2.16.11

2 Corinthians 7:10

"For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."


Dear friend,

It is written in Matthew 4:17, that Jesus began preaching by saying "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near." You and I may bristle when we hear the word "repent." We may associate it with fire and brimstone preaching or someone screaming it from a bull horn. Either way, we feel that repentance "aturning away from sin" will take from us rather than giving us life. As we see in the verse above however, it is repentance that leads to salvation WITHOUT regrets!! You see, repentance is the Greek word "Metanoia," which means changing your mind and thus the direction of your actions.

If you are in a cycle of sin, regret, sin, regret, sin....
It's time for a godly repentance that leads to life!

I have learned that all sin has in it a wrong thinking. So, I hope this lands for us today; again all sin has in it a wrong thinking. How many of the things that you thought "will make me happy," truly do make you happy? Sin may produce pleasure, but never happiness and often regret.

Let me give you another great verse from Isaiah 30:15: "In Repentance and Rest is your salvation." You may have a notion that you have always been this way or "this is just how I am." That's why Jesus says that we must be born again. We are born a certain way with tendencies and sinful desires. For even Paul said, "I do the things I don't want to do and the things I want to do I don't do" (Romans 7:15). It's in the next verses (vs 24-25) that we find our HOPE of hopes as Paul writes, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

True, lasting, powerful, loving, eternal, life changing repentance starts with coming to God with a heart that cries:

"Lord, what a wretched person I am. I don't have it within me to change. I don't have the strength to beat back my sinful desires and to break free of the chains that entangle me. BUT YOU DO JESUS!! YOU DO MY LORD!! I REPENT, I LOVE YOU and I REPENT. Holy Spirit please change and transform my mind, change my direction in this life for eternity. Not my will but YOURS! Free me from my chains and help me to walk in Your strength each day from this day on so I can say with Paul THANKS BE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS MY LORD!"

You will not be losing anything, but in fact will be gaining everything!

In Christ,
Ty D