Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /home1/heartof6/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/responsive-mobile/includes/functions-extentions.php on line 35
Home › Posts tagged Repent

Repent

A Brand New Start

Posted on by

One of the toughest we will ever face as human beings is not the fear of failing but the fear of repeating failure.

As we set out to make a new start we struggle to let go of the past (past failures, past attempts, the unkind or harmful words spoken by others, past defeats, past disappointments). The past can be your biggest enemy in the moment hindering you from your future.

1) We must forget the former things – Isaiah 43:18-19

18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

2) A fresh start is God’s gift to us – 1 John 1:9

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

3) There is nothing that can hold us from our future – Revelation 21:4

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

4) Let us come for a brand new start – Acts 3:19-20

19 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.

20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

 

Pray, Worship and Surrender

Posted on by

2 Chronicles 20:5-9,12-15

5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,

6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

1) Jehoshaphat praises, confesses and declares that God is omnipotent over all and no one can stand against his power or in the way of his will.

2) He praises God for his faithfulness (his track record) to his people in the past and in the present.

3) He confessed that there was nothing they could do in and of themselves to change the situation. And by this they were totally surrendered to God for his help, mercy and deliverance.

The next thing that happened is when God spoke back.

  • If you go to God in prayer with a sincere heart he WILL respond
  • God has a word for you and your situation
  • Many times the Holy Spirit shows up after God’s people come before him to worship and confess their dependency on him.

Always remember when we confess our faults and ask for forgiveness then we get to a place where we can worship. When we can worship we produce humbleness in our heart and open up our spirit man/woman. And when we are humble in our heart we can then surrender to God and listen for his response in our lives!

God Is Going To Turn It Around

Posted on by

Isaiah 54

54 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.

2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

Sometimes I find it difficult to understand when I do not have that God will speak to me to give, or to shout when I do not feel like praising, to encourage when I feel discouraged myself, to get up when I feel like giving in. At first glance the victory that God appears to try and lead us to appears to be blunt and even insensitive to our problems. It’s almost like you can feel insulted by instruction before you even try. Believe me, I stand here oftentimes wondering what God is going to use me in next with a little anxiety of how bold or crazy it may seem. While He has seen the breakthrough, we are trying to decide if we will make it through. What I have discovered as a result of giving God a chance is that what appears to be the worst thing to do turns around into the thing I could not have done without.

Most Christians would say amen to scriptures that speak of God’s turnaround nature. We want to follow a God who can make the unlivable places livable again, who can bring prosperity to the land and restore it to its former glory (Isaiah 58:12). While we love to speak of God and His incredible power, and we may say amen and even teach the lessons, that does not necessarily mean we really believe it. It’s only when we start to act on what we amen that we begin to discover how certain we are of God’s turnaround ability.

Jesus was criticized in the way He performed miracles, the days on which He would carry them out, and to whom He would extend them. The Bible is full of stories where God’s answers seemed insensitive, where a prophet’s behavior looked more crazy than sane, and where Jesus’ ministry seemed careless and wasteful. One time, a prophet asked an influential ruler to wash in a dirty river, an instruction that was both disrespectful and insensitive to the ruler’s position in the community (2 Kings 5). The prophet Elisha instructed a woman with nothing to go and find more emptiness that she would be required to fill (2 Kings 4).

God told a starving widow who was about to use her last handful of flour and oil to feed her son a last meal to take those ingredients and feed a hungry prophet instead (1 Kings 17).

God asked an elderly couple, who were ready for retirement, to have a baby. He instructed a stuttering shepherd to speak to Pharaoh and to deliver an entire nation. He told a boy on a hillside to leave the sheep and kill a giant. He chose a teenage girl to carry the Savior of the world.

Turnarounds by nature are radical; they bypass nice and sensible, they freak out the orderly, and they do not line up with agendas. But turnarounds reveal our miraculous Savior to our messed-up world.

God doesn’t downsize people; He enlarges them. He removes their comfort zones and throws them into the unknown, where His capacity overshadows their ability and they participate in the turnaround ministry of the God they serve.

Jesus came to turn the world upside down in the three years of His public ministry. He called a group of young men, mostly made up of teenagers, to come help Him turn around an entire world. He asked them to leave the tranquil lake for the sea of hurting humanity. Jesus’ ministry was not safe; it was revolutionary. He came with miracles, not slight improvements—and often it was people’s willingness to believe in His turnaround power that determined whether they went away healed and whole.

Jesus could have seemed insensitive when He said to cripples, “Get up and walk!” or to grieving relatives, “Open the grave!” His methods were questioned, but His miracles always brought answers. Turnarounds are not polite or politically correct; they are not people pleasing or protocol appeasing. Jesus wasn’t trying to fit in; He came to turn things around. Throughout His ministry—in persecution, torture, misunderstanding, and betrayal—Jesus carried on undaunted, seeing a joy set before Him that would only be attained with a complete turnaround commitment. God sent us a turnaround Jesus and then He gave us the turnaround facilitator, the Spirit of God.

We are now the custodians of that same turnaround power. As God’s people, His Spirit rests within us. We are commissioned to work with Him to turn our world around, to speak into the darkness and bring forth His light, and to find those who are bound and bring them His gift of freedom. We have been given authority to turn around injustice with His justice and hopelessness with His hope. Yet often, we allow our doubts to question this power and let our fears contain this freedom.

We cannot allow our circumstances to compromise what Christ paid the highest price to attain. We must awaken our hearts, stir up our faith, and begin to look again at the places God has positioned us in. We need to see with new eyes the possibilities that our turnaround God can create in the places where no one else sees potential. We must seek to be the ones who bring answers where others only see problems. We need to shake off the complacency that can so quickly enter our hearts, causing us to settle for less than His Word promises.

There is so much more for your life to embrace, so many breakthroughs for you to play your part in. We need a greater revelation of Whose we are, and in that understanding, we can grow a greater confidence of what He has called us to do.

Hope Renewed Through Christ

Posted on by

 

Click To Play     

 

Click To Play     

Matthew 17:24-27

[24] And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
[25] He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
[26] Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
[27] Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Hebrews 11:1-3

[1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
[2] For by it the elders obtained a good report.
[3] Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Romans 5:2 – 5:5 

[2] By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
[3] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
[4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
[5] And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 8:24-25

[24] For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
[25] But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Romans 12:8-15

[8] Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
[9] Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
[10] Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
[11] Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
[12] Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
[13] Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
[14] Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
[15] Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Romans 15:4-13

[4] For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
[5] Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
[6] That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[7] Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
[8] Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
[9] And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
[10] And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
[11] And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
[12] And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
[13] Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

If we are to realize the full potential of the promises we have received from God (whether by scripture or through prophetic exhortation) we must learn what is the substance that drives us as well as the determination that takes the substance and puts it into action.

Faith without action is dead for it is faith that brings the substance or energy to take action and uses it for its intended purpose. Faith is empty without hope. Taking action with faith and without hope in your life leads to no fruit (unprofitable). Without hope our faith is without substance…a vision…a final destination.

To take a shot on throwing your hook out there for 1 fish in a million would not only take hope that you would get the money…but hope that that you would hook that 1 fish.

To grow in God you must take action. To take action means you have got to be moving and not just be idle in the last days.

To save a lost world you must go after them. To rekindle hope in your brothers and sisters you must show it. To keep hope abounding in you the spirit must continually abide. The spirit will abide in a heart whom repents and is humble, believing in the propitiation for all of our sin.

So we know the money is in the fish. We know the fish is in the water. We know that we have the rod, reel and hook to go get it. That part in between is the very thing that is keeping you or has kept you from a deeper walk in God.

Such is the same of our pursuit for blessings in our lives. The money was enough for the tax, and god’s provision will be enough for you!

Tear Down Your Inner Walls

Posted on by

Luke 5:16-26

[16] And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
[17] And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
[18] And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.
[19] And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
[20] And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
[21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
[22] But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
[23] Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
[24] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
[25] And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
[26] And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

As I began to read this I saw three things that I needed to immediately put into my life. Jesus withdrew himself before he prayed. We have to began to allow ourselves to be mentally and physically separated from circumstances so that we can begin to pray with a clear mind and heart!

This passage inspires me, because there were a few people that were willing to press pass the crowd of people that were in the way for the needs of SOMEONE ELSE. All I ever hear about anymore are about the needs of “me, me, me”. Sometimes people think that I am honestly crazy when I try to maintain the attitude of preferring my brother over myself. Have we got to such a place where we wouldn’t tear down the tiles for our sick in body and mind?

We have to begin to do some work on ourselves! Let’s begin to tear down the inner walls (our inner man/woman).  Let’s get past mine and your flesh! Let’s get past the multitudes of problems and have faith and take action like they did to believe that the presence of God can begin to heal all of the broken pieces in your life!

What Do I Do Now?

Posted on by
Click To Play     

It seems like now more than ever that people are dealing with trials that are far bigger than they ever imagined, and along with that bears the sole fact that we have to go through things practically alone. In the days we live in, you can literally see the frustration and toil that these kinds of things have on others, and it makes you wonder what they are going to do to get out of the tough situations.

Everywhere that I turn my eyes, I continually see defeat and discouragement. Everyone that I listen to only seems to speak of how bad things are. Every action that I see taken around me always seems to be only for being able to just get by. All the while I wonder where the joy of people has gone. All the more questioning why things are the way that they are, as well as why things have to be so hard on others.

Ultimately, I find that when you and I are in these difficult places that it is THEN that we need to recognize who it is we put our trust in. Several verses from the bible come to mind when I try to think of things that inspire me about my difficult trials.

Acts 2:36-39 reads:

[36] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
[37] Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
[38] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
[39] For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

John 6:28-29 says:

[28] Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
[29] Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

After reading these verses, this tells me to believe in Jesus, for it is the works of God. All the blessings can come and be unlocked in your life, when you start it all with the belief that you can reach them. Then, you won’t find yourself saying, “What do I do now?”, and instead you can say with faith and belief that “I’m doing God’s work, and I know that I am going to make it from what I am going through!” Don’t let the enemy persuade you to be idle and still, nor to let anything hinder you from speaking to all of the things that you want to change. I share with you today, quite possibly my personal favorite bible verse of all time.

Philippians 3:13-15 tells us:

[13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
[14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
[15] Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

It is in reading these lines that remind me so often that where I am in God that there is no stopping place. The trials of life do not stop for anyone, or anything. God does not stop moving in your life either. He is in a constant motion, always ahead of you, going out and making your way blessed. If we can just strive and be determined to have the question “What do I do now” change to “What can I do for you, God?”, I can guarantee that you are on your way to the best outcome for your life, for the promises of God are yea and amen.

Take what we have said today, and rise out of your own ashes. Get up out of your discouragement, and take back charge of your life again. Encourage yourself daily, with simply just knowing that the victory is ahead of you. You might not see it, nor feel it close by, but just have the faith to know its coming! I encourage each and every one of you this day! God Bless all of you!