Shalom,

I really LOVE today's devotional by Andrew Womack:

Godly Sorrow Leads To Repentance

Mark 6:12, 'And they went out, and preached that men should repent.'

'Repent' comes from the Greek word, 'metanoeo,' and literally means to have another mind. Repentance is a necessary part of salvation. Repentance may include Godly sorrow, but sorrow does not always include repentance.

Repentance is simply a change of mind accompanied by corresponding actions. There is a Godly type of sorrow and an ungodly type of sorrow. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. Ungodly sorrow, or the sorrow of this world, just kills.

Our culture has rejected all 'negative' emotions. But God gave us the capacity for these negative emotions, and there is a proper use of them. Ecclesiastes 7:3 says, 'Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.' People should feel bad about sin. There should be sorrow over our failures. However, this sorrow should lead to repentance. Then, when forgiveness is received, our sorrow should be cast upon the Lord (Isaiah 53:4).

The Lord's statements to His disciples, the night before His crucifixion, caused them sorrow (Matthew 26:21-22; John 16:6). If they would have let that sorrow lead them to repentance, then they wouldn't have denied the Lord. Peter's sorrow after his denial of Jesus changed him and, certainly, he never regretted the tears he cried.

The sorrow experienced by those who do not turn to God produces only death. They grieve over their situation because they don't turn to God (that's repentance). Christians should only have sorrow until they repent. Once repentance has come, we need to appropriate the forgiveness and cleansing that are already ours through Christ. Godly sorrow that produces repentance leaves us with no regrets. The positive change that our sorrows led us to, changes our attitude towards the things that caused us sorrow. Let the negatives in your life become positives through Jesus.

This is SO good! Some people have wrongly taught that we do not need to 'confess' sin once we are born again, but 1 John 1:9 tells us to! "Confess" simply means to acknowledge, admit, recognize when we have missed it by going against god's Word. THEN we receive that forgiveness that has already been provided and continually cleanses us from sin! Changing our thinking to agree with God (repentance) is NEEDFUL to get us on the right track and back into fellowship with HIM! Don't stay out of fellowship with HIM for even an instant! Here is Hillsong with a new song combo called "Hosanna/For Those Who Are To Come":

Shalom in Him!