The Firm Foundation of Repentance: Diving Deeper
See Jesus
When I was young, I heard a message about how God responds to our sin that stuck with me for a very long time. In the message, the person speaking told us to imagine that they were God. They faced us head on. Then they said that when we sin, God has to turn his back on us. They turned around with their back to the crowd. They said that in order for God to turn back around, we had to repent. They said every time we sin, God turns his back, and that's why we need to pray and ask God for forgiveness daily, so that He would turn back around and face us.
I remember after hearing that message being very upset after I did something wrong because I knew that God had turned His back on me and I didn't know how sad and regretful I needed to be for Him to turn back around. I wondered, how long do I need to cry? How mad do I need to be at myself? How much do I need to wish that I hadn't done what I did? Worst of all, how will I know when He's turned back to me?
It took a long time, but eventually I grew up and found out that the message I'd heard all those years ago was wrong! Here's how I found out:
Before I repented, God was kind to me.
I had turned my back on God, but He sought me out and while I was sick, hurting, and sad, He healed me of all my diseases and spoke kind words to my heart. He told me all about how He loved me, and forgave me, and had never left me. He sent people to encourage me and tell me about Jesus' love.
And when God had shown me all about His love and kindness, I repented. I realized that the image of God that I'd carried in my mind was wrong, and the image I'd carried of myself was wrong. I told God I changed my mind about Him and about me. I repented for living my life apart from Him and said I wanted to live my life with Him from now on.
Repentance is God's gift to me. It is the pathway offered to me to take me out of darkness and into light; out of oppression and into freedom. It is a God-given change of mind brought about by experiencing His loving kindness that shows me who I am in Christ.
Repentance isn't something I can bring about on my own. It's only through experiencing His kindness that I can say, "God, I'm sorry that I've tried living my life separate from you. I see that through Jesus I can live my life with you and that's what I want to do!"
It's only through experiencing God's kindness that my heart is tender enough to say to someone I've hurt, "I'm sorry that I treated you that way. I see that it wasn't in line with the love that God shows us. I want to treat you with the same kindness God shows me."
Every step of repentance I take, large or small, displaces the territory that the enemy has held and hands it over to Jesus. Thank you God, for showing me your love and kindness and giving me a way out of the realm of darkness and into the realm of your love, freedom, and truth!
-Pastor Nicole
Know Jesus
This week, you can dive deeper into the message through one or all of the following:
Ask the Holy Spirit:
How do you want to show me your Loving Kindness?
Is there any area that I've been unwilling to receive your kindness?
Do a DBS on Luke 5:1-11.
Listen and worship along with "The Blood" by Bethel Worship.
Consider the prayer prompts given in your time with God this week.
Discovery Bible Study
TO BEGIN
Pray and ask Holy Spirit to teach you about God from His word.
Next, read the verse a couple of times.
Now, ask these questions:
What does this tell me about God/Jesus?
What does this tell me about people?
How can I respond to what I just read?
When you’re done asking these questions, it’s a great idea to pray and thank God for teaching you more about who He is and who you are!
Discovery Bible Study (DBS) is a way for anyone, anywhere to read God's word! You can dive deeper into this week's message by doing a DBS one any one or all of these scriptures. DBS is a great tool to use for your own devotions, as a bible study with friends, or as an evangelism tool!
Luke 5:1-11
"One day, as the crowds were pressing close to him to hear the word of God, Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats moored by the land; the fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little way from the land.
Then he sat down in the boat and began to teach the crowd. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deeper part, and let down your nets for a catch.’
‘Master,’ replied Simon, ‘we were working hard all night and caught nothing at all. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.’ When they did so, they caught such a huge number of fish that their nets began to break. They signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. So they came, and filled both the boats, and they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees. ‘Go away,’ he said. ‘Leave me, Lord! I’m a sinner!’ He and all his companions were gripped with amazement at the catch of fish they had taken; this included James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ said Jesus to Simon. ‘From now on you’ll be catching people.’ They brought the boats in to land. Then they abandoned everything and followed him."
Listen to ‘The Blood’ by Bethel Music
"It’s never been about performance, perfection, Or striving for acceptance, Let me tell you, it’s only by the blood"
Prayer Prompts
Pray that we would receive a growing revelation of the loving kindness of God.
Pray that we would grow strong in the foundations of family growth.
Pray that the love of God would shine through the body of Christ.
Share Jesus
You can share this week's podcast, email, or blog post. Check out volunteer opportunities to get involved in the work of sharing Jesus in our church family and community.
Current Volunteer Opporunities
Kid's Church is looking for volunteers for their current schedule rotation. You can sign up to help by contacting Pastor Charla at pastorcharla@kiplingchurch.com.
