Healthy Leaders, Healthy Church Blog
SAY "YES" TO JESUS
February 3, 2025
Titus 2:11-14 is very clear that the grace of God which leads you to say yesto Jesus also demands that you say no to “ungodliness and worldly lusts.” Thecalling from God is to live “soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”Church, the Bible must have the last say on what is right for your body ofbelievers and what brings glory to Him. Saying yes to Jesus brings the realizationthat your church does not belong to you, but Jesus Christ. The problem quiteoften is not being unaware of what God’s word says but acting upon it inobedience. (Luke 6:46-49) Saying yes to Jesus means obeying His truth that yousay you believe.
One often neglected need in the church is not only individual repentance,but corporate. Kevin DeYoung states, “The solution is not to remove forsaking ofsin from the gospel equation, but to labor for a church community where lifelongrepentance is the normal experience of Christian discipleship.” He states thatregret is common enough, but repentance is rare. Jesus is looking for followerswho will hear His words and practice them. Keith Miller reminds us that, “Thevery thing we are afraid of, our brokenness, is the door to the Father’s heart.”Psalm 32 3 says, “When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring allthe day long.”
Your church must challenge every member to closely examine whethertheir public faith (what everyone sees on Sunday) and their private practice(seven days a week) are in harmony. This is the importance of living under theauthority of the Word of God because many are living according to their“feelings” (what is true for me) while God calls you to live by absolute truth whichis His divine standard that is true for all. In Asleep in the Land of Nod, David Buttsstates, “There is a divine, holy anger over sin and rebellion that cannot beignored.” Revival is needed but for revival to come repentance must occur first.
Are souls being saved? Is God’s manifest presence apparent in your worshipservices? Is your church vibrant and alive with God moving regularly and mightily?Or, is it the opposite? Are you and your church experiencing a spiritual droughtand dryness right now? Are you still striving to be faithful but honestly, the joy ofserving the Lord is no longer present? Do you feel like you are just going throughthe motions? Let me state this clearly; without repentance there can be noexpectation of revival. Yet, how do we commonly respond to personal sin orcorporate sin? The temptation is to deny it, ignore it, or just hope it goes away.
In Revelation 2:5 Jesus told the church at Ephesus, “Remember thereforefrom whence thou are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I willcome unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, exceptthou repent.” There is a simple three-fold process in Revelation 2 (Remember-Repent-Return) but it is not simplistic nor easy because it requires humility,contrition, confession, and commitment. Maybe a great step in the right directionwould be purchasing Bill Elliff’s new book, The Presence Centered Life, he hasprovided an excellent worksheet for the repentance process in the appendix.
Interpretation of scripture is one thing but the application of scripture ismuch more. Knowledge is knowing everything there is to know about a subjectand you should know what the Bible says about repentance. Wisdom finds a wayto apply knowledge in practical ways. You can have knowledge without wisdombut you cannot have wisdom without knowledge because knowledge is thefoundation of wisdom. Wisdom is the skill of applying God’s word in our everydaysituations in order to achieve God’s purposes. This is why repentance is to bepracticed not just discussed and then God promises to hear us when we follow Hisinstructions.
II Chronicles 7:14 reminds us that revival is conditional, “If, my people…”God has a people which He calls the church, His body, and He expects us to be apeople for Himself that are zealous of good works. Here is a huge barrier torevival, “Shall humble themselves…” The flesh is proud and many times unwillingto admit your deficiencies but you are admonished to be humble. James even tellsus that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humility is a churchadmitting just how hopeless and helpless you are without him. There is a pictureof confession in the scriptures that is corporate; humbling yourselves together.
II Chronicles 7:14 continues, “And pray…” Many, many, times we areadmonished to pray (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 4:2; I Thess. 5:17;I Timothy 2:1-2). Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray and yet how muchtime as a church, do you actually spend in prayer? Prayer is communicating withGod and He wants to hear from you. Communicating is a dialogue not amonologue and is your church listening by seeking His face and His Kingdom first?Repentance is seen in II Chronicles 7:14 with the statement, “and turn from theirwicked ways…” These are the conditions given if you desire for God to hear youand forgive you.
God has a great deal to say about repentance. Revelation 3:19, “As many asI love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Repentance is foryou and your church. Unfortunately, you will never naturally drift towardsholiness but instead you will drift away. I Peter 4:17 reminds each church, “Forthe time is come that judgment must begin at the house of the Lord.” What doesthat look like? Maybe you are asking, where do I begin? Two free resources are;Personal Revival Checklist and My Spiritual Journey Evaluation. Email us and wewould love to send them to you. Let the journey toward revival begin!..
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