I’ve caught up on my Bible readings, I usually read 4
chapters a day, 1 NT, 1 Proverbs, 1 Psalm & 1 OT; via
Project345.com . But
with the devotions I’ve been writing, I’ll start on a chapter and usually
during the reading, I’ll get what I believe is to be my devotion, and I stop my
daily reading and begin reading and researching on the scripture for my
devotion. So today, I’ve caught up on Revelation 4-9 and 2 Kings 15-20, what I’ve
noticed in both of these OT & NT readings, is repentance and following what
GOD has instructed us.
In 2 Kings, the Kings of Judah repeatedly had this said
about them, “He did what was pleasing in the
Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. But he did not destroy the
pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense
there.” (2 Kings 15:3-4 NLT). Each
one of these Kings continued to leave these pagan shrines up, kind of like,
turning a blind eye to what the people were doing. Today’s thinking is, ‘If I
don’t see what’s going on, it’s not really happening’. When we don’t listen to
what GOD tells us we are sinning, in the case of the pagan shrines, GOD made it perfectly clear: “I am the Lord your
God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You
must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of
any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You
must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord you God, am a
jealous god who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the
sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected- even
children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I
lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey
my commands.” (Exodus 20:2-6 NLT)
“Remember, it is sin
to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:17 NLT). You see, by failing to remove the shrines,
the Kings were passing their sins upon their children; these same children grew
to be the Kings, and committed the same sins. Leaving these pagan shrines also
opened the availability for sinning against GOD, a foothold that can become a
stronghold of sin. In other words, this is the sin of rebellion, knowing what
should be done, but refusing to do it; just like in the devotion I wrote
yesterday about hardening your hearts.
Repentance is knowing you have sinned and then seeking
forgiveness. The key to repentance is once you have confessed your sin; you
must not continue to commit that same sin. Do you remember this example: “ ’Teacher,’
they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught
in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?’ They
were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but
Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding
an answer, so he stood up again and said, ‘All right, but let the one who has
never sinned throw the first stone!’ Then he stooped down again and wrote in
the dust. When the accusers heard this,
they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was
left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and
said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn
you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus
said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’ “ (John 8:4-11 NLT).
The key to a
truly repentant heart, is to NOT desire to sin again. Our flesh is weak, but
our spirits are stronger, so we can overcome the sin, because “Greater is He who is in me, than he who is of this world.” (1 John
4:4b) and “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). I’m not saying that if it’s a sin that has
been in your life for years, that you would instantly be removed of that burden
(although this is absolutely possible and has happened to many, many believers!). It’s the desire to sin no more, the
desire to please GOD and truly be remorseful of that sin and continue trying to
break free of that stronghold of sin. It’s a battle of faith and perseverance
and one can be victorious over what once was a stronghold of sin. It can be turned
into a stronghold of faith if one continues to cling to their faith and believe
for freedom from that which bondaged them in sin.
In Revelations, I was reading about the events to come,
great destruction will befall on the earth, people will see signs, wonders, and
amazing destruction; but they will refuse to turn from their sins and
acknowledge GOD as Lord. Why would they be so resistant to turn, because those
sins have caused a stronghold in their lives, their hearts had hardened and
they refused to believe or repent. You
can’t turn on the news today without seeing images and hearing stories about atrocities
happening today, don’t you believe people’s hearts are being hardened, being
de-sensitized to the human condition. We live in a world where GOD is being
pushed out and flesh is being promoted, Christians are not the minority, but
they are being treated as though they were. As an American we live in a country
where we can still go to the church of our choosing, we can read our Bibles
without fear, we can worship GOD and not be afraid of the consequences. But
there are more countries in the world now, that don’t allow this worship, than
countries that do allow this freedom.
Morals have been left behind, sins are not only being
allowed, but are promoted in the name of progress. Some believers are trying to
make areas that are black and white, gray, so they can fit into their
lifestyle. Christians are not to judge, we are to encourage and love each
other, we cannot condemn, but we cannot allow what we are taught in the Bible as a sin, to be accepted either. Does this mean we are to judge, yell, and
scream at one another; no, we would be falling into the same category of the
unbelievers, we cannot show love when we are condemning. Yet, we can say we do
not agree with this or that, and if possible, vote or ban against. We must
always use GOD’s word to be our conscience, the Holy Spirit lives inside us to
guide us, but only if we will allow HIM to. Some believers have stopped
listening to the Holy Spirit and started listening to the lies of the enemy, by
trying to reason their way into believing what they want to, slowly hardening
their hearts and stiffening their necks. But, if we keep our hearts tender and
repentant we won’t allow a foothold to become a stronghold of the enemy.