Marching Orders #215... "Power of Repentance"

LET THE

SONSHINE

..."Your eyes light up your inward being.

A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul."

Luke 11:34a

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Power of Repentance

Something I knew...but didn't always do!

My friend took her car to the mechanic because it was going klinkety-klank and the engine seemed to have no power. It turned out that she had driven her car with no oil at all in the engine. When we asked her if she knew how to check the oil, she replied... "Well, I knew, but I must admit, it's something I obviously didn't do!" Just like knowing not to, but driving a vehicle with no oil in the engine can be disastrous, so it is with those things we KNOW and DO NOT DO in our Christian walk.

David Hodge is doing a wonderful series called, "Promises Promises!" (To subscribe email... david_hodge@southtech.net) These little nuggets seem to give my spirit a jolt...sort of like a jump start into additional truths. Today's nugget from him, along with what I heard at my Tuesday Bible Class have reminded me of the importance of daily repentance...something I already knew the need for...but haven't always done! And I am convinced that many times we spiritually are "running without oil" because of lack of daily repentance, and, therefore, have little to NO POWER in our prayer life... I'm reminded of how Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us THIS DAY our trespasses."

God's Word says that believers will..."lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL RECOVER!" (Mark 16:18) Yet, we see so few genuine healings and nearly no miracles like Jesus performed, which He said we would do (and even greater). I believe the following verse may hold the key to one of the reasons why many of our prayers wane helpless and hopeless...

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16

To me, this verse implies several things... First, sin in my life can cause me not to be healed. Any time sickness or disaster strikes us, we should immediately take a Spiritual survey and repent of any known sin...that just makes good sense. But, not ALL sickness or trouble is caused by sin in our lives...so don't misunderstand what I am saying. The other important thing that I see here is the prayer of a 'RIGHTEOUS" man is powerful and effective...and the command to confess our sins is to each other...NOT JUST THE PERSON WITH THE NEED! Could this be implying that when sin is lurking in the individual offering up the prayer, that it is negates the power of their prayer? I believe it implies just that! We all know that in ourselves there is NO righteousness. Our own righteousness is as "filthy rags"! When we pray, we must come to God in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, covered by His shed blood, to seek his grace and mercy. Often, pride will keep us from doing that...

In the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14 (NIV), they both went to the temple to pray; it clearly shows which of the two was justified and got his prayers answered. The Pharisee stood before God in prideful sin bragging about all of his own accomplishments, while the tax collector beat his chest in repentance and would not even look up to heaven before confessing what a sinner he was...a sinner saved by the grace and mercy of God. As I've said, and it bears repeating, when we come to God to pray for needs, we must come in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, not our own righteousness. That is the ONLY way we will come in power because the power to meet that need is HIS ALONE! When I stand before a righteous God with known sin in my life, sins not confessed and repented of, how can He flow in and through me to meet needs? I am in no position to help someone else.

When we have a log in our own eye, how can we see to remove the splinter from our brother's eye?...Jesus asked us in Matt. 7:3. He goes on to say that we must remove the sin from our own lives before we can help anyone else! The prideful sin of the Pharisee kept him from touching the heart of God, and it will keep us from Him also. We are told in Psalm 66:18..."He would NOT have listened if I had not confessed my sins." I believe with all of my heart that often this is why there is no power or effectiveness behind many of our prayers....we have not confessed the sin within ourselves...we have covered it up, and justified why we don't need to turn from it, then when we come before God in an unrighteous condition asking Him to let His power flow through us to meet our, and the needs of others, nothing happens!

When we look at the revivals that are breaking forth in many parts of the country today, we see broken people on their knees at the altars asking God to cleanse their sins away. Then, after repentance, God is moving, miracles are happening, lives are dramatically being changed, people are coming to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. Repentance REVIVES what has been lost!

I John 1:4 L/B (Emphasis mine)

"And if you DO as I say in this letter, then you, too, will be full of joy, and so will we."

"If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves, and refusing to accept the truth. But If we confess our sins to Him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. ...If we claim we have not sinned, we are lying and calling God a liar, for he says we have sinned." (I John 1:8-10 L/B)

I used to apply the above verses to those who needed an initial salvation cleansing, but I realize that this portion of Scripture is written to believers, pointing out our need for the constant purging of our hearts by Christ Jesus. Forgiveness of sin is for the initial set of sins that we come to Him with and the daily sins that we continually commit...that gossiping and tearing down of another believer, the unjust judging that we are prone to do, the looking to other than Christ to meet our needs, the many sins of omission...when we leave taking care of the poor to others, the jail visitation and encouraging of the downtrodden. Yes, we all sin daily, don't we?...but the Lord also supplies a daily portion of forgiveness to those who ask!

"Lord, I come to You today and ask for forgiveness for the self righteous way I often go about, for thinking that in myself I could ever accomplish Your will or have any power without first coming to You to cleanse me. I thank you Lord Jesus that you have not only purchased forgiveness for all of my past sin, but you have paid for my present sin when you gave your life at Calvary for me. Forgive me for attempting to do your work without first being cleansed on a day by day and moment to moment basis. Forgive me for the times that I thought I had no sin to be cleansed...forgive my arrogance and my pride and for the many times I have missed Your will. Cleanse me, Lord Jesus, make me right in your eyes by what you have already accomplished for me. Show me any unknown sins within me that need to be purged. As David prayed, create in me a new heart and a right spirit, Lord, and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Allow Your power to flow in and through those that humble themselves before You, as you have promised that you will do, for the sake of Your Kingdom, and for Your glory and power, in Jesus' name. Amen"

In Him and He in me,

Marlene

MARCHING ORDERS #215

Marching orders are compiled from paraphrased verses out of the Living Bible. No commentary is added...they are the pure Word of God.

"As Christ's soldier do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs, for then you cannot satisfy the one who enlisted you in his army." II Timothy 2:4 L/B

Who can ever say, “I have cleansed my heart?”

The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who are wise, who want to please God. But no, all have strayed away; all are rotten with sin. Not one is good, not one!

Those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on following their old evil desires, can never please God.

No matter which way I turn I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves we fade, wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away.

The grip of sin: . . . the Scriptures insist we are all its prisoners. The only way out is through faith in Jesus Christ; the way of escape is open to all who believe in him.

God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out.

If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves, and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. (And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.)

(Living Bible)

Proverbs 20:9

Ps. 14:2-3. - Rom. 8:8.

Rom. 7:18-19. - Is. 64:6.

Gal. 3:22. - II Cor. 5:19. - I Jn. 1:8-9.

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