Repentance: The Big Turn Around

Today was Bible Study.  (Looking forward to having you back soon, Cheryl!)  We were in Lesson Four of "Seeking Him."  The subject - repentance.  Before I give the highlights from chapter one of "The Power of Suffering", I've got some good things from Lesson Four.  

Key Points:

• Revival requires repentance
• Repentance involves returning to the Lord, forsaking sin, and obeying God
• Repentance is for Christians as well as non-Christians
• Real repentance influences behavior
• Repentance begins in the mind as conviction of sin
• When God calls us to repent, it's time to act
• Repentance enables us to glorify God

A Great Quote by Spurgeon:

       "The more we realize our indebtedness to God's grace, 
         and the more we see the sufferings of Christ in
         order to effect our redemption, the more do we hate sin, 
         and the more do we lament that we ever fell into it."

Looking at the Heart - Self-Evaluation Questions:

1. Have I ever experienced the repentance that characterizes genuine salvation?
2. Does sin in my life bother me?
3. Do I have an attitude that says, "Lord, everything I know to be sin and everything You show me in the future to be sin, I am willing to forsake?
4. Am I willing to call my wrong actions "sin", rather than viewing them as weaknesses, "struggles", or personality traits?
5. Am I more concerned about grieving God than about the consequences of my sin?
6. Am I willing to accept personal responsibility for my actions, without pointing the finger of blame at anyone else?
7. Am I willing to take whatever steps may be necessary to make complete restitution for my sin?
8. Have I, at any time in the past year, experienced genuine repentance, resulting in a change of attitude and/or behavior?
9. Has God convicted me of any specific sins in my life that I have never truly repented of?  If so, am I willing to repent of those sins here and now?
10. Am I willing to be accountable to another believer in those areas of my life where I have experienced past failure, so that I may develop new patterns of victory?

I really liked this discussion question towards the end of the lesson:   

When God brings conviction of sin to the heart of one of His children, what does this tell us about Him? ...that He is holy and it is His heart that we are holy as well!  The whole purpose of our lives is to show how wonderful He is.  We do that when we live set apart lives.  Bringing us to conviction of sin is a loving and gracious act.  How deeply He cares for us!