encouragement
How to Repent
- First you must come to yourself. Examine yourself. 2 Corinthians 13: 5-9 (Message Version) tells us test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith.
Don’t drift along taking everything for granted.
Give yourselves regular checkups.
- Repent Confess Your Sins and ask God for Forgiveness
Psalms 51 David's confession to God after he sinned with Bathsheba:
1Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
David was confessing his sins to God while acknowledging God is a faithful God and His love for us is unconditional.
1 John 1:8 says "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (9) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
- Turn away from your sin and turn to God.
( Come on, Stand up, and perform an About Face Step) Turn away from your sin and turn to God. He is waiting on your return. God is not a God of unbraiding. Unbraiding means finding fault. He will never say the words, " I told you so."
1 James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."
God Loves You!!
Aline Your Feelings Up With The Word Of God
Sometimes we do not feel needed, wanted, or understood.
Need to feel Needed or Wanted
2 Corinthians 1:22 22set his seal of ownership on us and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Ephesians 1:13-14 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.
Never think you are not wanted. The verses tell us God has stamped a seal of ownership on us and place His Spirit in our Hearts (The Holy Spirit). Holy Spirt is to be authenticated, proven, and means belongs to God. This sealing comes with ownership and security. Ownership and security let the enemy know YOU are off limits. You belong to God and He Wants YOU!! This allows us to be a weapon to the enemy not a hostage.
The Holy Spirt is the down payment, deposit, a pledge that a full payment will follow. OHHH my Lord, the full payment was received, and the transaction was completed!!!
John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Wanting To Be Understood
Psalm 139:13-14 NLT
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
****See you will find David models praise as the appropriate response to the wonder of God’s ongoing involvement in and purpose for His Creation. Think about this, God purposefully and deliberately creates each person and has a plan for each life. You were formless, and He understood you and had a purpose for your life. So baby, you are UNDERSTOOD!!
Proverbs 3; 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
You are not alone. God Loves You and He Sees You!!! You so much needed, wanted, and understood
Spiritual Disciplines To Lighten The Load
Here are some principles to lighten up your stress in life. Having a relationship with Christ, study the Word of God, Pray and Fast, and Tithe. These principles are essential on your journey.
Having a relationship with Him. Think about this how are you going to know the Will of God if you do not know Him for yourself. Please keep in mind, without a relationship with Him you will not know His voice, His direction and importantly His divine will for your life. Proverbs 4: 1-8 speaks about wisdom. He wants to love on you!!
I love having a relationship with God. The more I draw closer to Him the more I find myself and my purpose.
Study the Word of God gives you guidance. There is a message in the Word for EVERYTHING we face in our lives. Through my divorce, raising a young strong minded child, and living a single life pleasing to Him is through the Word of God. There is no way for me to go through this life without the Bible.
Praying is as simple as talking to God. Communication. You talk to Him and He will talk back to you. I remember picking up the phone to call a friend or sometimes my mother to vent about the things that is not going right in my life. Well, one day a light bulb came on. After speaking to my friends or family, what is next? The problem is still there. I decided to pray about my life. Tell Him everything that is bothering me and of course the things I am grateful for.
The same conversation you would have with your BFF or family is the same talk you need and should have with Him. He will listen and work everything out for your good.
Fasting is denying the flesh. Fasting brings fasting and this is another way to hear from God. Anytime I fast, I go to Jentezen Franklin website this is a great reference to learn more about fasting.
Tithe means one-tenth. Tithing is 10% out of every dollar. Tithing brings peace and security. It is another form of protection. Malachi 3: 9-10 tells us to try Him and see that he will open the windows of Heaven and pour out so many blessing you will not have room to restore them. However on the other hand, not tithing is robbing him .
Malachi 3:9-10 9You are under a curse-your whole nation-because you are robbing me. 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.