GODLY SORROW

i am still feeling there is so much to be said of salvation, repentance, and Godly sorrow as in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. i believe that Godly sorrow is God fearing sorrow, a Godward sorrow. A sorrow that is an all consuming, painful, heavy grief, a mourning for what we have done against Gods will. That fear of God grips us deep in our gut and we know there is nothing worse in all of eternity than being displeasing to God. As we begin to realize what God has done for us, we know there is nothing we could ever do to repay the debt we owe. What Jesus did for us truly begins to pierce our hearts. Then we cry out to the Lord and we weep (Psalm 51:4). God is all there is. God is everything. We are deeply grieved and It is then that we tell God our sins against Him and give him our lives, forever turning away from our old life. This is a defining moment, a sanctifying setting apart to God, (Hebrews 12:14; Hebrews 10:26-31) not to be polluted by sinful conduct. Moving us from the profane to the holy. God sets us apart as His own forever, and we become new in Him, washed clean, the old is gone. Truly gone forever. This is a moment we never forget. This is truly a powerful moment, one that cannot be had in just saying a "salvation prayer" with heads bowed and eyes closed. No, true salvation does not happen like that, as in a vacuum. In true salvation, the angels in heaven are rejoicing (Luke 15:7) and we here on earth should be too.

So when we are saved it involves confession of sin, repentance and holiness or sanctification. Then we wake up the next day and then what? We pray, we ask God to order our steps and hear our prayer, and guide our reading of His word, all we do we do for him, in his will not our own. WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING IN HIM (Acts 17:28). We hide the word in our heart so we do not sin against him (Psalm 119:11), we search the scriptures daily (Acts 17:11), we ask God to search our hearts for any wickedness (Psalm 139:23-24). We make the hard and not so hard choices involved in DENYING SELF, DYING TO SELF, PICKING UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOWING HIM, DAILY, DAILY, DAILY. (Mark 8:34). What does that look like? It is different for each of us. But it is real for each of us. And the answer is the same. The cross is putting off the flesh with its passions and lusts, renouncing the world and ourselves.

Now we are saved, from ourselves, from the coming wrath(Revelation 6:17), but we will sin. Salvation separates us from the condemnation of the sin nature. But when we stumble, we confess (1 John 1:9) and repent of it to the Lord and we are forgiven every time. New every time. Praise God... walking in the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus. Walking in true faith and knowing as we seek Him first, (Matthew 6:33) he will supply our every need. That is so awesome and unbelievable that He loves us so much (John 3:16).

What if we are not? What if we are saved and we habitually sin the same sins? My thought is, we are not in the word, or praying, or making the time needed to follow him. Widening the gate. He is not truly first in our life. We did not truly give him everything when we were saved, or we took some back after. It is all or nothing, God's way or the way to destruction. The narrow way and straight gate (Matthew 7:13). You cannot have God and the world. You cannot have God and yourself. You cannot hold on to one little grain of sand of your life and expect Victory. Each recess of our being has got to be His, permeated by his presence, uttered by him, all of me has to be him. Total surrender to God's will, God's way, God's time. It has got to be, or there is no victory. We have got to lay it all down. All of it. Every day in every way. ALL OF IT.

GET INTO GOD'S WORD AND GOD'S WORD WILL GET INTO YOU.....