LIVING AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS (part-09)

SINCE I AM A CHRISTIAN, DO I HAVE A NEED FOR REPENTANCE?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your
servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
(Psalms 119:176)

MEDITATION:
There is only One who knows us well enough to provide exactly what we need,
at exactly the right time. When the Psalmist had problems, he knew that God
was the One he needed to go to ‘first’ and not as a last resort.

He also knew of his own failures, and how he was not living as close to God as
he should be (if he truly loved Him). He knew God’s commands, but had chosen
to ignore them, and it caused him to wander away from Him. We can sense his
repentant heart when we see how he communicated with God.

He cried out to the Lord and asked for a better understanding of His Word.
    May my cry come before you, LORD;
    give me understanding according to your word.
    (Psalms 119:169)

He asked that his prayers would be heard by God when he requested deliverance
from his sinfulness (which is the promise from God to those who are repentant).
    May my supplication (prayer) come before you;
    deliver me according to your promise.
    (Psalms 119:170)

When we are truly repentant, it means we have made a decision to go in the
opposite direction from where we have been going. In other words, if we have
been choosing to do something ungodly or unrighteous (ignoring how God feels
about it), we have now made a new decision to avoid it completely going forward.

When determining what is displeasing to God, we can search the scriptures,
and we can ask ourselves,
    “Would I be doing this if Jesus was sitting
      in the room with me, and would I offer it to Him?”

Some claim that they wouldn’t have a problem drinking beer or using profane
language with Jesus in the room. Comments like that should cause a shudder
of deep fear in the soul of the person making Why? Because it is possibly an
indication that Satan has corrupted the mind so much that we have started
considering unrighteous things as permissible. We are what is going on in our
minds, so it’s important for us to make sure our thoughts are controlled by the
Holy Spirit and not by someone in opposition to God and His righteousness.

The Psalmist praised Him for being his God and asked Him to teach him the
consequences of his sinful actions.
    May my lips overflow with praise,
    for you teach me your decrees.
    (Psalms 119:171)

He sang songs to God and rejoiced that His commands were fair.
    May my tongue sing of your word,
    for all your commands are righteous.
    (Psalms 119:172)

Since he had chosen to repent for disobeying God’s guidelines, he asked God
to help him in his efforts to avoid his sinfulness in the future. We can learn
from him – we are not strong enough to fight temptations without divine help.
Satan wants to convince us that we don’t need any help, nut that’s just another
one of his lies.
    May your hand be ready to help me,
    for I have chosen your precepts.
    (Psalms 119:173)

The psalmist developed a new appreciation for God’s laws, and wanted to be
assured of his salvation. He knew that salvation came from the Lord, so he
went directly to Him with his request. As one who was described as ‘a man
after the heart of God’, he may have been ‘longing for’ salvation from the sin
that kept creeping back into his life.
    I long for your salvation, LORD,
    and your law gives me delight.
    (Psalms 119:174)

We see the effects of his true repentance: he wanted to live in a new way
governed by the righteousness of God’s laws because he felt that was one
way of praising Him.
    Let me live that I may praise you,
    and may your laws sustain me.
    (Psalms 119:175)

ACTION:
Keeping it real:
    We might be able to hide our sins from others and we might be able
    to convince others that we are closer to the Lord than we really are,
    but God knows about the one or more sins we struggle with. We can’t
    appear pious to an all-knowing God.

Perhaps we have drifted away from the Lord and allowed things into our
life that are displeasing to Him. In our heart we know they are wrong, but
we may have cleverly justified, or made excuses for them so we could fulfill
our selfish desires.

It could be a bad habit (alcohol, drugs, pornography, anger, lying, etc.), an
illicit affair (fornication – that not only affects us, but is embarrassing to
family members and causes others to question our relationship with the Lord),
or it could be anything else outside of God’s guidelines.

When we love the Lord, we will have a desire to please Him, wouldn’t you
agree? The life we live is dependent on the level of love we have for God.
How do we know we love Him? The Bible answers that question for us:
    “If you love me, keep my commands.”
    (John 14:15)

If we are not living as close to the Lord as we should be, then we
should do what the Psalmist did:
    repent, then make an honest and sincere decision
    to follow the path He has created for all believers.
Our Creator is not a God who shows favoritism. That means that we
don’t have a ‘special pass’ that allows us to continue in some sin that
He has deemed an act of selfishness and/or rebellion for everyone else.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I no longer feel your presence as I did
at one time. I know that You remain the same, so I admit
that I have made bad choices that are not pleasing to You.
I repent of those decisions and I have a new desire to prove
my love for You by keeping Your commands. Please hear
my prayers and restore the closeness that I long for, and help
me to point others to You by the way I live. Forgive me for
those I have damaged by the sinful choices in the past. Renew
the joy and peace in my heart as I live the life You desire of me.”

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