October 18, 2024 -- Matthew 4:17 -- Repentance, understanding what it is

 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 ESV

For the Christian life is a journey towards Jesus. That means, by the power of the Holy Spirit living within you, heading away from former sins and old habits and intentionally directing one’s thoughts, life, and actions to greater conformity with the will of our Father in heaven. I don’t know about you, but I fail. A lot. I am angry at things that should not trouble me (don’t even talk to me about people in Costco who block the aisles so that they can catch up with long stories!) exposing my own ego and my not-so-hidden-and-ungracious belief that I am more important than I am. Or, instead of forgiving and forgetting, I rehearse the wrongs (real or imagined) that others have committed against me.

Step 2 of the Overcomers material (that is the Christian 12-Step material upon which I am basing this series of devotions) has adherents state: “I admit my belief that God, the source of all power, restores me on my journey to freedom from addictions and life-controlling issues”. To turn to God means to turn away from sin and the life-controlling issues which had a choke-hold on you. Overcomers defines repentance this way: “to name your specific sin to God and ask for forgiveness. The actions that come after repentance need to include a change in behavior” (Overcomers, page 32).

Face it, addictions and life-controlling issues are evidence that people are not basically good. God created the heavens and the earth, and every single nanoparticle was good. He created Adam and Eve. At creation they were completely without sin. When they rebelled against God, they exchanged their state of created goodness for a nature that is rebellious against God. This is what believers fight against, that rebellious nature. It is called the sin nature.

Believers are a new creation in Jesus Christ. Aware that their former sins, to which they are often still drawn, must be fought. By the grace of God and the presence of His Spirit living in the heart of every Christian, there are victories. And, interestingly, when one area has been conquered and brought into submission to the Lord, there are often newly recognized patterns of behavior and thought that need to be brought into submission to God.

Elsewhere in the New Testament there is the command “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:2 ESV. This journey is one of transformation. The path of our new life in Christ (remember, those who belong to Jesus are “born again” so all that we are living and experiencing is like growing up from infancy in His goodness to crawling and toddling and walking) is one of constant growth and maturation. As long as we live, there is much to learn, to delight in. The promise is that this new life in Jesus, though one of regular, daily repentance, is also one of delight and wonder and discovery.

God, Source of All Power, I confess to You specifically my specific sins and admit to You generally my general sins. Generally I am lax in my attitude towards fighting those addictive patterns and life-controlling issues. Specifically, I admit to these sins (here, you can name them). Help me to hate them more and more. By Your Spirit’s power within me, assist me on the journey to complete freedom from the strangle-hold of sin. Blessed Jesus, thank You that by Your substitutionary death on the cross and Your resurrection, You have turned aside God’s anger and have given me peace with God. Help me so that daily I will deny myself, resisting all the sinful allurements that will parade themselves before me. Teach me, Spirit of God, to walk more confidently and steadily towards Jesus, in Whom is all freedom and fullness of life. Amen.

https://youtu.be/4dh02OnJpIE?si=Hv6EhU_sK454XmLT “Trust and Obey”

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