REVELATION 16:9
9. People were severely burned (scorched) by the fiery heat, and they reviled and blasphemed the name of God Who has control of these plagues, and they did not repent of their sins — felt no regret, contrition and compunction for their waywardness, refusing to amend their ways — to give Him glory. Amp.
DEFINITIONS
Contrite -d) crushed in spirit by remorse or guilt.
Repent -d) to feel sorry for (a past error, sin, omission etc.); to feel such regret as to change one’s mind.
Chapter 16 is a record of the 7 Bowls or Vials of God’s wrath being emptied on the earth. This is telling us that so many will still not bow in submission to God knowing that their life will soon most probably be over.
Let’s examine repentance.
Acts 2:38 And Peter answered them, Repent – change your views, and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it — and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amp.
Acts 3:19 So repent — change your mind and purpose; turn around and return (to God), that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing – of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air — may come from the presence of the Lord. Amp.
The Lord is so very good and merciful. He always takes away our sins. He does not expect us to do the wiping out of the evil in our life. That is His job and only He can do it. These two scriptures in Acts make it clear what He expects from us.
The first thing we must do is to change the way we have been thinking and to accept the will of God in our life. This will include contrition or godly grief that we have felt. Some may be stubborn and say no, when others will admit their wrong. They will either accept what the Word of God says or reject it.
When we are bound up by any sin first, we must change our mind and attitude to be submissive to the Lord. What do we want? Do we want Him, or do we want our sin? That is the whole key to repentance.
When He comes into our heart with so much love and gentleness, why would we want anything more especially the thing that has hurt us. Like in unforgiveness, if there is a root of bitterness that must be uprooted by Him and that is a very painful process that only He can do. Our part is to ask for Him to do it and set us free. Then it is in His hands, and we await our deliverance. We have been forgiven and will be blessed though still bitter but waiting to be set free by Him in His timing. We have done our part. Some are more complicated than others and take more time.
He sees the why behind the what and will be loving and merciful to those who have suffered any abuse due to no fault of their own. As we ask and wait for deliverance, Satan will do all He can to get in the way of deliverance. It will always be a battle. But we know we are on the right side and if we do not grow weary, we will reap eventually.
Psalm 116:16 O Lord truly I am Your servant; the son of Your handmaid; You have loosed my bonds. Amp.
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