Many times repentance is illustrated by having a person walk in one direction and then turn around and walk in the opposite direction. The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines “repent” as “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life”. Repentance is a change of mind and attitude that involves a conscious turning away from wrong actions, attitudes, thoughts and habits that conflict with a Godly lifestyle and biblical commands, and an intentional turning toward doing that which the Bible says pleases God.
As I reflect upon this, I find that many people do not do a 180 degree turn-around so much as they stop at 90 degrees. By this I mean that they stop doing what is wrong but do not replace it with what is right. One only needs to read the words of John the Baptist or the Apostle Paul to see how incomplete that is. The one who steals is to steal no longer but also to work and earn what he needs. Even more, he is to earn enough so that he has excess in order that he can give to those without so that they no longer are tempted to steal. One is to stop talking with a filthy mouth and bless and edify people instead. We are commanded to not only forgive our enemies but to pray that God blesses them, while blessing them ourselves.
In order to tell is a person is truly repentant, John the Baptist gives the definitive proof – do good works (produce fruit) in keeping with that repentance. Talk is cheap. One can pray seeking forgiveness for one’s wrongdoing but never obtain it because they have no intention of repenting. Repentance is often the forgotten aspect of salvation, in that we are not forgiven by God unless we come to Him with a repentant heart.
I.C. Herendeen says is well, when he states, ” For salvation, “repentance unto life” is just as necessary as is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. No sinner was ever pardoned while he remained impenitent, while he remained in rebellion against God and His authority, and without submitting himself whole-heartedly to His Lordship. This involves the realization in his heart, wrought therein by the Holy Spirit, of “the sinfulness of sin” (Rom 7:13), of the awfulness of ignoring the claims of God and of defying His authority. Repentance is a “holy horror and hatred of sin, a deep sorrow for it, a contrite acknowledgment of it before God, and a complete hear forsaking of it.To exhort sinners to be saved by “Accepting Christ as their Saviour” without pressing upon them the imperative necessity of repentance is dishonest, and is to falsify God’s terms of salvation, for “Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 17:3) is the Divine dictum. The sinner must either repent or perish, there is no other alternative. And since “All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) all therefore need to “repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) else they will be “punished with everlasting destruction” (2Thess. 1:9). To delay repentance then is most perilous.”
I end these thoughts with the words of Charles Hodge, a great man of God. He says, “The sure test of the quality of any supposed change of heart will be found in its permanent effects. Whatever, therefore, may have been our inward experience, whatever joy or sorrow we may have felt, unless we bring forth fruits meet for repentance, our experience will profit us nothing. Repentance is incomplete unless it leads to confession and restitution in cases of injury; unless it causes us to forsake not merely outward sins, which others notice, but those which lie concealed in the heart; unless it makes us choose the service of God and live not for ourselves but for Him. There is no duty, which is either more obvious in itself, or more frequently asserted in the Word of God, than that of repentance.”
Let us take heed of the words of John the Baptist and truly repent of sin in our life.
faith
Thoughts on Thanksgiving Week Continued
It is traditional to make a list of things you are thankful for at Thanksgiving. Most of the time we focus on material things we have been blessed with. Some go deeper, thanking God for spiritual blessings bestowed during the year. Thanks for friends, family, health and employment top many lists. One category that gets left off many lists is arguably the most important. We should thank God for the things He has taken away from us.
In order to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind as commanded means we have to give up any and everything that obscures Him in our lives. Praise be to Him that He works in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son. To do this, He many times has to prune away those things that hinder us from reaching that goal. It may be that He has helped you to kick a destructive habit, end an unhealthy relationship, stop a hurtful lifestyle. It may be that He has forced you to accept the death of a loved one in order to lean only on Him. He may have taken away your job in order to prove to you that He is sufficient to meet all your needs.
As you make your list this year, how about including thanks for the things taken away that has made your faith stronger? I guarantee that it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Hymn Devotions Day 39 – We’ll Understand It Better By And By
DAY 39 – WE WILL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER BY AND BY
“Why, God, why?” So many times we ask that question. We cannot always see the plan God has for us. We stumble and crash through life, avoiding some things, falling into others. We watch as lives around us are destroyed. We see plans fall through. One day we are on top of the world, the next we are far below sea level. Each time we ask “why?”
Funny, isn’t it, that when things go well for us we rarely ask why. When things go wrong, we are quick to ask the question. The real understanding of man, though, would lead us to ask God why He blesses us at all.
We could have been born anywhere in the world, to any parents. God put us where He wanted us to be for a reason. Some of us have riches, some poverty. Some live in free societies, others in tightly controlled countries. He places us where He does for reasons that may not be obvious to us. Later, perhaps, we will come to understand the reasoning behind His actions. Sometimes we never will.
In reading through Job, I never find where God ever explained to Job the reasons behind his misfortune. He may know now, from heaven but he didn’t here on earth and that, I think is the point of this hymn. It may not be until we arrive home in heaven that we even begin to see how God weaved the tapestry of our life into that of all the other people on earth. It may not be until much later that we begin to comprehend His plan to bring glory to His name through our circumstances. Let us endure with patience, then, our lot in life and trust in Him to accomplish His purpose with us.
Lord, help me to realize that I do not have to understand, just trust. Help me to see that to develop faith in You, I must come to believe that You are in control and that You do not need to consult me or gain my permission. My life is Yours, do with it what You want.
WE WILL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER BY AND BY
by Charles Tindley
We are tossed and driven on the restless sea of time
Somber skies and howling tempest
Oft succeed a bright sunshine
In that land of perfect day when the mists are rolled away
We will understand it better by and by
We are often destitute of the things that life demands
Want of food and want of shelter
Thirsty hills and barren lands
We are trusting in the Lord and according to God’s word
We will understand it better by and by
Trials dark on every hand and we cannot understand
All the ways that God would lead us
To that blessed promised land
But He guides us with His eye and we’ll follow till we die
For we’ll understand it better by and by
Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares
And our hearts are made to bleed
For a thoughtless word or deed
And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best
But we’ll understand it better by and by
REFRAIN:
By and by when the morning comes
When the saints of God are gathered home
We’ll tell the story how we’ve overcome
For we’ll understand it better by and by
From Isaac We Learn …
Isaac is one of those patriarchs of the Old Testament who is revered, along with Abraham and Jacob, over and over. For many people, the question is, why? Isaac is not recorded as having won any great victories, spiritual or physical. He seems content to lean on the accomplishments of his father. A cursory reading might lead one to believe that his greatest claim to fame is simply becoming the father of Jacob.
Isaac is non-confrontational. He allows others to walk all over him. He is a pretty poor parent (witness the tension and favoritism between Jacob and Esau) and didn’t even pick pick out his own wife. Why is Isaac held in such high esteem? I think the answer comes from the story of Genesis 22, where God tells Abram to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac is close to 9, 10 maybe even 12 years old. Abram is well over a hundred. Isaac is conscious enough to realize there is no lamb for a sacrifice. He is willing to be bound by Abram and laid on the altar. He could have easily outran Abram, probably even been a physical match for him at his advanced age.
As Abram pictures for us God’s love, being willing to sacrifice His Son, Isaac pictures for us Christ, loving his father so much he is willing to lay his life down. As Abram shows us complete obedience to God our Father, so does Isaac – in his complete obedience to his father. We know from Hebrews that Abram believed God could raise Isaac from the dead. No such statement is made about Isaac. Even not knowing if he would come back to life or not, Isaac was still willing to undergo this trial for the sake of his father.
That is the lesson we learn from Isaac. Are we in love with God so much that we are willing to obey Him completely, even at the cost of our life? Jesus was. A good question to ponder as we begin another week of service to our Heavenly Father.
Hymn Devotions Day 27 – I Know Whom I Have Believed
DAY 27 – I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED
This hymn has always resonated with me, from my childhood until now. I do not pretend to know why God loves me. I do not pretend to know how He could ever forgive me nor why He would. He, in His mercy, showered me with His grace. That act of kindness overwhelms me now even more than it did when I first experienced it.
I truly do understand that His Spirit gave me faith to believe the truth of His words. That His Spirit brought understanding to my mind, conviction to my soul, repentance to my heart but how that occurred – it just did. One moment I was living for me, the next I was bowed under the Spirit’s leadership, crying out to God for mercy and forgiveness. What a miracle.
It is also a miracle that as we read His Word the Spirit makes it come alive, imparting its wisdom and truth to us. God’s Spirit does create faith in us, just as He creates new life and transforms our minds. I don’t know when Jesus will return. He may return for me today. I may die and return with Him years from now but I do know He will return with His saints to judge the ungodly.
I don’t know many things about the God I have served for 40 + years now. But I do know this: He hides my soul in the palm of His hand and is faithful to keep it forever. I love how the refrain of the hymn is a direct quote from 2 Timothy 1:12. God is faithful and He is able to keep us from falling. He never fails to keep a promise and His Spirit has sealed me in His love forever, praise His holy name.
Thank you, Lord, for keeping my soul safe forever. Thank you for redeeming it. Thank you for sanctifying it. You are a great God and worthy to be praised.
I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BLIEVED – Daniel Whittle
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart
Nor how, believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart
I know not how the Spirit moves
Convincing us of sin
Revealing Jesus through the Word
Creating faith in Him
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me
Of weary ways or golden days
Before His face I’ll see
I know not when my Lord may come
At night or noonday fair
Nor if I’ll walk the vale with Him
Or meet Him in the air
REFRAIN:
But I know whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day
Hymn Devotions Day 20 – How Firm A Foundation
DAY 20 – HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION
How I love the affirmation of Scripture in the very first verse of this wonderful hymn! We can count on God’s Word. It’s veracity gives us a rock solid foundation for our faith. Everything we need to have a godly life pleasing to Him is found in His Word. It is complete.
I also love the way the author depicts how God is with us, our Rock. We are able to trust Him. Every word, every promise He gives us, is true and we can lean on Him at all times. He will never leave us nor forsake us. There is no place we can go where His presence cannot be with us. How comforting that is.
That truth is also frightening. Whenever I go someplace a Christian ought not to go, whenever I place myself in situations I ought not to be in, I take Christ there with me. I expose Him to shame and grieve His Holy Spirit.
We are even shown, in verse 4, the truth that the fiery trials we encounter are merely to refine us, not destroy us. God lets us go through them not to bring harm to us, but to purify us and make us strong.
What a wise and loving God we serve. No matter what we go through, no matter who or what seeks to conquer us, we can stand firm with the shield of faith, steadfast in the knowledge that the Lord is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.
Lord, what a blessing Your Holy Word is. Thank you so much for giving it to us. Help me to study it and to hide it in my heart, so that I might not sin against You.
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION – Robert Keen? George Keith?
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He has said
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
“Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed
For I am Your God and will still give you aid
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow
For I will be with thee, your troubles to bless
And sanctify thee to your deepest distress
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie
My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply
The flame shall not hurt thee I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine
The soul that on Jesus, hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to his foes
That soul though all hell shall endeavor to shake
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”
Great Quotes From Ages Past #9
Here is a great quote from the “Prince of Preachers”
If you have been truly born again you have a new and holy nature, and you are no longer moved towards sinful objects as you were before. The things that you once loved you now hate, and therefore you will not run after them. You can hardly understand it but so it is that your thoughts and tastes are radically changed. You long for that very holiness which once it was irksome to hear of; and you loathe those vain pursuits which were once your delights. The man who puts his trust in the Lord sees the pleasures of sin in a new light. For he sees the evil which follows them by noting the agonies which they brought upon our Lord when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Without faith a man says to himself, “This sin is a very pleasant thing, why should I not enjoy it? Surely I may eat this fruit, which looks so charming and is so much to be desired.” The flesh sees honey in the drink, but faith at once perceives that there is poison in the cup. Faith spies the snake in the grass and gives warning of it. Faith remembers death, judgment, the great reward, the just punishment and that dread word, eternity.
C.H. Spurgeon
Is Jesus Enough? Excerpt
One of the songs we often sing at our church has a line that goes like this:
He gave His life, what more could He give?
Oh how He loves you, oh how He loves me, oh how He loves you and me!
When we come to Jesus Christ in saving faith, we are acknowledging that He gave His life to pay the penalty for our sin. That act of supreme sacrifice makes Jesus worthy of our love and worship. Even if Jesus never does anything else for us, His procurement of salvation for our souls is more than enough. Any other blessing we receive from Him is simply extra gravy on an already overfilled plate.
When we start to live our lives based on conditional requirements rather than on the finished work of Jesus Christ, we are, in effect, saying that His death was not sufficient for all our needs. We are saying that we need more proof, more tangible benefits before we will give Him the honor He is due. Can you see how arrogant that way of thinking is? Can you see how are attitude has shifted from gratefulness of being a recipient of God’s mercy to one of an expectation of God existing to serve our wants?
We all know of people who started out on fire for the Lord and who dropped out along the way. Many became angry with God for His not answering their prayers a certain way or for not protecting a loved one from harm. If we are honest we must admit that we, too, have become disappointed in God for failing to meet our expectations.
Discouragement sets in when we become disappointed. Disappointment comes from unmet expectations. Our expectations and reality often collide and rarely do we blame ourselves as having expectations that were misguided, ill-founded or unreasonable. We blame either the reality around us or God for not changing the reality to suit our needs.
When pressed by adversity our hearts reveal the truth about us and about our relationship with God. Many believers are in love with the things of the Lord but not the Lord Himself. Despite what our lips may profess, our hearts show the shallowness of our faith. We act more like the crowds who followed Jesus for the miracles of food than the disciples. After all, when one becomes disappointed in God, is it His fault for not catering to our whims and desires or ours for not understanding His ways and trusting in His goodness?
God is good. When we cease to believe that foundational principle we open ourselves up to despair and hopelessness. Even when we do not understand the reasons why things are happening to us, we must cling to that one assurance. Job did. Job was greatly disappointed. Job could not understand why all those calamities had occurred in his life. Job, though, held onto his faith that God was good. Through everything Job never lost his faith in that aspect of God’s character.
One of the ironies of the Christian life is that so many of our prayers center on God healing or delivering us from a life-threatening situation – in effect delaying our arrival at the very place of our reward! How angry people get at God for transporting their loved one to glory instead of leaving them here to endure this sinful, broken earth. It seems that we have lost sight of heaven, that death has somehow regained her sting. Dying has become less than an entrance into eternity and our selfish desires to cling to more time on earth with our loved one trumps our desire to let God determine what is best for them.
The ultimate healing, the ultimate deliverance is from this body of decay and sin and to be with the Lord in heaven. When we take a lesser view on this it diminishes our faith and trust in a God who is good. This lesson was driven home to me in a dramatic way.
The day before my son, then 17 months old, was to have open-heart surgery, my wife and I were passing through the halls of the Ronald McDonald house where we were staying. People in those places get close to each other since all there are in similar situations. One lady we had spoken with quite often was packing her clothes. “I’m going home”, she said in response to our inquiry. Knowing that her little boy was very ill and could not have possibly been released, we asked her why. “My boy died last night”, she answered. Seeing our hurt, embarrassment and shock plastered on our faces, she took us aside and said, “You’re not ready for your child to die, are you?” We shook our heads no. “You need to be. Come in here and let me tell you something.” For over an hour she talked with us about how she knew her boy was in heaven, “doing that little shuffle-step dance for Jesus like he did in church on Sundays.” She told us that she was thankful for the years Jesus had loaned her boy to her and that he wasn’t suffering anymore. She thanked Him for His deliverance and healing of her boy. She praised Him for His goodness and mercy. At that Ronald McDonald house I learned that God loves my children even more than I do and that when we pray for complete recovery and healing it may be that God takes our loved ones to heaven to accomplish just that. God is good in all He does because goodness is a central characteristic of Himself.
Our faith grows deeper when we mature enough to understand that our belief at how God can best answer our prayers is different than His knowledge of how best to answer our prayers.
To be honest, even the depth of a faith that acknowledges that God is worthy because He made a way to provide for our salvation is not deep enough. You see, God is worthy because He alone is God. Even if He had not made provision to save mankind, if He had allowed us to enter eternity forever separated from Him because of our sin, He would still be worthy of praise. He did not have to save us. He made us. He made the earth for us to live on. He made colors and sounds and our senses to enjoy them. God made a universe and populated it with myriads of wonderful and incomprehensible things. He is God. He is the Creator and Maker of All Things. He is Good and Holy and this makes Him worthy to be praised.
Now, the fact that He made us with a redeemable soul and sent His Son precisely to redeem that soul is, indeed, good news. The character of who God is, though, is what makes Him worthy of praise and adoration. His holiness is the reason that He is worthy. A faith that worships God and gives Him praise and adoration based only on what He has done for us, whether it is a family, a job, a car or even salvation is a deficient faith. God is worthy because He is God.
This was a critical point in my walk with Christ. I loved the fact that He had sent people into my life to share the gospel with me. I loved the fact that His Spirit had drawn me to saving faith in His redemptive act. I loved the family He had given me. I loved being a minister of the gospel and leading others to faith in Jesus. But I had to ask myself if my love for Him was deeper than even that. Did I love Him just because He is?
In his book, The Painful Side of Leadership, Jeff Iorg makes this profound statement:
Most leaders easily forget their primary reason for being placed in their leadership role. The primary reason isn’t for you to do things for God. It’s so God can use your leadership setting as a laboratory for shaping the image of Jesus in you. (Iorg, 2009)
Excerpt from Is Jesus Enough? available in print and Kindle editions from Amazon.com and our sister site, http://www.discernmentministries.webs.com
Free Bible Studies
Ta Ethne’s free downloadable resources are now available. Each study will be posted in PDF format. We hope that these studies will assist you in digging deep into God’s Word. Feel free to copy and use it for our personal bible study or group study. May they help you spread the good news of God’s Kingdom throughout the world.
Dominos: A Commentary on Jude Introduction
Dominoes – A Dynamic Commentary on Jude Chapter 1 plus Study Guide
Commentary on Jude Chapter 2
Chinese Edition of Is Jesus Enough?
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