Can you help me with the concept of repentance? What does repentance mean to you? Wednesday night at Bible Study we came across this passage and we thought it helped to explain repentance.
James 4:7-10 - 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. NIV
Can you think of some word pictures or other Scriptures that will help us understand repentance?
James 4:7-10 - 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. NIV
Can you think of some word pictures or other Scriptures that will help us understand repentance?
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3 comments:
repentance is turning from sin and Satan and turning towards God.
Is it possible to repent without forgiving one's self? Makes me think of the white boards so popular these days. (they are replacing the black boards in school!) On that board are a lot of things that are not in one's best interest in life. Words like "I want ..." "Beauty is yours for this much" "I don't like " "The more you have the better you are" "Give.... whatever you have left over". If we are living those words, before we can repent we need to recognize they are not the way to the kingdom AND then forgive ourselves for being caught up in them. Asking God's forgiveness is then much easier to receive.Finally repentence is a walk made possible.
I think when you recognize sin, you must turn away from it (repent), ask God for forgiveness, and in so doing build your relationship with Him. The Bible MUST be the standard, not someone's book about it, not a podcast about it etc, but the Bible itself. The Bible may have some things in it you don't want to hear, for instance glutony being a sin. Why is it sin? Because it's not good for you! So an overweight person who turns from the sin of glutony and repents and trusts God reaps the benefit of a healthier life. Okay, don't shoot me!!! I'm fat and it's on my mind - I know it's a sin, if I turn from it there's a wonderful life waiting for me. But you see, I'm also quite human and I allow that sin nature to control my portion size. But you get my point. There's a benefit in repentance.
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