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How to Repent...Part 3

Repent by Continually

Improving the Beliefs and

Loves of Your Heart About

Quenching Your Thirst

with God by His Grace!

Change Your Heart-Held Beliefs and Loves

It isn’t enough to simply know that all your behavior and attitudes come from your heart. Knowing that isn’t going to change you. You have to understand what it is about your heart that will help you to change. Then you have to understand how you can change that. Sometimes it is our mind that determines how we act. But those are times when you have time to think about the situation and decide how you are going to act before it occurs.

What about when you react to people and circumstances in wrong ways? Sometimes we react so quickly that we don’t have time to stop and think about what we are doing. Other times we are hit with temptation and fall to sin so fast that afterward we wonder what happened. In times like these it is not our conscious mind that is determining what we are going to do. It is something deeper. 

Hear this: It is the beliefs and loves of your heart that determine your behavior and attitudes—even during those times when you react before you have time to think. 

Changing your heart-held beliefs and loves is what changes you—before you react and before you are hit with temptation. Changing on that level is what makes repentance and turning to God possible. 

Beliefs and Loves About What to "Drink"

On the most practical level, everything about repentance boils down to "changing your mind" about how you are going to quench your thirsty desire for God.

Independence from God is the result of making earthly substitutions in order to fill our driving desire for God’s presence. But, earthly sources are not enough. It doesn’t matter how good your earthly situation, earthly sources do not fill your longing for God. Our unfilled desire for God is the strongest and most determining factor behind all of our sinful behaviors, attitudes, and reactions.

In order to repent with effectiveness, we have to get our heart to hear that we don’t have to fill our need for God’s presence because His presence is readily available to us—by His grace. We don’t have to feed our need for God through idolatry—we can draw near to the Lord and thrill ourselves with His presence. By this, you will be changing what your heart believes and loves about how to best quench your desires for God—and you will find rest for your weary soul. You will be closer to God and He will be closer to you.

Your focus has to be on your receptivity to the truth that you are planting into your heart. In biblical terms that means you have to get your heart to hear that you don’t have to find your refuge, strength, or your glory apart from God Himself. 

The Bible says, "Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and was strong in his evil desire. But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God..." (Psa. 52:7,8). You don’t have to depend on earthly sources because you can turn to God and depend on Him. 

Get your heart to hear that you can turn to God and make His presence your refuge, your glory, and your strength: "...he who comes to God must believe . . . that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

If you think of repentance as a process of removing obstacles to receiving God’s presence you will be solving the problem that pushes us toward sin in the first place. You will be cooperating with God in His efforts to shepherd you to Himself."...lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts" (Rom. 13:12-14)

You should repent toward putting on the presence of the Lord. By this you will be "putting on" the Lord Jesus Christ. Wearing the presence of God as your "armor of light" will help you to "make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."

You don’t have to stay in bondage your earthly ways! But you must know this for sure: any effort to grow spiritually will be most effective if you focus first and foremost on what you believe and love—especially in regard to what would make you free to draw near to God and enjoy His presence. Repentance has to change you so that you love quenching your desire for God—with His presence.

Repentance should take you toward abiding in Christ -- abiding inside the presence of God.

Change What Your Heart Believes

It is of vital importance that our focus be aimed on changing what our heart believes.

What you know is important. But, believing is more than knowing. The focus of your effort should be on your heart—not your head, "For with the heart man believes..." (Romans 10:10). Believing is another way to talk about living by faith.

The message of John the Baptist was that everyone should, "repent and believe" (Mark 1:15b). Repenting and believing are things that we need to do. John did not say repent and know the gospel. He said to believe it! He did not say repent and wait for God you make you believe it. He told us to believe! Jesus said it this way, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." (John 14:1).

Repentance and believing always work together. Each makes the other possible. You can affect the quality of your believing. You just have to get your focus in the right place.

Jesus said, "...Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). Taking an active role in decreasing your fears means that you have to focus on increasing the quality of what you believe. Improving the quality of your believing decreases your fears improves your faith and your ability to draw near to God.

Improving your faith also makes righteous living possible. If you believe God is good you are far more likely to want to be near Him than if you don’t believe it. The Bible says, "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4). Living outside the realm of faith in God inevitably results in pride and independence from God. 

A continual focus on improving your faith is vital for finding freedom to be closer to God—especially where you want to grow at ever increasing levels. The Bible says it is our salvation that gains the acceptance of God (Rom. 15:16). But, the Bible also tells us that it is by our faith in God that we have His approval and His pleasure (Heb. 11:1,2,6). Believing these truths in your heart will help you experience greater freedom to draw near to God. But, the opposite is also true. It was the disciples’ lack of faith that brought our Lords rebuke (Mat. 17:14-20).Though we are encouraged to nurture our faith few of us work at it very hard or very specifically. You may be among those who reads your Bible regularly. But, when you read, do you work at hearing the truth, being receptive, and believing what you read? You should. Changes in our behavior begin with changes in our heart. In terms of freedom to draw near to God we have to change what we believe so as to decrease your fears. Doing so, is what will make turning to God your delight and joy.

Change What Your Heart Loves

Repentance has to take us from loving our earthly ways to loving God. We should not be attached and clinging to earthly sources that are empty, hurt us, and that hurt God.

We need to repent of our love for "other gods" as our refuge, our glory, and our strength. We need to turn to God so we can cling to Him.

"...’What commandment is the foremost of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’" (Mark 12:28-30).God designed us so that we would love holding onto something. It is as true in human relationships and it is true with God. Take time to watch a child with their favorite blanket. As we get older we trade our blankets in and start clinging to human relationships, earthly possessions, concepts that make us feel secure, things.

But, God gave us freedom to chose what we will love. God isn’t a dictator who will force a change in our affections. He gives us freedom to love what we want—even when it hurts us—and Him. We have learned to love clinging to our earthly ways. You can teach your heart to turn to God and cling to Him.

Your need to cling can be what pulls you toward God. Many Christians ignore this important principle. Or worse, they try to shut down their desires and even pray that God would keep them from wanting. Doing so, is to shut off the very desire that could help them to love the Lord more deeply. The problem isn’t with our desires—or that we want too much. Because of hopelessness, most of us have grown to want too little. The problem isn’t with desire itself. The problem has to do with what we are loving.

The Bible says, "There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities" (Isa. 64:7). You don’t have to be among those who Isaiah was writing about here. You can arouse yourself to "take hold of God." 

The reason we tend to cling to the little "gods" of this world is because they become a refuge, glory, and strength to us. The Bible says, "...you are to cling to the Lord your God..." (Josh. 23:8). We need to make God our God in these areas. Doing so will greatly increase your love for Him.

God wants people who will worship Him because they want to, not because He does something to make us love Him. You can arouse ourselves to take hold of God by getting your heart to hear the truth about God and your access to draw near. One example might be that, "It is right and good and safe for me to turn to God and draw near."

The Bible says, "So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God" (Jos. 23:11). It also says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). The Psalmist wrote, "My soul clings to You..." (Psa. 63:8). You can too! Loving God involves taking "diligent heed" to yourself so that you face your very soul toward God and love Him with all your might.

Loving God is a spiritual activity that you do with your soul.

It is right for you to cling to the Lord. Don’t let yourself be among those who don’t listen to this important principle. "‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and...of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’" (Jer. 13:11). Changing what you are loving requires intervention—yours. Intervention is needed because you have to get your heart to listen—there are just too many earthly distractions clambering for our affections.

You have two choices. You can wait and let your love for God grow over the course of many difficult and painful years. Or, you can take steps to repent by assertively re-directing your affections toward God. The latter is better because it doesn’t hurt as much, it works, and it is also the right thing to do. When it comes to loving God, taking "diligent heed to yourself" is vital to a vibrant and growing relationship with God.

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I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

  How to Repent — Continued...

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(C) Barry Hall 1999

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