Intimacy with God 5
The word repentance means a complete turn around, both inside and out. Repentance is a lot more than simply feeling guilty. It means moving beyond guilt to transformation. It means turning from going your own, independent, self centered way to embracing God’s will for your life. You put one foot in front of the other and go back the way you came. That is the only path back to God.
How many Christians come to the aching awareness of being self exiled from our dear father. (Is 5:13) Exiled because of sin. But how do we deal with the tension between being a believer and continuing in sin. Troubled by the observation that so many after receiving Christ live in defeat to sin, struggling with their own sins and shortcomings. IF we do good at converting people to Christ, we fail at the continuance in the faith. That is because there has to be more than just accepting Christ. How can we help new believers maintain their first love for Christ and mature in their faith, love and fruitfulness for Him?
SPIRITUAL BREATHING:
God’s loving presence is much like the air I breathe. This one concept has enriched my life like no other. I discovered a way for me to take my sins and lay them before God even as I struggle with them. It brings freedom and liberation. It will help you deal with sin. Every breath is precious. We have to watch EVERY breath and what comes into our system. We live in a polluted world and breathe unhealthy things everyday. You need to exhale the pollution of sin and inhale the goodness of God. Spiritual breathing restores the fullness of God’s HS in your life. It keeps you from holding in the pollution and makes you more sensitive to what you breathe.
We simply exhale, expel the impure and inhale the pure.
EXHALE: Confess that sin, name each sin, agree with God and then change attitude AND ACTION. Failure here is not in attitude often…but in action. We agree and name, but don’t change our actions…we keep doing the same thing.
INHALE: surrender the control of your life to Christ and appropriate the fullness of the HS. Spiritual breathing for daily, immediate confession of sin and for appropriating the fullness of the HS by faith as a way of life. Your spiritual lungs are choking on foul air and don’t even realize it. You must remember the height from where you have fallen-up on that spiritual mountaintop, where the air is pure and clean. Take a deep breath and BREATHE.
FASTING AND PRAYER:
To confront the deeper spiritual issues, the most stubborn strongholds of sin, we need to embark on a journey of intense prayer and fasting. Prayer brings us directly into God’s presence; fasting heightens our dependence and desires and sensitivity to what He wants to say to us.
Fasting and prayer bring greater intimacy with Him. Brings unprecedented clarity. To exhale the impure influences that have taken hold…thru dedicated prayer and disciplined fasting, you are ready to repent. IN order to recapture your first love, you will certainly find it necessary to commit yourself more deeply to prayer. When you find a lack of motivation to change, you may find it necessary to seek the transforming presence of God thru fasting. It will jump start your process of repentance.
Repentance may involve a moment of pain and certainly grief. But no repentance ensures that there will be no relief.
Love the LORD with ALL
MIND=remember thinking
HEART=grief/remorse feel
SOUL=repentance change
STRENGTH=return do
ALL FOR YOU