Peter Tan-Chi - Repent, God Restores
Father God, we thank you for all the fathers. We thank you. If not. You, the father, will not know how to be a practical, proper father. So, I pray that you would lead all of us fathers to become more and more like Christ so that we can represent you and we can influence our children to know you, please lead all of us fathers. I also pray for those families without fathers that they will experience and understand that the ultimate father is you, our Heavenly Father. Comfort all the families, you are a father who will never forsake us. I now give this Sunday service to you from beginning to end. Pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen!
Someone sent me a story this morning, and I'm going to share it with you. It's the story of an Asian man. He was very smart and had a high IQ. He was admitted to the best school in the country. After graduation, he was able to go to the United States and get a degree in business. With a master's degree in management, he got an amazing job that paid well, and he married a wonderful wife. They had wonderful children, his career was booming, and he bought a big house with five bedrooms. Bought a luxury car, but the most unimaginable thing happened. He shot his wife and all his children, and then committed suicide.
Then the investigation was carried out, what happened to this family? What happened to this person? They found out that this guy was going to lose his job, his salary was going to be reduced and he was going to have problems paying back his loan so he decided to end it all. This message to fathers is not just to teach your children how to succeed but more importantly how to face failure as someone once said, "Success is a poor teacher, failure teaches you more".
Let this morning, let's look at how to deal with failure because failure is inevitable for many of us, but the question is what do we do? I praise God. The Bible tells us how to deal with failure. Have you ever made a wrong decision? Unfortunately, do you still regret it now? So far, you're still struggling with guilt. You feel bad, you feel guilty. I always tell people there are different mistakes. One is wrong thinking; you make decisions because of incomplete information like investing in a company, building a business, and that's a mistake. It's a failure, it's a mistake. Honest mistakes.
There is another mistake, which to me is the most tragic, and it is a psychological mistake. This has to do with moral turpitude. You know it's wrong, but you keep doing it anyway. That kind of failure is the most painful for me. So, how do we deal with this failure? This is very important and we need to learn. Psalm 32 is such a beautiful psalm it deals with failure, it deals with how you recover so today I want to share with you the theme of Psalm 32 it's called "Repent: God restores"! It's an amazing fact, God is not just a God of one chance, second chance, third chance but also a God of restoration. You will notice throughout the Bible that God promises restoration.
For example, in the Old Testament, there is the story of Joel who wrote that because of sin, God did Something happened and there was judgment. This is because of the sins of the people. The Bible says: "The locusts will eat what is left by the locusts. The grasshoppers will eat what is left by the locusts". In other words, wipe them all out. The solution is... What? You can read in the Bible, Joel, chapter 2, "Nevertheless, return to me with all your heart," says the LORD. It's another word for repentance. Blow the trumpet in Zion, set days for fasting, declare solemn meetings. In other words, God wants us to understand that the promise of repentance is restoration.
Notice what happened, the promise of God, "I sent to. I will repay you, the great army among you, the locusts, hoppers, grasshoppers, and cutworms, for what they have eaten over the years". I love the following verse, "I will repay you". God says, "Whatever the locusts eat, I will repay you". You will eat much and be satisfied, and you will praise the Lord your God, who has done wonderful things for you. In the name of this wonderful promise that many of us claim, some of us may feel like our youth is gone and our marriages are ever in jeopardy. You have lost a lot, but one thing I can share with you is that if there is true repentance, there will be restoration and God knows how to restore.
That's what Psalm 32 says. Let's read it together, Psalm 32. "Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven and his sins covered! Blessed is the man who has no deceit in his heart, and the Lord does not hold him guilty! Pay attention to the grammar. This is a wonderful promise. He begins by saying", "Blessed are you" The word "blessed" here is plural. You could say "blessed" plural, full of blessings. Blessings upon blessings. Who is this speaking to? To those who have their trespasses forgiven and their sins covered, Blessed is this man! This is written to sinners.
In other words, God is saying: "Failure is not final". Maybe, you've done the unimaginable and you thought your life was over. God says, "This isn't just going to fix it, I'm going to make it better". I will make you happy, but there are conditions. If you read the promises of happiness and joy in the first chapter of the Psalm, for example, the first chapter of the Psalm talks аbout: Do not follow the counsel of the wicked, do not stand in the way of sinners, do not sit in the seat of the scornful, but delight in the law of the Lord. Blessed is the man who meditates on the law day and night!
This is the promise of blessing. God says, "You will not follow the counsel of the wicked, and you will not follow the way of the wicked. Blessed is the man who does not stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scorners"! In other words, you are a righteous person. You delight in God. This promise is joy, happiness. Here's the thing, what if you fail? This is where Psalm 32 comes from. Psalm 32 is like a counterbalance to Psalm 1. Blessed are those who follow the Lord. But what if you fail?
So, Psalm 32 tells us, God is a God of one chance, second chance, third chance. God is saying, in order to be restored, God wants us to understand what it means to repent. For David, he learned to be very specific. How does he describe sin? He uses three different words to describe sin. The first word, he uses the word "trespass". What does the word "trespass" mean? Meaning, you've crossed the line into disobedience, you've violated God's commandments. The next word he uses in Psalm 32 verses 1-2 is "sin". Sin means you're missing the mark, you're below what God asks of us, below the standard. sin. The word "sin" means distortion, fraud.
So, David was honest with God and he faced his sin. Notice, what would God do if you would repent? Here are the following words "God will forgive you" The word "forgive" comes from "He will bear the burden, He will bear" The next sentence of the Bible is He will cover our sins. The word "cover" comes from "hide" "I'm going to hide it". Many times, we want to cover up our sins. We want to impress, but God says, "If you learn to repent, I will cover your sins". Wonderful promise. Then, God tells us "I will not write it down". The word "no writing" is an accounting term that means "I will not write it down, I will delete it".
So, God tells us that when we learn to repent we will Notice what happens, the result of trusting God, honestly, the Holy Spirit takes away the deception. In fact, we are often false. So, what do we mean by repentance? I'll explain to you the overview of Psalm 32 is very basic it talks about the promise of restoration, but what is the process? It's God's grace, God initiated. We acknowledge God's grace. By God's grace, we accept responsibility. By God's grace we learn to accept the consequences. By God's grace we are forgiven. You can read it in Psalms So, let's read. What do we mean when we say that repentance is God's work?
Look at the explanation of the Psalm, "When I kept silent, my bones withered because of my groaning all day long. Your hand was heavy on me night and day; my semen was drained like the drought of summer". Remember the word Selah? Think about it, pause. What's going on? David said that when I kept my mouth shut, it affected him. "My bones are dry". You see, sin affects your physical life as well. It will affect your love life. He said, I groan all day long. Night and day, your hands are heavy on me. My semen is drained, like a summer drought. David said, "I'm going dry. I don't know. Overwhelmed". Why? You must understand that Charles Spurgeon once said "God will not allow His children to succeed in sin".
God will do something. Why? Because God loves us and He will not let sin stay with you. By God's grace he calls us to repent. What happened to David? Why did he remain silent about his sin? To understand the power of Psalm 32, you must know what happened. The Bible tells us that David was at the height of his career and power. Conquering all the surrounding nations, he was very successful. Notice what David did "while the kings went to war"? "David was still living in Jerusalem".
When the king was supposed to be the leader, leading his armies, he was there. Home. One day, when the sun was setting, David got up from his bed and walked on the flat roof of the palace. At night, what was David doing? We don't know, but this is what happened on the flat roof. On the way up, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful.
So David sent to find out who the woman was. Some people said she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, the daughter of Elion. David sent to find the woman. Pick it up; she came and David slept with her. It was probably one of the worst decisions of David's life. Everything was going well for him. He made a choice. He saw a beautiful woman. He should have said, "This girl got married, we should stop", but he didn't say what he did? He thought he was a king and could do anything.
One decision led to another. Many times, we don't understand how serious the sin was that David might have started from Unexpectedly what happened, Bathsheba became pregnant. The Bible tells us that he tried every means to bring Bathsheba's husband back. But Bathsheba's husband was a loyal soldier. He refused to spend the night with his wife. He was a loyal soldier. Soldier, he was very loyal to David. So, what did David do? David issued a secret order to let this man die.
When this man was placed at the front of the battlefield to die, Uriah's wife heard her husband Uriah. After Ya died, the days of mourning and mourning for him were over. David sent for her and brought her into the palace, and she became his wife and gave birth to a son to him. But what David did was The story of the Lord was displeased reminded me that God sees everything. Many times, like David, you can walk with God but because of your negligence, you may do something that you will regret. What do you do when tragedy strikes finished? When David tried to hide his sin, he said, My energy was drained and I was miserable. What did God do? Because of grace, God is always proactive.
Jehovah sent Nathan to see David. When Nathan came to David, Jehovah sent Nathan to see David. When Nathan came to David, I want to know what you would do if you were Nathan. Do? How do you face the king? But God sent Nathan and said, "Go talk to David". Nathan was faithful and went to see David, and he came up with an amazing story. He wanted David to wake up. Praise God, David came to his senses. Nathan said to David, "Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord and done what is evil in his sight"? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and took his wife to be your wife. David faced his sin.
You know many times, God will use people. God will use illness, God will use circumstances to wake us up, to show us that something is not right. In this case, God came through Nathan. What happened? David told Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord". Nathan told David, "The Lord has taken away your sin, and you will not die". Why Nathan said, "You will not die" When David admitted his Sin, Praise God Did you know that it is a work of God's grace that humbles us in confessing our sin? But David experienced grace. Why do I say that? Because according to the law, adultery is punishable by death. Because according to the law, adultery is punishable by death.
David committed adultery, committed murder, and he should have been put to death. But God gave David grace, and Nathan said, "You're not going to die". But please note that forgiveness and grace do not mean that there will be no consequences. It is just that by doing this, you will give Jehovah's enemies a greater opportunity to blaspheme. Therefore, by doing this, you will give Jehovah's enemies a greater opportunity to blaspheme, the child you gain will surely die. One consequence is that God's enemies make fun of God and blaspheme His name.
Another consequence is that children will die, and if you continue reading this chapter, you will see that God told David that your family will be affected, and your children will be affected, and peace and order will be affected. David suffered a lot. Consequences, forgiveness is not the same as consequences but God gives us grace, and did you know that part of God's grace is the consequences of sin? Why? Let's look at Romans 2. Or do you despise His rich kindness, tolerance, and patience, and don't realize that His kindness leads you to repentance? In my own life, I have seen the grace of God.
When I understand the grace of God, how can He be so patient with me, it makes me repent. God wants you to know His love, His kindness, so that you and I can learn to repent. You see repentance restores people. What is repentance? Repentance is God's work. This is a confession. Notice, David confessed. I declare my sins to you and do not hide my evil. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you will forgive my sins. Selah.
Think about this, did you notice how many times the word "I" appears? That's called recognition. "I confess my sins," "I do not conceal my sins". I said: I will confess my sins, and you will forgive them. When you confess, you take responsibility, and you do not blame others. David did not say, It was Bathsheba's fault David said, This is my sin.
When Nathan confronted David, scholars tell us that Psalm 51 was written after this chapter was written. But let's look at Psalm 51. How did he admit it? God, please have mercy on me according to your mercy! Did you notice? David prayed for the grace of God. Please have mercy on me according to your mercy! When David drew close to God, he knew that God was merciful. Watch, blot out my transgressions according to your abundant mercy! David's approach to God was based on His mercy, His grace and love. Not "I should be forgiven". No! The truth is, when you admit your sin, when you admit it it's because you know God is merciful, God is merciful.
Please wash away my sins and cleanse me from my sins! Please wash away my sins and cleanse me from my sins! For, I know my transgressions; my sins are always before me. In these 3 verses, the personal pronoun "I, me" appears 10 times with this meaning. You don't blame others "This is my sin, this is My fault" Many times, we don't take responsibility and we blame others. The problem with blaming others, is that you never improve. I think of husbands and wives and we have advised them many times. I have noticed that if a husband blames his wife, then how can the husband improve? It's not his fault, it's his wife's fault vice versa.
If the wife talks to that wife and the wife blames the husband, how can the wife make progress? You are blaming me. Learn to take personal responsibility. admit! Take responsibility. do you know? Bear the consequences. Many times, we get angry. Why? We don't understand, friends, this is important. What does it mean to repent? It's God's work. Repent, you admit your mistakes, you take responsibility, you take the consequences. You know what? I love this quote from Martin Luther Martin Luther said: "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ... willed the entire life of believers to be the one of repentance".
Martin Luther understood that the Christian life is about growth. Repentance is not a one-time thing. Sexually, if you look at the Bible, it's a lifetime thing. Why? So that you become more like Christ. For example, during this three-month quarantine, it was just me and my wife, my family, and I learned. Looking at my life I began to realize that there were things I needed to change. For example, in how I used my time, I began to realize that I am a steward of God's time. Just because I have a lot of time doesn't mean I can watch movies or watch the news all the time. I'm guilty of "Peter, use your time wisely".
I've come to realize that I have to be sensitive to my wife and her feelings. A lot of the time, I take these things for granted. I take for granted a lot of the things she does for the family. God said, "Repent" and I started showing more gratitude. You see, the Christian life is a life of repentance. Repentance, as we know, is basically "not groaning or repenting but turning around and changing". That's what True confession. It comes from the word metanoia. You admit your mistakes and then change course. You don't just feel bad. You don't just complain and moan.
The Bible says it very clearly. In 2 Corinthians 7:9, notice that Paul is saying, Now I rejoice, not because you are sorrowful, but because out of sorrow comes repentance. You are sorrowful according to the will of God... for sorrow according to the will of God, It produces remorse without regret that leads to salvation; but worldly sorrow kills. You see, true repentance is more than just emotion. You see, true repentance is more than just emotion. True repentance may include regret, sadness, but it translates into a change of action, which brings us closer to God, and that is salvation. The sorrow in the world, simply from feeling sorry, leads to death.
This is not true repentance. The sorrow of the world is simply regret that leads to death. This is not true repentance. Repentance is a change of heart. It is saying that you acknowledge that God is at work. For example, 1 Timothy 1:5, But the end of the command is love; this love comes from a pure heart and a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Did you notice? God wants us to deal with our conscience, a good conscience because a lot of times with conscience, it's the Holy Spirit of God working in us to say, "You need to correct this".
I always tell people, a conscience has to be the Spirit of God plus the Spirit of God. The Word Controls Without the Word of God, conscience becomes warped and you may become callous or overly sensitive but God uses conscience. I always tell people, "I can argue with my mind, but I can't argue with my conscience". So the Bible tells us to always have faith and a good conscience. Someone who discards their conscience is like a shipwrecked ship on the faith. Don't Ignore. When the Spirit of God is bothering you, you need to stop. You need to ask God, "God, why do I feel bad"? What does the Bible say? Lord, what are you going to say? "But don't ignore it".
When you ignore your conscience, the Bible warns us, you will be spiritually shipwrecked. If you don't deal with the sin in your heart, one sin will lead to another. I remember a girl who felt guilty all the time and she had no peace. I remember a girl who had been feeling guilty and she had no peace and when she went to see her pastor, her pastor asked her, "What are you feeling guilty about"? And then it comes to how she had her baby removed years ago when she was married or before she got married, she had an abortion and she was told that no matter what God forgives you she can't forgive herself. She said, "I Can't forgive myself".
When they dug deeper, they realized the problem wasn't abortion. The deeper issue was the sin behind the sin of abortion. The sin was that she was too focused on her own image. She was so focused on her career that she wanted to look good. She didn't want people to know she was pregnant, so her real deep-seated issue was her image before she addressed it. She said, "Lord, I know this is all about me, my pride, my selfishness". When she understood the underlying issue, and then she came to Jesus, once you come to Jesus, you realize that Jesus d
A lot of times, young people, even couples, you struggle with guilt because you don't understand that forgiveness is not because you deserve it, not because you deserve it. You earned it not because of your works, not because of your righteousness but because of the grace of God. Look, friends, when God troubles you, when conscience troubles you, you come to the Lord. So I think this is important, this The message is the secret to recovery. Repent, address the root problem, and often the root problem is sin.
My daughter shared with me what happened to my grandson. His foot was injured. There was a wound and the wound wasn't going to heal and then she found out why the wound wasn't going to heal and there was a piece of glass in it and a small piece of the glass was stuck in the foot but they didn't see that and they didn't realize it until the broken glass was taken away. To heal it's the same as your life, some may be hurt, some may be sick but the root problem is not medical, the root problem is in the soul God says "you need to deal with it" that's why repentance fixes the root problem you admit Your sin, take responsibility, humbly accept the consequences and then you accept God's forgiveness.
You know the Bible tells us that this is God's promise. Notice 1 John 1 verse 9, "If we confess our sins, we are believers". 1 John was written to the church and now he's saying "if we believers confess" the word "confess" is in the present tense, which is something you do all the time. It comes from the Greek word "homologeō" which means to agree with God. This is not begging God. forgive. It's admitting, agreeing with "God, what I did was wrong" means just that. "If we confess our sins," notice, with God, with Jesus, "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". I love this sentence, "Forgive us, Cleanse us from all unrighteousness".
Notice the phrase "from all unrighteousness" Many times, we feel guilty. We Struggling with Guilt Can I tell you why you struggle with guilt? The reason you struggle with guilt is because you don't know that forgiveness comes from Jesus. We experience forgiveness because of Christ's finished work on the cross. Because of experiencing forgiveness, we are forgiven. As Ricky shared with us a few weeks ago, Forgiveness It is our relationship with God, Father and child. When we come to Jesus, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our relationship is that of a father and son. However, the relationship between a father and a son, just like mine and my children, can be affected if they do something wrong, but they don't come to me and they don't acknowledge it.
My kids are still my kids but there's this blockage, there's this blockage, relationships and friendships suffer God wants to have a close relationship with us and that's why when we confess, when we repent, amazing results happen you Became closer. For this reason, all devout men should pray while you can be found. You will not be able to come to him when the floods overflow. David said, "Because of my experience, I advise you now, pray, don't wait to pray, repent now, pray, all godly people should pray to you while you can be found". Many times, Satan wants us to delay repenting of him (David) said, "Do it now, don't wait".
Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Attention, God invites us to seek Him while He may be found, call on Him while He is near, because life There is a key point in it, when you want to pray, but there is no more opportunity. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man. Let him turn away his thoughts and return to the LORD, and the LORD will have mercy on him. Return to our God, Because God will forgive widely. This is what the Bible says. What choice do you have to choose the Lord's way? The wicked should forsake his own way, and the unjust should get rid of his thoughts and let him turn to the Lord.
This is "repentance". The word means you changed, forsaken your ways, and chose to walk in the ways of the Lord. That's what David said. You have to make choices in life, because life is about choices. You can choose freely, but you can't escape the consequences. Remind us that you are my hiding place; you will keep me from trouble and surround me with the songs of salvation. Selah Think about this. The next thing to say is that the foundation of our forgiveness, the foundation of our security, is God Himself. Notice he said "you". "You are my hiding place".
This is what the New Testament says. When you are in Christ, God covers our sins through the blood of Jesus. When you are in Christ, God sees us. Our sins were paid for by Jesus because of what He did for us. It's not religion. It's not what He did for us. So, repentance is really receiving God. of grace. Humble ourselves. Notice the blessings that come with repentance. Notice the blessings that come with repentance. He tells us that we are closer to the Lord. I will teach you and show you the way to go. I will keep my eyes on you and exhort you. Who is speaking here? God spoke through David because David experienced forgiveness and David, now is speaking to us. But God is speaking through David.
So, it's like God is speaking to you and to me. He is saying, I will teach you and show you the way you should go; I will keep my eyes on you, not like the ignorant mule or horse, which must be restrained with a bit and a bridle, otherwise it cannot be tamed. This metaphor is, when you repent, you become Be sensitive and you begin to hear God's teachings The truth is God is speaking to us but if you don't face sin, many times we stop listening not because God doesn't speak but because our hearts become hardened and God uses a lot. Channels speak to us. He uses people. He uses the Word of God. That's why I love reading the Bible every day. I make sure I hear the voice of God.
A lot of times, sin can stop you from hearing the voice of God. So, David said, This is my advice, don't be like the ignorant mule or horse who must be restrained with a bit and a bridle. Do you know why that controls a horse or mule? Mules are known for being stubborn and so are horses, you need to tame them and chewing the bridle is painful when they don't obey instructions because they get noisy, God said don't be stubborn but repent so you can learn to listen then David Remind us that there are many choices in life and some you have to decide. What are these options? The suffering of the wicked will be many; but whoever trusts in the LORD will have mercy surrounding him.
Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous ones. Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. David now says this is what you need to do to choose the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked you know many times life is like a crossroads and you need to choose are you going to choose the way of the wicked or the way of the righteous as the Bible uses, when the word "evil man" is used, the evil man will suffer more; "evil man" does not always mean a murderer, a rapist, or an adulterer. Especially in the Psalms, the word "evil man" refers to a person who lives independently and does not need God.
A person who believes that he does not need God. In fact, many of us believe that God exists, but we do not regard him as God when we meet him. When it comes to problems, we go to Him but when it's all solved, God is no longer the Lord of our lives. The Bible describes that as sin. When you despise God, when we disrespect Him, that's sin. Especially when you're independent. When living according to the will of God. What's the opposite? The opposite is a person who relies on the Lord, a person who believes. But whoever trusts in the Lord will be surrounded by mercy. The contrast between the wicked and the righteous. The righteous are those who trust in the Lord. David said that there are two choices in life. You need to make two decisions.
This decision will determine the direction of your life. Follow the Lord. Or follow your own path and you will eventually reach your destination. It is never your desires that determine your destination, but the direction of your life. Your direction will determine your final destination. Let me ask you a question. What is the direction of your life today? Are you managing your life like a wicked person? Or the direction of justice? You're following God. You 're not perfect but you're following God and you respect Him. Two choices, two directions, two final destinations. People filled with sorrow. "Many shall be the sorrow of the wicked. The word sorrow" means suffering.
David David, who was writing from his experience, said, "If you have your own way, your own way, it will bring a lot of pain". However, if you trust God, if you follow God, the result is joy. Notice, he repeated Notice, he repeated the following words, "Surely kindness will surround him on every side". Joy, joy, joy. Is that through childbirth? Is that the destination, a life of joy or a life of pain? The choice is yours. I pray that you will learn to choose the way of the Lord. When will you make this choice? The Bible tells us that we who work together with God today also urge you not to receive His grace in vain.
You see, do not accept His grace in vain. What does it mean to be by the grace of God? In the day of acceptance, I answered you; in the day of salvation, I delivered you. God said it was the time of acceptance. Now is the time of acceptance; now is the time of salvation. Days he's saying now. Now is the time I praise God, especially those fathers, if God is speaking to you then young men, young women, David said learn from his mistakes especially young people, sometimes we want to go through the hard life. Someone once shared this sentence with me: "Peter, experience is a great teacher, but it is very painful. There are better ways to learn. Listen to others".
I agree. Young man, live two ways. Choose the way of the righteous and follow the Lord and follow Jesus. For the way of the wicked, the way of the unjust, is full of suffering. That's what the Bible says. Make your own choice, It's never too late to change but as my friends would tell me, "It's never too late to change but it's later than you think". Now is the time, let us choose wisely, let us turn to the Lord I want to give all of you an opportunity to pray, if you have something on your heart if you have sin in your heart, your conscience is troubled, God wants you to deal with it.
I recommend going today Process, maybe you need to forgive someone maybe you need to reach out to someone to admit your mistake whatever it is, don't wait because today is the day of salvation God can give you a new beginning, restoration is real but you need to accept it God's grace learns to repent, to learn to change. Repentance is the work of God's grace. He enables us to admit responsibility, He enables us to accept the consequences, and God helps us accept His forgiveness. Said. Single, Father, Mother, Husband, Wife If God has spoken to you. Single, Father, Mother, Husband, Wife, come and pray with me. I want us to experience God's grace today. I want to help you come to God. Come. Let us pray like this:
Lord Jesus, I admit, I accept, I have sinned against you. I accept responsibility for my sins. Lord Jesus, by faith, I accept your forgiveness. Thank you for that. My sins died on the cross. Thank you for forgiving me, not because I deserved it, but because of your grace on the cross. I ask you now to forgive my sins as my Lord and Savior. I accept your gift of eternal life to change my heart and help me to truly repent, knowing that repentance is by grace pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen!