A Change of Heart and A Change of Mind

Staying close to God through the Lord Jesus Christ is the most important factor to remaining strong during times of trouble. We must be ever mindful that the sheep that are kept safe from the wolves are the ones who remain closest to the shepherd. Jesus Christ is the True Shepherd. He said in John 10:14-15(NLT), “14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father.” The victory of Jesus Christ is our victory as well, but it is imperative that we learn to walk in his victory, because the tricks and plots of the enemy have increased. Darkness has thickened, and more than ever, we must be committed to grow in faith so that our faith will not fail us in our darkest hour.

Bible prophecy warns us that in the end times, satanic and demonic activity and attacks will increase. We can see signs of this now, and some people are very worried, but God tells us in Philippians 4:6(NLT), “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Heavenly Father wants His children to always be close to Him through prayer and gratitude, and He wants us to be committed to His Word. This is the solution He’s given us for worry and anxiety. God’s Word affirms in 1John 4:18 that there is no fear in love, because God’s perfect love expels ALL fear. This verse goes on to tell us that if we are afraid, it is because we’re afraid of punishment; and the only reason why a person fears punishment is because they’re doing something wrong.

At one time, we were lost in sin. We had a reason to be fearful because we were trapped in satan’s bondage, but Jesus Christ took care of the sin issue on the Cross of Calvary. Sin was eating us alive, all because Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s Word. They chose to believe the words of satan instead of trusting what God had told them. This was a catastrophic and monumental mistake. Jesus Christ tells us in John 8:44 that the devil is the father of lies and there is no truth in him. So, it is a very horrific thing indeed to hear the voice of God telling us the truth through His Word but deny it and believe the devil instead. This is what the Bible calls sin. It is to know what God says, and willfully chose to ignore and disobey it.

Those in the old days would say, “Ahh, a little sin ain’t gonna hurt nobody.” They didn’t know the truth as we know it today. Sin destroys. All sin hurts us, and that is why Jesus Christ came down from the throne of God to rescue us. If we erroneously make light of how utterly devastating sin is, we will not appreciate the cost that Christ paid to free us from it.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ gave us new life. Romans 6:4(NIV) declares, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Jesus Christ took our place on the cross. He paid the price that none of us could pay. When we accept him into our hearts, we make him the Lord of our lives. He leads and we follow. And when we don’t follow him as we should, we need to repent, seek God’s forgiveness, and get back on the path of God’s love. Sadly, this is where many of us fall off the rails.

I recently learned of a person that has been a Christian for many years, but she has only repented once that she can remember, and that was during her born-again experience years ago. She said, “I don’t do too many bad things. When I do, I tell God that I’m sorry, but I didn’t think I had to repent.” This is an error in her believing, and this error has kept her separated from the intimacy and closeness she might have shared with Heavenly Father through His Son. In other words, satan blinded her from the truth, and because she did not seek to know better and to study God’s Word, the devil kept stealing from her and tricking her in order to keep a wedge between her and the Father.

God tells us in Hosea 4:6 that we can be destroyed because of what we don’t know. Not taking the time to learn what God requires of us can lead to destruction. The pattern that God has set is to repent as often as we are conscious of disobeying His Will. Jesus Christ gives us a visual of this in Luke 17:3-4(NIV). He teaches, “So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” He is revealing the Father’s heart in this passage. He also reveals that our repentance before God must come first, and His forgiveness comes after; we must be ever so careful to note this. Jesus taught that if someone wrongs us a dozen times a day and repents each time, God requires us to forgive them as many times as they repent. This is what He does. He forgives us each time we repent, but it is clear that we have both the responsibility and the privilege to repent of our sins before Him.

2Timothy 2:16 tells us that ALL scripture is God-breathed, and it is useful to teach us what is true, to make us realize what is wrong with our lives, to correct us when we’re doing wrong, and teach us to do what is right. So, when we read in God’s Word that we’re doing wrong, just saying sorry isn’t enough. We should have a genuine and deep sorrow for the injury we’ve caused to our relationship with Heavenly Father. This is what repentance is all about. It’s recognizing our errors, and then changing our ways to line up with the example of Christ so that we don’t keep repeating the sin.

If we didn’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us through the new birth experience in Christ, we would not be capable of truly repenting, but we know from Jesus Christ in John 16:8 that part of the Holy Spirit’s occupation is to convict us of sin. He works in us to cut off the path of sin internally first, and he leads us to the internal pathway of true repentance, where deep sorrow for our transgression is possible. If we never repent, the sin festers within, and causes all manner of issues in our lives. We’re empowered through Christ to nip this in the bud.

To repent is to have a change of heart and a change of mind. Many of us miss this. We’ve been holding on to anger and bitterness for things that happened years ago, and it hasn’t dawned on us that we need to repent. We need to empty ourselves of such darkness so that our relationship with God deepens as we grow in spiritual maturity. This is not a time for us to assume our faith is where it needs to be. We need to be praying to God to reveal whether there’s anything in our hearts and minds that displeases Him and keeps our relationship with Him from thriving as it should. We must be committed to repent and change our thoughts, conversations, attitudes and actions to be in line with Christ. This builds our faith in God, keeps us anchored in His safety and care, and it will keep us spiritually prepared for whatever the future may bring. ■

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“A Change of Heart and A Change of Mind”, written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.