What Is Repentance ?

 

 

Repentance is when one is truly sorry for a wrong action. Sincere repentance causes one to change their sinful direction. Genuine regret will facilitate a move towards Godly direction. It does not mean to say you are sorry then commence to repeat or express the same previous behavior. One must not confuse repentance with guilt. Oftentimes when one’s sinful behavior is exposed or they become self-conscious of wrongful behavior they will experience conflict. To alleviate their discomfort they may say “I’m sorry.” Saying sorry releases the immediate pressure. Don’t let sorry become a sorry meaningless word. True repentance impacts one to the point that the desire to modify their actions overrides the once prescribed behavior.

 

 

When one has compulsive behaviors their ability to relinquish such behavior may not immediately manifest. But admitting to oneself that their behavior needs modification is a favorable inception. The process to extinguish compulsive behaviors can sometimes be lengthy in some cases. However, the benefits yield self-control. Self-examination is a prerequisite on the road to recovery. Remember nothing is impossible with God.

 

When we become aware of behaviors that don’t produce the fruits of the spirit we should be thankful. Remember God is a spirit of truth. His truth will constantly allow us to see the folly of our ways. Some of us are stronger than others. What you practice you become. “God is not a respecter of persons.” His Holy Spirit is available to all of us. When we diligently read and digest the scriptures they will promote spiritual growth. Spiritual growth will enlighten your perspective.

 

 

The old nature within us is enmeshed with a faulty response system. As we spiritually mature we must repattern our responses by fostering an internal environment which invites the infilling presence of the Holy Spirit. The new nature can arrest the old nature. Remember the power of God is stronger than anything! God’s power is unlimited. We never become the power but as His children we have access to His Power.

 

 

The Lord can make you whole! Becoming whole in the eyes of the Lord means becoming complete in Him! Becoming whole means you seek the approval of God rather than others. In the Lord you can discover everything that you will ever need for Life, Daily Living & Eternal Life! The WORD of GOD has a plethora of examples that magnificently displays HIS OMNIPOTENCE! Believe it when GOD teaches us “I CAN DO ALL things through CHRIST who strengthens me…” Thank You Lord for Your Holy Spirit!

 

 

~ THE GREAT COMMISSION ~

“Then opened HE their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, And HE said to them;
‘Thus it is written, and thus it behoved CHRIST to suffer and rise from the dead the third day;
And that REPENTANCE & REMISSION of sins SHOULD BE PREACHED in HIS NAME among ALL NATIONS, beginning at JERUSALEM. And ye be Witnesses OF THE THINGS…” LUKE 24

 

We are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. A disciple is a learner. Disciples must exercise discipline. Remember a fool speaks his whole mind. We should be slow to speak, quick to hear and slow to anger. God has given us His written WORD and His internal COMFORTER to lead guide and direct each of His children. Whenever we find ourselves in err we should welcome a repentant spirit. Our desire should not let pride nor man’s opinion prohibit humility.

 

John the Baptist constantly preached repentance! He boldly stated; “Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand.” We have  in many cases been thoroughly conditioned to respond in fashions that actually hinder our spiritual development. We can be consumed by what others think or how it appears rather than what God knows.

 

Never sacrifice inner peace for exterior acceptance. Don’t allow others to control you by remote. When they try to provoke you to anger don’t get pulled in. When they hurl insults don’t engage in verbal combat. Let self-control intercede. DON’T be disrespectful NOR let anyone disrespect you. Wait and respond when and if you feel it’s necessary. Just let them feel the impact of their own tongue. There are many things that won’t be understood on this side of heaven. Just remember God knows your heart. The spiritual armor must become a habitual attire.

 

 

Our purpose is or should be to please and Worship God. Worship does not only exist between 11:00 a.m.– 1:00 p.m. on Sunday morning. The true worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We should live a life of worship everyday. We do this by acknowledging His authority in our life and being obedient to HIS WORD. Not in a legalistic way. In a way as a believer that your conscience becomes increasingly sensitive to the unction of His Holy Spirit. We should encourage others to embrace the scriptures and accept Jesus as their personal Savior. We do not have to force our belief in God or His Word upon anyone. His Holy Spirit is the heart opener. We must simply sincerely present His Word and trust God. Let’s be about our Father’s business. Repent! Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand!

 

Don’t just go to church!  BUT;  “BE  GOD’S  CHURCH EVERYDAY & EVERWHERE!”

 

The truly repentant soul has an innate inclination to please God after one’s genuine experience salvation. You embark upon a change from the inside out… Priorities yield to inner peace and contentment. To compromise and join the way of the majority looses its intimidation. Spiritual maturity becomes an attainable goal.

 

Jude encourages us to pluck others from the fire. Satan is such a deceiver. His deception allows tradition, superstitions, lies and old wise fables to parade themselves as the WORD of GOD. When you study and show yourself approved to GOD it will allow you to discern and properly navigate through the deception. It is good that the Pharisees knew the WORD; yet sad because the could not recognize CHRIST JESUS! Salvation goes far beyond learning how to quote scriptures. Don’t be fooled like the Pharisees who could not recognize Jesus; but be schooled by the scriptures and led by His Holy Spirit. The Lord will never lead us to do anything that goes against His Word. Know God and His Word for yourself!

 

REPENT for the Kingdom of GOD is at hand!!!

Growing and maturing beyond resentment Part 4

Growing and maturing beyond resentment!

Part 4

When do you know that you have has been delivered?

When you receive something that was mailed or sent to you; you “get it.”

Therefore when you understand the situation that has been bogging you down clearly, you also “get it!” You can then move forward and take control rather than let it take control of you. You must come out of denial and acknowledge that it occurred. Now you have decided to move forward but you will not allow it to consume your attention anymore. Whenever it surfaces you pray & “FOCUS” your attention elsewhere. You have actually taken control of it by releasing it to the Lord and now you are all the wiser because of the experience. You know where you do not want to go!

You can choose to become whole! Depression wants to consume your joy! It is important to remember that depression surfaces when you allow your unresolved anger to turn inward. Resentment means to feel again. Instead of letting go you hold on to the hurt and pain which fuels unhealthy emotions and holds you captive. Understanding what is gong on helps you to “Break Free!”

You no longer will allow the resentment to hinder you from moving forward to becoming a “better you!” You refuse to get stuck! Time is precious and you do not want to spend too much of it in regrets. You can now see the experience as having gained some deeper insight because of that particular “Life Lesson.” You do not always need to explain why, because your understanding has matured and your healthy self-esteem has begun to flourish since you take responsibility for your own emotional responses.

You are moving towards and choosing to live to please God and your confidence in Him is now growing as well. Always remember everywhere you are God is!

You can move forward. Some unconsciously choose to stay “stuck.” Some simply don’t care either way they have grown accustomed to anxiety. It has become and unhealthy “insecurity blanket!” Rather than let the resentment go they may elect to anesthetize themselves with drugs, alcohol, smoking, promiscuity, gossip, over or under eating or some other reckless behavior or distraction. This unhealthy behavior will only lead to further disappointment and possibly more addictions rather than freedom. Abusive outbursts and out of control undisciplined behavior is the unhealthy response rather than deal with the inner pain. You can break the cycle. But it takes work & dedication!

Know that GOD wants you to be Happy. He wants you to experience the Fruit of His Spirit. See Galatians 5. Jesus overcame sin in the flesh for us! We are not to make anyone else responsible for our happiness. Being happy is each individual’s personal responsibility. As a believer God’s Holy Spirit is always there to help us at all times. Sin is what separates us from God! We must humbly submit and be willing to repent of any sin. Then we can keep moving forward to wholeness!

Part 5

Saved or Safe?

Just say you are saved. You don’t really have to mean it. If you just say it, this will be sufficient. We just say things all of the time. We go through the formality. “Good morning!” “Good evening!” “How are you?” Is it really a good morning or evening? Do you really want to know how the person is doing? We often adopt behaviors that appear to be socially accepted. But they are often quite superficial. No, I’m not saying that every time you see someone just give them an in-depth historical oration of your current list of woes. The point I’m trying to make is that just saying something doesn’t mean it’s so!

When we accept Christ as our personal Savior it means we invite Him into our lives. His presence of light shines on the darkness in our life and allows us the opportunity to draw close to Him or to choose to stay in darkness. Often we establish unhealthy patterns in our lives. We don’t really want to change we just want someone or something to make us feel good.

God can change you for the better. But know, you cannot be everything to everyone… Pray for discernment & know  that there are those who will try to take advantage of your generosity.  No matter how much or little you give it  will not be enough…

“Behold the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy, it cannot hear; But your iniquities (sins) have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.” (Isaiah 59:1-3) Breaking patterns can be painful.

The Lord will teach you how to “guard your heart!”  Saying yes to everyone is not loving them.  Sometimes it has to be an adamant; NO!

Why do we need a Savior? The world is full of evilness. It wants to pull you in anyway it can. We are in the world but we are not supposed to be of the world. When Jesus Christ is Lord of your life you can access His power. He has the power to save us from the unhealthy patterns and pitfalls of sin that besets us. Let’s get it straight! The Comforter is not to keep us comfortable in sin. It is not a blanket (excuse my pun) to cover any abject behavior. So help me understand why it is socially acceptable within the Christian lifestyle to say anything, do anything and live any kind of way and still say “I’M SAVED?”

 

Well I am sorry, but the scripture says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10). Webster says to believe means to have a firm conviction as to the goodness of something. Romans says with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. I guess doing what I think is right is righteousness? WRONG!

We sing that we are soldiers. But what kind of armor does the Lord tell us to wear that you may be able to withstand in the evil day? Your loins are to be girded with truth. No it’s okay to believe anything anybody says especially those who say and do anything anywhere! You are to wear the breastplate of righteousness. But you hold it up with adultery and fornication. Your feet shod with peace. But I will cut you up or punch you out anywhere anytime. But above all that I will take the shield of faith and hide, alcoholism, drug addiction, covetousness……and trust I can quench the fiery darts of the wicked. Then to top it off I’ll put on the helmet of salvation. When I say I have salvation I’m safe. I don’t think so!

This may seem a bit sarcastic but it’s frightening to think one supposes he can prepare for spiritual warfare and not adorn the true spiritual armor. After all just say you are saved. The SWORD of the SPIRIT which is the WORD will clean you up and prepare you for spiritual battle. It is only through a personal relationship with JESUS and He is the WORD wrapped in flesh; that you can overcome sin, anything or anybody that comes against you in the world.

Don’t think for a minute you are not vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. The enemy in this battle is so clever that he will try to make you comfortable in your sins. It does not matter who you are. He will try to tell you loving you is giving you what you want and making excuses for your shortcomings. This kind of love (which really isn’t love) will kill you. By the way he never takes responsibility for his actions. He always tries to distract you by saying, if you just give me this or if you would just do that I wouldn’t be in this mess. Pray for discernment. Many enable rather than help people to become FREE.There are many casualties that have an erroneous idea of what love really is. The WHEAT and the Tares are growing together. This goes from the pulpit to the door. Spiritual warfare is about taking a stand. But for assured success it must be on the WORD of GOD!

Jeremiah was a prophet who stood amidst some dark days. The Lord told him; “Be not afraid of their faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold I have put my words in thy mouth. See I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:8-10)

IF JESUS CAME BACK TODAY ARE YOU READY?

Did you know Jesus was mistaken for the gardener upon His resurrection? (John 20:15) We must address the garden of sin in our lives. We must root up the things that GOD does not consider righteous. Our belief in Him (according to Romans) should result in righteousness. Jesus is coming back! But we won’t be able to mistake Him for the gardener this time. He has provided us HIS WORD to clean us up. Don’t be safe, or sorry; BE SAVED. He is coming back for HIS church without SPOT OR WRINKLE.

How Important Is Discipline In Your Daily Life

How Important Is Discipline In Your Daily Life

Webster defines discipline as a training that corrects, molds or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. A control gained by enforcing obedience or order. Orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior. To discipline means to train or develop by instruction and exercise; especially in the area of self control.The development of discipline is essential to our overall personal growth and spiritual maturity.

 

One of the fruits of the spirit is self control. Due to Adam’s sin mankind has inherited a sin-based nature. The appetite to fulfill the desires of the eyes and the lusts of the flesh is quite often first and foremost. The appetite of each individual varies. Your desire could be overeating or under-eating, alcohol, drugs, immoral sexual behavior, lying, envy, idolatry, covetousness, etc. In order to overcome this proclivity towards sin one must continually learn to surrender their yearnings toward self-gratification. How can we accomplish this? To the believer deliverance from an undisciplined lifestyle is quite attainable. Paul tells us: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:19. The key factor in that verse is the strength has to come from the LORD.

 

 

God is quite aware of our shortcomings. Our shortcomings are what alerts us to the fact we need something other than ourselves to overcome our human frailties. God has created us for the purpose of fellowship. We must continuously develop a life in accordance with the instructions He has left in His WORD. The first step to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way the truth and the life: NO man cometh unto the FATHER but by me.” John 14:6. There is no other way to GOD.

 

 

Our perspective on life greatly affects how we deal with certain situations. Envision with me if you please a house. Everyday you would pass by this house. After a while you become very familiar with it’s exterior. You then begin to even make assumptions about the house. You eventually come to admire it for it’s surface beauty, but only from an exterior point of view. You’ve seen the front door day after day but you have never stopped and taken the time to knock at the door. You are aware of where the house is; you even think you have a general idea of what it’s like inside. But do you really?

Quite often we develop the same type of relationship with God. We know where His instructions for daily life are found. We have access to the Bible. But how often do we really devote time to actually seek His spiritual direction for our day to day living? We must go beyond the exterior and delve into the WORD and embrace His principles and apply them to our lives consistently. When we embrace His principles we embark upon a life of freedom. This freedom will free you from the appetites of the flesh and the clutches of the world.

When you develop an intimate relationship with Him He begins to fill that deep endless void THAT ONLY HE CAN FILL.The Christian life is not an unattainable idealistic lifestyle. When we begin to walk in the Spirit we can overcome the weaknesses of the flesh. Christians are to live lives that are dependent upon God. It is through this spiritual dependency the strongholds that satan has on your life will begin to dissipate. This spiritual walk includes a life of discipline. Remember it is through discipline we are able to harness and control the lusts of the flesh I mentioned earlier.

 

Christ lived, suffered, died and arose from the dead for a reason. He sacrificed His life to redeem us from the curse and endowment of Adam’s sin. It is by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives we can overcome and partake in the victorious life he has prepared for those that truly love Him. “Greater is He that is in you then he that is in the world.” The scripture is not just for memorization to impress others. It is an edible delicacy that will nourish your spirituality and quench your unquenchable thirst as you truly embrace and live out it’s intended principles.

 

We must seek and learn to discipline our life to His standards. We must begin to relinquish the desire for man’s approval and conditional acceptance. We can never please man. I must warn you! The closer you draw to GOD the less man will understand you. You will be persecuted and greatly misunderstood. Guess what? So was Jesus! He was maligned and accused of many things by those who should have known better. It was those who were thought to be spiritual that treated Him exceedingly wrong.

 

Man looks from the outside in; this is the opposite of God’s perspective. He looks from the inside out. He knows all about you and I.  Our innermost thoughts and desires are fully known by Him. The key to a peaceful and contented life filled with true JOY is available. “GOD is LIGHT, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness (appetites of the flesh) we lie, and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN.” How important is discipline?

 

It is very important!