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 Repentance

July 11, 2024

Hey Clawson Family!


 Song:





Scripture


Matthew 4:17 New Living Translation


17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[a]”

 

Matthew 7:21-23 New Living Translation

 

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’


Acts 3: 19-20

 

19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.


Devotional:


101 times in the Bible, the word or a derivative of the word repent is used. The concept is central to our faith and our journey in following Christ, but many people in our culture hardly ever use the word, and even fewer use it correctly or apply it to their lives.

 

We are a culture obsessed with avoiding anything uncomfortable, remotely sorrowful, or painful, and we like to think positive things, right? Let's think happy thoughts, and we'll all be happy because that's the point of life. Look at social media; people post the most absurd things ever. 

 

The reality is that so many of us are not experiencing the life God has purposed for us because we are unwilling to live in what the Bible calls an attitude of repentance. 

 

So, before we talk about what repentance is, let's talk about what it is not. 

 

Repentance is not God wanting you to feel like a failure. 

 

That is not it. You may feel like it's it, but that's not it. It's not living your life in kind of a state of mild depression or beating up on yourself, and in doing that, you feel somehow spiritual. That's not repentance at all. 

 

When Peter preaches in the temple, he tells the people to repent and turn to God so that their sins may be washed clean and so that they may experience refreshing from God's presence.

 

Many of us in this place are dry and weary, and we need a fresh wind of God in our lives. And it's going to come, but it's going to come through repentance. So what is it? What does that even mean? 

 

The Greek word for repentance is metanoia. It means a change of paradigm, worldview, and thinking. But it also means a change of behavior and direction. The most comprehensive definition is this: repentance is a changed mind that leads to changed behavior.

 

So first, you have your perspective of the sin in your life. 

 

We can all agree that sin is bad. We know that we shouldn’t do it because the consequences of sin are an annoyance. I feel bad that I've done this; I'm kind of sorry that I've betrayed this person, I'm kind of sorry that I cheated on my wife, I'm kind of sorry that I fudged on my taxes, and I'm really stealing, and I'm sorry. And God, I wished you'd take this from me, I don't want to struggle with this. I don't want to struggle with my thought life, I don't want to struggle with lying, I don't want to struggle with greed, I don't want to struggle with materialism. God, would you please take this from me? And when God doesn't take it from you, you almost get bitter at God because you were annoyed and inconvenienced by the consequence of your sin. 


But true repentance looks like this; 

 

What have I done to the heart of my Savior? And you allow God to change your mind about your rebellion and your self-serving lifestyle, and you view it not from your inconvenience and your annoyance by that struggle, by that sin, but you view it through the eyes of God Himself, as the very thing that veils you from intimacy with your Father. As something that keeps you from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. 

 

God wants to change your mind. He wants to help you see it differently. You can't change your mind; only God can.  There's a worship song that says God, break my heart for what breaks yours! That should be our prayer.

 

God, you have all access to this. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Change my mind.


Help me to see my sin, my rebellion, and my selfishness, not through how they annoy me but how they separate me from you and your kingdom.


Journal:


How do you view your sin? Do you view it through your own inconvenience and annoyance or do you view it as something that breaks the heart of God? Explain.



Training: 


Break free from the bondage of sin by repenting of your sins. First, repent before God in prayer. Ask for His forgiveness and for Him to change your mind. Next, repent before those that you have hurt as a result of your sin. Allow your repentance to be the first step in restoring these broken relationships. Pray and ask God to help restore your broken relationships.


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