TRUE REPENTANCE

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 2 Corinthians 7:10
 
What does it mean to repent? When you or I wrong another person, or we sin against God, do we simply say we are sorry and move on? Os Hillman shared his experience, "A few years ago I was involved in a business situation that taught me a great lesson. A client severely wronged me and ultimately took our company for $160,000. In a court of law, I probably would have won the dispute. However, after I had already filed suit against the man, I realized that there was one aspect of the matter that I was wrong about, involving a third party that could no longer be held accountable. I could not effectively resolve the matter without taking the first step in owning the responsibility for my part in the matter. I made a decision to drop the lawsuit. However, after calling my attorney, I discovered the client had already filed a counter suit. This made the situation even scarier. I was completely exposed if I dropped my suit. I was unable to reach the business owner because he would not return my calls. I got his secretary on the line. "I want you to take this message down and give it to your boss, word for word. Please do not change the words at all. 'I have sinned against you. I know I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I ask your forgiveness for filing the lawsuit against you. You are no longer obligated to pay the balance you owe me if you feel you do not owe it.' " The secretary knew me and the gravity of what I was saying. She began to weep. She could not believe what she was hearing. A few hours later I received a call from this client. He said, "I received your message. I accept your request and I forgive you." He dropped his counter suit. A few days later, I went to see the man and had dinner with him. He did not offer to pay any of the balance. It took three years to pay the vendors related to this situation. It was difficult because I knew he was not taking any responsibility for his contribution to the problem. However, I knew I was to let go of it. The Lord was glorified in this situation and He provided for my needs. Is there anyone you need to seek forgiveness from? Acknowledging our sin is the first step. Humbling ourselves and taking actions to restore is the next step.

GIVING AND RECEIVING

"Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account" (Phil 4:17).
 The apostle Paul had a tent-making business. However, over time, it was evident that more and more of his time was being given to vocational ministry activities. That required him to receive income from those to whom he invested his life. It became increasingly difficult to run a business and travel and minister. His letter to the Philippians gives us a perspective on giving. Although Paul appreciated the support financially, his real joy came in the fact that their gift was being credited to their Heavenly account. "Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:14-19 emphasis mine). Paul had a confidence that God would always provide what he needed. Sometimes it came from his business. Sometimes it came through others. He was not overly concerned with where his provision would come from. His confidence was in God, his provider. So, his attitude was in affirming the benefit that came to the giver from a Kingdom perspective.
Paul learned that it wasn't a church or a business that was his provider. It was God. These were merely tools God used to support him.

GRACE

..."Peace be with you!" John 20:19

How would you respond to a group of fellow workers if you were their leader and you poured your life into them, teaching them all you know for three years, only to have them disband and go their own way when troubles came? What would you say to them after you were reunited for the first time? Perhaps you might scold them. Perhaps you might cite each one's offense. At the least, you might shame them for their lack of faithfulness and courage.
After Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, He appeared to the disciples. His first words to them were, "Peace be with you!" The word grace means "unmerited favour." When someone loves you unconditionally, without regard to your behaviour in return, it becomes a powerful force in your life. Such was the case for the disciples when Jesus appeared to them. They could have expected reprimand. Instead, they received unconditional love and acceptance. He was overjoyed to see them. They were equally overjoyed to see Him.
Jesus understood that the disciples needed to fail Him as part of their training. It would be this failure that became their greatest motivation for service. Failure allowed them to experience incredible grace for the very first time. Grace would transform them as human beings.
Have you experienced this grace in your life? Have you extended grace to those who have hurt you? Can you let go of any wrongs that have come through friends or associates? The grace you extend may change their lives - and yours.

GOD'S RECRUITMENT STRATEGY FOR LEADERS

"Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing." Acts 9:8a

When God calls one of His servants into service, there is often much travail. There are many examples where God makes His presence known through circumstances that tax the individual to his very soul.
Consider Paul, who was stricken blind on the Damascus road.
Consider Peter; when he denied Jesus after the crucifixion, he was in total despair.
Consider Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace.
Consider Daniel, who was thrown into the lions' den.
Consider David, who was forced to flee his former employer for many years and lived as a fugitive.
It may seem strange to us that God uses such incredible adversity to prepare His servants for greater service, but this is God's way. God knows that the human heart is incapable of voluntarily stepping into situations that take us beyond our comfort zone. He intentionally brings us into hard places to prove us and to drive us deeper into the soil of His grace.
In arid regions of the world, trees cannot survive unless their roots grow deeper to where the water table can be found. Once they reach the water, these trees become stronger than any tree that can be found in tropical climates. Their root systems ensure that they can withstand any storm. In the same way, God brings us into extremely difficult situations in order to prove His power and drive our spiritual roots deeper.
Friend, God may take you through times when you will question His love for you. In such times, you must cling to His coattail so that you see His purposes in it. Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him'" (Hebrews 10:36-38).

GIDEON'S SUCCESS TEST

"All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping [the idol] there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family"  - (Judges. 8:27).

Israel was at war with the Midianites and the Amalekites. So God chose a humble young man, Gideon, to deliver Israel by cleansing the land of idols. After submitting a fleece to determine it was God calling him, Gideon obeyed the Lord and destroyed the pagan idols in the region. Then he summoned a large army - over 30,000 men - to fight the Midianites and Amalekites. God said the army was too large, so He first reduced Gideon's army 10,000 men, and then to a mere 300 men. When God gave Israel the victory with an army of only 300 men, all of Israel knew that it was the power of God, not the strength of his army.
If the story had ended there, all would have been well. But at the moment of Israel's triumph, Gideon stumbled. He told the people, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." The Israelites took the gold from the bodies of the enemy dead and Gideon melted it and fashioned it into an idol. The Bible calls this idol an ephod, a word that refers to a ceremonial breastplate?Gideon probably depicted the Lord God as a warrior with an ephod of gold.
But God does not allow Himself to be represented by an idol. This idol was an offence against God and a trap for the people. After Gideon's death, the Israelites again worshipped the pagan god Baal. They forgot the Lord God who rescued them from their enemies.
The story of Gideon has a great beginning, but a tragic ending. This is an instructive lesson for us all. As the apostle Paul tells us, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Cor. 10:12).
If we fail the Success Test we must go back to God without fear. We can ask Him to help us learn the lessons of our failure and to strengthen us for another effort. The God of second chances is able to accomplish His purpose through us even if we have failed Him many times before.

NEW THINGS

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  - Philippians 3:13b-14
 Our past can be a hindrance or a help in moving toward God's purposes for each of us. For some, the past has meant pain and heartache, and grace is required so that we do not let our past dictate our responses to the future. If we allow our past to make us a victim, then we have not entered into the grace that God has for us. If we live on memories of past successes and fail to raise our vision for new things, we again are victims of our past. "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland" (Is. 43:19). Our past should only be viewed for what we can learn from it. We must move forward and avoid viewing the negative or the positive for more than what we can learn. Many have allowed their past to dictate their future. God is always about doing new things in our lives. He gives fresh revelation of His purposes in our lives. Do not live in the past. Do not hold onto bitterness that may hinder God from doing new and exciting things in your life. He turns our wastelands into streams of water to give life, not death. How have you viewed your past? Has it hindered you in some areas of your life? Have you relied on past successes to dictate what you will do in the future? Put aside such thoughts and allow God to do a new thing in your life. Ask Him to help you see the new things He wants to do in and through you today. "When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave" [Author unknown].

MIXING FAITH WITH COMMERCE

"'Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'except a little oil.'"  - 2 Kings 4:2b

Her husband had died. There was no way to fulfill her debts. Her creditors decided to take her two sons as slaves for payment of the obligations that still remained. She pleaded for assistance with the only man of God she knew.
"Is there anything in your house?" Elisha asked.
"Nothing at all," she said, "except a little oil."
Elisha then instructed her to go and collect all the empty jars that her neighbours might possess. "Ask for as many as you can," he instructed.
When the jars were collected, he instructed her to pour what little oil she had into the jars. The oil was more than enough to fill the jars. In fact, there was more oil than jars to fill. "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left" (2 Kings 4:7b).
God often mixes faith with the tangible. The widow believed she had no resources to meet her need. God said she had more than enough resources. She did not see the one jar of oil as a resource. It did not become a resource until it was mixed with faith. Her need was met when her faith was mixed with the practical step of going into the workplace to sell what she had in order to receive her needed income. In fact, there was so much income she was able to pay her debts and live on the money derived from the sale.
Quite often we forget that God works through commerce to provide for our needs. It is wrong to place total trust in commerce without faith in God. God often requires simple obedience to an act that seems ridiculous to the logical mind. It is this faith mixed with the practical that God honors.
Do you have a problem that is perplexing to you? Do you see no way of meeting your need? God may have already given you the skills and talents to meet your need. However, He may be waiting for you to mix them with faith. Ask God to show you the steps necessary to solve your problem. Be willing to take the next step.