Yesterday we took an honest inventory of the conditions of our hearts. Now that we have had heart surgery, we can take a deeper look at repentance. Please bear with me if you are not in need of a fresh dose of repentance. Just save this information should you ever need to encourage someone else. Put on your wet suits and grab your mask and fins. We are going to dive deep into the waters of repentance today. Be sure to bring your oxygen tank, you will definitely need the air!

I want to read a scripture with you that I stumbled upon when I first began my recovery. It is pretty straight-forward and will probably not settle well for those of you who do not want to repent from any sin you may currently be involved in.

I am reading Deuteronomy 30:15-19 from of the New Living Translation. It reads, “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death. I have commanded you today to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, laws and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!”

In these scriptures, God was urging His people to choose life. Just like He was urging the Israelites to choose life, He is urging us to do the same today.

What does this scripture say God will do for us if we keep His commands?

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What does it tell you will happen if you refuse to listen?

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God’s commands are given to us so we will be protected from the evil of this world. He knows that when we choose sin it gives birth to death. He knows the consequences we will have to face. These scriptures are very clear. They are asking us whether we are we going to choose the path of life or the path of death caused by sin. God clearly was warning His people (and us) that should we choose the path that leads to death, destruction will surely fall upon us. I know from experience that when we have been warned and continue to choose the wrong path, destruction will come. I have known some precious people that became friends with “seduction” and fell into sin that cost them everything tangible around them. It is excruciatingly painful to watch the consequences of sin fall upon God’s people and it is terribly painful to personally go through it as well.

When I came upon those scriptures above, I knew God was calling me to choose the right path for good. I knew that whatever choice I would make, He would be witnessing.

I sense some of you may be afraid to make a choice today. Journal your thoughts.

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I made that commitment to repent and grab hold of God’s hand as I faced the aftermath of my choices. There is no way I could have done it without Him. What do you think repenting from an ungodly relationship looks like?

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If you are married and are involved in a relationship of any kind outside of your covenant here is what repentance might look like:

You humble yourself before God and confess any betrayal you have committed. Agree with Him that this relationship is not His will and turn away from it. Confess your sin to those necessary, that they will not be further devastated by your sin. I highly recommend you seek Godly counsel when it comes to confessions before others. Break off every tie to the other person. You must take extreme measures here. If you have to quit your job to break off the tie, do so. Satan will make every attempt to get you to look back so you will fall again. Remember Lot’s wife?

If you are single, repentance might look like the following:

You can go to the other person and tell him that you are no longer going to sin against God in your relationship. Either he chooses to get right before God as well, or you break it off.

If you are single and involved in a relationship with a married man:

Humble yourself before God about the nature of your sin. Agree with God this is not His will for you or for the other man’s life. Even though it may feel like it is, do not trust your feelings. Choose to see that you are believing a lie if you think this relationship is God’s will. Even if you still believe the lie, choose to believe God on this one; break off the relationship and disconnect yourself from him entirely. If you don’t break it off completely, you are likely to fall back into it sooner or later.

If you are one who does not want to repent or feel too attached to the other person to break it off but know you need to, I urge you to ask God to send a fresh wave of repentance over you. Ask Him to do this for as long as necessary. Girls, you will see in the following scripture that repentance is God’s to give. He grants it to us. It is not something we can just all of a sudden feel or do. What we can do is ask God for it.

Please see 2 Timothy 2:25-26. This is a fascinating word from the Lord. “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

Let me be bold and ask you something. Perhaps now or at some point, has seduction taken you captive to do the work the enemy of the enemy? Oh, that the body of Christ would come to their senses and recognize the roaring lion’s paw prints; they have seduction written all over them!

According to this scripture in Second Timothy, what does the word tell us repentance will lead God’s people to after God grants them (us) repentance?

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What does it say will happen after we have been led to the knowledge of truth?

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What do the people have to be exposed to in order to come to their senses?

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What will the people escape from when they come to their senses?

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Do you see that it is God who grants you repentance? It is repentance that leads you to truth which will allow you to come to your senses! Once you come to your senses, you can escape the trap of the devil.

Have you ever known someone who was acting totally out of character through the type of sin they were involved in? The word basically tells us they are not in their right frame of mind because they have fallen for Satan’s trap and have been taken captive to do his will.

I know that some of you do not want to break free from seduction and ungodly ties because it feels good, at least temporarily. It has become your drug of choice. From these scriptures do you see the enemy has lured you into his trap and taken you captive to do his will? Ungodly relationships are the enemy’s will! He knows what kind of havoc they will wreak on God’s children.

God has great plans for you and he wants to prosper you (see Jeremiah 29:11). If you continue down the path of destruction you will end up in the bottom of the pit. You will have to face consequences that will be extremely painful. Your sin will splatter much further than just your home. Satan will be doing the river dance when he sees all the people devastated by your sin! If he has convinced you to leave your marriage for another man, trust me that even though he has convinced you of this, he has no plans to leave you alone after you try to do so. Have you ever thought that perhaps when you get the guts to tell your spouse you are leaving him for another man, Satan may convince the other man to back out on you? That is just one more trap he may have set for you. Even if the other man doesn’t back out, it will be miserable once you get over to the other side. The enemy is not in the business to make your life happy. He is in the business to get you to buy his lies that the grass is greener on the other side. Once you get over there he doesn’t plan to leave you alone. He plans to wreak more havoc on you. Receive my advice and take the detour offered before you today. Let’s come to our senses through God’s truth and flee sin. Let’s get into agreement with God and choose life. Let’s ask him to help us recognize seduction when it’s knocking at our doors so we can avoid Satan’s traps all together. Join me in prayer.

Lord, we humbly ask you to set off an alarm within us when seduction seeks to devour us. Help us recognize it when it’s knocking at our doors so that we would not open them. We cannot do this without the help of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let’s come up for some air. Don’t think that just because I’m writing this my feelings don’t get in the way. I have been in restoration for several years and my sinful choices still bring forth pain. I know how hard it is to make the right decision. However, at the time, I did not know how to tap into the life-changing power of Christ within me. You have everything you need within you to make the right decision. You have the fullness of Christ dwelling within you through the Holy Spirit. Call upon that power and exercise it.

Would you consider right now making a commitment before God to ask for repentance for any ungodly relationship or sin you are involved in? If this does not pertain to you, maybe you could pray for someone you know who is involved in one. We all find ourselves at least ankle deep in sin at times. If you need a tidal wave of repentance to wash over you, would you ask for that now?

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Oh, what I would do if I could go back to that fork in the road! Although, I eventually did choose life, the ramifications for not doing so immediately were overwhelming. Let that serve as a warning. When the Holy Spirit tells you seduction is standing at your door ready to come in, may you realize it seeks to devour you and everyone behind your doorway.