Repentance is not guilt or remorse. The definition of repentance is. “In its fullest sense it is a term” it’s a complete change of orientation involving a judgment upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future. (Repentance is a process!)

    This is something every human being wishes would happen every morning when they open their eyes. Redirect their lives toward a better future. The problem is we bring guilt, regret, remorse, shame and limitations when we judge our past. We have two options! Cherish the pain of our past and complain about it or use the pain of our past to produce a new future. The problem is we’re not sure how to redirect our future. That’s why we need help.

    A simple analogy would be. When a rebellious teenager breaks the law, many times a successful family member can step forward out of duty and family loyalty. They pay the damages and find’s and get the Judge to release the teen in their custody. The idea is for the relative to keep the teen out of trouble. The relative will give the teen advice out of his life experiences. However if the teen is a prideful, know it all and doesn’t apply the advice, he will have trouble with the law until he is willing to repent.

    How does this apply to us? God gave us the moral law, the 10 commandments. He wrote them in everyone’s conscience so every one of us knows when they are doing wrong. Like the Pharisees in the time of Jesus we create loopholes and philosophies to justify our actions to keep our conscience from bothering us. The 10 commandments were put in place to protect us from others and others from us. Not to restrict us. One example would be, committing adultery could easily lead to a jealous husband or wife plotting your demise. It breaks up families, it changes the course of children’s lives. Every commandment we break doesn’t affect just us, but those around us. One of the things that makes God good is, He is just. On Judgment Day everyone will get judged for their actions. The wages or payment for breaking God’s law is death, with eternity in hell to pay. Billionaire or pauper, lawyer or pastor, politician, or priest, we are all guilty and the penalty is the same. If we get arrested for breaking the law 20 years after the fact, can we tell the judge to look at the good deeds we have done. The judge will say: You broke the law. How do you plead?

    If we are willing to truly repent and invite Jesus into our lives as Lord and savior. We are adopted into the family of God.

    God is God to all and loves every one of us, but He is Father to the believer. Jesus is that relative that steps forward, but out of love not duty. He pays our debt by taking the death penalty in our place. Something our earthly relative would not do.  Our debt is then paid in full. We are released into His custody. We get salvation and eternal life with God “upfront!” The repentance process begins because God knows what it takes for each individual to break free from their sin nature. He gives us the book that lets us know his nature and character. He fills us with the Holy Spirit who gives us a special understanding of the book. He gives us the desires of our heart. “Not to be confused with giving us our hearts desires.” The Holy Spirit puts Godly desires in our heart that allow us to live full of purpose and promise. We become new creations, old things pass away, and all things become new. The Holy Spirit leads us away from our sin nature and toward a Christ like nature. The closer we walk with God and let the Holy Spirit guide us the more our character grows, and our lives change. When our love for God reaches the level that we love our sin, we can ask God to take away our desire to sin. The habitual sin pattern is broken, God has our back and works all things together for good to those that love Him. We enjoy the freedom of having nothing to hide. We “will know the truth”, that God can be trusted in all things. We become free from the anxiety of what people think, free from fear of the future, and everything else that has us bound.  No overwhelming situation is too big for God. God is not subject to the laws of the universe. If He used 4 starving leopards to cause the entire Syrian Army to run for their lives. (2Kings:7) He can handle anything we are going through.

    The leopards had no idea God’s plan was to use them to save Israel. And God’s plan hinged on them to be starving. Trust God in times of plenty and times of lack, times of courage and times of fear. The best is yet to come!

    A word of caution! If we refuse to go through the repentance process and choose not to let old things pass away by hanging on to our old lifestyle, we become double-minded, with no stability. We are not obedient enough to walk under God’s blessing.  We become an excellent target for the enemy to bring doubt, fear, confusion and mostly lack. When we are willing to go through the repentance process and do good things out of love not duty, the Christian Walk becomes easy, when we are not willing to repent the Christian Walk becomes impossible. Speaking for “A friend” that experienced exactly that kind of drama and turmoil for too many years before implementing “The key to deliverance” (Psalms 91:14 NKJ)