Repentance and Running After God Again

Repentance and Running After God Again

by | Apr 2, 2015 | Christian Walk, Leadership

In the previous post, we addressed brokenness as a means to chasing God’s heart and in this post we will look at the heart of repentance.

God loves the heart that is quick to repent when it messes up.

God loves the heart that is quick to repent and runs after Him everytime it messes up.

Brokenness brings repentance, weeping, humility and sensitivity to the things of the Spirit.

David, tagged as the man after God’s heart fell terribly in his life. But everytime he broke God’s heart, he was always quick to repent and weep, almost shamelessly and publicly at times.

As soon as Nathan confronted David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, David didn’t try and give excuses about his act, but in the immediate next verse we read, he repented (2 Samuel 12: 13). In another instance when he counted the fighting men in Israel against the will of God, soon the Bible says that he was conscience stricken and said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done.”

Every time David messed up, his heart wept in repentance unlike his predecessor Saul who was quick to give excuses.

But I did obey the Lord (1 Samuel 15:20)…..was Saul’s song.

And David was worried about pleasing the Lord in situations when no one saw, nor no one knew (1 Samuel 26:12).

David knew how to weep

When I was reading the account of David, I was amazed at how many times David wept. If fact no other Bible hero’s account has so many scriptures on weeping like him.

David wept the most…( 1 Samuel 20: 41); David wept aloud ( 1 Samuel 30:4); Mourned and wept (1 Samuel 1: 12); wept aloud ( 2 Samuel 3:32); David wept ( 2 Samuel 12:22); wept very bitterly ( 2 Samuel 13: 36); He went weeping ( 2 Samuel 15: 30); he went over the gateway and wept ( 2 Samuel 18:33); cried out aloud ( 2 Samuel 19:4).

Of course, he wept for different reasons and in different situations but his heart was always sensitive to the convictions of God.

Untiring Pursuit

I was talking to a man of God and he had this to say, “David actually messed up more than any average man. So then it was not his acts that made him a man after God’s own heart. It should certainly be his desire to please God even after messing up. After God’s own heart surely then refers to the untiring pursuit after His heart.”

A broken heart and a contrite spirit are the key attributes of a God chaser, and he doesn’t get bogged down by his folly in seeking God’s heart but chooses to run after Him no matter what.

In the concluding post of this – After Your Heart series, I will share with you a vision that God showed me, which I am sure will encourage you.

Meanwhile you can share your views on my above post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

 

Drawing Near to God With Brokenness

Drawing Near to God With Brokenness

by | Mar 28, 2015 | Christian Walk, Leadership

In the previous post we learned about God’s desperate desire to reveal His heart to His children. Now the question is how do we on our part seek after Him? How do we become a man (or woman) after God’s heart?

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Your brokenness is precious to God

I don’t have a long list of dos and don’ts for this, but here is what David, a man after God’s own heart, had to say in Psalms 51:17 –

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

God is yet to deny a broken and repentant heart! In other words, if you want to draw near to God’s heart, know that your brokenness and repentance will hold the key.

Isn’t it interesting? The biggest love story – between God and man – at one point ended up with brokenness and regret in Genesis 6:6, and that’s exactly where we find the Spirit of God leading us to.

Mind you, this brokenness and repentance is not to be thought of in the ways of the world – in fact it is something that the world may never understand.

Brokenness

Exodus 20:25 gives God’s clear instructions about making the altar of sacrifice for Him:

If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.

Our heart is the altar of God. Sadly in pursuing God somewhere down the line we have allowed the world to chisel our altars. We have lived lives of compromise trying to ‘fit in’ our society, friends circle, and church setting.

“If I don’t lower God’s standards, I will not fit in the world.”

We are not content with the way our hearts have been created and all the time we are trying to show the world that we are similar to you. We have even abused the grace of God to please our flesh.

And then, we wonder why the fire of God is not falling on our sacrifices; Why signs and wonders stand so aloof from us; Why the Kingdom of God is all about talk and no power.

Beloved, you and I are not called to conform to the world but to be set apart for His glory.

I believe the pursuit of God’s heart begins with brokenness. Brokenness to realise how messed up we are, how adulterated our motives are.

Can you hear God’s heart as you read this : “Child, I don’t need you to chisel yourself. That will all be works. I need you to fall into my hands of grace, that I may shape you and break you so your heart becomes a reflection of mine.”

Oh, how we need brokenness!