There Must Be Something More

52 | Change Direction

"I can't tell you just about everything on that website, but one verse hit me hard. It was as if something spoke to me. At that time of course I hadn't known who or what it was. But I know now it was the Holy Spirit. It was a verse in John 5:14: Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, 'See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.'"

All eyes kept on Samuel. We took in every word he said. It was as if I was listening to a service, only this was closer.

Samuel continued, "We only had a Catholic bible in the house, so I didn't go there. The website was a Christian website, so I went on and downloaded a Christian Bible. I wanted to know what sins were. I understood in that verse that sins cause sickness. I was afraid to be sick, I knew it was a great hindrance for me being a school president. And so I wanted to know what sins were so I could avoid them. I didn't want anything worse to happen to me. 

"But when I read the Bible, I understood nothing in it. Finally, I decided I knew only one person who could explain it. I knew it was Meredith. But it took me days to gather the guts to talk to her, and I even dragged Charlie with it."

I smiled and patted his shoulder. "I'm glad you did."

"It's amazing how God uses people, huh?" Samuel said. "And it's even more amazing how God uses very different situations to bring us closer to Him. I don't know about you, but I'm not going away. I'm done being lost."

"Me too," I said.

Daniel and Cameron nodded in agreement.

Steven smiled and nodded too, closing his eyes. "I'm glad you guys chose to act on the truth." 

After chowing down on burgers and French fries, Steven began with our Lesson Two. We all closed our eyes and bowed our heads in prayer.

"Lord Jesus, please let Your Holy Spirit speak to us through Your Word today. Help us discern what You want us to understand. In Jesus' name. Amen." Steven said.

I took my glass of iced tea and started to sip as my leader began.

"Today's lesson is entitled Change Direction, which means repentance. This lesson starts with the verse in John 14:6: Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

"It's amazing to know that God is a God of second chances. The moment you made a decision to receive God's gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, your destination was changed from perish to eternal life. Now that you have a changed destination, you must also have a changed direction. For example, when you hail a cab and tell the driver you want to go to your school, you definitely want him to take the routes to your school, right?

"That also applies to our journey with God. Since you now let God give you your destination, now you have to change your direction. Since your destination is eternal life, you must cross the routes to it.

"So I have one question--is your direction now, leading you to your destination?"

We all fell silent. I stared at Steven. Samuel gave short nods. Daniel finished his burrito, still chewing. Cameron also just stared at Steven.

Steven cleared his throat and smiled. "I have three points that I will elaborate. It is when Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life. My first point is the way.

"Walking in a wrong direction will take you somewhere but not to where you want to be. And it leads to frustration, doubt, and fear. This is also true with our spiritual lives. A step in a wrong direction is a step away from God. And that's what's scariest about wrong moves.

"Okay, so the problem with lost people is that they don't know that they are lost. That's what it exactly was before I met God. I thought I was happy being an aspiring rockstar, drinking, dating, and hating my parents. I had no idea that every step I was taking was getting me closer to destruction. Thank goodness the Lord sent Meredith to have me curious and I repented of my sins and began to follow Him.

"In Acts chapter three verse nineteen: Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

"Repentance is turning away from your sins and turning back to God. Jesus declares that He is the only way we can return back to God. When we decide to follow His ways, it is a sure thing we won't get lost again. And since we're imperfect, we still make mistakes. But God has new mercies for me everyday. Don't worry about it. When you make a mistake, just repent. Don't take advantage of it by purposely making mistakes knowing you could just 'repent' later. Remember, true repentance is turning away from sins."

Steven sipped his own iced tea, set down the glass in front of him, and started again.

"My next point is the truth. Sometimes we are in bondage with so many lies of regrets and condemnation, saying 'I can no longer change. I cannot experience freedom and I can never be forgiven.' Remember this: the enemy will only have power in your life if you listen to his lies. The truth is in the Lord.

"In 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

"Forgiveness and justification are received if we confess our sins. It takes a humble heart and a surrendered life to produce true repentance.

"True repentance--which is also called godly sorrow--is a personal decision of taking full responsibility and acknowledging that you have hurt God because of your sin. Remember, the enemy has no power against you. It is only when you let him.

"On the other hand there is also false repentance--which is also called worldly sorrow--it's feeling sorry because you've been caught but not taking full responsibility. You pass the blame to others saying you wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for blah blah blah. You're self-centered, seeing yourself as the one who's hurt instead of God because of sin.

"2 Corinthians 7:10 says: Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

"So we all should know that it is us who sins. The devil can only tempt us, it is only up to us if we let ourselves be tempted or not.

"The difference between the two is the result. True repentance--godly sorrow--produces salvation and no regrets. While a false repentance--worldly sorrow--brings spiritual death and doesn't result to changed life. When you pass the blame to others, you think you didn't do anything wrong. So you end up still doing the mistakes you've done."

I nodded. I had so much to learn.