{"id":10000,"date":"2022-06-27T01:59:44","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T01:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassowary.unitingchurch.org.au\/?p=10000"},"modified":"2022-06-27T01:59:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T01:59:45","slug":"a-different-kind-of-repenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cassowary.unitingchurch.org.au\/?p=10000","title":{"rendered":"A Different Kind of Repenting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLord, I am so sorry and am grieving that\u00a0<\/span>I am not believing\u00a0 I am righteous, and I repent of that right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone who has been believing lies about God, others, your circumstances, or about yourself, run to the altar right now and repent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you participate in communion repent of the belief\u00a0<\/span>that you are not 100% worthy to do so\u00a0<\/span>through Jesus\u2019 obedience and death on the cross.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThese statements are not the norm in how we think, but maybe they should be? Because the Greek meaning of the word repentance is \u201cto change the way you think\u201d.\u00a0We need to plan for some powerful repentance meetings (individually and corporately) where people will repent from beliefs like this:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cLord, I am so sorry that I have believed that I am whom my past says I am and not who You say I am..\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u201cFather, I am so sorry that I have not believed You love me unconditionally..\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u201cLord, I am grieved that I have believed that I am a sinner instead of a saint.\u201d and\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. \u201cFather, I am experiencing deep Godly sorrow because I have believed I am unworthy to be blessed.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/p>\n

    We should never devalue the importance of repenting from wrong behaviours, but the greatest thing to repent from is believing lies. 1 Corinthians 10:13<\/a> \u00a0says, “No temptation has come upon you except which is common to man . . . \u201c.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    The most dangerous temptations we face are to believe lies<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    The devil is the father of all lies (John 8:44<\/a>). He is only empowered when we meditate on and believe his falsehoods. This is what happened to Eve in the garden in Genesis 3<\/a>. She was first deceived about God\u2019s character and then sinned in her actions. We all hear the same lies that we need to repent from.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Repentance is not a one-time event. Repentance is indeed a lifestyle, not an event. We are to daily and intentionally change the way we think (repent). Then we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Mostly, when led to repentance we examine our behaviour and not our beliefs. This can be the reason some of us feel unworthy to participate in in worship or communion. We hold onto the belief that \u2018we have not measured up behaviourally\u2019, when the real problem is we fail to believe that God\u2019s grace in and through Jesus is weaker than our brokenness. So let’s get our beliefs sorted by consistently repenting of the lies we believe.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The best place to start, the key to a repentant lifestyle is valuing and immersing ourselves in God\u2019s Word. It will actually cause us to let go of lies and believe truth:<\/span><\/p>\n