“repent” means—to turn towards Him

I was reading through this teaching on the book of Romans and this one part really struck me: What God is looking for is repentance that comes from His kindness. In trust, turning your face towards Him. That’s what “repent” means—to turn towards Him. He’s looking for people who turn towards Him and see His character.
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After reading the above quote the LORD opened my eyes and showed me some things that have really helped to set me free. I always thought repentance meant to flee from sin. I realize now that on some level I have held on to this mental picture in my mind that when I repent I turn from sin and I run or flee from it. I never realized before how much this attitude has kept me tied up in bondage because as I was fleeing I was always looking back over my shoulder at the sin. I keep thinking about how “I” failed and what “I” could do the next time to avoid this sin. My focus has been literally on sin and not Jesus. I see now that repentance is not only a turning away from sin but more importantly a turning to Jesus! As I turn from sin and repent, I seek Jesus and my focus is now on HIM where it belongs. I don't have to look back over my shoulder because I am not just fleeing but also trusting in JESUS to forgive me and help me over come. I only need to look and keep my eyes on HIM, that sin that I turned from is gone, HE took care of that and I am free to walk with HIM now.

What an awesome and amazing GOD we are so blessed to be HIS children!!

God bless
maryjane

I see now that repentance is not only a turning away from sin but more importantly a turning to Jesus! As I turn from sin and repent, I seek Jesus and my focus is now on HIM where it belongs.

Amen sister, good post. Thanks.

What is Real Repentance? By: Major W. Ian Thomas

True repentance is not being sorry for something you have done wrong. Now, if you do something wrong, you should be sorry; but that is not real repentance.

Real repentance is hilariously exciting. It is facing the facts of life, recognizing how God made you, how you were intended to function, and then being restored to that relationship of mutual interavailability that the Lord Jesus enjoyed between Himself and the Father, a mutual interavailability in which you are prepared to let Him be God. That is true repentance.

Repentance happens the moment you genuinely admit, "I cannot - and only God can." Deriving from that repentance is the attitude of the Bible calls faith. It means bowing to the fact that you cannot and only God can. It means acting on the assumption that this is true, and exposing every situation moment by moment, for Him to accomplish what you cannot, while you tell Him, "Thank You!" You give Him your hands for Him to work with, your feet for Him to walk with, your lips for Him to speak with, your eyes for Him to see with, your ears for Him to hear with, your mind for Him to think with, your heart for Him to love with. You tell Him, "Thank You for being my Creator within the creature. You are in business!"

Then you begin to live miraculously. You manifest a quality of life that baffles those around you.

If, however, you do not bow to this fact that you cannot and only God can, if you do not admit it as true, this does not mean you will not continue trying to live the Christian life. The vast majority of those who are redeemed, whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life, and who are on their way to heaven, are not prepared to act on assumption that they cannot and only God can. They try to live the Christian life for Him, and they fail miserably.

When Paul in the New Testaments describes "the last days," he speaks of people "having a form of godliness but deny its power" (2 Timothy 3:1, 5), and these "last days" are the world we live in today. So many have a dead religion, destitute of what makes it functional. They are missing the hidden factor, denying the true power: God Himself. They are not letting God be God.

Faith means letting Him. In any particular situation you encounter, any particular need and responsibility that faces you, you will never let Him until you are prepared to admit that you cannot, and only God can.

"O LORD my God, in You I put my trust." -Psalm 7:1

This is an excerpt from Major W. Ian Thomas' Book called "The Indwelling Life of Christ - All of Him in All of Me"

I really enjoyed your testimony on repentance MaryJane. I pray that God will continually bring you greater rest in Christ dear sister. May God bless you mightily for His name and Kingdom sake.

In Christ Jesus our Lord,

- Michael Liao

bibilicaly speaking repentances is a two fould word

it is used in the idea of repenntances towards god

seeking gods face so to speak

and a repetance from sin
a change of hear towards sin ,which results in a turing awaying from sin

jesus said to the womwn caught in adultry to sin no more

that is a form of repentance

repentance is said in the bible to be granted by god

througgh the conviction of the spirit ,alllowing one to turn from a sinfull life

some one who has true repentance will begine to flee from youth full lusts as paull wrote to timothey

do downplay repentance to just saying saying it means to turn to god ,is not in anyway the full story

jesus said you can not serve two masters

turng towards god has a great meaning in and of itselfs

walking in the spirit and you will not fullfill the lusts of the flesh , sin will not have dominion over us said paul

that is what hapens if one trully has repentance towards god,,,,,he becomes a slave unto righesness and to gods spirit ,he will not remain a slave to sin ,,he will change

oh yea amen to the last posts

Amen.

Greek word translated into repent is metanoeo, which literally means change thinking. Meta=change / noeo=thinking.

There is a great sermon on this site by J Edwin Orr on the subject: The First Word of the Gospel.

I think Leonard Ravenhill said this but it was along the lines of "A Radical turning towards God, requires a radical turning away from sin." May have not been Ravenhill but that quote has always stuck with me. If we wish to follow Christ then we can't possibly follow the world any longer because they are Polar Opposites.