Repentance And Backsliding!

Hello Guys and Gals!

Have you ever repented of something only to find that you fail in your repentance time and time again? I have! I would like to share with you something I read this morning.

'And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly.' Matthew 26:75

John Calvin says that Peter, probably in fear, ran away and hid somewhere to weep. Peter knew what he had boasted to Jesus and knew that he had failed Jesus in that boast. When Peter wept the tears were from a heart broken because he had failed his Lord! How many times this has happened to me must be as numerous as there are stars. I cannot tell you how many times I have had this same broken heart within me. It hurts. It is shameful. It is sure knowledge of my not ever being able to live the kind of life God wants me to live.

But John Calvin says that God does not despise weak repentance! And that our tears, shed in the private sanctuaries we retreat to, are testimony before God and the angels that our repentance is real, because the tears flow from the deep feelings of our hearts! He then talks about some who cannot shed tears at these times of deep repentance and says that even their repentance is just as real as those who do shed tears. In other words, it is not the tears that are the testimony, but the feelings of the heart! I believe this is where God looks to find the truth in all that we do and say. I believe it is from the motivations of your heart that God finds the truth of who you really are!

Think on this today: what are the motivations of your heart toward God, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your politicians, and even your enemies? Would God approve of them?

God bless each and every one of you this day!