True Repentance Brings the Presence of God

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After receiving forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and faith, remember that true repentance brings the presence of God.

I have a group of friends who are currently counting down the days for Covid-19 to end or for our numbers to drop in our hometown so that we can meet at a restaurant for dinner. Why? It is not for the food, because we can order the food and take it home any time. We like to be in the presence of each other for fellowship and fun.

Being in God’s presence is the same concept. It is not something you have to do. It is to fellowship with God. That is what a relationship is all about—being in the presence of someone else.

Taking time to be still in God’s presence strengthens your relationship with Him, and true repentance brings the Presence of God.

What is the meaning of true repentance?

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.” ~ Psalms 51:1-6 NIV

David wrote Psalms 51 after he was caught in the act of adultery with Bathsheba. David is dubbed a “man after God’s own heart,” so it makes sense that he knows that God is full of mercy, love, and compassion even when our sins are great.

What is the meaning of true repentance? True repentance means that you can God with confidence, knowing that you will receive mercy, love, and compassion when you admit your sin and transgressions to Him. Only God can bring healing to sin and transgressions.

After David approaches God with confidence, he asks God to “wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” True repentance does not mean you will forget the sin that you committed; however, it does mean that you can take your sin before God without shame.

Once you confess that sin and receive forgiveness, God has taken your sin and shame. Only then will the enemy use your sin against you in condemnation by throwing it back into your face. That is how you will know the difference between conviction from the Holy Spirit and condemnation from the enemy.

David knows that “surely I was sinful at birth” because sin begins at birth because of the vulnerability we receive from Adam and Eve and the apple. True repentance confesses our sinful natures and places trust back into God.

Signs of True Repentance

The signs of true repentance include:

Approaching God with confidence to receive mercy, love and compassion
Confessing all sin to God, even hidden sin
Living in God’s presence without shame
Confessing our sinful natures and placing trust in God

One of the most amazing signs of true repentance is being in the presence of God.

The Presence of God

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” ~ Psalms 51:7-11 NIV

Although David had arrived at his destination as King, he was still on the faith journey with God. There were still going to be moments and seasons in King David’s life where he would seek God for forgiveness, cleansing, and renewal.

The cleansing process from sin is a difficult and painful season. Why would anyone seek God for a moment or season of forgiveness, cleansing, and renewal?

Psalms 51:11 NIV says, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”

David would rather go through a difficult season of purging sin and cleansing so that he does not lose the relationship with God, which comes from God’s presence.

For me personally, true repentance started as a season of my faith journey where I approached God’s throne with confidence, knowing that I was going to receive grace, mercy, and compassion with each confession of sin and shame. That season of my life was a time of cleansing to make me clean and purified to receive more of the Holy Spirit with a pure heart. One of the signs of true repentance for me was receiving God’s presence in abundance in my life.

Thankfully, Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection makes way for us to come to God’s throne and into God’s presence to ask for grace, mercy, and compassion for our sins and shame. Jesus will also guide us through our seasons and moments of true repentance and will restore us into God’s presence.

Spend some time today seeking God’s presence to strengthen your relationship with him.

True Repentance Brings the Presence of God