I admit I have let my blog slide and those of you that look forward to such 'deep' postings must be thinking, has Simon run out of depth? Heh! Heh!
Not really, just that I haven't had any inspiration to write on any particular subject, until today!!!
I received a revelation some time back about a possibility of why many people find it difficult to 'repent' - it was brought to my attention that the 'powers that be' have made it seem like a dirty word, that we are condemned if we did not and that we are filthy rags as we are that need cleansing - all this just paints a picture of unworthiness to approach our Lord.
Let me make it clear that guilt and condemnation is not from our Lord Jesus, he came and died for us WHILST we were still sinners, why would he then turn around to condemn us?
Guilt and condemnation comes from the 'dark side' - making us feel unworthy of forgiveness when it actual fact, God has made it very easy for us to repent and return to him. So in a nut shell here it is:
To repent is to CHANGE - that's it! So let's explore the scriptures then... We Must Change Our Way of Thinking
Jesus makes it plain that repentance includes changing our thoughts. "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts ..." (Mark 7:20-21). He explains what defiles us comes from within. He gives examples of the most basic evil attitudes and passions that dominate our thinking and behavior: "... adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man" (verses 21-23).
Isaiah states plainly that repentance is changing the way we think. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7). Here Isaiah pinpoints two things we must forsake to receive God's pardon: our sinful ways and our sinful thoughts.
To repent we must recognize that at least some of the pulls of human nature are at work in our minds, influencing or even controlling our thinking. Not every human constantly yields to every trait of human nature. But we all sin. We all have weaknesses. One person may succumb more often to greed, another to self-righteousness or pride. Yet another may have difficulty being truthful and honest. But in some way we all exhibit self-centered and self-serving thinking and behavior.
Repentance means we must examine ourselves and recognize our own particular weaknesses-the areas where we sin in thought or action. We must ask God to reveal what we need to change.
This, too, is a lifelong process. The more we submit to God and ask for His help in seeing what we need to change, the more He opens our minds to recognize our faults and weaknesses. This process goes on for years as committed and converted Christians "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).
A change in the way we think is the most important aspect of real repentance. After we receive the Holy Spirit, we are better able to sustain right behavior as the fruit of our new way of thinking.
So there - if you start to think of repentance as 'just change' ; it stops sounding like such a big and ominous word doesn't it?
So go ahead, make a change, stop the bad habits, that's it, God forgives!
