OUR DAILY BREAD : GODLY SORROW

[cimi]

May 13
Wednesday


GODLY SORROW

READ:
2 Corinthians 7:5-10
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I rejoice, not that you
were made sorry, but
that your sorrow led
to repentance. For you
were made sorry in a
godly manner.
__2 Corinthians 7:9
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Thieves stole nearly $5,000 in sound and office equipment from a church in West Virginia, only to break in the following night to return the items they had taken. Apparently, the guilt of stealing from a church weighed so heavily on their conscience that they felt the need to correct their criminal behavior of breaking the commandment: "You shall not steal"
(Ex.20:15). Their actions make me think about the differences between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.

Paul praised the Corinthians for understanding this difference. His first letter to them was biting, as he addressed issues of sin. His words caused sorrow among them, and because of this Paul rejoiced. Why? Their sorrow did not stop at just feeling sad about getting caught or suffering the unpleasant consequences of their sin. Their sorrow was godly sorrow, a genuine remorse for their sins. This led them to repentance--a change in their thinking that led to a renouncing of their sin and turning to God. Their repentance ultimately led to deliverance from their sinful habits.

Repentance is not something we can do unless we have the prompting of the Holy Spirit; it's a gift from God. Pray for repentance today (2 Tim. 2:24-26). __Marvin Williams
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```````````````O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,````````````
``````````````````Till humbly we confess our need;````````````````
````````````````Then in Thy tenderness remake us,````````````````
``````````````Revive, restore--for this we plead. __Head```````````
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Repentance means hating sin enough to turn from it.

*************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Corinthians 7:5-10*********

5 For indeed, when we came
to Macedonia, our bodies
had no rest, but we were
trouble on every side.
Outside were conflicts, inside
were fears. 6 Nevertheless
God, who comforts the
downcast, comforted us by
the coming of Titus, 7 and not
only by his coming, but also
by the consolation with
which he was comforted in
you, when he told us of your
earnest desire, your
mourning, your zeal for me,
so that I rejoiced even more,

8 for even if I made you
sorry with my letter, I do not
regret it; though I did regret
it. For I perceive that the
same epistle made you sorry,
though only for a while.

9 Now I rejoice, not that you
were made sorry, but that
your sorrow led to
repentance. For you were
made sorry in a godly
manner, that you might suffer
loss from us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow produces
repentance leading to
salvation, not to be regretted;
but the sorrow of the world
produces death.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Paul rejoiced that the Corinthians were sorry for their sin (v.9).
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, well-known preacher of the 19th
century, had this to say about repentance: "How many of us are
like men who see their faces in a glass, and straightway go and
forget what manner of men they are! ah! my hearer.... it is not
the transient emotion of the heart which constitutes a real turning
to God. There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin, and
a turning unto righteousness in real act and deed in everyday life."

__Dennis Fisher