BLESSINGS IN REAL REPENTANCE

BLESSINGS IN REPENTANCE My Dear Precious Child, There are blessings galore which flood into the lives of My children when they repent and walk a different way, changing from walking an evil route to their walking a righteous route. True repentance has little to do with lamenting in sackcloth and ashes as a sign of being fleshly sorry for your sins. True repentance has much to do with your changing from obeying the impulses of the devil from hell in your mind and you begin to walk in obedience to My voice which leads you to walk in a way that is loving to other people, making peace with everyone and, as a result, your having joy unspeakable. It's not a joy that you conjure up in your human emotions. It's pure, unadulterated Joy, Love and Peace that flow from the nature of My Holy Spirit being present in you, His nature of Love, Joy, Peace, Goodness, Kindness, Mercy, Patience and Self Control. (Galatians 5:22) So repentance is putting on My nature through acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Savior and taking off the nature of the devil who was formerly your motivation in life through your obeying his impulses in your mind. In Paul's first recorded letter to the Corinthians, he had chastised them for twelve things that were caused from their having been led astray by false prophets, or simply led astray by evil thoughts in their minds, or led astray by other people in the church. Paul's feelings were injured because he had led them out of darkness into the Light and had hoped that they were still continuing on the path of righteousness, but his fellow ministers had informed him about the spiritual condition of the people in the church at Corinth, that they were spiritual babies who had been led away from Christ and were delving into many areas that were motivated by hell instead of My voice from heaven. In his second recorded letter to the church at Corinth Paul encouraged the Corinthians to purify themselves from every defilement from the flesh and spirit, and in respectful awe of God to strive to fulfill their consecration of faith perfectly. He asked them to make room for himself and his fellow ministers in their hearts. He reminded them that neither he nor any of the other ministers like Titus, Barnabas, Timothy and Apollos had done anything to injure anyone in the church, nor had they corrupted anyone, nor had they cheated anyone, like other ministers had done. He reminded them that he had, in the past, told them that they were in his heart even to their sharing of life and death together. He reminded them that he spoke with frankness to them and that he had boasted about them many times. Paul wrote that he was filled with consolation from them and that although he had many afflictions, his joy knew no bounds. (II Corinthians 7:1-4) He made an effort to excuse his own behavior when he first arrived when he was exhausted and restless, under all kinds of stress from his having quarrels with other Christians and his even having fears within himself. However, Paul, in his fellowship with Me said that I had given heart to him when he was so low in spirit and I gave to him strength when Titus arrived with good news about the repentance of the Corinthians. He wrote that Titus not only brought the good news about their changing their behavior but that he had also written to Paul about it, telling that he had received confirmation of the repentance of the Corinthians of the very things for which Paul had written in his first letter. Paul had also been informed that the Corinthians were concerned about Paul's grief and his state of mind over their sinning. The information from Titus It gave joy to Paul to know that they were deeply concerned about him. (II Corinthians 7:6-9) In his second letter to the people in the church at Corinth, Paul wrote that he had no regrets for his stern correction and chastisement of them in the first letter. He said that he was concerned about their reaction to his first letter, but he had no regrets for being so blunt and exact in his chastisement of them. He wrote in the second letter that even if his first letter caused them grief for some time, the end result was glorious because Paul was happy again, not because they were saddened at the tone of the letter, but that the first letter had led them to repent. They were filled with a sorrow that came from Me, so they did not suffer any loss from Paul. He wrote that sorrow for My sake produces repentance without regret and leads to salvation; yet worldly sorrow produces death. II Corinthians 6:8-10) Paul wrote about the truth that had emerged from his letter of correction, a fruit of sorrow that came from Me. Instead of worldly sorrow that causes death, a sorrow that comes from Me brings holy zeal which does not defend oneself, but instead it brought to the Corinthians a zeal of indignation, awe and longing to restore the balance of holy justice to their church. He wrote that in every way the Corinthians had displayed their innocence in the matter. In other words, the sternness of the first letter produced repentance in all matters. He said that his first writing was not for the person who was a victim of the offence or for the person who gave the offence, but instead it was to make the Corinthians realize the level of love and devotion that they had for Paul and his fellow ministers. Since that was one of the results of the first letter of correction, Paul was comforted. Beyond the consolation that Paul was still in good favor with the people in the church at Corinth, he and the other ministers rejoiced that Titus' mind had been set at rest by the church. Paul affirmed that even though he had first boasted about the Corinthians, he was not put to shame after their repentance. His boasting about the church to Titus had been proved true. Paul wrote that the heart of Titus embraced the people in the church with an expanding love as he recalled the obedience that the Corinthians showed to Me in spiritual awe and fleshly trembling. (II Corinthians 7:14-16) Paul affirmed that he trusted the people in Corinth because of their speedy change of direction after receiving his first letter of correction which resulted in their changing from being a church ruled by demonic flesh into being a church led by My Holy Spirit. The end result would have been different were it not for the Divine Spirit of Repentance which was a result of Paul's first letter of correction and chastisement. Your Father of Loving Correction and Loving Chastisement Which Spurs You Onto the Right Path