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Repentance

LORD, ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE ME – INTRO (week 1 of 10)

Submitted by Leah Page on

The first night of our new study launched this past Wednesday!
 
We got off to a good start, with an ice breaker forcing us to introduce each other – I think this gave us a lot of good opportunity to laugh together and learn some unique things about each of us. I hope this serves us well as we go through these next couple of months together and commit to pray for one another.
 
We began by reviewing some of the high points of our study in Malachi from last semester; primarily the pattern of the Lord’s [kind!] Rebuke which leads us to Repentance which is the posture that receives the Restoration of our fellowship with the Lord.  ("The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace (!) to the humble.")
 
Though the last word before the Lord goes silent for 400 years (between the old and new testaments of the Bible when there was no prophet in Israel) is "curse," nevertheless the last words are ultimately, collectively, the Lord’s PROMISE – that he would send a forerunner, "Elijah," who would prepare the way for the Lord’s coming and our salvation!  One who would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children....
 
And we picked this up in Luke 1, then, where the priest Zechariah receives a visit from the angel, Gabriel, to tell him the good news that he and his wife Elizabeth are to have a son in their old age, an answer to their prayers, who would come "in the spirit and power of Elijah." And this son – John the baptizer – would be set apart, filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb (!), and his ministry would be to "turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous," and to "make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
 
And what was this ministry? What was this "red carpet" rolled out to lead up to the arrival of the Lord Jesus? Notice, John’s message was NOT – "I have come to bring you good news which shall be for all the people!" Rather, John’s message was "REPENT! The Kingdom of God is at hand! The Lord is coming, judgment is imminent! And you are sinners deserving of the wrath of God! Cry out for mercy!"
 
In effect, the red carpet that prepares the way for the GOOD news – of the salvation purchased by Jesus’ blood – is the message of the very BAD news about our sin and the fact we will never be able to achieve the righteousness that will earn God’s favor. (It must be a gift!) The fact that the BAD news is so very BAD is what then makes the GOOD news of God’s grace in Jesus so very very GOOD.
 
This set the stage to launch into our review of Jesus’ famous "sermon on the mount" toward the beginning of his earthly ministry. And in Matthew chapters 5-7, we see Jesus take the Old Testament "LAW" and raise the bar even higher. "You have heard it said…..but *I* tell you……" Always taking the requirement for righteousness deeper – through to the heart.
 
We read through all of Matthew 5-7 to end class by way of giving us a bit of a "jump start" into the first lesson – highlighting as we went any mention of the word "heaven" (which appears at least 21 times in these 3 chapters, depending on how you count to repetitions/synonyms, etc.).
 
It is clear, just in these verses, that Jesus starts with the heart (the character of those who are "blessed" – highly favored of God!), and then brings every thing that we "do" thereafter and lines it up alongside the heart, examining each area of life and whether it measures up to God’s standard of perfection.  ("...the holiness without which no one will see God.")
 
To put it another way – there are the beginning hints, here, of the fact that what we DO springs from who (whose) we ARE. And we will get into this a bit more fully in the weeks to come, Lord willing!
 
For next week, we dive right in to chapter one – completing the overview of the whole "sermon on the mount," and particularly focusing on the nature of the "masks" we wear – The ways we hide and cover ourselves so we might appear to be more righteous (more praiseworthy) than we really are.
 
Jesus exposes our hypocrisy – and our study starts here, because only when we remove our self-made garments of fig leaves (and the trees behind which we like to hide) can we humbly admit we are weak and vulnerable and shameful, and we need Jesus’ righteousness, because our own best is "as filthy rags."
 
How fitting, then, the title of our little book: "LORD, only YOU can change me…."
 
Again, I challenge you - let us not be "battle weary" before we even begin.  Let's "change our minds" and think of this study not as another activity which adds to our busyness, but rather think of this study and time in the Word of God as part of our REST before him.
 
We are looking forward to a truly blessed time in the next few weeks.
 
~Leah (Page)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Seeking Him, Lesson 8: Clear Conscience ~ Dealing with our Offenses toward Others

Submitted by Leah Page on

SEE PREVIOUS ENTRY for the "INTRO" example used - an outward "STINK" as evidence of an inward "ROT"..... The first seven lessons focused primarily on experiencing revival in our hearts and lives as it pertains to our relationship to God.  As Nancy put it in our study, the "vertical" aspect.  With chapter 8, we turned more to the practical outworking of these truths, of God's reviving our hearts, as it pertains to our relationships with other people.
 
"When our conscience is clear, we have nothing to be ashamed of."
 
We have talked about how one of our first reactions when we sin is to hide, or to point fingers to deflect the blame from ourselves.  Our first parents, Adam and Eve, demonstrated this in the Garden - they were ASHAMED because of their nakedness, a consequence of their sin.  They were vulnerable before God, and with each other.
 
Sin breaks relationship.  It breaks our relationship with God, and it has the same effect in our relationships with each other.
 
"Having a clear conscience means there is no obstruction in our fellowship with God or anyone else.  It means we are careful to avoid sinning against God or others with our words, actions, or attitudes.  It also means that when we do sin, we quickly repent, admit our failure to all offended parties, ask their forgiveness, and make whatever restitution is necessary."  ~NLDeMoss (p. 149)
 
Above the Level of Reproach
We looked at the example of Samuel from 1 Samuel 12:1-4 - he stood before the people and welcomed their feedback - he did not, himself, know of any offenses of which he had not been repentant, but he opened the floor for the people of the nation to expose any of his offenses, and their response was that they found him to have lived, in effect, "above the level of reproach"!  (see 1 Timothy 3:2)
 
How would we need to live - to what degree must we always be repenting, always open to correction - if we were to make every effort to live in relationship with other people without any unconfessed sin between us?
 
W.I.Y.W.J.
We also looked at Matthew 25:37-40, 45 and Acts 9:1-5 together.  (see day 3 in your books)
 
Not only does Jesus identify himself with the church body - to the degree that in Acts he confronts Saul with persecuting HIM because of his breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus.  But we see that Jesus measures our actions against "the least of these" - receiving our treatment of others as if we were doing unto HIM.
 
So - instead of asking, perhaps, WWJD, as if I were standing in Jesus' shoes trying to decide how to behave in this or that situation.  What if, instead, I were to see YOU as "in Jesus' shoes" - What If You Were Jesus - how would I treat you?  Would I respond to you any differently?  How would I seek to serve you?  How would I desire your good, and not my own?  
 
How would I worship Jesus in the way that I am treating others?
 
Don't give the Devil a Foothold
We also looked at Matthew 5:23-24 - how the Lord instructs us to even STOP, to interrupt our service or worship to the Lord if necessary, if we remember that someone has something against us - so seriously does he take our reconcilliation with one another!  See also Ephesians 4:25-28 - Why are we not to let the sun go down on our anger?  It is like we saw above - that sin puts a wedge in relationship - it is just enough space for the Devil to get a foothold!  And he loves to divide us!  To break our trust in one another!  To add to our shame, and to break and tear asunder what God has put together!  So - we must MAKE HASTE!  BE QUICK!  Go, as soon as the Lord convicts you, GO, and make things right with your sister or your brother or your husband or your children or your pastor or your friend or your boss or your coworker.
 
Confession requires humility, and it requires a measure of discernment - reconciliation does not require the exposing of every gawdy detail of your offense.  But it does require honesty and a spirit of repentance - in your heart, both desiring and committing to never do thus and such again.
 
But think of the freedom!!  If you have already acknowledged your need for forgiveness - and you have made your confession, you have willingly and even with great zeal embraced the humility that the Lord has granted, what more can the enemy do to you at this point!?  You have been on the brink, perhaps, of a word of condemnation, but you have confessed, you have exposed your own shame and relenquished it!  The enemy no longer has a hold on you - he can no longer wield this condemnation over your head!  MAKE HASTE TO MAKE RIGHT!!
 
Progression:  Private --> Personal --> Public
And lastly, we looked at how to practically apply the steps of seeking forgiveness.  The goal of confession is not only our own holiness and freedom, but ultimately the reconciliation of the relationship, if possible and appropriate.
 
But we must be wise and discerning - reconciliation is not always possible or appropriate.
 
First, review the matter with the Lord - PRIVATELY - one on one, confess your sin to God.  ASK him to show you what you must do.  If your sin is against God and against God only, you may not need to go and seek forgiveness from another.  If your sin is against another individual, after you have addressed the matter prayerfully and allowed the Lord to search your heart, go - PERSONALLY - to the one you have offended, and do not merely say you are sorry, do not merely apologize, ASK for forgiveness.  This requires more from the other person than merely hearing you out - and is necessary for reconciliation.  It also requires more from YOU than just an acknowledgement that the other person has been offended.  To ask for forgiveness requires you to submit to the other person's response, to humble yourself before the Lord and before the other person.  Finally, if your sin is an offense against a greater number, again using wisdom and discretion, the situation may require you to make a - PUBLIC - confession, and seek forgiveness from the whole body (by which I mean any plurality of persons, not necessarily the whole church, unless it is a sin which has affected the whole church).
 
Pages 157 thru 164 gave some VERY good and helpful, practical steps and advice as to how to proceed, what to be mindful of in the going, etc.  If you are in doubt, it may be wise to seek biblical counsel. 
 
Quickly Repent
To All Offended Parties
Ask for Forgiveness
Make Restitution
 
Keeping in mind ~ we, none of us!, "deserve" forgiveness.  We are confessing that we have wrong another, and asking of that person, "Would you have mercy on me as GOD has had mercy on me?"
 
Next Lesson:  FORGIVENESS ~ Dealing with Others' Offenses against Us

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