November 4, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Giving God the Opportunity

#2 Preparing for Rain through the Holy Spirit

We often think that forgiveness is automatic. Just ask for forgiveness and God will send it your way. However, nothing is farther from the truth. The Bible gives lots of restrictions in finding forgiveness, as well as, examples of those who did not find forgiveness though they “sought forgiveness carefully (according to biblical traditions) and with many tears”. The reason for this is simply stated in the concept, “Sin is complicated and complex.”

God does want you to ask for forgiveness, but He is also looking at your motives and reasons for asking for forgiveness from Him. That is why we have many verses in the Bible stating the dos and don’ts when it comes to repentance. Sin is complicated and repentance is therefore multi-faceted. Repentance is a heart, soul, heart, spirit, and action type experience. When you repent you can either feel clean and changed or you do not feel any different. If nothing is changed in you, you are still living in your sin.

So do not be fooled! Just saying the right words, yet not believing in the experience of God washing your sins away, will not get you anywhere closer to God or finding forgiveness that only God can offer through His Son, Jesus Christ, and by the working of the Holy Spirit convicting you of your sin. We must give God the opportunity of offering us forgiveness and us offering to Him an honest and sincere reaction to His conviction of our sin in every aspect of who we are and what we have done.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:3. John the Baptist came before Christ preaching the Baptist of Repentance through confession and the washing of water in the river Jordan. He said, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” Matthew 3:2. Repentance and receiving the Kingdom of heaven go hand-in-hand. You cannot have the kingdom of heaven without repentance—the action of true confession, the washing of the Holy Spirit, and getting rid of your sins—comes only through the acknowledgment that God is judging our sins through Jesus Christ. Can any of us find forgiveness, not without God’s help? No, because it’s complicated and Spirit-driven.

Sin can be obvious, sin can be hidden, sin is not only found in our actions but our motives and sin is not doing things God way or in accordance with His timing. King David asked God in the Psalms, “Search my heart and see if there be any wicked way in me.”

To be ‘poor in spirit’ is to be broken, contrite, to be in a constant state of reflection, confession, and repentance—we must also judge ourselves in order for God to make us clean. Forgiveness is not a one-time event but a daily activity allowing the Holy Spirit to convict, correct, and bring forgiveness to us. We fail God if we do not allow God the opportunity of bringing forgiveness to us. When we refuse to accept repentance on God’s terms with forgiveness actively working in our lives daily—minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day then being forgiven is only a hope off in the distance.

I try to keep myself in a constant state of forgiveness and therefore always willing to repent quickly, just as God asked the seven churches to do in the Revelation of John. Let’s be quick to repent, allowing the Holy Spirit to search us totally and completely through each day we live.

By not being a person who is ‘poor in spirit’ is not only a sin but furthermore, you will never have the Kingdom of Heaven in your life. This is how we know the Holy Spirit is working in our lives for He (the Holy Spirit) is the one who brings us rain.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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