Repent!!!

I don't know about you. But when I here that word my stomach turns sour. Well, as it turns out, repenting is not *exactly* what I originally thought it was. I used to think that repenting meant to get down on your face and wail, cry, and sob bitterly and just generally feel really, really guilty. I am learning that to repent actuallly means to turn away from your sin and turn towards God. Whew! That sounds a lot easier than I thought!

The Lord spoke to me last night as I was brushing my teeth. He explained what it meant to "walk in constant repentance". He said that every time some thought enters your head, that you must turn away from it and turn to Me ("Me" being Jesus of course). This concept, I believe is very much in keeping with 2 Corinthians 10:5 which in the NKJV translation says

"casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, "

The part of "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" is the section to focus on here. I think the Lord was saying that in order to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ, we must be constantly repenting in our minds. Repenting in the sense of turning away from evil thoughts and focusing on God. I think this can be done any number of different ways. Thanking God for the good things, asking for His help in forgiving someone, confessing a thought to God and asking Him to set you straight, admitting a fault that you have that you see in someone else, doing something kind for someone else and any number of other things can help you "walk in constant repentance". Remember that if you are doing something God approves of, that action takes away from the time you have to do something that He does not approve of.

So backing up ...
He gave me this Word last night. Then this morning I asked him to help me practice it today. As soon as I asked Him for this help, something very interesting happened spiritually. It was like I hit upon something that He has been really wanting me to learn and do. I feel His very strong presense. So close infact that it felt like we were face to face. As I stated many times before, it was wonderful indeed. - Lord I LOVE YOU!!! THANK-YOU VERY MUCH!!!

OK, so back down to earth now ;-) And wouldn't you know it, He gave me some tests today to "help" me out. There are some things that just get under my skin. Guess what! Yep, He threw them at me today.

Did I succeed in walking in repentance you ask? Yes and no. The first fast pitch I think I hit hard enough to get on base. Asking for His help proved useful. Ask for help - get some help - simple. The second pitch He through at me, I swung and hit but it was a foul ball. In other words, the first challeng today I did "good enough". The second challenge I at least tried to repent from my attidute but it wasn't as easy as the first - basically because I didn't allow Him to help me as much.

Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.