For the past couple of weeks, the Lord has been showing me and speaking to me about repentance in our generation. So I begin studying this thing we call repentance and came to 4 underlying fact….
- That in order for there to be authentic forgiveness, there must first be sincere repentance/lamenting.
- Repenting and apologizing is different to a degree.
- God always want to bring us back into a state of repentance
- Through sincere repentance… the judgment/Wrath of God maybe relented
Let’s break it down….
- That in order for there to be authentic forgiveness, there must first be sincere repentance/lamenting. When we repent, we are relinquishing all rights and benefits of what we have just committed. It’s an act of saying and believing. Repentance in a sense is a type of worship because we are admitting that we have sinned and that we must be forgiven by the only one who can give us total forgiveness .First Sincere Repentance… Then True Forgiveness – 1 John 1:9
- Sincere Repenting and apologizing is different to a degree. We can only repent to God. Repenting always has some measure of love in it.- Luke 7:41-48 It is a turning away from sin and acknowledging that we were “lost” in that moment. When there is repentance that is sincere… GOD HAS TO FORGIVE YOU. An excuse/reason can NEVER be given when we repent for what done.. Repenting is an act of spiritual and soul cleansing… Repenting should bring about change and learning.
Apologizing is only done toward people… and they have a choice to forgive or not to forgive you. It’s knowing you have done wrong and admitting it to the person. When you apologize, often times there are an excuse with reasoning. Apologizing is an act soul cleansing. Apologizing should bring about change and learning - God always want to bring us back into a state of repentance. God is always trying to get us to come back to Him as people. God is willing to relent or to cancel the Judgment instead of issuing it. Through prayer, God changes what He releases in our lives. The course of events or the end result can be changed. One of the great examples of God’s willingness to relent is found in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Upon learning of God’s intentions to judge the city, Abraham asked the Lord if He would relent and save it if there were only fifty righteous people in it. The Lord told said that He would, so Abraham pressed the question. Abraham said, “If there were only ten righteous in the city, would You spare them?” The Lord told Abraham that He would (Gen. 18:22-33).
- Through sincere repentance… the judgment/Wrath of God maybe relented. When there is sincere repentance, change is brought forth. There is a learning process that begins. When God is seeing that we are learning.. he holds back his decrees and judgment so that he can tenderly teach us. He allures us back into the desert. (Hosea 2:14-16) Allure means “take my hand… I’m going to lead/show you somewhere. I’m going WITH you!” It’s in the desert that our Father allures us to where we learn to desire and love him. Where He will teach us our new name and how we should embrace Him.
The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. (Jer.18:7-10)
God is demanding that our generation repent for the things we have allowed and enable to take place… we have tolerated a Jezebel spirit that has open us up to all sorts of foolishness. We must fight for our generation and forcefully advance the Kingdom of Heaven.
Remember, God always wants to bring us to a state of repentance.. so that he may relent his Judgment and Wrath.
Ezekiel 22:30 – So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
Let us be found in God’s favor, that we maybe used by Him to help a generation come back to the Garden of Eden before the fall… where intimacy was found, love was abounding and were we naked and unashamed. This is a cry for a generation to desperately seek after God… that He might ignite our hearts with His zeal and love.
I will leave you with this…..
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)