Repentance is not about saying sorry. It isn't even about feeling bad for what one has done. In its truest form, repentance is the act and choice to change one's behavior so they don't repeat what they did wrong. It requires intentionality. And while there may be slip-ups, repentance produces fruit that speaks loudly. Fruit that shows a person has changed and turned away from the sin habit in question.
This is why the Bible says in Matthew 3:8 - Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God (NLT). When a person repents their life changes. They no longer do what they repented for. Now you might wonder how that is possible. After all, you've likely repented several times only to repeat the offense. However, when you prayerfully identify the factors that lead to the sin, you can defeat it. Plus, when you listen to the Spirit of the Lord, He will caution you away from repeating what caused you to sin and repent. Repentance, therefore, requires both human and supernatural participation for success.
God wants us to confess our sins and repent for them. To do this, we must first realize what we did wrong. That is impossible without the Holy Spirit's help and He is only available through Jesus. Look at the Sadducees and the Pharisees from the time of Jesus. They knew the Old Testament inside and out but the absence of the Holy Spirit in them meant they were ignorant of their hypocrisy and lack of godly love toward others. Thus, simply knowing the Bible is not enough. It is the only book that requires the assistance of the Holy Spirit to make it come alive, transforming it into a supernatural weapon.
Like other prophets before Him, Jesus taught people to repent. Matthew 4:17 - From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” He knew that repentance was needed to access heaven. It was the very reason why He came to earth to live and die. Sinners needed to be cleansed of their iniquities so they could be redeemed back to their Creator and God, who is holy.
If any Christian thinks they have nothing to repent for then they should take heed of 1 John 1:10 - If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. We have all sinned and fallen short, depriving God of the glory He deserves (Romans 3:23). Our flesh and sinful desires have led us astray in one way or another. We are the children of Adam and Eve, after all.
Praise the Lord who gives us another day to get things right. Today is your chance to call on God for His mercy. Ask for remembrance of your forgotten iniquities. Confess that you did wrong and repent. But don't just say sorry. Take the time to pray for wisdom on how to make changes in your life so you don't do what is warned against in Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly. That way you will bear fruit that shows you truly repented and desire to be more like Jesus.
See you at Noon EST for fellowship.
To learn more, please click the hyperlinks included in the message and read:
CLOSING PRAYER
Almighty God, great Thou art!
Thank You for today's fellowship time. Thank You for making Your presence and peace be felt in our midst.
Take all the glory and the praise.
Thank You for graciously teaching us more about repentance so we can do better as we take advantage of Your kind grace. Help us to not abuse or squander this great gift, Lord. Grace to never spit in the face of Jesus and His sacrifice for us. Help us to indeed walk in humility before You that we may be like David and Jesus who pleased You.
IJMN, Amen.
LAST 10 MINUTES
If today's message is for you, stop running away from what the Lord is trying to do in you. Take the time to think about your life and allow God to place His finger on the things He wants you to repent for.
Did you ever have an abortion? I know they are normalized in our society but they are murder in God's eyes. Please repent. Have you participated in the occult (ouija boards, spells, yoga, astrology, worship of other gods)? He detests that, so please repent. Have you stolen something before? Even if you think that didn't 'hurt' anyone, know that your act caused you to obey satan instead of the Lord. Please repent for it.
Are you dealing with a sickness? Could it be that you need to confess sin(s) to someone in accordance with James 5:16 - Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Yes, confess to someone and repent to the Lord for committing the iniquity.
True repentance sets us free from the clutches of our enemy. It makes us too slippery to hold on to, thus depriving satan of an accusation that it can use against us. Remember, the Bible calls the devil "the accuser of the brethren" in Revelation 12:10.
And don't let satan punk you into thinking your sins are too nasty for God to ever forgive. That is a boldfaced lie. Listen to what the Bible says:
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 32:5 - Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
God is bound by oath to honor His own word, thus if you confess and truly repent, He MUST forgive. And once you do so, pray for strength and strategy to break free completely from the sins you repented for. Submit to the Holy Spirit so you succeed. Know this, however, Proverbs 28:13 - Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. This is what satan wants when it tries to convince you that there is no forgiveness available for you.
I pray you will allow the Lord to show you what you need to repent for. I pray you will confess and repent. I also pray that you will seek God's strategy on how to not return to your sin. And that you will walk in the strength that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit give to the children of the Lord so you overcome the evil one per 1 John 2:13-14.
God bless you.
Kadosh Kadosh (Holy holy)
Kadosh Kadosh
Kadosh
The weight of Your glory
cover us again
God, we call upon You to do a new thing in all Your children everywhere.
Let Your children all feel You moving within them as they are filled with more of the Holy Spirit. Give them grace to see others as carriers of the Spirit of God so they honor them as Your beloved children.
Grant Your merciful grace to forgive others. Your word assures in Proverbs 19:11 that A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense.
As forgiveness is freely given to others, remember Your children, Lord and show even greater grace upon them. Indeed help them to honor the word of Jesus who told us in Matthew 18:22 to forgive "not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
And be forever glorified, IJMN, Amen.
Good God, You are the Almighty. Nobody compares to You. Father, thank You for hearing my prayer for people that they come to a knowledge of You as You promised in Jeremiah 24:7. Thank You for giving people a desire for You. Thank You for whetting their appetites for more of You. Thank You for letting hearts clamor for You. Thank You for kindly pouring out Your Spirit on all mankind in accordance with Your word in Joel 2:28. Be glorified, Lord our Redeemer.
Now and forever more, IJMN, Amen.
Almighty God, I call on You for unity in the Body of Christ. John 17:20-24 - “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
The devil breeds confusion, contention, and dissatisfaction among Your people. However, Lord, You have eternal dominion (Daniel 4:34) and that will never change.
Pour out Your Spirit, Lord. Let Your flock move as one to Your voice. For the word tells us, John 10:27 - My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
PRAYER TIME
What have you been praying for for yourself?
Figured it out yet?
Now, pray for that same thing to come to other people.
Then, think of something else you've been praying for and ask God to do it for others.
Iwo ni Jesu (You are Jesus)
Iwo ni Jesu (You are Jesus)
Erujeje (The Fearful One)
I want to thank You, Mighty King.
I'm reminded of what You told Prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19:18 - Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
The God who maintains a remnant for Himself!!!
Who is like unto Thee?
Who is like unto Thee?
Among the gods, who is like Thee?
For You are glorious in holiness.
Fearful in praises.
Doing wonders.
Hallelujah!
(Exodus 15:11)
Your grace is sufficient
Your death brought me life
And I know
Your love is unconditional
Father, I thank You for being the God who always keeps His word. You have told us over and over that You hear us and answer our prayers. Thank You for because of You, we know that when there is delay in the receipt of our prayer requests, that delay is not denial. It is simply You working things out so that we receive Your perfection and You are magnified in the process.
Thank You for the wait, oh Lord for You are building our faith and patience. Indeed, you are refining us in the fire (Psalm 66:10) so that we will be like those "who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised" (Hebrews 6:12).
Glory be to Your Wonderful Name! You are so good!
Father, You are faithful. Who is faithful like You?
God, You are amazing in everything You do.
We often don't understand the route You take to get things done but You do.
And because Your word for us is that goodness and mercy follow us, that means no matter what we see, Your goodness will catch up.
Thank You for being the God who can always be trusted.
From AW - Thank you Father God for a new day with fresh mercies.
Thank you for watching out for my family.
Thank you for a healthy body.
Thank you for the opportunity to return to school.
And most importantly, thank you for this gift called LIFE!
Lord, thank You. Thank You for the loving kindness You don't deprive me of.
Thank You for the grace I receive from You.
Thank You for taking me in Your hands.
Thank You because for some reason, You want me.
Thank You, God!
PRAISE TIME
Dance and lift up a praise to the Lord our God!
From AW - Good morning Peppers! I'm joining you today since I'm off from work. I have a cold. I hope you all are doing well.
Holy Spirit
You are my Lord
You're my Teacher and my Friend
I love You but I know
You love me more
Than I can love You
Before I knew You
You loved me Lord
Before my first breath
You died for me
I love You but I know
You love me more
Than I can love You
Salvation belongs to the One
Who sits on the throne
And unto the Lamb
Praise Him
Praise Him
Praise Him for all He has done
Praise Him
Praise Him
Praise Him for all He has done
How could I forget all that You've done
You've been faithful
I can feel the fullness of Your love
It leaves me grateful
Your love it runs over
Morning by morning
Mercy runs over
Morning by morning
Grace it runs over
Morning by morning
It's new every morning
From WG - Very well said….God bless you and have a blessed day
From JIR - Thank You Lord for waking us all up and breathing life into us this morning. You are the reason we are here. Thank You for guiding us all into P&P to fellowship today. Without You our lives would be meaningless. You are worthy of all praise. All glory is Yours! IJMN. Amen.
Thanks for today’s message sis @FFJ. It is very helpful. I understand that repentance is a decision we must make but didn’t quite understand after we made the decision if the Holy Spirit would do the rest of the work. I now see that it is a joint effort. There are things that I repented from that were so effortless and seamless to not fall back into doing but then other things were and are a bit more difficult to completely stop doing and although I am seeing gradual changes it is taking more time. The Holy Spirit has been the main reason I haven’t fallen back into my sin and without Him it would be impossible. 100%. I am still in disbelief of some of the things that I have repented from and that I no longer do. Only God! IJMN.
Thank you for confirming that repentance is something we must also work through with the Holy Spirit to remove our sinfulness.
God bless you sis.
ETA: I will not be able to participate in fellowship today due to training and interviewing new associates on my job during that time. I pray that fellowship is an impactful experience today as it is every Tuesday and Friday. IJMN.
I will check back later. I pray everyone has a blessed day.
From EC - Amen and good morning ladies!
ALTAR CALL
I usually share a written message at this point, but I watched this video recently and thought it might be better to watch this. It explains why and how to submit to Jesus Christ and become a member of Heaven's Household.
God bless you.
Thank you for this and thank you for your consistency. I was recently reading about repentance. The cleared up some questions I had