What Does Repentance Mean? - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) February 11, 2025

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:

1. Repentance

2. Repent, Return & be Restored

Your Flesh Is Deadly - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) February 7, 2025

The Lord recently took me through a sobering experience some weeks ago. I realized that if I'd left this world before He taught me a crucial lesson, my next port of call would not have been heaven.

You might wonder what could be in my life and character that would have kept me out of heaven. God revealed aspects of my personality that I hadn't fully yielded to Him. As such, my flesh was derailing my journey to heaven. And it was all my fault because I hadn't allowed the Lord to rid me of the aspects that needed to go.

This was a tough pill to swallow. God pulled back layers - almost like an onion's skin - to reveal the parts of me He wanted gone. As reality dawned, I cried out for mercy and repented. Indeed, as Hebrews 10:31 states, it is a terrible thing to be in the hands of the Lord. When He reveals the truth about your flesh and what it is doing to you, it can be painful.

Nevertheless, I knew His goal in revealing these things wasn't to condemn but to save. Years ago, I learned from King Asa's experience that when God reveals flaws it is better to repent as David did when Prophet Nathan confronted him after he killed Uriah, Bathsheba's husband. Nobody, least of all me, wants to deal with the alternative.​

I prayed for a new spirit and a new heart, leaning on His word in Ezekiel 36:26 - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And can I tell you something? He was faithful enough to deliver! Overnight I felt different. I had a new understanding of 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. He restored the joy of His salvation in me. And by His grace, I'm walking with Him like a newborn lamb. My legs are a bit wobbly as He trains me afresh but I know He's right there to guide and keep me safe.

Realizing that my life was lacking the complete submission needed to enter heaven made me realize I couldn't be the only one in that position. Many of us are living better than unbelievers and while that is good it is not enough because our flesh is not fully submitted to God. And where the flesh has dominance, there is sin. The Bible alerts us that where there is sin, there is death.

Allow God to have His way with you today. There may be aspects of your character that still need finetuning. Let Him handle that. Consider the things you do or say then regret. Place each of these things at His feet and allow Him to remove them from you. All they do is satisfy the desires of your flesh. You've got to hate the desires of the flesh if not God will leave you with them.

God bless you. Join us for today's fellowship when we'll spend the last 10 minutes praying to kill the desires of the flesh so they don't kill us and derail our journey to heaven.

To learn more, please click the hyperlinks included in the message and read:​

1. The Box of Fear​

2. Don't Turn From God​

3. The Sin of Disbelief​

4. Are You Bitter?

Topic: King Asa

1. Don't Turn From God

2. The Sin of Disbelief

3. Are You Bitter?