Irresistible

There are a few things God cannot resist.

One of them is True Repentance.
Ps 51:17 says, " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken spirit and a contrite heart - these oh God you will not despise.

God hates sin. But He softens and forgives where He sees true repentance. Let's look at some examples

King Ahab
In 1 Kings chapter 21, King Ahab stumbled on the vineyard of Citizen Naboth. Just one look and he wanted it … badly. Naboth said no; the vineyard had been in the family for generations and he was going to pass it on to his son after him. Thoughts of the vineyard he couldn’t have, made Ahab sick; very sick.

His wife Jezebel would have none of that insubordination to the king’s wishes. So she hired some assasins and got Citizen Naboth killed pronto! The news got to King Ahab who immediately recovered from his illness and wasted no time in taking over the vineyard – the fulfillment of his dreams.

God was angry! He sent Elijah to Ahab with a message – he would face calamity and would die!

When Ahab heard the judgment, he tore his clothes, fasted and mourned. Hear what God said in response…

I Kings 21: 29, “See how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity in his days….

Next …

King David
In 2 Samuel 11- David looked where he shouldn’t look;… at a beautiful married woman taking a bath. The obvious followed – Adultery and then the woman got pregnant. David’s response was to get her husband positioned in the war front. The poor man was killed before he got wise about their unholy secret. The woman mourned her husband for a few months before she moved in with King David.

To me the whole set up looks unforgivable!! Or what do you think? But then…

When confronted with his sin David said, I Sam 12: 13 – “I have sinned against the Lord…”

God looked into his heart and sent a message to him, “The Lord also has put away your sin.. you shall not die…However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child who is borne to you shall surely die.”

It’s clear from the scriptures that God will forgive the unforgivable when there is true repentance.

What then is TRUE REPENTANCE?

It is not feeling bad because you’ve been caught.
It is not a guilty conscience that lingers but for a moment.
It is not saying sorry just to save face
It is not regret today… and going back to the same old issue tomorrow

Rather…
It is making a u-turn and deciding in your heart that it will never happen again…
It is knowing that God hates what you have done and because you love God and don’t want to annoy Him, you will not allow it happen again…
It is knowing that only God can help you live holy and trusting Him to do just that.

Once God sees true repentance He will forgive and you can know peace again.

Do you need forgiveness and peace. It makes sense to accept what God has offered... on His terms

Don’t want this entry to be too long. So I will leave the story of Peter’s repentance to the next blog entry.