ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 88

                                           ONE HEARTBEAT            AWAY

        PART 88


(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

So, why did He (Jesus) choose "repent."

"The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some men count slackness, but
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance."
(2nd Peter: 3:9)

"Repent therefore and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out, when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord."
(Acts 3:19)

"But shewed first unto them of Damascus
and at Bethlehem, and throughout all the
coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles
that they should repent and turn to God, 
and do works meet for repentance."
(Acts 26:20)

And the times of this ignorance God winked
at, but now commandeth all men everywhere 
to repent."
(Acts 17:20)

In meekness, instructing those that oppose
themselves, if God, peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of
the truth."
(2nd Timothy 2:25)

"Now I rejoice, not that you are made sorry,
but that you sorrowed to repentance: for you
were made sorry after a godly manner, that 
you may receive damage by us in nothing.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to 
salvation, not to be repented of : But the
sorrow of the world worketh death/"
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10)

Being sorry that you 
got caught at something  is not repentance. 
"Repentance," in Greek,
which is what the New
Testament is written in,
carries a strong indication of change. A change of heart and mind.
A change in what you want to do. 

Salvation is not : Drink beer, use drugs, have 
illicit sex, cheat on tests, disobey your parents.
When you repent there is a visible change in
your life. Your rethinking and regretting and
reconsidering result in a change in the way 
that you think and behave, because when Jesus 
moves into a life, that life changes.
Once you are saved, you may still struggle
with temptations, but with Jesus there to help 
you, you will overcome the temptations. So
there will be changes in your life. You will
avoid the things that used to separate you from
God. You will want a different life.

next post  22nd February