Time to Repent! "Yes, Lord" When I'm Stuck In Sin

“Yes, Lord” When I’m Stuck in Sin

This weekend my family took a little road trip up to College Station to watch the Aggies play basketball. On the way up, we passed through Bastrop, where a few years ago wildfires destroyed so much of the beautiful forests full of pine trees that lined the highway. Chris pointed out what used to be the beautiful golf course and reminisced about times he’d played there. Now that golf course has been covered up by overgrown weeds and rocks and bushes and trees. He said, “Sin is just like that, you know? It takes something that was once beautiful and useful and chokes the life out of it and makes it ugly and useless.”

I’m gonna go ahead and give away the punchline here right off the bat. No secrets. No surprise endings. What should you do when you’re stuck in sin? REPENT. The end. There is no magic potion or fancy strategy here. When you are stuck in sin, REPENT. 

Dianne’s Letter

Last week in Christa’s discussion group, Dianne shared that she had lost a letter from her daughter that she hadn’t even gotten to read yet. She knew it was a special letter and she wanted to wait to read it until she had a chance to focus her full attention on it. But she couldn’t find it. She’d searched everywhere and just couldn’t find this letter. She shared with her group and they stopped and prayed that Dianne would find this letter. When they’d finished their discussion time, Pam and Dianne came out where I was and Pam asked Dianne if she could look in her purse for her. Dianne said, “Sure! I’ve looked in there several times and I’m sure it’s not in there, but go ahead. Maybe it’s stuck in my calendar or something.” So we stood there chatting while Pam dug around. Pam pulled out the calendar, opened it and Dianne gasped - there it was - The Letter! They both squealed and hugged and jumped up and down and cheered and I’m pretty sure I heard a couple of Hallelujahs in there! My eyes filled up with tears just watching it all unfold! She was so thrilled to finally find this special letter from her special daughter.

It made me think of a few stories Jesus told about lost things being found. Let’s read Luke 15.

Here we find Jesus surrounded by all sorts of people. There were tax collectors and sinners - the worst of the worst kind of people. These people flocked to Jesus because they saw that he had the power to change their lives. But he was also being watched by the Pharisees and the religious elite - they were skeptical and waiting for him to mess up.

His first story is about a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. One is lost, so he leaves the 99 to pursue the one. Jesus explains in verse 7 that there will be more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents than over the 99 who need no repentance. Of course it’s not that those 99 don’t need to repent, it’s that they think they don’t need to repent. Those Pharisees who were standing within earshot of Jesus as he taught this likely had no clue that they fell into the category with the 99. They thought that because they followed all the rules, they were ok. But they missed the whole point of Jesus’ teaching, so he told another story.

In this story a woman had lost a coin. Never mind that she had nine other coins. She lit a lamp and swept the house until she found her lost coin. Then she called her friends and they had a celebration over the found coin! Jesus explains that the angels in heaven rejoice over just one sinner who repents. 

Now Jesus really wanted to drive home the point with all of these listeners. Here he tells the story that we know as The Prodigal Son. A man’s youngest son takes his inheritance early and blows it all on wild living while the older son stays behind with the father and is very responsible with what belongs to him and his father. The younger son runs out of money and there’s a famine in the land and he realizes that his father’s servants are eating better than he is. So he decides to go back. He literally turns around and begins walking back toward the father. The Father had been waiting on him and runs to him as soon as he sees him coming back. He rejoices that his son has abandoned his former way of life and is choosing now to live in his care. He not only welcomes him, but he throws a huge party, complete with a fat calf. The older brother is pretty bitter about the way his younger brother is treated, but the father reminds him that everything that belongs to the Father also belongs to him.

God loves finding lost people. He’s been all about it from the very beginning. Remember the Garden? God came looking for Adam, even though He knew that he had chosen sin. In fact, the whole gospel story is evidence of God’s desire to find lost people! Before God ever created the heavens and the earth, he knew that this whole deal was going to be about finding lost people. He doesn’t begrudgingly seek us because he has to, as a response to the fact that we sinful people went and got ourselves lost. No, he planned and intended to find us from the very beginning of time! 

Initial Repentance - Realize you are Lost

There are a few phrases that we Christians like to toss around to make everything incredibly confusing. Phrases like “getting saved”, “asking Jesus into your heart”, “accepting Christ” “getting right with God” are all terms we use to talk about salvation. Let me make it simple for you. Your sin separates you from God. You can choose to keep sinning or you can choose to put God in charge of your life. You put God in charge by admitting you’re a sinner and that you need Him to be your Savior. Then you do everything you can to follow the example He gives you in Scripture. Some Christians remember the exact moment of their salvation. I do. I was 8 years old in my parent’s bedroom. Other Christians just look back over a period of time and know that it was in that time that they chose to turn away from their old sinful lives and turn toward a new life in Christ. Either way, the point is that there is a CHANGE. There’s a difference between the old way of life and the new way of life. We call that repentance. Repentance is defined as a literal change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in the whole personality from a sinful course of action to God.

If you’ve never repented - changed from a sinful life to a Christ-following life - please don’t let today go by without making that choice. You see, our repentance leads us to salvation. Without repentance, there is no salvation from sin. Without repentance we are separated from God here on earth, but also forever in eternity as well. More simply put, God will be in heaven forever and without repentance and salvation, you’ll be separated from him in hell forever. I truly hope you’ve made that choice.

Continual Repentance - Realize You can Change

After that initial repentance, turning away from our sin for the first time and choosing to follow Christ, life becomes perfect, right? Wrong! Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and even Christ-followers will always struggle with the temptation to sin. Jesus himself was tempted by Satan while he was here on earth but he didn’t give in to it. But does that mean we have to sin? Does that mean we can’t help it? Absolutely not! We can and we must choose not to sin. When we do mess up, we have to confess it to the Father and repent.

Often, Christ-followers who sin feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and they realize that they’ve messed up. They confess that sin to God and move on in a different direction. But sometimes, there are sin habits and patterns that are not so quickly eliminated. Sometimes even Christ-followers get caught in a particular sin and can’t seem to shake it, no matter how much they wish they could. Let’s look at Paul’s take on this: Romans 7:15-25.

No matter how many times you sin, even if it’s the same sin, over and over and over, God wants you to repent from that sin and walk in His ways. If you mess up again, repent again. If this sin pattern sounds all too familiar to you, it means you’re human! Don’t believe the lie that what you’ve done is too much for God to forgive or that because you can’t seem to break free from a sin habit, you should just give in to it. God wants you back. Remember there is nothing that can separate you from his love.

The Key to Fighting Habitual Sin

Habitual sin is any sin that you’ve allowed to become a habit. Sometimes habitual sin can seem pretty minor - maybe you’re not spending time with the Lord every day, maybe you haven’t prayed in a while, maybe your speech is littered with profanity, maybe your temper flares and you lose control pretty often. These are sins we need to deal with! And sometimes habitual sin looks even uglier and nastier to our human eyes (although it’s all the same to God!). Maybe you’ve let an occasional evening cocktail turn into an addiction that leads to repetitive drunkenness. Maybe you’ve got a bottle of painkillers that you can’t seem to stop using. Maybe you have a relationship with a man that is not your husband that has crossed over from friends to something more than that. Whatever your sin is, it isn’t too big. It isn’t too much. It isn’t too hard. God has healing waiting for you if you’ll repent.

James 5 holds a little nugget of truth that proves incredibly helpful in the battle against habitual sin. Verses 15 and 16 say, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” 

Prayer plays a huge role in this battle over sin - it has the power to save the sick, forgive sins and heal people! But there’s another key here that I don’t want you to miss. It’s not the sinner who prays the powerful prayer here. It’s his friend. Because the prayer of faith is so powerful, confess your sins TO ONE ANOTHER that you may pray for each other and be healed. Confession of sin to each other is not something that we practice regularly these days. We know that usually the Catholics go to confession but as non-Catholics, we leave that confession thing to them and we go on about our business. While it’s true that each of us can approach the throne of grace with confidence, not needing an intermediary to intercede for us (Hebrews 4:16), James tells us that there is a benefit to us when we confess our sins to each other. If you’re stuck in a sin habit, wrestling with the same old sin over and over and seemingly unable to get out, find a trusted friend that you can talk to. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that if you need someone you can trust, I’m always available for you and I’d be honored to pray for your healing.

Sanctification

This whole process of sin-confession-repentance-restoration can be summed up in one word - sanctification. Every day you and I are being sanctified, which is a fancy way of saying we are being made holy. When Jesus was nearing the end of his earthly ministry, he prayed for his followers, including us! In John 17:17 he prayed “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Once we’ve made our initial confession of Christ as Lord, confessing and repenting of our sin, God begins the process of sanctifying us through His Word, which is truth. His Word starts with the Old Testament and the Law, which shows us our sin and our need for a Savior. Then the Savior comes and the New Testament shows us how to follow Him. 

Why does he even bother with all of this? It seems like an awful lot of work, all this sanctification business! The answer is found in this same passage in John where Jesus is praying for his disciples and for us. Check out John 17:20-26. The first reason he sanctifies us is so that people will believe that he is the Messiah, sent from God the Father (verse 21). The second reason here is because he wants us to be WITH Him where He is (verse 24). He wants us to know Him, believe Him and be with Him. This is the whole point of the Gospel. As if that weren’t enough, Acts 3:19 gives us one more reason to repent - that times of refreshing will come! God doesn’t want us to live a miserable, sin-filled life. He has healing and refreshment for us!

Obedience when We’Re stuck in Sin

Remember at the beginning when I gave away the punch line before the lesson? How can we obey when we’re stuck in sin? We have to repent. The thing is, we can’t move on until we do. An unrepentant Christ-follower is no Christ-follower at all because Christ leads us to repentance. So if you have sin in your life that you have not repented from, you’ll be stuck until you repent. If it seems like too much or too big or too horrible, don’t worry. It’s not. Confess that sin to Him, confess it to a friend too and watch as He leads you to places you’d never dream of on your own. But remember, he won’t do that if you’re wallowing in the muck of the pigpen, refusing to repent from your sin. Trust Him to forgive you! Trust Him to bring healing to you and welcome you back, throwing a party in your honor. Remember, God loves to find lost people!

Never Alone: "Yes, Lord" When I'm Lonely

“Yes, Lord” When I’m Lonely

With seven people and a dog occupying our house, I quite often look for ways to get a few minutes of peace and quiet. There are several places in my house that I go to be alone. Sometimes it’s the bathroom. But the little fingers always find their way under the door, so that’s no real escape. I discovered that if I leave the lights off in Ben’s room and go sit in the rocking chair, most of the time the kids don’t think to look for me there. I remember when I told Chris the news that I was pregnant with Ben, there was a person in every single room in my house, so I called him out to the garage to break the news because that was the only private space! Alone time is something I treasure in this wild season of raising young children. But I know there’s truth in the saying “One day you’ll miss this.” 

Loneliness rarely has much to do with the number of people around us. 

Maybe you are in a house filled with people, feeling incredibly alone. Maybe you’re surrounded by people at work, but you still feel lonely. You might even have a great church family and still feel all alone. Or maybe the opposite is true for you. Maybe you are literally alone most of the time and the loneliness seems too much to bear. 

I’m willing to bet that most of us know the truth - we are never alone. The simple fact that God is omnipresent means that He is always with us. His name, Immanuel literally means “God with us”. He is with us. But despite the reality that we are never alone, the feeling that loneliness brings is something that each of us has experienced at one point or another. So when that feeling of loneliness creeps in, when it lingers in our heads and chips away at our spirits, how can we faithfully obey God? How can we say “Yes, Lord” when we feel all alone? Let’s look at some Scripture.

“Good” and “Not so Good”

Think back to the days of Creation recorded in Genesis 1. 

Day One: God created light and separated it from darkness.

Day Two: God created the heavens.

Day Three: God created the land and gathered the oceans. God created plants.

Day Four: God created the sun and the moon and the stars.

Day Five: God created the birds and sea animals.

Day Six: God created land animals and man.

Day Seven: God rested.

After each day of creation, God looked at what he had made and saw that it was good. But Genesis 2:18 says that after God created Adam, he saw that it was not good for him to be alone! So he made a helper suitable for him, which was Eve. This is the first time in Scripture that we see that it is not good for man to be alone. Let’s look at Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Two are better than one! God designed us to live in community with each other. 

But sometimes we’re still lonely.

A Wider Perspective of Eternity - “with”

We’re not going to look very long at any one teaching of Jesus or any one major event in his life where he specifically addresses loneliness. No, for this lesson we need to step back and look at the overall picture of eternity and the role that Jesus plays in it. We’re going to go to the Gospel of John to broaden our perspectives a bit today. In John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” A few verses later in John 1:14 we read that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” “The Word” there is God in the person of Jesus Christ. He was with God in the beginning and then he put on skin and came and stayed with us a while. 

He didn’t have to do that, you know. God could’ve chosen to stay in heaven while we fumbled around on earth, bound for eternal separation from him in hell. But a few chapters later, John 3:16 tells us that God loved us so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Do you know where eternal life happens? With God. He loves us so much that he wants us to be with Him forever. So He came to earth as Jesus to be with us on earth so that He could be with us in Heaven later and for eternity. This is a God who really really really wants to be with us. It's not about where we are when we're with Him - here on earth or in heaven - the point is, He really wants to be with us, no matter where we are!

If you keep reading in John, you’ll see stories about when Jesus called his twelve disciples to follow Him, to walk with Him during His ministry years. You’ll see Him with lots of different people: family, friends, strangers, sinners. He is with them performing miracles and teaching and healing and changing lives. In John 19:25-26 we read that Jesus was with his mother and several other followers as he hung on the cross that day. Of course we also know that when he rose from the dead, he appeared several times to his followers and disciples because he wanted to be with them and show himself to them. Our God is Immanuel, “God with us”.

I really believe that our heads understand this. We know that the Bible teaches that God is with us and we know that as believers, we have the Holy Spirit abiding in us so we are literally never alone. But let’s dig even deeper. Let’s go to the uncomfortable place, the place where we don’t like to admit we’ve been or the place where we don’t want to admit we are now.

Loneliness from Loss

Loneliness almost always comes from loss. Some of us have lost husbands through death or divorce. Some of us have left a home that we loved and moved to a new town. Some of us have battled miscarriage and infertility. Some of us have prodigal children. For some of us, our loss comes because we had hopes and dreams that haven’t been fulfilled - we grieve the loss of what we had hoped for. Think for a moment about what loss you’ve experienced in your life. Can you see any relationship between that loss and any sense of loneliness you feel? 

I grew up an Air Force brat. We had lived in eight places by the time I graduated from high school. I suffered a big loss with our last move from Virginia to San Antonio. I missed my friends and my school and my home. I started my tenth grade year at Judson High School, which at the time was the second largest high school in the state of Texas. There were times I had to ride a bus just to change classes. I had met a handful of people at church that summer, but I didn’t see them often and I was so lonely. Every day I would sit outside in the courtyard and eat my lunch by myself because I was scared to death to go in the cafeteria. One day a boy from church came and talked to me at the end of the lunch period. I didn’t feel quite so alone. He came back the next day and the next and the next. He didn’t have any ulterior motives. He didn’t try to get me to change. He just came and talked to me. His friendship meant the world to me because God used him to show me that I was not as alone as I felt. No surprise that this guy is now a missionary in Bulgaria. I will always and forever be thankful for Stephen because he stood with me when I was lonely. 

I’ve used this example countless times with teenagers to remind them of the importance of standing with their lonely friends and peers at school. But it’s a good lesson for us as women too. Look out for the lonely ones. See who sits alone. See who might just need someone to talk to to feel less alone. Be that person for someone else. Sometimes, we get the opportunity to be with someone in the same way that God is with us. The ministry of presence is a very important ministry.

What Do I Do?

Now lets talk about what to do with this loneliness. Let’s talk about how to have a “Yes, Lord” attitude in the middle of it.

CHOOSE TO REJECT THE LIES OF SATAN.

1. There is something wrong with me.

Psalm 139 tells us that God created you in your mother’s womb and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You were created in the image of God for a purpose. There is nothing wrong with how He made you.

1. I don’t deserve love. 

God loves you so much that He sent His son for you! Romans 8 tells us that there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Nothing!

1. I cannot change my situation.

The fruit of the Spirit is in you if you are a believer. Because you have fruits like patience and self control and love, you absolutely can change your situation by making different choices and choosing different responses.

CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE.

1. There is something wrong with me. 

Romans 3:23 - Yep, there’s something wrong with you and it’s called SIN. Sin separates us from a holy God so we have to repent (turn away) from our sin and walk toward God. Sin is ugly and will choke the life out of you if you don’t repent.

1. I don’t deserve love.

Romans 6:23 - Yep, you do not deserve the love He offers. In fact, there’s not a single thing that you can do to earn His love or His grace or His favor. He offers it freely, even when what we deserve is death.

1. I cannot change my situation.

Philippians 2:12-13 - It’s true, you can’t change your situation. But God can. We obey but it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure.

A Chosen One

Let’s look back to the Old Testament for some truth about who we are. Check out Isaiah 43. This passage of Scripture was given to the Israelites while they were in exile in Babylon. They had been scattered across the land and things looked pretty grim to them. This is not how you would expect God’s chosen people to live. So He has some absolutely beautiful words for them here in Isaiah 43. Now the cool part is that according to 1 Peter 2:9-10, we are now the chosen ones. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a chosen one. I’m not going to delve into the doctrine of election or start a debate on predestination, but I will say that as believers, we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. The words that God gave Isaiah for the children of Israel are words that we can take to heart and apply to ourselves as believers.

Read Isaiah 43:1-21.

These are God’s Words to you. He is with you. What a precious promise!