Thoughts on Repentance

“Change your mind and your life; turn right about and do it now.  You crucified this Jesus.  Now crown Him in your hearts as Lord and Christ.”                                                                                                     -A. T. Robertson’s translation of Acts 2.38

Repentance: 
Greek- metanoia – an after thought;  a second thought that revealed the error of the first.  Used 60+ times in the N.T.

A change of mind and feeling. A change of principle and practice. To reverse the past.

The very essence of the word repent means to have a second thought that reveals the error of the first. Repentance is about doing away with an old way of thinking and adopting a new way of thinking, which in turn gives way to a new way of living.  Repentance is a change of inner values that results in a change of action. 

Charles Finney defined repentance as “Changing your mind from what you believe on any subject to what God has revealed on that subject.” 

Repentance leads us into this new life.

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.  One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.  A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.  They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. -Matthew 4.17-22

The message of Jesus called people to a different life.  There was something so compelling about the message he delivered, and the way He lived His life, that caused people to follow Him.  As they followed Him they found a whole new way of living.   The way they thought changed.  The way they lived was transformed.  Jesus calls us to a new life.  We cannot live it until we take up His way of thinking.  

Repentance is not reformation.  It is transformation.  It doesn’t rearrange our old life.  It gives us a new one.  Jesus did ask people to make some adjustments.  He called them to lay down their lives and take up His.  As long as we think we can do it our way we will never experience the life of Jesus.  If we keep trying to reason it out in our own thinking we will totally miss it.  A world view that originates in our imagination will always be skewed.  We have to adopt His world view.

Discipleship and the Inner Circle

Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!” Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them.

                                                                                                                                                                                -Mark 9.1-3

As a leader you come to understand this truth:  There are certain things you just don’t share with everyone.

Jesus modeled this principle as he made disciples.  His public message was preaching the Kingdom of God; and even in his public preaching He veiled His messages with parables so that certain men could not understand.  Going beyond his public message there were certain things he only shared with His disciples.  He would lead them away into solitude and spend days teaching them the deepest truths of the Father’s heart.  However Jesus didn’t just stop at focusing on His disciples; He went even further in selecting who He would spend the most time with. 

He was intentional about who He imparted himself to.

 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

                                                                                                                                                             -John 2.24-25

Jesus used discernment. He knew what was in the heart of man. He selected the twelve, and the three, with great perception.

 Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

                                                                                                                                                                -John 1.47-48

Be selective about who you will poor your life into.  Be sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit. Look for those who are hungry.  Look for people who have a teachable spirit.  You cannot discipline someone who isn’t a disciple.  You cannot lead someone who is not loyal.  Some investments do not pay dividends.

Also, we need to be looking for those who are coming behind us to mentor, teach and train. There is a great return on investing in those who have there whole lives in front of them. We

can find young men and women and teach them the ways of the Kingdom. We can get a hold of them before they make all the bad decisions and shape them.

Find Someone to Disciple

-Before they get a wife.

-Before they get a mortgage.

-Before they get a career.

Orchestrated Companionships

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delights in his way.

-Psalm 37.23

 

It is good to know that the Lord orders our steps; however, if we look at the literal interpretation of this passage we see that it is even better.  Here is what Psalm 37.23 says when we interpret the original language of the text:

 

The companionships of the warrior are Divinely orchestrated of God!

 

Wow! That’s powerful when you begin to realize what it means.  The Lord has ordered my life, but even deeper than that…He has ordained my relationships. 

 

There are people that come into our lives who are a God send!  The Master knows every season of our life and He knows exactly who to send into our life.  As I look back over my life I can see the hand of God in relationships.  He knew exactly how to order them for every season I have gone through.  In every season He has connected me to specific individuals who blessed me and also received reciprocal blessing from my life.  These are not relationships that have come and gone but rather relationships that were so valuable I could not let go of them. 

 

I am a rich man, so blessed with the greatest riches of all: relationships rich in love.  I am thankful for my friends and family who have so richly blessed my life.  I would not be who I am without them.  God knows when to send friends, confidants and mentors.  It is through these relationships I am enriched and strengthened.  

 

Show me someone who does not value his relationships, I will show you someone who will miss his destiny. 

 

I leave you with the words of the great commentator Matthew Henry:

 

Friends must be constant to each other at all times.  That is not true friendship which is not constant; it will be so if it be sincere, and actuated by a good principle.  Those that are fanciful or selfish in their friendship will no longer love than their humor is pleased and their interest served, and therefore their affections turn with the wind and change with the weather.  Swallow-friends, that fly to you in the summer, but are gone in the winter; such friends there is no loss of.  But if friendship be prudent, generous, and cordial, if I love my friend because he is wise, and virtuous, and good, as long as he continues so, though he fall into poverty and disgrace, still I shall love him.  Christ is a friend that loves at all times (John 13.1) and we must so love Him (Romans 8.35).

-Matthew Henry

Who Is Keeping You In Check, Mate?

Any king, anywhere and at anytime is dealing dangerously with destiny without a prophetic voice in his life.

 
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD. -2 Chronicles 12.14

17 years of a wicked reign because Rehoboam refused to listen to counsel.  Let’s take a look at the undoing of this man Rehoboam.  How did his kingdom become divided?  How did so much wickedness come into His heart?

It seems that Rehoboam’s unraveling began when he refused to hear wise counsel.  A decision is brought before him and he turns to his father’s (Solomon) elders for their advice.  However he didn’t quite like what they had to say.  So….

…he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him. -2 Chronicles 10.8

He forsook the advice of wise and experienced men and turned to novices for their advice.  The elders had advised him to ease up on the work load, which his father had established.  Instead, this was his decision:

My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.  My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. -2 Chronicles 10.10-11

After Rehoboam moved away from the accountability of the elders his walk with God began to deteriorate.  He grew greater in his own sight and he no longer needed the Lord. 

And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. -2 Chronicles 12.1

Rehoboam left off building God’s Kingdom and began building his own kingdom.  Sadly as goes the king, so go the people.  Look at the state of the people under the leadership of Rehaboam:

And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, and images and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. -1 Kings 14.22-24

The moral of the story:  accountability matters!

Information or Formation

As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.  Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers.  Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us. -Titus 2.1-8

Discipleship is not so much information as it is formation.  Learning, in and of itself, means nothing unless it affects our being.  Following Jesus is not about filling ourselves with head knowledge.  It is about seeing Jesus formed in us. 

The process of discipleship is God’s design.  It is His intention that those who are mature in their faith would give themselves to seeing those who are young in faith growing in the fullness of the life of Jesus.  This is a process that is to repeat itself time and again. One generation passing the Kingdom to the next. 

It is not enough to hope that those who come behind us will get Jesus for themselves.  We have an obligation to see them come to the place were the nature of Jesus is formed, and being formed (on a continual basis), in them.  We can’t just hand them a book and leave them to themselves.  We have a responsibility to shape them.  Hands on equipping.

We can learn some things all by our self, however, it is a reality that we will only go so far by our self.  There are certain things that we will never realize without the help of the mature to lead us.  You can learn all you want, however, until you make yourself accountable to the mature, you will never fully grow spiritually.

Naturally speaking, the Lord gives us parents when we are born.  They have a responsibility to bring us to a place of maturity.  If parents don’t train and nurture their children those children will not reach maturity as they age. 

Research has shown that typically we do not tend to make good decisions until we are in our mid-twenties.  This can continue into our thirties and forties if we do not have healthy relationships with mentors.  Tragically we have to make some of the most important decisions when we are young and do not have the advantage of life experience.  This is why it is so important to have mentors in our lives to help to shape a healthy decision making mechanism into us.  Their seasoned wisdom gives us the insight we lack and helps us to come into understanding as we process situations and decisions. 

I have finished four years of Bible College, I have read a library full of books and watched all kinds of education videos and television programs; however, I can truly say, the greatest shaping of my personal character and my greatest personal growth has come through relationships with great men.  Riding in a car driving half way across the country with a mentor.  Working in a barn with my pastor.  Sitting in a living room for three hours asking my favorite teacher about scriptures, the kingdom and discipleship.  Hanging out a conference with my peers. Debating theological points with fellow students in a dormitory. These are the types of experiences that have truly shaped me.

Reading a book, watching a program; through these and other mediums I have gained much knowledge. However it is because of mentors, pastors and teachers who cared enough to invest the precious gift of time that I have gained much wisdom and understanding. 

We must put ourselves in a position to be discipled; and we must give ourselves to making disciples.   We must be ready to learn; but, even more importantly, we must be ready to be shaped.  As a disciple maker we have to be ready to teach and ready to help shape those willing to submit themselves to discipleship.

Take the teachings that you heard me proclaim in the presence of many witnesses, and entrust them to reliable people, who will be able to teach others also. -2 Timothy 2.2

 This is the pattern of discipleship.

Hear What Your Not Hearing

Faith comes by hearing, not by having heard.  There is a difference in hearing and having heard.  For example, have you ever been in the presence of someone who was speaking only to realize you missed the entire conversation?  You know you heard every word, but your not quite sure exactly what you are talking about.  In the same way, if we are not careful we can hear what God is saying without receiving His truth into our life.

 

For we also are having good news proclaimed, even as they, but the word heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard. -Hebrews 4.2 (YLT)

 

One of the most dangerous assumptions we can make is that we are good soil.  Jesus taught a parable about the sower, a man who came sowing the seed, which is the Word of God. In this parable He talks about different conditions that hinder the seed from growing.  The spiritual implication that Jesus is making is that there are certain things in our heart that can keep the Word from taking root and growing.  If we are not careful we can listen to the Word of God without it being received into our hearts and spirits.  We can learn things with our minds but if they don’t take root in our innermost being they will never produce fruit in our life. 

 

How many times have you sat in a church service, heard a message and said, “So-and-so needed to hear that?”  We all do it, however, I have come to understand that every time the Word goes forth I need to hear it.  If we would all learn to position ourselves to hear and receive the Word as if it was specifically for us, how much more effect would the Word have on our lives?

 

This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers.  -1 Thessalonians 2.13 (Holman)

 

Here are some helpful eye openers that will help you to begin to receive the Word of God into your spirit and begin growing spiritual fruit like you have never imagined:

 

Never assume the Word is for someone else.  Approach the Word with an attitude that says, “He is speaking directly to me.”

 

Don’t shut out a preacher because of personal preferences.  It doesn’t matter if the preacher is not your favorite guy.  The Word of God is powerful even if the preacher is not your favorite dispenser of truth.  I have learned some mighty things from preachers I didn’t think I liked.  Some of my favorite preachers today are guys I didn’t think were all that great before I actually gave them a chance.  Once I gave them an audience I soon learned they had some great things to say.  Before I knew it they had changed my understanding to see th Kingdom a little more clearly.

 

Don’t get offended with the preacher. He is not singling you out of the crowd.  (Sometimes the Holy Spirit just preaches right were you are at.)  He didn’t intentionally forget to return your phone call. (He has more work to do than you might think.  He also has a family.) Whatever the offense is, cast it down or make it right.  Free yourself up to receive what the Lord has for you. 

Pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit every time you read the  Bible or listen to a message.   Don’t try to receive the Word with your limited human capacities.  We must rely on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into a true understanding of the Word. 

 

Eliminate the distraction of this world.  If your not careful all the weeds of life will choke out the life of God’s Word.  Be consistent when it comes to pulling weeds. Root out everything that competes with the Word of God for your attention.

 

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. -Romans 10.17

 

Recommended reading:  Matthew 13

Walking In The Spirit: The Fruit Of Joy

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. -Galatians 2.22, 23

The fruit of the Spirit is Joy! Yesterday we looked at what it meant to have the Spirit fruit of love. Today we will look at joy.

As God’s people, people of the Spirit, we have joy unspeakable and full of glory according to First Peter 1.8. We used to sing a song that said, “This joy the I have, the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away.” The joy of the Lord is a joy like no other. It isn’t fleeting but is rather constant. It’s not based on the circumstances of our life because it finds it’s source in Jesus and not in temporal things.

I saw this great tweet from Dr. Phil Brassfield (@philbrassfield), “We are often unable to see the truth because we are blinded by our assumptions and expectations.”

Anger is a result of unmet expectations. It is an antonym of joy. Many Christians struggle with an anger issue. Why is it that instead of walking in the joy of the Spirit so many of us are angry, bitter and resentful? Unmet expectations! We get angry when that which we have hoped for fails to come to pass. Someone once told me the way to keep from being disappointed is to lower my expectation. As I thought about that, the Lord showed me something. The answer is not about lowering our expectation, it is about putting our expectation in the right place. If we put our expectation in the Lord we will never be disappointed.

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. -John 15.10-11

To hope in Jesus is to trust in Him. To trust in Jesus is to obey Him. When we obey Jesus we remain in His love and our joy will be complete. When our joy is complete, or full, it does not waver and is never diminished.

If we put our hope in Jesus we will never be disappointed and our joy will be full. When we have put our expectations in Jesus our joy is not dependent on our circumstances. It doesn’t matter how people treat us we will always be able to smile. We can be broke and still enjoy life. When we trust Jesus we can have joy even in the midst of our suffering.

Our friends, we want you to know what God’s grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia. They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor. -2 Corinthians 8.1-2

Finally let me say this: If we serve with the wrong motives we will quickly loose our joy and even become angry. Don’t serve because you want recognition or because you expect to get something out of it. Serve because you love Jesus and you will serve with gladness.

Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. -Psalm 100.2

Walking In Love

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  -Galatians 5.22-23

It’s interesting that the first thing that is said of the fruit of the Spirit is that it is love.  God places a high importance on love.  First Corinthians 13 tells us that of faith, hope and love, the most important is love. In that same chapter Paul tells us that if he doesn’t have love then he is nothing.

If we do not have love we cannot say that we are walking in the Spirit. When we get baptized in the Spirit we get a fresh flow of the the spirit of love.  Hate, prejudice, bigotry, jealousy and the like are flushed out of the soul as the river of God’s love flows through us like a mighty river. God’s true love becomes the out flow of our life.  

By this it will be clear to all men that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. -John 13.35

Jesus tells us that love is an identifier of a true disciple.  Let it be said of us that we are a loving people.  More and more we need to position ourselves to tap into the Holy Spirit and allow unloving attitudes to be removed out of our life.  

When love of God is the fruit of our life a dynamic change takes place in us.  The bible tells us, in Galatians 5.6, that faith works by love. When our hearts are full of God’s love we operate with an attitude of effective faith.  The love of God operating in us produces and a faith that works.  We become more fruitful at soul winning, and there is an effectiveness that comes to us in all areas of our lives. 

God so loved….and we too should be people of love.  When we live with love at the center we live as God intended.  When we walk in the Spirit we walk in love.

Life In The Spirit

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things!  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.  Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.  Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.  -Galatians 5.22-26 NLT

How often is your life controlled by your emotions?  Another way to ask that question is, what spirit is controlling you? 

As a Christian the ultimate way to live is to be controlled by the Spirit. You want to believe that you are pretty good at living life in the Spirit.  However if you take an honest look at what motivates you you’ll find that too often you fall short when it comes to living by the Spirit’s lead.

How often do you act out of anger?  Do lust, greed or envy cause you to do things which you later regret?  Is your life controlled by appetites for food, money, sex or recognition?  How can you claim to be Spirit led when your motivation is tainted with so much bad fruit? 

When you truly begin to live a life that is centered in Jesus everything about us changes.  Your actions change because oyur motives have changed. You move from living a life in pursuit of what you want, to living the life in pursuit of what Jesus wants. 

Watchman Nee, in his book Spiritual Authority, says, “The highest express of life in the Spirit is obedience.”  How true is that statement! Being led and controlled by God’s Spirit is about an absolute trust in him for all that we need, that causes us to obey the will of God. When you began to follow Christ you make a decision to crucify the passions and desires of our sinful nature.  Everything changes and the fruits of the Spirit begin to flow out of your life. 

Over the next two weeks we will be looking at what it means to live life in the Spirit.  Check in each day and pray that God will begin to change you, bringing you to the place where you can truly say, “I am led and controlled by God’s Spirit!”

 

Waiting Grows Our Faith

We know the ways of the Lord are perfect and just! However, sometimes we can feel as if God is late.  We are waiting for an answer or the miracle to appear. It  would be easy to hear a ‘Yes!’ or even a ‘No!’ at least we can then move on.  But what happens when God says wait? We must believe, hope and have faith!! We can often fail to see the greater picture after all we were created to worship, glorify and make Him known. God is not about our will being done in our way.  He is about us accumulating eternal treasure.  God is continually setting us up to build up our faith; to build us up for what is coming. Look at John 4:46-53.

Then Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When He heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and begged Him that He would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. The nobleman said to Him, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus said to him, Go, your son lives. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him, and he went away. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, Your son lives. Then he asked of them the hour when he began to get better. And they said to him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, Your son lives. And he himself believed, and his whole house. 

                                                                                                                            -John 4:46-53

There was a noble man who’s son was sick. He asked Jesus to heal his son because he was about to die.  Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. Remember this is about your faith being increased and every battle you face has already been won. The enemies goal is to keep us connected to the ‘seen’ (because he lives in the unseen). Fear and doubt does not produce miracles. So, remember God is building up your faith so discern what is driving you. God can’t build up your faith when He has to pick you up all the time kicking and screaming, “My way!” We must pray with the right motive. The man from Capernaum wanted Jesus to go to his son and heal him. Jesus knew that this wouldn’t produce faith in the man, so Jesus gave him a Word (v49-50). He went away believing what Jesus said was true. His faith was activated! The servant confirmed the hour when his son was healed and it was the same hour Jesus said he was healed. I sometimes think about what happened to that man after what he had been through. Was he overwhelmed with gratitude, telling everyone what Jesus had done?  How many lives were transformed when they heard about what had happened. How many people believed in Jesus. The Bible says the whole earth is filled with His glory.  Thats you and me and other souls being saved for the glory of God.  That’s the greater picture!

It was raining a few days ago and it was very dark and the Lord said to me Rachael, it’s the clouds that bring the rain! Be still and know that I am God. It was so refreshing when the rain came.  God desires to break through. Even in creation the darkest hour of the night is right before the sun rises. Be encourage, God’s got a plan and Gods going to do it!  He desires to build up our faith so that we can look back and say look what the Lord has done! To God be the Glory!