𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀

There are times in life when the winds begin to blow, the rain starts to fall, and it feels like everything around us is being shaken.

Storms come to every one of us.

Jesus made that clear in Matthew 7 when He described two houses. One was built upon the rock, and the other was built upon the sand.

𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺.

The difference was not the rain.

The difference was not the wind.

The difference was not the flood.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Jesus teaches us that hearing His Word is not enough. We must hear His Word 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁. When we live in obedience to Christ, we establish our lives upon a foundation that can withstand the storms that come against us.

And that brings us to something the Church desperately needs to recover:

𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘.

Repentance is not weakness.

Repentance is not failure.

Repentance is not admitting that the enemy has won.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

🪨 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗨𝗦 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞

There are areas of our lives that can slowly drift away from God's foundation.

Maybe it is pride.

Maybe it is compromise.

Maybe it is fear.

Maybe it is our own desires.

Maybe we have allowed culture to influence us more than Scripture.

Maybe we simply decided that our way was better than God's way.

Before long, an area of our lives that was once firmly established upon Christ has started resting on sand.

That is where repentance becomes so powerful.

Repentance recognizes what has happened and says:

𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠.

Repentance brings that area of our lives back under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

And here is something we must remember:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀.

💧 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚

Acts 3:19 connects repentance and returning to God with 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 from the presence of the Lord.

Think about that progression:

𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧⬇️𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡⬇️𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚

God is not calling us to repentance because He wants to keep something good away from us.

He calls us to repentance because He wants to bring us 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗛𝗶𝗺.

There is refreshing in His presence.

There is restoration in His presence.

There is renewed strength in His presence.

There is healing in His presence.

There is greater intimacy with Him when we allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal anything that needs to change.

Sometimes we become so focused on asking God to change the storm around us that we never stop to ask:

𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩, 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚?

🔥 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗨𝗦

We hear a lot about revival.

We pray for revival in our churches.

We pray for revival in our communities.

We pray for revival in our nation.

We ask God to pour out His Spirit and move in ways we have never seen before.

But there is a difficult question we must be willing to answer:

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿?

Second Chronicles 7 lays out a pattern for God's people:

𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗦.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬.

𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘.

𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦.

Then comes God's response.

Pride says, 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚.

Humility says, 𝙂𝙤𝙙, 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙔𝙤𝙪.

Pride tells us that nothing needs to change.

Humility allows the Holy Spirit to shine His light into every area of our lives.

We cannot continually ask God to change everything around us while refusing to allow Him to change anything within us.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀.

❤️ 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥. 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧. 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡.

In Revelation 2, Jesus speaks to the church at Ephesus.

They were doing many things right, but something significant had happened.

They had left their first love.

Jesus called them to:

𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥.

𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧.

𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡.

That is the heart of repentance.

God's correction is not always rejection.

Sometimes His correction is an invitation saying:

𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠.

Come back to your first love.

Come back to prayer.

Come back to His Word.

Come back to obedience.

Come back to holiness.

Come back to His presence.

Come back to the Rock.

⚔️ 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬

James 4 gives us another important truth.

We often quote the part about resisting the devil and watching him flee.

But we cannot overlook what comes first:

𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗠𝗜𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗢𝗗.

There is an order:

𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗠𝗜𝗧⬇️𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧⬇️𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗪 𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗥⬇️𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧⬇️𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗

Submission brings us back under God's authority.

Repentance turns us away from what has pulled us from Him.

Drawing near restores our intimacy with Him.

Then we resist the enemy.

And then we 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗.

We want spiritual authority, but spiritual authority begins with surrender.

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

🚪 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗧. 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗜𝗧. 𝗦𝗛𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗢𝗥.

First John 1:9 reminds us of God's faithfulness to forgive and cleanse us when we confess our sins.

But grace was never intended to become an excuse to remain in sin.

Grace gives us a way back.

Grace gives us forgiveness.

Grace gives us cleansing.

Grace empowers us to get up and walk differently.

True repentance says:

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗧.

𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗜𝗧.

𝗦𝗛𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗢𝗥.

𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡.

Repentance is not simply saying, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮.

Repentance is a change of direction.

It is turning away from what pulled us away from God and turning back toward Him.

🌊 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗

Here is the truth we need to settle in our hearts:

𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦𝗡'𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧.

𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗨𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬.

The enemy would love for us to believe that admitting we were wrong means we have lost.

But repentance is actually the moment we stop agreeing with what pulled us away from God and begin agreeing with Him again.

A repentant church is a powerful church.

A repentant church is a clean church.

A repentant church is a church prepared for the presence of God.

A repentant church is a church positioned for revival.

And a repentant believer can stand when the storm begins to rage.

The rain may come.

The wind may blow.

The waves may crash.

Everything around you may shake.

But when your life is firmly established upon Jesus Christ:

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗.

Because the strength of your life was never determined by the intensity of the storm.

𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

And Jesus Christ is the Rock.

🙏 𝗔 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

Father, search my heart.

Reveal anything in me that does not belong.

Show me any area of my life that I have allowed to move from the Rock onto the sand.

Remove pride.

Expose compromise.

Reveal anything that has taken Your rightful place in my life.

I repent.

I turn from anything that has pulled me away from You, and I return wholeheartedly to You.

Create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Bring every area of my life back under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

I choose to submit to You.

I choose to draw near to You.

I choose to resist the enemy.

And I choose to stand.

No matter what storm comes, I will remain firmly planted upon the Rock.

𝗜𝗻 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀' 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗻.

🔥 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗠𝗜𝗧.🔥 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧.🔥 𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗪 𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗥.🔥 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧.🔥 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨.