The Power of Repentance and Forgiveness

THE POWER OF REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS

A young couple asked pastor Dave for a prayer. The husband was a young minister, and pastor Dave knew the family well. At the set appointment, they came together with their two small children. The day before, pastor Dave inquired of the Lord how to pray for them. “They need to be watered,” pastor Dave heard the Lord saying. Water is a sign of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, so pastor Dave understood that he had to center his prayer on inviting the Holy Spirit to minister to them. 

That same night, in a dream, the Lord showed pastor Dave, in greater detail, the desperate, water-deprived condition of the family. In his dream, he saw the whole family, the husband, the wife, and their minor children, in what appeared to be an open desert space. Everywhere the eye could see was a dry, arid land with deep cracks splitting the surface. The sun was at its zenith, scourging the ground with unbearable heat. But everyone in the family looked very fresh, especially the wife. She was smiling and talking, completely unaware of the harsh environment. They all were under a deep shade, so deep that pastor Dave could not clearly see the face of the husband, who was just a step behind his wife. 

A bald desert mountain was far away on the horizon, as a perfect backdrop to the flat wilderness. On its top, a dark cloud lurked; its ominous presence conveyed an imminent threat, ready to rain down like a flood over the family. That flood had a diabolical quality; it threatened the life of the family. They had to be watered with good water before the threat of the flood swept over them. It was urgent! 

At that moment, pastor Dave woke up and began asking the Lord, 

“Why are they in the dry?”   

“Because their water has been cut off, their cisterns are dry,” the Lord answered. “Why was their water cut off? And why are their cisterns dry?” he asked again. “The man knows,” the Lord answered.

Then, pastor Dave thought of the shade that covered the family, his mind searching for an explanation. What was the protection over the family that shielded them from the desert scourge? He wondered. It was not a gazebo, for he did not see any structure. A tree with thick branches could give such dense shade, but it was a desert place where no tree could grow. Then he heard the Lord saying, “It is my wing! They are under my wing!” And then he remembered seeing it! Yes, in his dream, he saw the ends of what appeared to be giant feathers. His mind went wild, trying to imagine the size of the wing spread over the entire family that provided such deep shade. The images came with Scripture that gave further direction for prayer. 

How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life. (Psalm 36:7-8)

Pastor Dave was astonished to see the love and care the Lord had shielded the family. In times of trouble, His wing extended over them even though they were neither unaware of the extent of danger nor the totality of their protection. But God knew it all, and He sheltered them under His wing because He loved them! 

The next day, before the prayer meeting, pastor Dave related the dream to the husband. His face turned pale, and he remained silent. With his head dropped low, he walked away slowly. 

Not too long after, pastor Dave noticed with wonder the changes in the young man. His preaching and prayers were no longer dry, an indication that his supplies of living water had been renewed. Whether the turning point of his renewal was before or after the prayer, pastor Dave didn’t know, but the Lord knew. Everyone saw clearly displayed in public what the Lord had done in private with this man’s heart. This remarkable change from being dry to springing with fountains of living water began with a spirit of repentance. Whatever sin had burdened the man, he faithfully repented and took it to the cross of Jesus. God responded with a renewed supply of living water. 

The opposite is also a reality when we often witness the devastating consequences of an unrepentant heart. Words of discernment are frequently met with scorn and mockery. As much as we rejoice in the healing of one, we are deeply saddened by the self-destructive will of the other, and so is the Lord. 

The Spirit-to-spirit communication with God requires that we become more like Him. We must conform in the likeness of Christ. The scriptural way of this transformation is repentance from sin and renouncement of wrongdoings. It is not what we do apart from our prayer that changes us, but what God does with us during our prayer when we come with penitent hearts before Him. This is the state of being poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) that lays the foundations for a new life in Jesus. Then, what God has done in secret in our inner room in prayer (Matthew 6:6), is seen by everyone, in the life of that individual, for His glory. 

The first step towards becoming more like Jesus is repentance.  Apostle John says, 

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

We are urged to look deeper! We are instructed to clean up our lives! We are called to repent! The Israelites lamented and complained to God,

Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How, then, can we live? (Ezekiel 33:10) 

The Israelites identified the reason for their suffering, but they did not repent from it. Lord God spoke to the unrepentant house of Israel, 

Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11) 

The Word from God, delivered through the Prophet Ezekiel, gave the Israelites an understanding of how to end the plague of “wasting away” in sin. They had to turn from evil by repenting and abandoning their sinful practices. What should our response be? 

Identifying sin alone is not enough to cancel death as retribution for committing it; only repentance from sin can cancel the punishment of death. For the Israelites, this was the turning point from death to life. Not only does the recognition of sin matter to God but the sincere renouncement by those who practice it. This is the core of the act of repentance. Knowledge of sin does not save; it only convicts of wrongdoing. The power of repentance is in the act of turning away from sin. 

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

An act of repentance unleashes forces in the spiritual realm that operate on the power of God’s spoken Word, evoking God’s mercy and bringing God’s promise for restoration into existence in our lives immediately (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). 

We, the believers in Christ, are not in a different position from the Israelites on the issue of being prone to the enslaving power of sin. Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin (Romans 3:9), says the  Apostle Paul. This power was deadly for the Israelites, and it is deadly for us as well. The Lord cried then, calling His people to turn back to Him. The Lord continues to cry after us even today, saying, 

Be earnest, and repent! Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:19b-20)

Note who Lord Jesus calls to repent, not the lost out in the world, but those who already have been redeemed! Why would the Lord call the already saved? For the same reason, He called the Israelites to turn from their evil ways. The Lord God does not want any of His own to die due to sin (Ezekiel 33:11). Repentance has the power to cancel a death sentence due to sin and turn it into a blessing of life. Take Jesus' call for repentance seriously, be earnest, and repent (Revelation 3:19)!