Category Archives: Repentance

The Romans Challenge: The Enemy Within Us

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“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are at war! Our enemies — the devil, the world (the ungodly state or corruption on earth), and our flesh (our unrenewed, corrupt nature) want us to be destroyed!!

We are always going to face temptations because as Paul said, “evil is right there with me.” Our enemy is ruthless and relentless. He does not call a cease fire. He does not take vacations. He is always plotting and scheming against us.

Our greatest enemy is our flesh. This is because it desires to make the choices. It desires to dictate our behavior. And its influence is hard for us to see because it is within us. It would always have us to choose evil and to follow the way of the world and listen to the voice of Satan — the deceiver.

Our awareness of our enemy helps us to also be aware of our dependence upon God! We need Him!

If sin and our sinful nature are at war within us, Jesus has given us victory! We can live free in Him! 

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!...”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus has paid the price for our sin. He offers us forgiveness and cleansing from the sin that has held us captive. He has given us the Holy Spirit within us to empower us to receive and obey His Word.

Jesus has given us everything we need to live victoriously in this war against sin that wages within us!

The Romans Challenge: The Addictive Nature of Sin

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“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A few years ago, I was trapped in a sinful thought pattern. It was destroying me. I couldn’t understand what I was doing and I was doing the very thing that I did not want to do. I had absolutely no peace inside of my mind.

During that time, God led me to a Bible study group where I met a woman who I told my struggles to. I asked her if my thought pattern was sin, even though it was clearly listed in the Bible as sin. She asked me why I thought it was not a sin. Then I said words that have been etched in my mind ever since: “Because I cannot control it.”

Make no mistake about it… Sin is a taskmaster! Sin controls us. It is addictive in nature. Addiction/ Sin will rule over you. Whether it is a chemical addiction, an addiction to lust, an addiction to worrisome thoughts, an addiction to food, an addiction to your phone, etc… our choices to run to the sin over and over and over proves it’s addictive nature. I wholeheartedly agree with Paul when trapped in sin, “what I hate I do.”

BUT Jesus!

Jesus has the power to break the chains of addiction! He can set us free from sin! I can testify that Jesus has set me free and I now dwell with peace in my mind and in my heart.

The first step to freedom was for me to recognize that sin had a grip on me or as Paul writes, “it is sin living in me that does it.” When we see what the problem is — SIN — we are in a very good place! Because Jesus has provided the solution for sin — repentance. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are assured that He will cleanse us from sin, and Holy Spirit will empower us to live free! Praise God!

The Romans Challenge: Dead to Sin!

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“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬

(Today we start Romans 6)

Baptism symbolizes a very important fact in the life of a follower of Jesus. We follow Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. Our old sinful life that we all lived before Christ is to die. It is “buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised form the dead… we too may live a new life.” Being “dead to sin” enables us to live the “new life” that God has given us.

If I were physically dead — at the funeral home, lying in a casket — it would be impossible for me to sit up and eat a donut that you may bring and pass before my nose and my mouth (even the cream filled ones…). I will not take a bite. I am dead to that donut. Our enemy will bring temptation to sin into our lives, but through Jesus we do not have to take a bite. We can live our lives dead to sin!

How can this be? I have this nature, a sinful one, that desires to do things that are wrong all the time… We cannot forget that WE HAVE NEW LIFE! This life is the Holy Spirit living in us. He comes as our Helper to help us to say “no” to the temptations. He comes as the Power to enable us to live our lives “dead to sin.”

We can live free of the patterns of sin that we have been chained to i.e. addictions, bad habits, sinful thought patterns, etc. We don’t have to “live in it any longer.”

As a Christian, it is one thing to slip up and say a hateful thing, do a sinful action, or make a wrong choice, chose to do a sinful act…God has given us a remedy for such a scenario…

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is a whole other thing to embrace our sinful choice, sit down for coffee with it, and indulge in it day in and day out… that is not being dead to it… That is preferring the sinful choice over obedience to God and His word. It is loving God less and our sin more… In this case, we are not dead to sin, we have chosen to let it grow, fester, and consume our lives.

Thank you God that You have provided all that we need to die to sin! We cannot die to sin on our own. The Holy Spirit is very willing to fill us with His life so that there is no room for sinful patterns to grow. God has given us His Word so we can keep our way pure. (Psalm 119:9) As we read His Word, live according to what the Word says, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness, “we too may live a new life” that is dead to sin!

The Romans Challenge: Righteousness Through Faith

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“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Romans 3

We are all deeper in sin than any of us could ever imagine. When we finally see our condition, we should be very concerned. There is nothing we can do that will fix our sin problem.

The Jews of Pauls time thought that if they could work and work at it, they could become righteous and have the purity it takes to stand rightly before God. They had the attitude of “I’ll do it myself.” But none of us can “do it” on our own. Righteousness only comes through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. When we believe in Jesus and receive what He did for us on the cross, we are brought into right standing with God.

Jesus is God’s solution for everyone’s sin!

A few months ago my husband came across this video. It perfectly illustrates how we cannot clean ourselves up on our own. Only God is able to do the heart transformation we need to make us right — righteous.

Will we call our to Him? Will we accept through faith His great gift?

The Romans Challenge: Circumcision of the Heart

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“No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Romans 2.

God’s desire since creation has been to have people who are His. (Jeremiah 31:33). We were created with a purpose. This purpose is for our spiritual hearts (the center of our being —our mind, will, and emotions) to be a reflection of Him.

When sin entered our world in the Garden of Eden, the sinful nature filled our hearts. Since that time, our minds have been filled with selfish thoughts. Our will- desires- have been for our own ways and not God’s. Our emotions have reflected this. We feel hatred, bitterness, anger, anxiousness, discontentedness. This is all because we need our spiritual hearts to be transformed!

At salvation, when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, we receive a new heart — one that desires to obey Him. BUT our old desires, our old thoughts, our old emotions need to be removed. This is a spiritual circumcision — cutting away — of our spiritual hearts. The Holy Spirit is the one working all this within our hearts as we submit to Him. Simply put, God wants to change us from our old way of living to His new way of living.

Where we had turmoil, He desires to give us peace. Where we had hatred, He longs to give us love. Where we have been angry, He offers to help us to forgive others. The list goes on and on.

When we allow God to transform our lives, we will experience Him in a close relationship like none other. We will know Him. This knowing of Him, or intimacy with Him, will change us. We will reflect Him more and more each day.

May we submit to the Holy Spirit as He circumcises our hearts!

James: Turn Back the Wanderer

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This week is James 5.

“My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Speak the truth of the Word of God! We do not know who it will be that we are in contact with that needs to hear it.

This verse is of great significance to me. Five years ago, I was living as one who had wandered from the truth. There was someone who was bold enough to tell me the truth about the lies I was believing. She turned “a sinner from the error of their way.” And she saved me “from death” and covered “over a multitude of sins” in my life. I am so grateful!

When we walk in error/ sin, we need someone who will stand firm on the Word of God and tell us the Truth in the Word. It is the only way for us to live free!

Don’t be afraid to be thought of as different, radical, or extreme! God wants to use you to bring back His children to Him!

James: Cleaning House

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(Today we read James 1)

My daughter in law is a minimalist housekeeper. At first her way of doing things seemed a little extreme to me. If she doesn’t use something, she gets rid of it from her house. She doesn’t hold onto very much stuff “for a rainy day…” Her house is clutter free, easy to keep clean, and refreshing.

I’ve been living at my current home for 17 years. I have not adopted her mindset when it comes to stuff… There have been times when my husband and I contemplate getting a dumpster to get rid of the extras. Life would be a little easier if we did. 

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

James tells us that God has good things in store for us. “Every good and perfect is from above…” God desires that righteousness is produced in us. Which is “Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

In short, we need to “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…” Repentance is the equivalent of cleaning out the spiritual clutter of our spiritual hearts. It is making room for the “Word planted in you, which can save you.” The word “Save” here in the Greek means, “To save, heal, preserve, rescue.”

God wants us to be full of Him — His Word! He wants to save us from our destructive patterns, heal us from our hurtful past, and rescue us from the sin that destroys us.

What is it that we need to “get rid of…?” Holding tightly to our ways, our thoughts, and our desires (i.e. sin) leads only to death, darkness, destruction. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s time to take our “spiritual clutter” (sins) to the dumpster of repentance and get rid of all the moral filth we have been living in!