Repenting is not Difficult Unless we Make it Difficult

April 29th, 2020

By Bryan Mangerchine

Repenting is difficult because we make it difficult.
It’s because we’re resistant.
We don’t want to let go of what we believe.
We don’t want to open ourselves up to just receiving what the Lord says about us.
And most importantly our feelings tell us something different than what the word of God says.
Maybe we don’t know what the Word of God says.
We always know what our feelings say though; they are always there with us.

But what if we took it a little more seriously to build up our faith about what God says about us. Then what God says about us can be there with us all the time too. We can start building on positive experiences where we have sought the Lord, He has spoken to us, and we have walked over a circumstance rather than just going into it and just BLAAHHHH! Because that’s what we do when we’re anxious and afraid.

Am I wrong? Have you never been in an argument before? But how precious is it when you can walk into an argument or see an argument coming and simply repent or avoid that argument because you are not acting out of your flesh in that situation, but instead acting out of grace? Because you’ve received grace you can react in grace. That’s the only way … otherwise you are reacting out of your flesh.

So in the spiritual training method (this is the better way; the only way), you are interacting with the Tree of Life.

We have been given this access: we can interact with the Father face-to-face and He tells us who we are and we start to act like that naturally just because we’ve received it.

If you don’t believe what God says about you in your life, you need to hear what God says about you in your life. If you don’t believe what He says about you, you’re believing a lie and that lie is putting you in bondage … and that bondage is reeking havoc in your life. The Lord wants you free because He’s already set you free! He is waiting with open arms and He’s brought you to this message to hear and receive that He’s not mad at you, he's not disappointed in you … and that the lies that you’ve believed are not true about you.

But you are beloved to Him. You are righteous in His eyes. You are already holy. He has BIG plans for you. He doesn’t want you to be cursed. He wants you to be blessed.

There is only one way you can experience that more fully in your life … and that’s by receiving what I’m telling you instead of what your brain, feelings, or heart are telling you. (Our hearts condemn us, right?)

When we are living with the Tree of Life, our emotions illuminate, they don’t lead.

Our emotions illuminate “something’s happening!” Then we get to go to the Lord and say “what’s happening, Father?” Then we get to go to His Word and say “what’s happening, Father? Who am I and Who are you in this situation?” Then He speaks and then we move. We DO something. But we do it out of the Spirit and not out of the flesh. Because of that, other people get ministered to and we can take this to them as well.

So the repenting process can be a very simple process. When you get good at repenting it becomes really an easy process. Some of us are good repenters. “Didn’t want to do that! Lord, I’m sorry! I’m moving on! That’s not who I am; that’s not Who you are.” DONE.

Let’s talk about those of us who find repenting difficult: “I can’t believe I did that! Oh my gosh, I did it again! I need to call Martha! I need to tell Martha I did it again! Oh man I’ve really screwed it up this time! Tonight I’m going to spend extra time in the Word trying to get this right, trying to get this off my conscience. Tomorrow morning I need to apologize to that person again. I need to FIX this; I need to FIX that. I can’t believe I did this again. I can’t believe I did that. Ahhhh; man!"

The second is conscious of the problem, not “Lord, that’s not who I am; that’s not Who You are. You are so good. I thank You. I worship You. I receive the forgiveness that’s already been made for me. Moving on!”

That process (the repenting process) can get you sucked down into for years. We can walk with blind-spots for years because our hearts are deceived and there is only One Who illuminates our hearts. It might be our brothers and sisters but it’s the Holy Spirit! And “rebuke” is not a bad word; it’s just a word. Repenting is not a difficult process unless you make it a difficult process.

Some of us are more stubborn than others. But you are not the victim of your personality. You are not the victim of your past. You are not the victim of your experiences. And I know this is hard to receive sometimes. You can say “well Bryan you don’t really know what I’ve gone through.” You’re right, but God DOES. And He has something to say to you about those things.