Walk

312. Repent

Humans use all the methods of the world system and of their own self-sufficiency to get their unmet needs met. Our basic needs are love, security, and impact (significance).

Repentance puts us into God’s care and out of Satan’s reach.

Acts 26:18 says, “…to open their eyes, in order to turn (repent) them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”

Lost people and believers alike have misunderstood repentance. Repentance is a gift from God and we need to understand it.

The word ‘repent’ means ‘metanaeo.’ W.E. Vine’s Bible Dictionary describes it as “to perceive afterwards, implying change: after thought, change of mind, not simply a change of a mind, but such a change as would reverse the effects of ones own previous state of mind.”

According to Webster’s Dictionary the word ‘metamorphosis’ is derived from ‘metanaeo’ and is defined as “a transformation as by a supernatural means, a marked alteration in appearance, condition, character and function.”

A caterpillar goes through a series of turning in its cocoon until it goes through a metamorphosis and actually supernaturally changes into a different type of character, a butterfly, from a ground crawler to a flyer. God also changes us supernaturally from one who crawls around in sin to one who is holy and soars with God like an eagle.

God’s part is to perform a miracle, a change. Our part is simply to turn.

What is the miracle that comes with repentance?

There are two things: the Presence of God and the Kingdom of God.

1. God’s presence.

The times in my life that have been most precious with the Lord were when I truly poured out my heart to Him, and after that He has pointed out some areas in my life that needed to be changed, or turned. When I turned, He was there with His presence. This is a promise stated in Acts 3:19-20 (KJV) which says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.”

The Presence of the Lord gives us times of refreshing. When do we need refreshing? When we are in hot and dry circumstances!

The way we enter into fellowship and presence of God is through repentance, which is another word for turning or ‘meta’ in Greek. Practically speaking, this means to pour our hearts out to Him. When we do this, He lets His walls down and we let ours down. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard... the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

If we were to see all of God, nothing else in our life would matter. The reason too many other things matter in life is that we have not seen enough of Him!

When we repent, we can see the invisible world and faith becomes real. “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16).

Our job is to be like a caterpillar and keep turning. His job is to do the miracle of making us pure, as He is pure.

The direction of our posture makes all the difference. When we are facing the world and all of its pleasures and deceits, we cannot make contact with God. But when we turn and repent, God does the work.

Human will is the most powerful force in the world besides God. God will not turn us we must do it ourselves. But when we turn and repent, His power goes to work.

The picture God wants us to see is one of the Holy Spirit standing there just waiting for us to turn towards Him. We don’t have to do the work and the cleaning up. All we have to do is turn and when we do, He is there to do miracles.

2. The Kingdom of God.

Taking your life out of Satan’s hands by turning to the Word of God.

Jesus said in Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (or within your reach, right now).’”

Humans use all the methods of the world system and of their own self- sufficiency to get their unmet needs met. Our basic needs are love, security, and significance.

When people do not get needs met they don’t want to accept the fact that the world will never provide them for those needs. So they attempt to close the gap by trying to improve themselves and hoping that things will get better. They think that there must be something wrong with them. Guilt comes, they misjudge God’s character, Satan promotes lies and they buy them. They doubt the truth of God’s Word.

Those people avoid the two painful realities that:

1. We live in an unpredictable and hostile world that we cannot control.

2. We are helpless and we cannot depend upon ourselves to improve to get our needs met.

Avoiding these realities keeps them from being totally dependent upon God, yes, even Christians.

So what is the answer?

How do we get the Kingdom of God by turning? Jesus said in Mark 4:11 that the mystery of the Kingdom of God is revealed in the parable of sowing and reaping. Sowing and reaping what? Sowing and reaping the Word of God.

Didn’t Peter write that the promises of God provide us with everything we need for life and godliness? “…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” ((2 Peter 1:3-4).

Jesus said in Mark 4 that the entire Kingdom of God works on this principle. He said that this is the mystery of the Kingdom. What is the mystery? It is that life is sustained by the Word of God planted in a human heart. Then, the process of growth takes place. Along with the growth comes pain. The pain that results from Satan attempting to steal the Word while you are waiting for the “Lord to return” with the fruit.

Jesus is saying that we need to become Word dependent people, and neither self-dependent nor world dependent. The way to depend upon God is to depend upon the supernatural power of the Word of God!

We don’t need to become as skillful in handling life as we need to become skillful in handling the Word of God.

Another way to put it is; repent (i.e. take a shift in what you ultimately trust in and depend upon for your most critical need, shift from depending upon yourself and the world system) because the Kingdom of God (i.e., God’s system described in Mark 4 of planting the seed of the Word of God in your heart, and allowing it to grow to produce everything you need for life and godliness, for bearing fruit for God’s glory) is now within your reach.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the things you need will be added to you and overtake you like fruit overtakes the branch on the vine (Matthew 6:33).

Acts 26:18 says that when we turn, or repent, we take ourselves out of the power of Satan and put ourselves under the power of God.

Hosea shows us the model of repentance that takes our sufficiency away from the world (Assyria), away from ourselves (our own hands) and puts our trust in the Word of God.

Hosea 14:1-3 says, “O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity; take words with you, and return to the LORD, say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, “You are our gods.” For in You the fatherless finds mercy.’”

David, in Psalm 62, describes his frustration of not being able to make life work. He declares that he is not able, nor strong enough. Then, he gets the idea when he says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God” (Psalm 62:5-7).

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