Tag: repentance

2 Kings 23:15-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            To say that King Josiah cleaned house would be a gross understatement.  Having found the Book of the Law, lost for generations deep within the temple, Josiah took its words to heart and set about a campaign of reformation like no king before him.  Indeed, Josiah was determined to restore and implement the Law in the life of the nation of Judah.  His zeal knew no bounds.  Josiah was relentless, radical, and redolent with the smell of transitioning the Jews back to the true worship of Yahweh.
 
            King Josiah did not just re-institute the Passover and other festivals of the Lord; he first upended the pagan worship which had moved in like a death-dealing cancer.  Josiah cut it out with ruthless precision.  He made ashes out of Asherah poles and put pagan priests out of business permanently.  He did away with everything that was contrary to the worship of the One true God, including spiritual mediums, household gods, and sacrificial high places.  In order to turn his heart fully to God, he did away with all competing gods.
 
            If there is to be true repentance, there must be a two-fold process:  turning away from what is false; and, turning toward what is true.  Turning from sin without turning to God is merely a half-repentance.  And turning to God without turning one’s back on sin is both denial and dangerous.  We are to put off the old clothes of injustice, and put on the new clothes of righteousness.  We are to forsake the old in order to embrace the new.  There needs to be a radical gouging out of sin so as to replace it with what is just and right.  It must be born in mind that none of this is pretty or romantic; it is a messy ugly process of dispelling darkness and letting light shine.  It is not for the faint of heart.
 
            Where to begin?  Make a fierce, brutally honest inventory of your life.  You cannot turn from something that you are not really aware of, so create in your schedule some time in the week to connect with God.  After identifying some areas for change, list the things that stand in your way of turning from them, i.e. fear, despair, financial repercussions, etc.  Face the obstacles honestly and forthrightly.  Then, begin to form a rudimentary plan to forsake the old ways and embrace new paths of righteousness.  This is but a beginning.  Let God take that process and direct it in ways he wants to take it….
 

 

            Holy God, you are jealous for your own glory.  I decide today to identify and put away all that is contrary to your righteousness and will for my life.  And I choose to turn to you with all my heart.  In body, soul, and spirit I belong to you.  Amen.

2 Kings 22:11-20

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment


             It is hard to fathom that things had spiritually degenerated so much in the kingdom of Judah that the Book of Law, God’s Word to Israel, was completely lost.  The Law was tucked so far back in the temple, and had gathered so much dust, that everyone simply forgot it existed.  Yet, maybe we in the Western world can relate to this more than we think.  When a plethora of Bibles and translations exist, yet they gather dust on the shelf and we have not cracked it open since….?
             We are approaching the end of the Christian Year which always culminates in Christ the King Sunday.  As we journey with Jesus and ascend his holy hill, we anticipate corporately acknowledging Christ’s lordship.  The best and most biblical way to do so is through penitent humility.  King Josiah’s officials had found the Book of the Law and brought it to him.  After they read the words, the king became completely undone with humble repentance.  He realized that the life of the nation had not revolved around the majesty and kingship of God, and it cut him to the core of his being.  
             The first and most appropriate response to the realization of God’s sovereignty and Christ’s lordship is humility.  Without it there is no going forward; there is only the ghastly state of remaining stuck in one place with ancient dust accumulating on our static hearts.  But with humility there is repentance; and with repentance there opens up the grand vistas of hope, new life, and fresh beginnings.
             Try something quite different from your regular experience today.  Put on some old clothes and read carefully the words of Scripture.  Take the time to acknowledge some sin of omission in your life.  Then, tear your clothes; yes, rip your shirt.  Allow yourself to feel, like Josiah, the realization of missing the mark.  But do not remain in this condition.  Drink in the grace of God in Christ and receive the forgiveness that is yours through Jesus.  The trajectory of our Christian lives will be determined by the depth of humility we experience, and filling the hole with mercy.
             Awesome God, although I might not always perceive your majesty and sovereignty, you stand above all creation as the Lord whom I am to submit to in all things.  I come to you in great humility of heart and vow to obey everything I read in your Holy Word through Jesus Christ, my King.  Amen.

Repentance as Worship

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Repentance is one of those big biblical words sometimes lost in the worship of God.  Yet, without repentance we would not be Christians and we would not be able to live fruitful lives following Jesus.  To repent of something simply means to change our minds and stop doing one thing, and start doing another.  In Holy Scripture, repentance means to stop sinning and start worshiping God.  Since true worship is a conversation with God in which we hear his revelation to us and we respond to him, repentance is a vital part of the Christian worship experience.  The nitty-gritty of repentance is to change our minds about trusting in things and people other than God, and start placing our complete faith in Christ alone.  The prophet Isaiah saw a vision of God in the temple, a self-revealing of the One true God that caused him to be completely unraveled with repentance (Isaiah 6:1-7).
 
Isaiah was reduced to nothing after seeing a vision of a holy God.  Humans cannot see God in his glory without seeing their sinful selves.  Isaiah’s response to God was not praise, but confession.  Show me a proud, self-centered, and arrogant person and I will show you a person who has not seen God (and will not see God unless recognition of personal sin is realized).
 
            Isaiah could not cleanse himself from his sin; he needed God to purge and purify him from his uncleanness.  In the same way, we need God to cleanse us.  The New Testament says that “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin… If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7, 9).
 
            In the Bible, when people saw God they were completely undone and saw their own sin and depravity for what it is.  When the Apostle Peter saw the Lord Jesus in his immensity and power through a miraculous catch of fish “he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man’” (Luke 5:8).  When the Apostle John had a vision of Jesus Christ in all his glory, and heard his voice, he fell at the Lord’s feet as though dead (Revelation 1:12-17).  When the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of God and saw the appearance of God’s glory, he fell facedown (Ezekiel 1:25-28).  Even Daniel, perhaps the most righteous prophet of all time, saw a vision of God in all his glory and fell prostrate with his face to the ground, totally overwhelmed with God’s holiness and human sinfulness (Daniel 8:15-18).
 
            There is so much sinfulness in the world and so much indifference in Christ’s Church today because people are not seeing God in his glory and his holiness.  If they did, they would be completely beside themselves and see sin’s foulness and degradation and repent from all the ways in which they have been apathetic and complacent in living their lives.  The world and the church need a fresh view of a holy God that only comes from meeting with God.
 
            We need to put ourselves in a position to see and hear God so that we can turn from all the obstacles that prevents us from experiencing Father, Son, and Spirit.  What hinders us from seeing God’s glory and hearing God’s voice is legion:  inattention to God’s Word and God’s creation that would cause a mindfulness to the Holy Spirit; intense, constant, and prolonged preoccupations and daydreams that prevents availability to the words and ways of Jesus; lack of sleep and good health habits that dulls the spiritual senses and prevents awareness of God; lack of spiritual practices and disciplines that would put us in a position to experience a vision of God.
 
            To put it bluntly:  we must repent of all the ways we do not pay attention to God.  God is calling but we do not hear him.  God is revealing himself but we do not see him. 
 
Ø  What, then, are we doing in our personal lives to put ourselves in a position to see and hear God?
Ø  In what ways are we corporately fostering a sense of the holy God? 
Ø  How does repentance fit into to our personal and corporate worship? 
Ø  Have we identified the things that grieve the heart of God so that we can repent of those things? 
Ø  What one action step will you take in response to this blog post?
 

 

            We serve a blessed holy triune God of Father, Son, and Spirit.  God has gone far out of his way to reach us so that we can participate in the dance of the Trinity.  May we all see a vision of God is his glory this Sunday and allow that scene to slay us so that we will have renewed fellowship with God in Christ through the power of the Spirit.  Amen.

John 12:36-43

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
             The season of Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, and of repentance from sin.  It is a time to consider our ways and the state of our hearts and find that only the grace of God in Christ can heal all wounds.  Today’s Gospel lesson gives perhaps the most succinct and convicting statement about the dark places of our lives.  Many of the religious authorities actually believed in Jesus, but they did not speak of it because they were afraid of being put out of the synagogue by the Pharisees.  “For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”
             The word “glory” has its roots in the Old Testament, and has the meaning of being weighty or heavy.  In other words, we might picture God descending to earth among humankind in all his weightiness.  If we were back in the ‘70s we could say, “heavy, man, heavy!”  Glory is really a reference to God’s presence among us.  So, if we plug this thought into the religious authorities, we see that they preferred the presence and accolades of their peers to God.
             It is easy to be hard on the religious rulers in the New Testament, but this is Lent, and, so, we must shine the light of Scripture upon ourselves.  Perhaps the burning question for all believers at this time of year is:  Do I seek the presence of God more than the presence of anything or anyone else?  
             In my church the first few rows on Sunday morning are always empty.  It bugs me.  I don’t like it.  There are times when I am more concerned about the presence of people than the presence of God in a worship service.  Maybe you live in fear at work and are more concerned about the presence of people around you than the presence of God, so you keep quiet about your beliefs.
             Lent is not just about identifying sin; it is about receiving grace.  So, let us find that the cleansing work of the Spirit through the work of Jesus is active through our confession of sin.  And let us pursue the glory of God in all we do and say as grace permeates deep in our souls.
             Glorious God, your presence is awesome and appreciated.  Fill me so with your presence that your glory comes shining out of me in all I do and say, through Jesus Christ my Savior, and Lord.  Amen.