the power of true repentance
judges 21.25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
judges 2.10-12 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.
1 chronicles 12.32 Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.
james 4.1-10 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously� But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.â€
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
+____)(*^@!!!@^*)(____+~~~+____)(*^@!!!@^*)(____+~~~+____)(*^@!!!@^*)(____+
I used to read the book of Judges and think, “Wow, what a desolate miserable faithless time to live in.” Here Joshua had gathered the victorious nation, and got in their faces and charged them never to forget the Lord or the awesome miracles God had worked for them. Here Moses had clearly told the people that once they inherited the promised land, they were not to live in disorder: with every man doing what was right in his own eyes. But the final verse in the book of Judges sums it all up – that’s exactly how they were living.
Now the Spirit of the Lord has been revealing to me that these are the kinds of times we are fast approaching, if not already in. I know whenever I’ve heard this kind of thing in the past, I immediately think, “Oh we live in the time of grace, and Jesus’ blood has broken all the curse of the age off us;” and that is completely true. Yet all the tell-tale signs are in place for apostasy in the church. Those who call themselves by the name of the Lord shop churches; they regard church as a motivational social club that they can take or leave. There is no regard for the authority of the kingdom of God. Every man does what is right in his own eyes.
There is compromise in the lives of the leaders, and they preach ongoing compromise as an unfortunate but necessary way of life. Then we take this compromise and parade it in front of those we are supposed to be rescuing, turning our message into, “Look, we’re just like you – only forgiven.” As if we don’t see how sad and transparent that appeal is. Who wants to join an ineffective moral pep-group and then stay totally dysfunctional? Yet more and more, many in the church are trying to appeal to the world on the world’s terms: in the name of being all things to all people, we have totally crossed the line of becoming friends of the world and enemies of God.
It’d be easy to hear this and think, “Well that’s pretty extreme…that’s just your opinion.” But again, all the indicators God has given us are in the red. There is widespread strife and division among those who name the name of Jesus. Sexual compromise of all types is looked at as normal among us. Habitual alcohol and drug use is looked at as unavoidable and acceptable, and even part of our supposed liberty. We bow at all the same altars the world bows at. We run hard chasing down the same entertainment, no matter have riddled with lust and hatred and blasphemy and depression and destruction it may be.
Simplest of all, we aren’t getting what we ask from God. Half the time we don’t think to ask, and the other half we ask with impure motives. And then we write it off as, “Que sera sera; it must not have been the Lord’s will.” Yet when the New Testament church fell on their faces and cried out to God for help, the place they were meeting was physically shaken; and they received EXACTLY what they had asked for. This is available now, but we must seriously humble ourselves. When we call out for God’s help and forgiveness, there needs to be a sincere “Oh God what have we done?!”
Joel said, “Tear your hearts and not your clothes.” In other words, God is a soft touch; but he’s only impressed and touched with what goes on deep inside you, not with an outward show. Draw near to him, get closer than you’ve ever been – God will draw close to you. Resist Satan to his face. Draw the line and don’t allow yourself to play the victim. Your faith will absolutely WIN if you don’t back down. Humble yourself. Lose your arrogance, your cockiness, your fierce but ineffective independence. Allow God to come and shape you, beg him to fill you afresh with his Spirit; to take you from a place of being a liability to his kingdom, and make you able to legitimately function in his faith and his anointing.
God will be the foundation of our times, but it won’t come casually. We’ve let things go way too far. It is time to rise up in the Spirit and see a radical change take place deep within >>
i am in total agreement with this bro. thank you for this message.
bro this is my prayer and hope as well. also, we read that a FINAL shaking will take place. what is left is eternal value. CHRIST! anything outside of that will crumble. when we are entering the service of God, after receiving the Holy Spirit thru faith, we must yield and follow the order setup from heaven. we cannot manipulate (or other means) what our function is (or ought to be). the effectiveness of our work will not reach its fullness if we work outside this heavenly order. in scriptures it words it as we being a body of different members each with its own function. we must realize that the END must be a REAL gaining of ground for the Lord, which is a losing of ground for satan. the MEANS is obedience of faith(in/from Christ). therefore the measure of our work is Christ. this is beyond being moral or doing good deeds. this is beyond hating the the ways of this world. this is ETERNAL. i am in total agreement with this message that you posted above.
I believe that this is true, and I find it very stirring. My response–and I don’t mean it as a diminishing comment at all–is to ask, Will I, you, we, HEED this call? I was reading about Hezekiah the other day (who incidentally led a great repentance), and I was struck by the following comment regarding the priests and Levites who sought to follow:
“But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished— for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves.” 2 Chron. 29:34.
“More upright in heart in consecrating themselves.” It is easy for me to talk (or type). It is so easy to talk. But it is another thing entirely to consecrate myself, that is, to put to death my flesh, that is, to say no to my desires and self-love, that is, to lay everything down so I can pick up a cross on which I am to die. But, for reasons I do not entirely understand, I find myself wanting badly to do it, and even thinking that it would be the greatest success I could achieve. I think everything I am writing is related to what you wrote. There is no way to begin being his disciple but turning to him–repenting.
He is still calling out to us. Let him find some hearts that answer!
Also in total agreement Glen. The Spirit is whispering amongst the true Church. Someone said in Atlanta 2 years ago (though I only just heard it now) that this generation of Believers is getting fed up with the “Christianity” that much of the older generation left us and are “seeking out the old ways” and “considering the rock from which we were cut”. Even in myself, for the last year and a half, have been reading and soaking in Revivalists of the past and stirring others to pray more and consecrate themselves – and then to hear that youth all over the continent are doing the same thing STIRS ME.
I answer the call to consecration, and pray others will too. Friendship with the world is emnity towards God. Pursue holiness, without which NO MAN will see the Lord.
I want to say something equally profound, but but can’t. My initial reaction is that this is easier said than done. I’m constantly reminded of the Nirvana lyric, “I miss the comfort of being sad.” To me, there is comfort and familiarity to sin (and sadness). Why is that? We may have been born in sin, but not made in sin. so you would think the natural human tendency would be toward holiness rather than sin.
But it’s not…
Yes! Spoken like a humble homeboy with a sincere heart! Stay that way as the Lord raises you up!
away from the internet for a second there…now back*
from the comment queue, i’m guessing beef was responding to andy.
daniel i think you’re asking about a miracle?
My bad. I was responding to Andy.
no worries. it’s really random what comments get auto-approved & which don’t…you were just responding to the last approved comment you saw >>
i want to talk about the miracle of the new creation, which is: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. old things are passed away, all things are new, and all things are of God.
this is nothing less than a miracle. it’s not just a new mindset or new preferences. God created man in his own image to love holiness just like he loves holiness. holiness always walks in love. we were totally re-wired after adam ate the apple. that’s when sin became natural for us. but the very second you call on Jesus, he comes and washes you totally with his blood – and he returns the wiring to the way you were originally created: in the image of God, loving holiness. holiness is natural for you, not sin.
daniel i hear what you’re saying about familiarity. but a familiar spirit can be deadly. kurt cobain was given a remarkable gift for writing songs, but i personally want nothing to do with being familiar with kurt cobain’s sadness – i don’t think there’s a clearer picture of the sorrow of the world producing death. if only he had experienced godly sorrow, he’d still be alive, and his life would be totally transformed. but he didn’t. please understand that the same demon who took him out is waiting to prey on anyone who chooses to be familiar with it.
same thing with familiarity with sin. you have to ask yourself: who do i find more in common with – the old me who was put to death at calvary, or Jesus? Jesus knew no sin. he became sin for us, but he never once felt any familiarity or friendship with sin. do we? remember, the memory of sin is not the same as a conscience of sin. just because satan can come and remind you of something that he says happened in the past, if God erased it – it’s GONE. deny it. God will back you up. satan will run.
this is exactly what i meant when i closed the original post by saying “It is time to rise up in the Spirit and see a radical change take place deep within.” if we have any feelings of affection towards sin, we can’t accept that as normal. religious leaders may have taught us that it’s normal – but only because they gave in & let it be normal for them. same thing was true in the time of the judges of israel. there came a point where a young shepherd boy stood up and said “who is this uncircumcised philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God?” but for most of the time of the judges, the leaders accepted being dominated by unrighteousness.
how do we get rescued from this? by crying out to God. how do we cry out to God? with a heart of true repentance: “oh God i can’t believe i’ve let myself be routinely dominated by sin. i can’t believe i’ve let my desires get so twisted that i actually feel an appetite for it! please come rescue me – please come create in me a pure heart – please renew a right spirit within me – please don’t cast me out of your presence – please don’t take your Holy Spirit from me!”
that prayer will be heard on high >>
Glen, great analogy about the judges…
But answer me this (or these): Why do you think that we wait for the last possible moment to repent from sin, even though we know it is wrong the whole time! What are we hanging on to? Familiarity? Rationally speaking, wouldn’t you think that a Spirit-filled person would run as fast as they could back to God at the slightest hint of a transgression? Why is the cliche, “I hit rock bottom before I called out to God” so common?
I think it must be a maturity thing. For me, I feel like I’ve been a “baby christian” for far too long. I’ve always felt secure in my relationship with God, so I thought there was nothing more to improve upon… and since I never progressed, I regressed, and then finally transgressed.
i spoke to a group of believers the other night & told them 2 of the greatest skills in the kingdom of God are learning to say sorry quickly and ask for help immediately. we need so badly to let God make us more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. when things go wrong, they can’t just stall out there; we need quick restoration – quick deliverance! i think it comes down to Jesus’ message to the church at laodicea (revelation 3): Jesus wants us on fire; he’d rather we be ice cold than lukewarm.
i think that too often we don’t recognize what our passions our telling us. the only place of safety the Holy Ghost offers us is a place of passionate seeking after God, the intimacy of being found completely in him. if we are mildly interested in the things of God, big red warning lights should be going off. if prayer is a chore, time with God in his Word is a chore, going to worship with other believers at church is awkward…& meanwhile we can’t tear ourselves away from worldly entertainment or distractions or relationships…we are being lulled to sleep.
what you describe above (not repenting til it’s almost too late) is really a spirit of slumber. God is definitely calling us as an entire generation out of slumber, out of complacency, out of lukewarm-ness. read hebrews 5 & 6. paul is addressing the same thing – let’s get beyond infancy – let’s not live stuck on the ABC’s!
the more time i spend updating and adding to Pure (the work-in-progress book i keep posting links to), the more i understand of the early church’s passion to be found spotless, blameless, totally innocent, with a pure conscience at all times. the spirit of this age breathes out “where is this coming of his??” …and we’ve fallen under its influence. it’s time we start running full-speed towards the coming of Christ. it’s time we start looking for the return of Christ with all our anticipation.
please try spending some time regularly reading Pure. i can feel how much meditating on those scriptures has increased my sensitivity personally. there’s a heartbeat in the New Testament, a theme that increases in intensity, a passion for being just like Jesus in this world. if we really catch that, we’ll get disgusted with anything that looks like dullness and stupor and procrastination – & all of a sudden it will make perfect sense that the Holy Spirit is begging us to “pray without ceasing” >>
Glen, thanks for this post. I’m being convicted of my unbelief that God will conform me to his likeness when I seek him out in fear and trembling. I have a problem with fear and trembling. I don’t like being uncomfortable, or wrong. I like to stay put. But as 12 steppers like to say, “Half-measures availed us nothing!” We have spiritual riches promised to us if we seek them and work towards them. But if we work to our own ends, we end up being betrayed by our own passions.