April 3, 2025 • 25 mins
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True repentance draws us closer to God, brings freedom from the weight of sin, and silences the enemy’s lies. Let’s embrace the gift of turning back to God. Listen now!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hi friend, welcome back to Grace For my Home.
I'm so glad you're here,whether you're listening while
you're folding laundry ordriving to work or just taking a
minute for yourself.
I pray that this timeencourages your heart and
strengthens your faith.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe gift of repentance, and I
(00:22):
can't wait to share with youwhat's on my heart.
So grab a cup of coffee andlet's get started Now.
That may sound like a strangeconcept to you the gift of
repentance but repentance is agift.
It's a gift that the Lord givesus.
When you think about sin andwhat sin is, sin is a separation
(00:46):
from God.
It's not living up to theLord's commands and standards,
and God has given us, throughJesus Christ, the gift of
repentance.
Today.
I just want to share somethoughts with you about that.
It's been on my heart latelyand I want to share with you
some thoughts about repentanceand why it is so important and
(01:07):
why it is such a blessing to usas believers.
When John the Baptist came onthe scene, he preached a message
of repentance.
He said repent, for the kingdomof God is at hand.
When Jesus started his ministryon the earth, that was his
first message Repent for thekingdom of God is at hand after
(01:28):
Jesus's death and burial andresurrection and ascension.
When he sent his, his disciples, full of the Holy Spirit, out
to preach, the first thing theysaid, the first thing Peter said
on the day of Pentecost wasrepent and be baptized, every
one of you in the name of JesusChrist, for the forgiveness of
your sins.
That was in Acts 2, verse 38.
(01:50):
And so repentance is thebeginning of our relationship
with God, so it's very important.
Also in the book of Acts, inActs 3, it talks about how John
and Peter were going to thetemple to pray and they came
upon a lame man, a beggar youprobably know the story and God
(02:13):
miraculously healed this man andthe whole city.
It got everybody's attentionand people were flocking to them
to find out how they did this,what was happening, what was
going on, and so they had acaptive audience and they used
that opportunity to tell thepeople about Jesus.
(02:33):
Jesus had just recently goneback to heaven with his father,
and this is what Peter tellsthem in Acts 3, starting in
verse 17.
Now, fellow Israelites, I knowthat you acted in ignorance, as
did your leaders, but this ishow God fulfilled what he had
foretold through all theprophets, saying that his
(02:54):
Messiah would suffer.
And then, in verse 19, listen,he says repent then and turn to
God, so that your sins may bewiped out and times of
refreshing may come from theLord.
I believe that in order to comeinto right relationship with
the Lord, in order to be aChristian to be saved, we must
(03:16):
repent of our sins, like Peteris preaching here in Acts 3.
But I also believe that as wewalk with the Lord, we go
through seasons of repentanceand that as we go through those
seasons of repentance, they'refollowed with times of
refreshing.
Let me give you an illustrationNow.
(03:37):
This may sound like a sillyexample, but bear with me.
When my children were young andI was teaching them at home,
they would spend hours outsideand I have three boys and they
would come in in the afternoon.
Sometimes they would be socovered in dirt or mud or
(03:58):
whatever paint that sometimes Icouldn't even see them except
for the white of their eyes.
That was about all that wasvisible, and I would put them in
.
I would want to put them in thetub, I don't want to put them
in the bathtub, and they did notwant to go in the bathtub.
It was like.
It was like pulling teethtrying to get them to take a
(04:21):
bath, but I wouldn't let them inmy house because they were
filthy.
So usually I would bribe themwith a snack and get them to
take a bath, but I wouldn't letthem in my house because they
were filthy.
So usually I would bribe themwith a snack and get them in the
tub and they would have fun inthe tub once they got there and
they would wash and sometimes Iwould scrub them, and then
they'd get a snack and sometimeswatch a show, and nine times
(04:42):
out of ten they would fallasleep.
They'd fall asleep right wherethey were in front of the TV,
and that reminds me ofrepentance.
You know, we live in a worldwhere we're constantly dealing
with sin.
There's sin on the outside,there's sin on the inside.
We are not like God.
(05:02):
We are becoming like God, butwe have a sinful nature and so,
without constantly coming to himand being in his word and being
transformed by the power of theHoly Spirit, we collect things
from this world.
We collect the dirt and thefilth and the grime and the
thoughts and the mindsets ofthis world, and so when we come
(05:26):
to the Lord, it's like he washesus in the word, and a lot of
times we resist that because wethink we know better or we think
you know we don't need that.
But once we come, once he drawsus near and he washes us,
there's a peace, there's a rest,and that reminds me of the
(05:47):
peace and the refreshing thatcomes with repentance.
Now, I know, repentance is not afun subject, you know.
A lot of times people don'teven touch on it anymore, but I
think it's so important becauseit's where we live.
It's the Christian walk.
We need the Lord and we need tolive in a constant state of
(06:11):
repentance.
Now, that doesn't mean we walkaround and cry and we're sorry
for everything.
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
I'm talking about that we livein a position where we are
sensitive to the voice of theHoly Spirit and to his
conviction.
(06:32):
Now there is a book that I wantto recommend to you, and it's an
old book, so I think there's amodern translation now or a
modern update.
It's in English, but there's amodern update that you can read.
But there is a book that talksabout repentance and I encourage
you, if you're looking, todelve deeper into this topic.
(06:55):
This book is called theDoctrine of Repentance by Thomas
Watson.
By Thomas Watson, but today I'mgoing to give you a little
outline of some of the thingsthat he talks about in that book
, and I think it'll be helpfulwhen considering this topic of
repentance.
(07:15):
And he talks about what sin,what repentance requires.
First of all, repentancerequires us to recognize sin.
So we can't repent until werecognize that there is sin,
that there is something torepent of, and the Holy Spirit
(07:40):
is the one who reveals that toour hearts.
Now, if you're like me, when Ifirst got saved, I felt guilty
all the time, I felt condemnedall the time, and that's not a
good place to be.
That's not what the Lord wantsfor us, that's not how he wants
us to live.
But I had such an oversensitiveconscience that I felt guilty
for things that I hadn't evendone.
(08:01):
There's enough to deal withwith the things we have done.
You know, we don't want toconstantly be dealing with the
guilt and over things we haven'teven done or haven't even
thought.
And so I asked the Lord and hehas helped me and he continues
to help me I asked him to revealto me the sin that is in my
heart, that is in my life, thathe wants to deal with, and he
(08:24):
will do that.
He has done that for me, hewill do that for you.
So the first step in repentanceis to recognize the sin that is
in our hearts and to ask theHoly Spirit to reveal that to us
, because the enemy has acounterfeit and it's called
condemnation and we are not tolive under condemnation.
(08:45):
There is therefore now nocondemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus, who walk notafter the flesh but after the
Spirit, and so the enemy willcome to us and he will condemn
us.
He will speak into our heartsand say you are this and you are
that and you thought this andyou should have done this, but
you didn't do that.
And he will just beat us in theground if we listen to him.
(09:07):
But when the Holy Spirit comesto us and he convicts us of sin,
it's a whole different way.
It's a whole different voice.
His conviction brings hope,hope for repentance and
forgiveness and restoration.
And so we, as we grow in theLord, we have to learn to
discern between the voice of theenemy and the voice of the Holy
(09:31):
Spirit, because when Godconvicts us of sin.
He doesn't leave us there.
He draws us out with hope, withhope for a restored
relationship with him, becauserepentance is restoring our
relationship with God.
The second requirement ofrepentance is godly sorrow.
Godly sorrow also is producedby the Holy Spirit.
(09:56):
I cannot produce godly sorrow.
I have to be open to it.
I have to allow the Holy Spiritto produce godly sorrow in my
heart.
But once we recognize that wehave sinned and that it is
against the Lord who we love,then it allows the Holy Spirit
to bring godly sorrow into ourheart.
(10:17):
And that godly sorrow brings usto the next part of repentance,
which is the confession of sin.
To confess sin is to come faceto face with the truth.
It's not to hide anymore.
It's not to pretend anymore.
It's not to play the victimanymore.
It's not to shift blame anymore.
It's not to play the victimanymore.
(10:38):
It's not to shift blame anymore.
Now there is a part of ourhuman nature that does not want
to take responsibility for ourown shortcomings or our own sins
.
We want to blame other people.
And we all do this, guys.
I mean, I don't care howspiritually mature you are.
We are all tempted to do this.
You know, when we come face toface with a sin in our heart,
(11:00):
often we want to blame otherpeople, and a lot of times
that's our parents.
You know, when I came to theLord, I had a lot of issues,
because I grew up in a homewhere there was a lot of a lot
going on.
There's a lot of chaos.
There was a there.
I lived with a father who wasan alcoholic.
Neither one of my parents wereChristian.
They did not serve the Lord,and so I saw a lot of stuff, and
(11:22):
so when I got older and I madea decision for myself to serve
the Lord, I had a lot of issues.
I had a lot of issues, andsometimes I would excuse my
issues because I had a roughupbringing.
I would excuse my issuesbecause I had a rough upbringing
, and there's a place there togive yourself grace and to say
(11:43):
you know what I'm going to dobetter.
But at the same time, until wetake ownership of our growth,
until we take ownership of ourown sin and repent of it, then
we can't get past it.
And so the third key torepentance is to confess our
sins, is to say yes, lord, Ihave this sin in my life and I
(12:06):
need your help dealing with it.
I confess it, I don't hide fromit, I'm not shifting the blame,
and I confess this as sin in mylife.
Now, the fourth point thatThomas Watson brings out in his
book is the shame of sin.
There's a shame that comes withsin and with admitting sin.
(12:29):
You know Adam and Eve in thegarden.
Once they recognized that theywere separated from God, one of
the first things that theynoticed was that they were naked
, and so they sought to hidefrom God and to cover themselves
up with fig leaves.
So shame is a natural part ofdealing with sin in our lives,
(12:54):
in our hearts.
Now, there's a philosophy todaythat anything that makes us feel
bad, any bad feeling, is notfrom God, and that's just not
true.
There is a sorrow, there is agodly sorrow, there is a shame
that sin creates.
(13:15):
That lets us know this thingnot the feeling that I'm feeling
, not the feeling of shame, butthe thing that's causing this
shame is not from God.
And as we grow in maturity, aswe grow in wisdom, as we grow
with the Lord, we start to learnthat if I'm feeling shame over
(13:39):
this, maybe there's a reason.
If it's condemnation, lord, youshow me, but if it's you, holy
Spirit, that's producing thisgodly sorrow or this feeling of
shame in my life that I feellike I need to hide from God,
then show me what the issue is.
If it's sin in my life, youknow, let's come clean.
(13:59):
Let's come clean, you know,let's go before the Lord and get
everything right with ourFather, because he wants us not
to have anything that is keepingus from Him and sin separates
us from our Father.
And the fifth point is we haveto get to the point where we
(14:19):
hate sin, where we don't youknow, where we're not just like,
oh I have these bad habits.
We have to get to the pointwhere we are clear on what is a
bad habit and what is sin, andthat we hate the sin that is in
our life that tries to separateus from our Father.
(14:40):
A long time ago I had a friendshe was actually a Christian
minister and she said somethingthat really hit home with me.
She said God will deliver youfrom your enemies, but not from
your friends.
And you probably know what thatmeans.
If I love something and it's apet sin and I enjoy that thing
(15:04):
so much that I make excuses forit and I hide it and I feed it,
then it's not going anywhere.
It's going to stay right whereit is because it's welcome in my
life.
But if I want to be delivered,if I want to be set free, if I
want to part ways with sin in mylife, then I have to learn to
(15:25):
see that sin through the eyes ofJesus.
Jesus died so that I could beset free from sin, not so I
could hold on to it and enjoy it.
And so we have to hate the sinin our lives.
That's the only way that we canget set free from it.
And number six is we have toturn from our sin.
(15:47):
If we don't hate it, we're notgoing to turn from it.
Right, if we don't hate it,we're going to live with it and
we're going to try to coexistwith it.
And we can't do that.
If we want to be in rightstanding with God, if we want to
grow closer to the Lord, wecannot willingly and knowingly
(16:09):
harbor sin in our hearts, and sowe have to turn away from it.
Actually, the Greek word forrepent has that connotation to
turn away, to take another path.
And that's really whatrepentance is.
Repentance is saying the pathI'm on is not leading to God.
(16:29):
So I will redirect, I will turnanother way.
And that is not just somethingwe say or believe, or confess,
it's something we do.
So repentance there is aportion of it where we're
recognizing okay, this isn't God.
There is a portion of it wherewe confess oh, I have been in
(16:49):
sin, this is a sin.
But then there must be a pointin repentance where we actually
turn from that thing, where wedo not physically do that thing
any longer.
So we repent from it, we turnfrom it, we stop doing it and
(17:11):
we're turning direction andwe're turning from the thing
that is separating me from Godback to God.
And that's how we stay on thepath is we stay on the path by
giving up the things that aredistracting us from the most
important thing, which is ourrelationship with the Lord.
And so when we do that, thereis a time of refreshing that
(17:36):
comes.
Like I said, it's like taking abath.
Lord, I'm not running anymore,I'm not hiding anymore, I'm not
pretending anymore that thisisn't my problem, that this is,
you know, somebody else's fault.
I am the one who has made thedecision to keep this in my life
, but today I decide to put itaway and, by your grace, I turn
(17:58):
back towards you and away fromthis sin that has distracted me,
that has caused me to try andjustify doing things that I know
you've told me not to.
And there are seasons ofrepentance, there are seasons
when I repent and seasons ofrefreshing that follow.
And, guys, that is what Davidmeant when he said Lord, restore
(18:22):
to me the joy of your salvation.
Psalm 51 is a psalm all aboutrepentance.
If you're struggling with sin,if you're struggling in an area
and it just seems like you can'tget free, go to Psalm 51.
Hear what David says aboutrepentance.
He said cleanse my heart, o God.
God's the only one who can.
(18:43):
He's the only one who cancleanse our heart.
I love the Lord because I can'teven know what my sin is unless
he convicts me.
He shows me what it is, hehelps me to deal with it.
He helps me to lay it down.
In Christ Jesus, I can be setfree.
And then he helps me and then,once I turn away from my sin and
(19:06):
I put my eyes on him, he bringsseasons and times of refreshing
.
And, guys, he loves us.
He does not want us separatedfrom him.
He doesn't want us living incondemnation and guilt.
He wants us to be able to comeboldly to the throne of grace
anytime, in a right relationshipwith him, and that's the gift
(19:29):
of repentance.
Isn't that hopeful?
A lot of times people avoid thetopic of repentance because it
just feels like we have thisimage of God beating us over the
head or angry.
He's not angry at all.
It's just like my kids comingin from play and they need a
bath.
I'm not angry at them at all.
(19:50):
I just know what they need.
They need a bath, they need tobe cleansed, they need to be
washed, whether they want to beor not.
And God, he loves us, he's agood father, he knows what we
need, whether we know it or not,whether we believe it or not,
and he wants to help us.
And, guys, he is so not mad atus.
(20:11):
He hates sin, but he does nothate you.
He loves you and he wants tohelp you.
Walk with him hand in hand,amen.
I want to share something withyou in the next couple of months
.
I am going, I am praying aboutand working on trying to figure
out in my head first, becausethat's how everything changes
(20:33):
first.
Right, it has to be a thoughtfirst, but I'm trying to figure
out how I'm going to change theformat of Grace for my Home and
my podcast and what things I'mgoing to add and what things I'm
going to take away, because myheart is Bible study, it truly
is my heart, and I enjoy sharingwith you every week.
But I really want to go deeperin the word.
(20:55):
And a podcast it's hard to dothat, no, podcast, it's just not
that kind of format.
And so I want to continuepodcasting because I enjoy it, I
enjoy the conversational toneand I enjoy getting to know
people.
But I really would like to dosome deep dive Bible studies and
I've got a few things on mymind, on my heart, but I know
(21:17):
that it's not something I'mgoing to be able to do in this
format.
And so if you're interested injoining me for some Bible
studies where we go a littledeeper into the word, I would
love to hear from you If youcould just send me a text.
If you look in the show notes,there is a link where you can
send me a text and say I'm inand give me an idea of what kind
(21:38):
of Bible study you'd beinterested in.
That would help me immensely.
I've got a few things on my mind.
I'd like to do a foundationalBible study on the Christian
faith and what we believe andwhy we believe it, and I'd
really like to do that.
I've had a couple people ask meabout that, and so that's one
idea.
Another that I've had a couplepeople ask me about that, and so
that's one idea.
Another idea is I'd like to doa Bible study on the book of
(21:59):
Ruth.
I love the book of Ruth.
I think it's beautiful and Iwould love to share some of the
beautiful things in it with youguys, if you're interested in
that.
Other ideas I would love to doa teaching on creating a home
where faith can grow.
That's another idea I've had,so I just throw those out there.
If you could please go to theshow notes, click on, text me a
(22:22):
message and say I'm in and giveme an idea of what kind of Bible
study you'd be interested in,one of those three or maybe
something completely different.
That would help me so muchbecause I am, during the summer,
going to revamp my podcast andmy blog, graceformyhomecom, in
order to go a little deeper inthe word with those who are
(22:44):
interested.
So I'm excited about that andlooking forward to it and hope
that you are too, and I justwant to say thank you for coming
each week and listening.
It means the world to me, and Ijust want to say thank you for
coming each week and listening.
It means the world to me.
I hope today's conversation hasencouraged you and reminded you
of God's grace in your life.
Before we go, I want to leaveyou with this thought that God
(23:05):
is on your side, that he ischeering for you.
It is his good pleasure to giveyou the kingdom.
If this episode blessed you,I'd love for you to share it
with a friend or leave me areview.
It truly helps more people tofind this podcast.
Until next time, may you walkin God's grace and truth, right
where you are.
(23:26):
Be blessed, friend.
Hi friend, welcome back to Grace For my Home.
I'm so glad you're here,whether you're listening while
you're folding laundry ordriving to work or just taking a
minute for yourself.
I pray that this timeencourages your heart and
strengthens your faith.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe gift of repentance, and I
(00:22):
can't wait to share with youwhat's on my heart.
So grab a cup of coffee andlet's get started Now.
That may sound like a strangeconcept to you the gift of
repentance but repentance is agift.
It's a gift that the Lord givesus.
When you think about sin andwhat sin is, sin is a separation
(00:46):
from God.
It's not living up to theLord's commands and standards,
and God has given us, throughJesus Christ, the gift of
repentance.
Today.
I just want to share somethoughts with you about that.
It's been on my heart latelyand I want to share with you
some thoughts about repentanceand why it is so important and
(01:07):
why it is such a blessing to usas believers.
When John the Baptist came onthe scene, he preached a message
of repentance.
He said repent, for the kingdomof God is at hand.
When Jesus started his ministryon the earth, that was his
first message Repent for thekingdom of God is at hand after
(01:28):
Jesus's death and burial andresurrection and ascension.
When he sent his, his disciples, full of the Holy Spirit, out
to preach, the first thing theysaid, the first thing Peter said
on the day of Pentecost wasrepent and be baptized, every
one of you in the name of JesusChrist, for the forgiveness of
your sins.
That was in Acts 2, verse 38.
(01:50):
And so repentance is thebeginning of our relationship
with God, so it's very important.
Also in the book of Acts, inActs 3, it talks about how John
and Peter were going to thetemple to pray and they came
upon a lame man, a beggar youprobably know the story and God
(02:13):
miraculously healed this man andthe whole city.
It got everybody's attentionand people were flocking to them
to find out how they did this,what was happening, what was
going on, and so they had acaptive audience and they used
that opportunity to tell thepeople about Jesus.
(02:33):
Jesus had just recently goneback to heaven with his father,
and this is what Peter tellsthem in Acts 3, starting in
verse 17.
Now, fellow Israelites, I knowthat you acted in ignorance, as
did your leaders, but this ishow God fulfilled what he had
foretold through all theprophets, saying that his
(02:54):
Messiah would suffer.
And then, in verse 19, listen,he says repent then and turn to
God, so that your sins may bewiped out and times of
refreshing may come from theLord.
I believe that in order to comeinto right relationship with
the Lord, in order to be aChristian to be saved, we must
(03:16):
repent of our sins, like Peteris preaching here in Acts 3.
But I also believe that as wewalk with the Lord, we go
through seasons of repentanceand that as we go through those
seasons of repentance, they'refollowed with times of
refreshing.
Let me give you an illustrationNow.
(03:37):
This may sound like a sillyexample, but bear with me.
When my children were young andI was teaching them at home,
they would spend hours outsideand I have three boys and they
would come in in the afternoon.
Sometimes they would be socovered in dirt or mud or
(03:58):
whatever paint that sometimes Icouldn't even see them except
for the white of their eyes.
That was about all that wasvisible, and I would put them in
.
I would want to put them in thetub, I don't want to put them
in the bathtub, and they did notwant to go in the bathtub.
It was like.
It was like pulling teethtrying to get them to take a
(04:21):
bath, but I wouldn't let them inmy house because they were
filthy.
So usually I would bribe themwith a snack and get them to
take a bath, but I wouldn't letthem in my house because they
were filthy.
So usually I would bribe themwith a snack and get them in the
tub and they would have fun inthe tub once they got there and
they would wash and sometimes Iwould scrub them, and then
they'd get a snack and sometimeswatch a show, and nine times
(04:42):
out of ten they would fallasleep.
They'd fall asleep right wherethey were in front of the TV,
and that reminds me ofrepentance.
You know, we live in a worldwhere we're constantly dealing
with sin.
There's sin on the outside,there's sin on the inside.
We are not like God.
(05:02):
We are becoming like God, butwe have a sinful nature and so,
without constantly coming to himand being in his word and being
transformed by the power of theHoly Spirit, we collect things
from this world.
We collect the dirt and thefilth and the grime and the
thoughts and the mindsets ofthis world, and so when we come
(05:26):
to the Lord, it's like he washesus in the word, and a lot of
times we resist that because wethink we know better or we think
you know we don't need that.
But once we come, once he drawsus near and he washes us,
there's a peace, there's a rest,and that reminds me of the
(05:47):
peace and the refreshing thatcomes with repentance.
Now, I know, repentance is not afun subject, you know.
A lot of times people don'teven touch on it anymore, but I
think it's so important becauseit's where we live.
It's the Christian walk.
We need the Lord and we need tolive in a constant state of
(06:11):
repentance.
Now, that doesn't mean we walkaround and cry and we're sorry
for everything.
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
I'm talking about that we livein a position where we are
sensitive to the voice of theHoly Spirit and to his
conviction.
(06:32):
Now there is a book that I wantto recommend to you, and it's an
old book, so I think there's amodern translation now or a
modern update.
It's in English, but there's amodern update that you can read.
But there is a book that talksabout repentance and I encourage
you, if you're looking, todelve deeper into this topic.
(06:55):
This book is called theDoctrine of Repentance by Thomas
Watson.
By Thomas Watson, but today I'mgoing to give you a little
outline of some of the thingsthat he talks about in that book
, and I think it'll be helpfulwhen considering this topic of
repentance.
(07:15):
And he talks about what sin,what repentance requires.
First of all, repentancerequires us to recognize sin.
So we can't repent until werecognize that there is sin,
that there is something torepent of, and the Holy Spirit
(07:40):
is the one who reveals that toour hearts.
Now, if you're like me, when Ifirst got saved, I felt guilty
all the time, I felt condemnedall the time, and that's not a
good place to be.
That's not what the Lord wantsfor us, that's not how he wants
us to live.
But I had such an oversensitiveconscience that I felt guilty
for things that I hadn't evendone.
(08:01):
There's enough to deal withwith the things we have done.
You know, we don't want toconstantly be dealing with the
guilt and over things we haven'teven done or haven't even
thought.
And so I asked the Lord and hehas helped me and he continues
to help me I asked him to revealto me the sin that is in my
heart, that is in my life, thathe wants to deal with, and he
(08:24):
will do that.
He has done that for me, hewill do that for you.
So the first step in repentanceis to recognize the sin that is
in our hearts and to ask theHoly Spirit to reveal that to us
, because the enemy has acounterfeit and it's called
condemnation and we are not tolive under condemnation.
(08:45):
There is therefore now nocondemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus, who walk notafter the flesh but after the
Spirit, and so the enemy willcome to us and he will condemn
us.
He will speak into our heartsand say you are this and you are
that and you thought this andyou should have done this, but
you didn't do that.
And he will just beat us in theground if we listen to him.
(09:07):
But when the Holy Spirit comesto us and he convicts us of sin,
it's a whole different way.
It's a whole different voice.
His conviction brings hope,hope for repentance and
forgiveness and restoration.
And so we, as we grow in theLord, we have to learn to
discern between the voice of theenemy and the voice of the Holy
(09:31):
Spirit, because when Godconvicts us of sin.
He doesn't leave us there.
He draws us out with hope, withhope for a restored
relationship with him, becauserepentance is restoring our
relationship with God.
The second requirement ofrepentance is godly sorrow.
Godly sorrow also is producedby the Holy Spirit.
(09:56):
I cannot produce godly sorrow.
I have to be open to it.
I have to allow the Holy Spiritto produce godly sorrow in my
heart.
But once we recognize that wehave sinned and that it is
against the Lord who we love,then it allows the Holy Spirit
to bring godly sorrow into ourheart.
(10:17):
And that godly sorrow brings usto the next part of repentance,
which is the confession of sin.
To confess sin is to come faceto face with the truth.
It's not to hide anymore.
It's not to pretend anymore.
It's not to play the victimanymore.
It's not to shift blame anymore.
It's not to play the victimanymore.
(10:38):
It's not to shift blame anymore.
Now there is a part of ourhuman nature that does not want
to take responsibility for ourown shortcomings or our own sins
.
We want to blame other people.
And we all do this, guys.
I mean, I don't care howspiritually mature you are.
We are all tempted to do this.
You know, when we come face toface with a sin in our heart,
(11:00):
often we want to blame otherpeople, and a lot of times
that's our parents.
You know, when I came to theLord, I had a lot of issues,
because I grew up in a homewhere there was a lot of a lot
going on.
There's a lot of chaos.
There was a there.
I lived with a father who wasan alcoholic.
Neither one of my parents wereChristian.
They did not serve the Lord,and so I saw a lot of stuff, and
(11:22):
so when I got older and I madea decision for myself to serve
the Lord, I had a lot of issues.
I had a lot of issues, andsometimes I would excuse my
issues because I had a roughupbringing.
I would excuse my issuesbecause I had a rough upbringing
, and there's a place there togive yourself grace and to say
(11:43):
you know what I'm going to dobetter.
But at the same time, until wetake ownership of our growth,
until we take ownership of ourown sin and repent of it, then
we can't get past it.
And so the third key torepentance is to confess our
sins, is to say yes, lord, Ihave this sin in my life and I
(12:06):
need your help dealing with it.
I confess it, I don't hide fromit, I'm not shifting the blame,
and I confess this as sin in mylife.
Now, the fourth point thatThomas Watson brings out in his
book is the shame of sin.
There's a shame that comes withsin and with admitting sin.
(12:29):
You know Adam and Eve in thegarden.
Once they recognized that theywere separated from God, one of
the first things that theynoticed was that they were naked
, and so they sought to hidefrom God and to cover themselves
up with fig leaves.
So shame is a natural part ofdealing with sin in our lives,
(12:54):
in our hearts.
Now, there's a philosophy todaythat anything that makes us feel
bad, any bad feeling, is notfrom God, and that's just not
true.
There is a sorrow, there is agodly sorrow, there is a shame
that sin creates.
(13:15):
That lets us know this thingnot the feeling that I'm feeling
, not the feeling of shame, butthe thing that's causing this
shame is not from God.
And as we grow in maturity, aswe grow in wisdom, as we grow
with the Lord, we start to learnthat if I'm feeling shame over
(13:39):
this, maybe there's a reason.
If it's condemnation, lord, youshow me, but if it's you, holy
Spirit, that's producing thisgodly sorrow or this feeling of
shame in my life that I feellike I need to hide from God,
then show me what the issue is.
If it's sin in my life, youknow, let's come clean.
(13:59):
Let's come clean, you know,let's go before the Lord and get
everything right with ourFather, because he wants us not
to have anything that is keepingus from Him and sin separates
us from our Father.
And the fifth point is we haveto get to the point where we
(14:19):
hate sin, where we don't youknow, where we're not just like,
oh I have these bad habits.
We have to get to the pointwhere we are clear on what is a
bad habit and what is sin, andthat we hate the sin that is in
our life that tries to separateus from our Father.
(14:40):
A long time ago I had a friendshe was actually a Christian
minister and she said somethingthat really hit home with me.
She said God will deliver youfrom your enemies, but not from
your friends.
And you probably know what thatmeans.
If I love something and it's apet sin and I enjoy that thing
(15:04):
so much that I make excuses forit and I hide it and I feed it,
then it's not going anywhere.
It's going to stay right whereit is because it's welcome in my
life.
But if I want to be delivered,if I want to be set free, if I
want to part ways with sin in mylife, then I have to learn to
(15:25):
see that sin through the eyes ofJesus.
Jesus died so that I could beset free from sin, not so I
could hold on to it and enjoy it.
And so we have to hate the sinin our lives.
That's the only way that we canget set free from it.
And number six is we have toturn from our sin.
(15:47):
If we don't hate it, we're notgoing to turn from it.
Right, if we don't hate it,we're going to live with it and
we're going to try to coexistwith it.
And we can't do that.
If we want to be in rightstanding with God, if we want to
grow closer to the Lord, wecannot willingly and knowingly
(16:09):
harbor sin in our hearts, and sowe have to turn away from it.
Actually, the Greek word forrepent has that connotation to
turn away, to take another path.
And that's really whatrepentance is.
Repentance is saying the pathI'm on is not leading to God.
(16:29):
So I will redirect, I will turnanother way.
And that is not just somethingwe say or believe, or confess,
it's something we do.
So repentance there is aportion of it where we're
recognizing okay, this isn't God.
There is a portion of it wherewe confess oh, I have been in
(16:49):
sin, this is a sin.
But then there must be a pointin repentance where we actually
turn from that thing, where wedo not physically do that thing
any longer.
So we repent from it, we turnfrom it, we stop doing it and
(17:11):
we're turning direction andwe're turning from the thing
that is separating me from Godback to God.
And that's how we stay on thepath is we stay on the path by
giving up the things that aredistracting us from the most
important thing, which is ourrelationship with the Lord.
And so when we do that, thereis a time of refreshing that
(17:36):
comes.
Like I said, it's like taking abath.
Lord, I'm not running anymore,I'm not hiding anymore, I'm not
pretending anymore that thisisn't my problem, that this is,
you know, somebody else's fault.
I am the one who has made thedecision to keep this in my life
, but today I decide to put itaway and, by your grace, I turn
(17:58):
back towards you and away fromthis sin that has distracted me,
that has caused me to try andjustify doing things that I know
you've told me not to.
And there are seasons ofrepentance, there are seasons
when I repent and seasons ofrefreshing that follow.
And, guys, that is what Davidmeant when he said Lord, restore
(18:22):
to me the joy of your salvation.
Psalm 51 is a psalm all aboutrepentance.
If you're struggling with sin,if you're struggling in an area
and it just seems like you can'tget free, go to Psalm 51.
Hear what David says aboutrepentance.
He said cleanse my heart, o God.
God's the only one who can.
(18:43):
He's the only one who cancleanse our heart.
I love the Lord because I can'teven know what my sin is unless
he convicts me.
He shows me what it is, hehelps me to deal with it.
He helps me to lay it down.
In Christ Jesus, I can be setfree.
And then he helps me and then,once I turn away from my sin and
(19:06):
I put my eyes on him, he bringsseasons and times of refreshing
.
And, guys, he loves us.
He does not want us separatedfrom him.
He doesn't want us living incondemnation and guilt.
He wants us to be able to comeboldly to the throne of grace
anytime, in a right relationshipwith him, and that's the gift
(19:29):
of repentance.
Isn't that hopeful?
A lot of times people avoid thetopic of repentance because it
just feels like we have thisimage of God beating us over the
head or angry.
He's not angry at all.
It's just like my kids comingin from play and they need a
bath.
I'm not angry at them at all.
(19:50):
I just know what they need.
They need a bath, they need tobe cleansed, they need to be
washed, whether they want to beor not.
And God, he loves us, he's agood father, he knows what we
need, whether we know it or not,whether we believe it or not,
and he wants to help us.
And, guys, he is so not mad atus.
(20:11):
He hates sin, but he does nothate you.
He loves you and he wants tohelp you.
Walk with him hand in hand,amen.
I want to share something withyou in the next couple of months
.
I am going, I am praying aboutand working on trying to figure
out in my head first, becausethat's how everything changes
(20:33):
first.
Right, it has to be a thoughtfirst, but I'm trying to figure
out how I'm going to change theformat of Grace for my Home and
my podcast and what things I'mgoing to add and what things I'm
going to take away, because myheart is Bible study, it truly
is my heart, and I enjoy sharingwith you every week.
But I really want to go deeperin the word.
(20:55):
And a podcast it's hard to dothat, no, podcast, it's just not
that kind of format.
And so I want to continuepodcasting because I enjoy it, I
enjoy the conversational toneand I enjoy getting to know
people.
But I really would like to dosome deep dive Bible studies and
I've got a few things on mymind, on my heart, but I know
(21:17):
that it's not something I'mgoing to be able to do in this
format.
And so if you're interested injoining me for some Bible
studies where we go a littledeeper into the word, I would
love to hear from you If youcould just send me a text.
If you look in the show notes,there is a link where you can
send me a text and say I'm inand give me an idea of what kind
(21:38):
of Bible study you'd beinterested in.
That would help me immensely.
I've got a few things on my mind.
I'd like to do a foundationalBible study on the Christian
faith and what we believe andwhy we believe it, and I'd
really like to do that.
I've had a couple people ask meabout that, and so that's one
idea.
Another that I've had a couplepeople ask me about that, and so
that's one idea.
Another idea is I'd like to doa Bible study on the book of
(21:59):
Ruth.
I love the book of Ruth.
I think it's beautiful and Iwould love to share some of the
beautiful things in it with youguys, if you're interested in
that.
Other ideas I would love to doa teaching on creating a home
where faith can grow.
That's another idea I've had,so I just throw those out there.
If you could please go to theshow notes, click on, text me a
(22:22):
message and say I'm in and giveme an idea of what kind of Bible
study you'd be interested in,one of those three or maybe
something completely different.
That would help me so muchbecause I am, during the summer,
going to revamp my podcast andmy blog, graceformyhomecom, in
order to go a little deeper inthe word with those who are
(22:44):
interested.
So I'm excited about that andlooking forward to it and hope
that you are too, and I justwant to say thank you for coming
each week and listening.
It means the world to me, and Ijust want to say thank you for
coming each week and listening.
It means the world to me.
I hope today's conversation hasencouraged you and reminded you
of God's grace in your life.
Before we go, I want to leaveyou with this thought that God
(23:05):
is on your side, that he ischeering for you.
It is his good pleasure to giveyou the kingdom.
If this episode blessed you,I'd love for you to share it
with a friend or leave me areview.
It truly helps more people tofind this podcast.
Until next time, may you walkin God's grace and truth, right
where you are.
(23:26):
Be blessed, friend.
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