What is repentance?

I find in Psalm 38 versus 18 and 21 and 22 a good example of repentance.

I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

Repentance requires confession. There can’t be any ifs in the confession. Like, “If I hurt your feelings.”

No! The confession must be more like “I know I sinned against you.”

Then comes the statement of being sorry for the sin. The sorry can’t be because we were caught but because we really believe we have harmed others. In the case of sin against God, it is truly being sorry that we have disobeyed and offended the most holy being ever.

Repentance must also deal with our relationship with God. We must ask the Lord to restore us and not turn his face from us. Look at the Psalm. This is an earnest prayer for a quick restoration.

If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, then that must be taken care of before there will be any relationship with God. So watch my video on the Gospel on YouTube if you want to repent of your sins.

God bless you.

Kept from Stumbling

I would imagine that every person on the earth would love to never stumble so badly as to fall. If that is true of you, then listen to Psalm 37, verses 23 and 24.

If the Lord delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Oh yes, there is a catch to it. It starts with the word “if.” So, the first question is how do we know if the Lord delights in our ways? If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Lord delights in your way. If you are trying to delight the Lord in any other way, he doesn’t delight in your way.

But look at this great promise. The Lord is the one who makes our steps firm. This isn’t something that we can do on our own. In the process of sanctification, we will become firmer in our ways as the Lord works in us. We work with the Holy Spirit as we get rid of our old ways.

Even so, the Lord knows we all stumble at times, but he will not let us fall. He upholds us with his hand. It doesn’t say he will uphold us, but that he is upholding us. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, he will make sure we don’t completely fall. That is eternal security.

If you don’t know Jesus but want your ways to be pleasing to the Lord, then watch my video on the Gospel on YouTube.

Peace in a World of Evil

Are you all stressed out about the evils of this world? Are you anxious about where the nation is headed? If so, here is God’s word to you from Psalm 37 verses 7 through 9.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

The only way to handle all the anxiety that comes from watching the daily news is to wait for the Lord. Fretting does absolutely nothing to change the world or to ease your fears.

Trusting in the Lord is the only way to make it through the evils of the world. He will take care of all the evils when He has decided it is time.

The Lord assures us that all the evil people will be taken care of. He will cut them off, get rid of them, so that they will no longer cause any problems.

When that happens, those who are waiting for the Lord will inherit the world. That will happen when Jesus comes back to punish the wicked and give us a new heaven and a new earth without any evils.

But guess what! You must know Jesus if you want part of the new heaven and earth. To know Jesus Christ, watch my video on the Gospel on my profile page or on YouTube.

Desires of Your Heart

Will God give you all the desires of you heart? This is exactly what Psalm 37 verse 4 says:

Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I’m sure there are many false prophets out there that love to quote this verse out of context to tell you that all you have to do is delight in the Lord and whatever you want, the Lord will give it to you.

Well, that’s only part of the story. Read the next verse because there is a condition and explanation of what it means to delight in the Lord. Verse 5 says,

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.

Delighting in the Lord means committing all that you are to the Lord. It means you commit to having all his holiness, his righteousness, his glory (to name a few things) are what you want as a result of living for the Lord.

When you delight in the Lord in this way, then the desires of your heart will bring him glory. You will only ask for things that bring glory to God according to his will. Then, when you trust him to work out his will, he will act.

If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord, then you can’t possibly delight in him, and you won’t get the desires of your heart because the desires of a person who hasn’t come to know Jesus for salvation is only evil in God’s sight according to Genesis 6, verse 5.

To know Jesus Christ and have the desires of you heart changed to be the same as the Lord’s, watch my video on the Gospel on my profile page or on YouTube.

God Bless you.

Don’t Fret Over Evil

Do you watch the news and get all jerked out of shape because of the evils you see?Well, here is what David had to say about that in Psalm 37 verses 1 through 3.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

The Lord doesn’t say there won’t be evil people around or that they are out of his control. We must remember that they will not be around forever. Their lives are like grass that dries up in the hot sun without water.

Instead of focusing on them, we must trust in the Lord to take care of them and while we are waiting, we are to do good. While we live on this alien planet that isn’t our forever home, we must be faithful.

We must be faithful to pray for the wicked and do what we can to share the gospel with them. That gospel tells of salvation for them and you if you don’t know Jesus. If you don’t know Jesus, then you are counted with the evildoers.

To know Jesus Christ who is the only way to eternal life, watch my video on the Gospel on my profile page or on YouTube.

God Bless you.

Dangerous Half-Truth

Telling people that God loves them the way they are is a dangerous half-truth.

Look at the way it should be told starting in Psalm 36:7 and ending in verse 12.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Isn’t that a great promise? But that isn’t all there is.The psalm goes on with more comforting words, but it finishes with verse 12.

There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

If I just read the first 11 verses I would only be telling half of the truth. I would be just like the preachers and the Christian radio DJs who like to say, “God loves you just the way you are.”

That is only half the truth. The rest is that he doesn’t want you to stay the way you are no matter how good or bad you are.

If you know Jesus and you don’t change and grow in holiness you will be disciplined, Hebrews 12:10 says, “He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.”

If you do not know Jesus Christ for salvation the danger of only hearing half of the truth is that you may think you don’t have to change.

If you stay the way you are, Jesus says in Luke 13:3, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

To know Jesus Christ who is the truth, watch my video on the Gospel on my profile page or on YouTube.

God bless you.

Heart Problems

What is the real problem with wicked people?

It is expressed clearly in Psalm 36 verses 1-2.

Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

The problem is a heart problem. They are wicked because they don’t fear God.

The psalmist isn’t just talking about being afraid of God.

The problem is that there it no reverence for God.

There is no understanding about how awesome he is.

They think they are greater than God and can hide their evil deeds from God.

If they knew God, then they would understand that not only does God see what they are doing, but he will repay them for what they do.

God does hate their evil.

What about you? Do you think God doesn’t see your sins.

Do you think he will ignore them just because you aren’t as bad as the next person?

Well, think again. Your only hope is to know God through Jesus Christ.

To know Jesus Christ, watch my video on the Gospel on YouTube.

God bless you.