Tag Archives: Repentance

Heart-Change

Posted on March 8, 2017 | Leave a comment

Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

I thought I clearly understood the relationship between repentance and forgiveness. I repented, God forgave. That’s the model to follow, right? “They” repent, “I” forgive. Hmmm…I’m having to think a little deeper about that because seven times in a day seems like too much to ask.

Could it be that there’s critical heart-change element tied to forgiveness just as there is for repentance? If my words speak forgiveness while my heart does not, isn’t that just a “prettified” form of judgment? In that case, who is more in need of forgiveness…them or me? Does that mean the reality of forgiveness is yet another part of my own repentance?

Why did that verse have to begin with “So watch yourselves?” I’m sorry Lord, that I even have to ask these questions. I thought I understood. Forgive me.

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Posted in Lent, Luke, Wednesday

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Where There’s Smoke…

Posted on March 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

It seems harder to deal with repenting after you’ve walked with Jesus for a while. The “big” stuff was so obvious there was no hesitation about what needed to go. That was good, but this is the season to take another look. There’s a hidden closet where the evil one has stashed some of my less obvious sins. That makes them really easy to forget about. They’re smoldering, fiery darts that will be used as weapons of contempt for God’s “kindness, forbearance and patience” and to discredit the reality of his work in me.  I caught a whiff of smoke and realized where there’s smoke…there’s fire.  it’s time to put out these fires.

• The well-meaning prayer request with “too many details” about someone else’s crisis can become a weapon that impacts other people’s response to them.  I need to remember God already knows every detail!

• The wrong tone of voice, even when used with “just the right” words, is a devilish eraser capable of wiping out the validity of God’s work in my life to the ears that hear them.

• Using the Word of God as a weapon to verbally discipline someone or manipulate their behavior is a serious violation of my trust in God’s sovereignty, and it’s unkind.   The power of the Word lies  in “realizing that God’s kindness is [what’s] intended to lead you [both] to repentance.”

The closet has been aired out.  I’m waiting for the smoke to clear. Amen [So be it!]

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Posted in Luke, Romans, Sunday

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