Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the evil man his thoughts.

This whole chapter is incredibly rich, to the point that it could be described as a distillation of the essence of the whole Bible. I quote it often! However, the theme of our readings at this point is Repentance, and these two verses define repentance beautifully. It starts with felt need, described here as seeking the Lord. You aren’t going to seek something you don’t need or want. A major problem today is that too many people are satisfied with their lives. They limit their wants and felt needs to material, sensual things, and shut God out of their awareness. How tragic! That is perhaps the biggest reason God allows trials in our lives. He isn’t sadistic, or even mean, but He wants us to recognize that we need more than what we can touch or see or feel. Once the need is recognized, God is always available to answer. Describing Him as “near” is a spiritual thing rather than anything physical, because God is everywhere all the time, but our interaction with Him varies greatly. Then we get down to the brass tacks of repentance: turning from evil to God. I like that this specifies not only actions but thoughts. A mistake made without thinking may be wrong, but it isn’t evil. That’s why there are different legal levels of homicide. The big battleground is in our minds, and that is where the devil is making a full-on assault. The biggest hindrance to repentance is pride, because we don’t like to admit we were wrong. Many of the interchanges playing out on media today would be totally laughable if they weren’t so tragic. The devil is of course a liar, (John 8:44) but all too often we cooperate with him and manage to deceive ourselves! (James 1:22) We need to let the Holy Spirit shine His light not only on our wrong actions but also on our wrong thoughts, so that we may truly repent. If we will do that, God will indeed “abundantly pardon,” as it says here.

I have certainly experienced the battle in my mind! When I look back over the thought patterns I have entertained, I am overwhelmed with God’s grace that He didn’t squash me on the spot! As a pastor, I have the responsibility and privilege of speaking God’s truth to people so that their eyes may be opened to reality and they be set free to walk in all that God has planned for them. (John 8:32) To do that, I’ve got to be careful to walk in the truth myself, avoiding self-deception in all its forms. Frankly, I can’t do that in my own strength, as I have demonstrated countless times. That’s why I’ve got to walk in step with Holy Spirit, (Galatians 5:25) fully submitted to Him so that I can indeed resist the devil to the point that he flees. (James 4:7) I cannot rescue people by lecturing to them, but I can come alongside them, and God can use even my words to give them light.

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming grace. Thank You for what You did in the service yesterday, defining clearly the differences between teaching, counseling, and coaching, and that I had immediate response from someone who wants coaching. I pray that I would be Your instrument to him, and to everyone I encounter, so that the works of the devil may be destroyed and people set free, (1 John 3:8) for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!