In however you might be struggling, know that you are not alone. I don’t care if you have just tripped a little or if you have fallen flat on your face, Jesus loves you.
You can turn your life around. Whether it is in one area or in all, the Lord wants us to turn to Him, to seek Him, that He can help us to become all that He has ordained for us to be.
So long as you are breathing, it is not too late to repent. “The Lord is…[patient] toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
It takes the power of God to change you, but He will not help you until you turn to Him. God will not force Himself upon you, but when invited, will not withhold anything it would take to help you. God will help you to the degree that you will let Him.
The first word preached from Jesus is often the last word that people want to hear. “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent…’” (Matthew 4:17).
The word “repent” means to change our mind and our direction away from evil and towards God. Jesus knows you will go where you are looking. “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22).
It is a loving Jesus who is calling out to us to repent, to turn our eyes to heaven that we would go there. “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).
Don’t look back, that is not where you are going. Set this day as your turning point. It is not where you have been, but where you are going that matters. Repent and be saved.
It takes a single turn to change directions. Whether you are off track by 1 degree or many, won’t you join me and turn our lives towards Him?
Repentance is not meant to shame you but to change you. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted…” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Some preach that grace removes the need for repentance. How horribly wrong they are. It is when we repent that we come to Jesus through whom we can then receive the grace we so desperately need. Jesus taught, “…unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
The reason many do not ask the Lord for guidance is they do not want to follow His directions. “And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face…” (Jeremiah 32:33). It’s not backsliding when you turn your back on God. Don’t sugar coat your disobedience but call it what it is.
“…He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). But sometimes we leave Him and forsake Him.
You are either walking with Him or away from Him. There is no middle ground. Until you turn from your sin, you are going in the wrong direction. “And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you…” (Leviticus 26:27-28). The Lord never changes direction, so He is only walking contrary to you if you are going the wrong way.
God is calling out to you, “Return to Me…and I will return to you…'” (Zechariah 1:3).
It takes more effort to run from God than to turn to Him. Your willingness is the rudder by which God can turn your life towards the purposes of heaven.
Stop aiming to the left or to the right and wondering why you miss the mark. “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32).
The journey to be in Christ is not a thousand miles, but a single turn.
You can never get so far from the Father that you cannot return to Him. “And he [the prodigal son] arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
No matter where you are, yet God can reach down and help you.
One small turn can change the direction of your life. Turn until you see Jesus, then stop turning. “’Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart…’” (Joel 2:12).
When trying to get somewhere, direction always trumps acceleration.
You never end up in the wrong place going the right direction. The straightest path to Jesus has no turns. The Lord Jesus said, “Come to Me…” (Matthew 11:28).
What joy there is in heaven when we simply set our eyes upon Him. “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).
Blessings to you,
Paul
All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version. Please use the version you prefer to review the verses shown here. The best version is the one you read.
Keep sharing to the Good Word.
Blessings
Brian
Thank you so much Brian! I am so blessed to get all your blog posts, thank you! Blessings to you, Paul
I find there is much repenting to do even after we’re saved. So many think, well, I’ve invited Jesus into my life, so everything’s going to be hunky-dory now, and then keep going back to their sin. I know this from experience because that’s the way I used to think. I had to repent from that way of thinking before I could get to the point where I recognized the need to repent in other areas of my life.
Oh yes, I agree with you completely. Not only do we need to repent ongoing, but we will be blessed ongoing and grow in our faith as we do. I find that as I go in deeper with the Lord I discover whole new layers that I need to repent from.