by Prisca | 20 April 2020 08:46 pm04
Confession is not the same as asking for mercy from God!
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
There is a clear distinction between repentance and merely asking for mercy. Many people today ask for mercy, but they do not repent.
Brother, seeking mercy without repentance is in vain.
Asking for mercy is no different than asking for forgiveness. When you ask someone to forgive you, you’re essentially asking them to have mercy on you. But repentance is not something you ask for it’s something you do.
Repentance means to turn away from sin and forsake it entirely.
Imagine you are walking in one direction, then you suddenly realize you’re going the wrong way. So you stop, turn around, and walk back or take a different path.
That change of direction, that decision to abandon the former path, is what we call repentance.
But asking for forgiveness is not the same as repentance.
To understand this more deeply, consider the following illustration:
A parent tells their child to go and run an errand. Instead of obeying, the child becomes disrespectful, talks back rudely, and continues playing. But as they walk toward their game, their conscience convicts them they realize their mistake. So they abandon their plan, turn back, return to the parent, kneel down and say,
“Mother, I am sorry for being disrespectful. Please forgive me. I’m ready now to go where you sent me.”
In this example, the repentance happened when the child turned around and went back. The request for forgiveness happened after the repentance.
Do you see the difference?
You cannot say you have asked for mercy while you have not repented.
Repentance must come first, and then the plea for mercy follows.
This is exactly the lesson Jesus gave in the parable of the two sons:
Matthew 21:28–31 (NKJV)
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’
He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.
Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.”
The son who initially refused, but later repented and obeyed, is the one who did the will of the father. This shows us that true repentance results in action a change of heart that leads to obedience.
In these difficult times that have come upon the world, this is not just a time to ask for mercy it is a time to repent.
To repent means to abandon sin, to renounce evil, and to change direction.
It’s time to:
Only after we have forsaken these sinful ways can we approach God and say, “Father, I have let go of these idols and sins please have mercy on me.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Once we have truly repented, we don’t even need to strive so hard to receive mercy. God Himself will extend it to us, because He is abundant in mercy.
Psalm 103:8 (NKJV)
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.”
But if we approach God while still wearing our lipstick, holding onto sexual sin, dressed in revealing clothes, or with unrepentant hearts asking for mercy it’s like a drunk man with a cigarette in his mouth telling his father, “Forgive me for being drunk.”
That’s not sincerity. It’s mockery.
And that’s how we appear before God when we come asking for mercy without forsaking our sins whether they’re hidden or open.
This is the time to seek mercy for our nation, for our own souls, and for our families.
But repentance must come first.
And often, repentance alone is enough to draw God’s mercy, without needing to beg for it.
Consider the Prodigal Son:
Luke 15:20 (NKJV)
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”
The father didn’t wait for the son to say much. The act of returning home was repentance, and it touched the father’s heart.
May the Lord bless you.
If you have not yet given your life to Jesus Christ what are you waiting for?
You are a witness of the times we live in. Greater challenges are still ahead for those who remain outside of Christ.
So, repent today and the Lord will show you mercy and fill you with His Holy Spirit, for He loves us deeply.
Isaiah 55:7 (NKJV)
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Maranatha The Lord is coming!
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