on one of those fake smiles when we're around people. But God.... He knows.

We may not want anyone to get near 'that' place, yet Isaiah says that God is with those of a broken and contrite heart. He's not standing in the shadows. He's WITH us.

Now, I know we all understand what 'broken' means. We've probably broken something in our lives - a dish - a cup - a bone - etc....

I've read this verse, quoted this verse and never looked up the word contrite... just figured it had something to do with being broken. So, since I do like dictionaries and finding out what anything means, I looked these too words up.

It says the following in Merriam-Websters on-line dictionary (yeah, I got a little lazy):

Broken: 1. violently separated into parts : shattered.

Contrite: 2. feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming.

When we repent of our wrongs, our hearts break when the Lord allows us to see His broken heart that was so full of love for us that He poured out everything He had so that we wouldn't be in bondage to anything or enter into sin in some other way. He had a violent ending to His life, so when our hearts are full or sorrow or remorse over something the Lord has shown us as sin, it feels like our hearts are shattered.

I'm talking about willful sins and also when something has been done against us and we REACT in a sinful way. We don't repent of the wrong done to us, we only repent of any sin we may have enter into afterwards.

For instances like these above, it requires trusting Jesus, that He is not going to condemn you and He is not going to hurt you further. He wants to forgive and heal. It's good to have someone else with you, if needed. That requires a whole LOT of trust and, yeah, I know, we can't/won't let ourselves 'go there' sometimes- we don't want feel the pain. But if we let pain, disappointment, sadness, bitterness or hate take root (whether against others or against ourselves) - our hearts most likely will become infected. It may just get to the point where the infection is so deep, we will either die (spiritually, emotionally, mentally - sometimes even physically) or it forces us to seek help.

We'll be discussing these further during this week. For now, let the Lord being to soften the soil of your heart so that He can extend His grace and mercy to you.

Let it Rain - Michael W. Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucWK6fkGsAE