Tag: Repentance

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Repentance Demonstrated (Part 2)- Isaiah- Week 6- Day 5

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 31:8-9

Explanation:
Repentance reveals our trust in God. God always comes through on His promises. Here Isaiah foretells of the protection God would provide. Assyria would be defeated, but not by a mean or mighty man. This may seem impossible to those in that day because of the military strength of the children of Israel. From a human perspective it would have been impossible, but we know that Assyria would fall at the hand of the Lord.

Isaiah 37:36-37 describes what many believe to be the fulfillment of this prophecy:

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

Isaiah 37:36-37

It is also described similarly in 2 Kings 19:35-36:

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

2 Kings 19:35-36

The “he” in verse 9 continues to refer to Assyria.

And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 31:9

Assyria will leave because of fear, and the leaders of Assyria will be afraid of the ensign or the battle flag of the Almighty God.

Application:
God can be trusted! When we follow Him in obedience and repentance, it is good for us. We can experience His protection. This does not mean that no bad thing will ever happen to us. What it does mean is that those that are in Christ Jesus need not worry about ultimate, eternal danger. Repentance and faith in Christ will always lead to eternal protection. When we repent and put our trust in Christ we can be assured of our salvation.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:9-13

Response:
Is there something you need to repent of today? Put your trust in Christ!

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Repentance Demonstrated- Isaiah- Week 6- Day 4

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.

Isaiah 31:6-7

Explanation:
In this text God is calling for His people to repent. Repentance is a turning from a direction away from God back towards Him. The “children of Israel have deeply revolted.” It was time to come back.
How did they demonstrate their repentance? They would demonstrate it in two ways.
First, there was the prediction that they would turn back to God. This is often the image of what repentance looks like. Israel has revolted against God. They had turned away from Him towards idolatry and all the immorality that accompanied it. It was time to turn back to God.
The second way they demonstrated their repentance was quite visible. They would “cast away” their idols. It is impossible to walk toward God and idolatry at the same time. Turning to God meant turning away from their idols. Notice that the idols were costly. They were made of silver and gold. They were hand crafted. Getting rid of the idols was costly, but necessary for repentance.

Application:
Repentance is always the right answer to our sin. Turning back to God almost always includes getting rid of some kind of an idol. Our idols may not always be hand-crafted implements of silver and gold. Nonetheless our idols can be just a costly, not only in what we pay for them, but in the time and energy we put into them, and how they keep us off track spiritually.

Response:
What idols do you have? What are they costing you? What would repentance look like if you repented today?

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God is Active- Isaiah- Week 4- Day 3

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

Isaiah 23:13-14

Explanation:

“Behold the Chaldeans”- God is pointing to a people who had also received his judgement by the Assyrians, the Chaldeans. Who are the Chaldeans? They were a people tied to the Babylonians that were prominent at one time. They had fortresses. They had palaces. God had allowed the Assyrians to lay waste to their nation in such a way that it became a wilderness. For those who may not believe that such a thing would happen, God points to the fact that it had happened before.
“Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste”- The ships of Tarshish were ships used by the colonies and merchants of Tyre and Sidon to do commerce throughout the known world. God is telling them that their strength, the society that made the commerce possible, is laid waste.
God was active in what Tyre would have seen as its past, and he would be active in their future as well because of their arrogance and oppression.

Application:
We live in a culture and day that is not much different than Tyre. In the U.S. we have historically had a strong economy. We are a proud people. We have much of our history that is good in which we can be proud. We have also sinned and should be penitent for much of our history as well. Tyre became arrogant and lived as if there was no God, and God brought judgement to them because of their pride. He pointed to them that the Chaldeans had experienced the same thing. As believers in Christ in the United States, we must recognize that we are not immune from the judgement of God. We are not above the law of God. We must not be prideful. We must pray for our land, and our people. We must exemplify humility before God. We must exemplify repentance. We must recognize that God is active in the affairs of men.

Response:
• Are you personally humble and repentant before God?
Will you take some time today to pray for our nation to repent and turn back to God?

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Week 12: Day 2- Deuteronomy 30:6

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(6) And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Deuteronomy 30:6

Explanation
Circumcision was an outward sign of the children of Israel’s covenant with the Lord. It was an outward expression that was to represented an developed attitude of devotion and relationship with God. It was an accepting of the covenant between God and His people.

The problem with outward signs is that they were supposed to be an expression of the attitude and heart of a person. Yet, often outward religious signs were not reflective of what was going on in the heart. This can be true today. Much or religion is man going through certain ceremonial motions brought about by shere tradition.
Moses tells the people that once they returned from being scattered (see yesterdays post) God would “circumcise their hearts”.

The result of this inner surgery is that they and their children would “love the Lord thy God with alll thine heart, and with all thy soul”. Frankly, it would mean that the outward sign of covenant between them and God would begin to match the inner man. There would be a love for God, for the law of God, for the purposes of God and it would be reflected in them and in their children.

Repentance would lead to a return. The return would lead to an inner revival of the heart. This revival would lead to right living. God would remove the hardness of their heart and give them a heart that is soft and responsive to Him.

Application
There can be so much that turns our hearts away from the Lord. We often think that religious participation will generate spiritual life in us without an inner change. We think we’re good with God simply because we attend church, pray before our meals, and avoid the “big sins”. This is a dangerous place to be, because we think we are good with God, and may have no relationship with Him at all. We may just be participating in the ritual. What we are living on the outside may not match on the inside. That kind of relationship with God gets passed on through the generations and wreaks havoc on their spiritual lives.

God emphasizes the heart.

Proverbs 4:23
(23) Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Matthew 12:34
(34) O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

To be what we ought to be we must have a heart that has been transformed by God. That starts with regeneration. We must believe in Christ and be made alive by His Spirit at salvation. Repentance will lead to a return to God and a revival of the heart. This will allow us to be responsive to God as we grow to be more like His dear Son.

Response:

Here are some good verses to pray today:

Psalm 139:23-24
(23) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
(24) And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.