Repentence: Old Testament {focus five + seven}

   Okay! So today we're going to go through Focus' five and seven of the book {finishing chapter two}
 :D The reason I didn't mention six, was because five and seven related to the same subject, whereas six had it's own subject. Who knows, by the end of the post I'll probably have subtly summed up Focus Six.
   Anyways, TO THE POINT!
  Focus Five is called: The abnormality of Impenitence. Well I don't know about you, but I had to look up that one ;) {Luckily I can sum it up for you so you don't have to...or your brilliant, either one} Well let's dissect this title, shall we? Okay so obviously abnormality means abnormal or that the subject is abnormal. And Impenitence? I had to look this one up :), it means Not penitent; unrepentant, or not feeling shame about ones attitudes or actions. Those definitions came from two different areas, but I think they BOTH are good definitions. SO maybe that will give you a understanding of what he talks about next.
   There is nothing unreasonable or unwholesome about repentance. To repent before God is to act in keeping with the natural order of things. There is something very abnormal, however, about impenitence. Jeremiah was told, “Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says:

   “‘When people fall down, do they not get up?
   When someone turns away, do they not return?
⁵ Why then have these people turned away?
   Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
   they refuse to return.
⁶ I have listened attentively,
   but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
   saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
   like a horse charging into battle.
⁷ Even the stork in the sky
   knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
   observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
   the requirements of the LORD.---Jeremiah 8:4-7

  First of all, isn't it amazing how, *basically*, our Nation is very similar to Jeremiah's? The people were the same, then, as they are now. Except, we're worse now. Mr. Roberts continues with, In fact, to resist repentance, one must conduce himself in a very unnatural fashion. The human face, when its owner is right with God, is pleasant to behold, but non-repentance requires a hardening of the countenance. Jeremiah 5:3, then says that our faces are as hard as ROCK! That WE have refused correction, that we have not been weakened (humbled). And then section five closes in Ezekiel 33:11, "'As I live!' declares the Lord God, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?" 

   GOD is calling US. He doesn't want us to be impenitent!!! HE WANTS us TO REPENT. He says it in his word, in his love letter to US! He loves us! Answer HIS calls! 

    FOCUS Seven is SOMETHING to pay attention to. Is called: Warnings to the Impenitent. This is a very URGENT MATTER. We need to STUDY THIS CAREFULLY. I cannot stress the importance of this. It's SCARY, how he begins: Even God's mercy has a limit. That is the first time I've really payed attention to that statement. Rarely, do you HEAR this. Have you heard it? I recall it vaguely, but never have I really pondered it. God's mercy has a limit? Really? WHAT is that limit? Have I passed it? Next he says: We do not know what that limit is, but in many warnings to the impenitent the edge of the warning is very sharp. David sensed it and gravely said, "God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bend His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. (Psalm 1: 11-13.) This is quite a statement! BUT ITS TRUE. We MUST URGE EACH OTHER ON TO REPENTANCE. He gives another example in Isaiah 30: 15-17 and Jeremiah 15:6-7. The true import of Repentance is heightened by a thoughtful consideration of the divinely ordained lot of every sinner. All people are sinners and none have a right to expect mercy, but strangely and wonderfully, God does bestow mercy on those who repent. 

  I'll close with that. It's so IMPORTANT, Repentance. I wish more people knew of it. If THERE was ONE THING I would say, One MESSAGE I would give, it would be REPENTANCE. Repentance is MY heart cry. You CAN'T have SALVATION without REPENTANCE. Repentance is not a one time thing either, it's a ONGOING PROCESS, and there is surely a section about that in the book. But REALLY, think about it today. When I go places I look at peoples faces. Most likely they've never heard of Repentance, most likely they've ignored our Lord Jesus Christ, Most likely they are hurting. They DON'T know REPENTANCE. It's sad to know that some people will never here of Repentance, or Christ, or of eternal life. But, SOME can know. It's up to us to spread the message in lovingkindess, as Christ did. SO let US repent and be forgiven. 

  

  {hope your day is awesome}

  [exclusive tomorrow.] 

 {May everything you do be for His glory.} 

~Hannah~~~~~