Repentant Soul

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has dawned.” From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

-Matthew 4:16-17(NKJV)

Jesus, the Light, has come to us all, and He has spoken to those of us who have been sitting in darkness, “It is time to repent.” His mighty work on the cross has given us access to the heavenly Kingdom, and it is time that we no longer live, visit, or play with dark things. 1 John 1:7 states that by walking in the light with God (living a life of obedience, truth, and connectedness with God), we freely fellowship with the Body of Christ, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us of our sins. As believers, we should have repentant souls that desire to remain in the light. We should long to be and stay in the presence of God. The Light has arrived, calling us to repent of our idols and activities that have drawn us from the presence of the Lord. Let us be more than remorseful and confess, let us do a 180 and turn away from those mindsets, activities, and atmospheres that have caused us to set aside our hunger and thirst for the presence of God's righteousness in our lives (Romans 12:2). Let us again be willing to cut off (Matthew 5:29-30) and cast down (2 Corinthians 10:5)everything that will bring shade and distraction, so that there will be Light and intimacy with Christ.

Acknowledge

For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

-Psalm 52:3

There was a season in my life when I would pray all kinds of mighty prayers for deliverance, healing, and blessings over my life and others', but one day God brought to my attention the lack of repentance in my prayers when I heard someone else praying. I wondered why I avoided that prayer. I had good intentions to follow God and to proclaim Him Lord over my life, yet I would stop short of repentance. I had to get real with myself as God was trying to show me how I had forgotten the importance of repentance.

One of my issues was that I didn’t want to fail, and by repenting, I had to acknowledge that I hadn't reached the mark. I had good intentions for the day. I wanted God to be glorified and the people around me to be built up. However, I did not want to acknowledge where I had fallen short. I overate that delicious meal. Rather than acknowledge my lack of self-control, I would just put it off as if it didn’t happen. I held some things in my heart against someone. It’s okay since I am not gossiping about them with others. I did not pray for or speak to that person; I felt the Spirit God was leading me to. God understands, I will listen next time. I had a reason or excuse for it all, but it did not lessen my need for repentance.

Rather than meeting my sins and faults (those things that become sin to me because of my heart of disobedience) with repentance and renouncing them in my life, I excused them all, allowing them to become seeds that sowed practices that could later turn into strongholds.

Some may not struggle with pride when it comes to repentance; instead, they struggle with desire (lust). You want to overeat the delicious food. You don’t want to forgive that person. You do not like being interrupted to be the mouth, hands, and feet of God, serving someone else. You have a desire that goes against the nature and will of God, and you hold it higher than your reverence for God. Whether it be pride or lust driving our actions and our reluctance toward repentance, leaves us all in the same place, distancing ourselves from God and walking away from the light. I urge you, as God urged me, to pray against that lust of the eye and flesh and the pride of life (1John 2:16), for it has already become a stronghold in my life. And it was something I needed to repent of and renounce.

Pray that God will help you to become an overcomer in that area through Christ, replacing your desire of the flesh and the pride of life with complete loyalty and reverence to Him. (Romans 6:12-14)

Confess

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 -1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

Repentance isn’t something we receive, but an action we take and a stance we commit to. We acknowledge that something is wrong because it goes against God’s will and nature, and we commit not to do it again. Some would like to think that repentance is something God does. He will convict us, open blinded eyes, and soften hardened hearts, but it is still the individual's choice whether to see the love and awe of God and respond by loosening themselves from the things that draw them away from God and keep them from connecting with Him freely.

Repentance is the act of renouncing the chains that drag and try to bind us to death and darkness. Sin is death, and those who choose to go against God’s nature and will or perform acts that pronounce death. And the only way to be free from that death is to renounce the thing that tied us to it and stop giving in to those actions, behaviors, or mindsets (Luke 13:3).

Repent

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

-Acts 3:19

To be truly free, we must repent daily.

Repentance is a continual practice of the heart, in which it intentionally and actively postures itself to align with God. We repent not out of feelings of good intentions, but because it is a commitment that is followed by disciplined and reverent actions.

The scripture tells us to resist the devil at his onset so that we will not fall/walk into sin. James 4:7 (NIV) reads “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” But many of us do not take the first step of submitting to God, so we set ourselves up to fail to follow the last part of the instructions: “Resist the devil.” However, if we submit to God, He will help and guide us in resisting temptation and avoiding sin. He even told us that He would provide us with a way out.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 

-1 Corinthians 10:3

However, even if we did fail to submit, we were unsuccessful in resisting, and blindly missed our escape because of our lust-driven eyes, we can still repent and pray for God to help us meet temptation next time with a resolve to walk in the Light with Him rather than easing into dark places.

 

Prayer:

Lord, help us to walk as repentant souls that hunger for righteousness and desire nothing more than to live in the Light. In Jesus Name, Amen.