Tag Archive | Repent

Are you living your life…for Christ?

Jul19

Question: How do I make sure I’m living my life to please God?

Answer: To know that you are living your life to please God, starts with understanding that your life and every life is a gift from God! He is the One who creates life. From conception to natural death, God loves us and cares about each of our lives. And, He wants us all to live our lives in the way He intended for us to live. If we decide to live our lives in ways that just satisfy ourselves first instead of putting God first in our lives, we are not living to please God.

The first step in pleasing God is accepting His only Son, Jesus Christ, as your Lord and Savior. God’s Word tells us that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. That sin keeps us separated from an eternal life with God. But God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the Cross to take the punishment we deserve for our sins. (See John 3:16) Jesus rose to life on the third day and is alive with God the Father in Heaven. By asking God to forgive us of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our one and only Savior, we will have eternal life with God in Heaven!

Jesus, Himself, repeatedly confirms this truth in His Word. For example, in John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV) And, in John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and My Father are one.” We know this is true because Jesus does not lie!

The next steps to living your life for God through Jesus Christ are to pray and study God’s Word. Pray for His Holy Spirit to guide your steps so that you live in God’s plan for your life. (See Jeremiah 29:11) And, you need to regularly read and study God’s Holy Word, The Bible. This is important because “All scripture is given by inspiration of God. And it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16) And the Lord wants you to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

By following these steps, you will learn how God expects you to live your life to please Him. Will you be perfect? No! If you could be perfect, you would not need the Savior. But, when you mess up and sin, you can ask Jesus to forgive you and repent of your sins! And, He will. Does this mean you won’t have any problems? No. You are still flesh. The Word tells us that the works of the flesh create problems. (See Galatians 5:19-21). We are to pray for God to help us through the difficult times. He is faithful to see us through!

But, while there will be times of trouble, there will also be many times of great blessings! Remember that through the Holy Spirit, you will reap the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Therefore, through the Holy Spirit, you will be able to be “salt and light” for the Lord (Matthew 5:13-16) and ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). You would be living a life of holiness and good works which would be pleasing to God! For such a life well-lived, you could hear God say to you, as Jesus said in His story about the obedient servant in Matthew 25:23, “…Well done, good and faithful servant…”

Amen!

Repenting when it’s hard!

May7

Question: As a Believer, why do I still struggle to repent of certain sins?

Answer: Believers must recognize that as they struggle to repent, they are actually fighting a spiritual battle against Satan. Know that Satan does not want you to repent of your sins. Instead, he wants to keep you in bondage to him. But, Praise God! Our Heavenly Father is far more powerful than Satan will ever be. You must fight back by praying to God for His Holy Spirit to give you all the strength and guidance you need to repent of your sins!

Remember to stay strong by regularly reading God’s Word, The Holy Bible. It helps to remind yourself what God has to say about the need to repent of our sins: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV)

Jesus told of the need to repent. For example, in Revelation 3:19, Jesus told the Laodiceans, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” Similarly, in Acts 17:30-31 the Apostle Paul says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man (Jesus) whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Of course, in addition to reading God’s Word about repentance, you must also truly desire in your heart to want to turn from your sinful ways. You must want to stop desiring your old sinful lifestyle. This change is well described in Colossians chapter 3. Here the Apostle Paul reminds us that we need to “put off the old man,” participating in evil desires such as fornication, wrath, blasphemy, filthy language, and other sinful behavior.

He goes on to say that we must “put on the new man,” showing such things as kindness, humility, and forgiving one another. We must “put on love” (v. 14). “And let the peace of God rule in your heart…and be thankful.” (v. 15)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual sons, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (v. 16)

While we are never going to be perfect in this life, God’s word tells us how we can continue to grow in our Christian walk. The Scriptures tell us that in order to resist sin we should: have a sincere heart to want to change to please God, read His Word regularly, pray for help from the Holy Spirit, and stay away from those things that we know will tempt us.

God loves us and hears our prayers. He is faithful to provide us with the help we need to live to please Him. Stay strong in the Lord!

What do you need to repent of today?

Jul1

Question: God knows I like getting my own way. Does He really expect me to change my ways?

Answer: Yes! God commands us to put Him first, not ourselves. In Exodus 20:3, the Lord says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”(NKJV) So, if getting your own way means doing something that displeases God, then He expects you to change. For example, if you prefer to keep siding with people, organizations, or things that promote sin, rejecting the commands of God, He expects you to change. If you don’t, you are making these things into idols or “little gods” in your life. You are choosing to put these things ahead of pleasing the true and living God. This is wrong! God expects us all to repent and turn away from all sin!

So, what would prompt Believers into wanting to support these sinful things anyway? Well, sometimes it’s because changing our way of thinking can be hard. An example of this is when we really like someone and don’t want to acknowledge any fault in them — even when they promote sinful things. We may make excuses for why the sins they are promoting really aren’t that bad. We may rationalize that other folk out there are doing worse things. Those other folks may be doing worse things. But we still must admit that the sinful behaviors of the people we like are also wrong. If we don’t repent, we will have to answer to God for calling these sinful people good and giving them our support. God says in His Word: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil…” (Isaiah 5:20a)

Another reason Believers sometimes call “good” what God says is sinful is because we don’t want to be seen as unintelligent, anti-social, or hateful by the world. But by studying God’s Holy Word, we learn what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had to say about this. In John 15:18-19, Jesus says, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Jesus goes on to say that those who treat you this way do it “because they do not know Him who sent Me.” (v.21) In other words, the world does not know and follow God.

Even when you hear people who promote sin say things that appear to affirm God, they are in reality working against God. You need to turn away from following after such people. Repent of your sins and pray for God’s Holy Spirit to help you live for Christ.

Remember that you will never be perfect. Only Jesus Christ walked on this earth and never committed any sin. Therefore, when you fall short and sin, ask Jesus to forgive you and repent. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Likewise, pray that you will be honest with God. Ask Him to reveal to you what you need to repent of today. Jesus said, “…Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) Jesus also said that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7) That’s how much God loves you and cares about you.

So, do what is pleasing to God. Repent today!