repent – Harvest Life

Posted on July 1, 2018 by LaShawnda Jones — Leave a comment

Sermon: Standing In The Gap by Pastor Gary Ham

For those of you who thought the grass was greener on the other side and found that it was not, this message is for you. “The crisis you are facing is not one of money, is not a crisis of relationships, it is a crisis of faith. It is your faith. For with God all things shall be possible. Nothing shall be impossible. Will you open the door? Will you allow Him to come in. Will you allow Him to strengthen the relationship that’s He’s brought you into the world to have?” There have been strongholds that have held you back from stepping into what the Lord has for you. I say in the name of the Lord , those strongholds are broken. Today you are free!

Listen here: Standing In The Gap

Posted on December 23, 2014 by LaShawnda Jones — Leave a comment

Good Cop. Bad Cop. Life is not so simple.

There’s a lot a rhetoric, talking and writing about how the majority of cops are “good”. I cringe when I hear that. Not just because I don’t believe it, but because it doesn’t mean what people would like it to mean. According to the current use of the word, “good” cops don’t kill unarmed men who don’t do what they were told to do.

Does not killing another human being really make someone good? Is our bar really so low for those responsible for our physical security within our communities? You are a good person as long as you don’t kill anyone? Not really. In reality, a combination of many small daily actions impart one’s goodness (intent, nature, personality, etc) to others.

I would rather hear about the police officers who act with integrity, treat the people they encounter (even known criminals) with respect, and make wise decisions with the full knowledge that every decision they make has an impact on someone’s life – most especially their own.

In my mind the translation of “good cops don’t kill unarmed people”, is that “bad” cops are “good” up to the point they kill someone the public deems should be allowed to live. That’s not the measurement of judgement we are provided in the Word.

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. ~Luke 6:31

My mood has been worsening – darkening, actually – over the last few weeks. Actually, it’s been longer, much longer, but the darkness has found a cause to focus on recently. My frustration has found an outlet – speaking out against injustice in America. What I’ve found to be true with the recent protests sweeping this country, is that the more I focus on the anger and outrage, the more angry and exhausted I become. The more helpless I feel. It’s overwhelming, really, the amount of injustice in this country…in this world. Thinking about the many ways humans find to justify hating and killing each other is a demoralizing and debilitating exercise. Quite honestly, I can only do what I can do. And doing all I can do does not solve the worlds’ problems. I know that. But it’s in the doing that we get caught up in what’s been done.

I don’t want to be caught up and focused on the wrong actions that have been done. I have to continually remember that the people who are okay with injustice, state-supported murder and torture, the rape of women, the abuse of children, the subordination of any human being are still people who Jesus died for. He did not only die for me. He did not only die for believers. He surrendered His life so that people the world over may have access to true life – eternal life. So that every human being would have the choice to live. This is the action I choose to remember each time the happenings in the world try to make me forget.

I will not be governed by fear. Nor will I bow to those who lead with fear. Fear is not of God. So in fear, there is no good thing.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ~ Mark 10:42-45

Police officers are human, they are created of the same substance the rest of humanity is created of. They are not inherently good. They do not supply safety or generate trust simply because they wear a uniform and a badge. Neither do you. People who encounter you – the people you serve in your own life – know you mean no harm when you do no harm. They feel safe because you do not threaten them or hurt them or others they know of. They trust you because of continual trustworthy behavior on your part. This is not a perfect equation, but it’s generally applicable to most people’s lives.

Throughout December 2014, I had conversations online and in-person, and read comments that caused me to reevaluate the character of people I thought I knew something about. I have also had to continually reevaluate myself.

Hatred is an awesomely powerful emotion. It negatively impacts even those who are only observing hateful acts, reading hateful words and listening to hateful speech.

Hatred and fear are interconnected and reflective of each other. They both spread like an infection. Anyone who knowingly operates in fear or hate is not trustworthy nor can they provide safety. Yet, nearly every officer who made headlines in 2014 and 2015 for killing unarmed individuals, claimed that they feared for their lives and, almost universally, their fear has been upheld as a valid reason to kill the unarmed people they killed. Even more disturbing: their fear received an outpouring of public compassion and support while their victims were dehumanized and vilified.

Once upon a time, bravery and courage were honored characteristics of public servants, especially for police officers, but the rhetoric in recent years across America has allowed for the claim of fear to be sufficient justification for committing murder – however, only for police officers, of course. Women, for example, are not able to kill men they simply fear, even in violent situations. Fear is not justification for taking a life.

Bravery and courage are the result of overcoming fear; cowardice is the result of giving in to fear. Police officers who are too afraid to perform their job with integrity, respect and honor should have, at the minimum, enough self-awareness to step aside and leave the job even if only for public safety reasons. In the absence of such a minimum of self-awareness, fellow officers and supervisors should step in and weed out the officers who allow fear to rule their judgement.

Several times over the last few years, I had to step away from my Facebook feed because it stirred up and kept up a great deal of anger and frustration. Since I’ve been paying attention to all the trending senseless killings by police officers (since Trayvon Martin’s killer walked free), I’ve become more and more outraged by not only the failure of police chiefs, mayors, district attorneys and grand juries to see and prosecute murder for what it is. On top of that, I’ve become even more outraged by the willingness of members of the public – fellow citizens and residents of this country – to justify murder as a necessary action for sleeping on a park bench, walking in the street, playing on a playground, walking up a dark staircase, bringing dinner home to the family, standing outside a convenience store or shopping in the toy aisle. It’s incomprehensible to think that anyone can break these actions down to their simplest form and still conclude that these human beings deserved to be shot and killed in the midst of their respective actions because of another person’s fear or hate. Wrong is wrong – no matter the uniform or badge worn by the perpetrator. Murder is murder.

What comes after outrage? Who can sustain anger and frustration for the continued state-supported murder and the hate-filled violence that it gives freedom of expression to? I can’t.

I cannot sustain such an extreme level of anger and outrage indefinitely. Non one can. Fortunately, as a fellow outraged citizen pointed out, organization, on the other hand, can be sustained.

After another failure in late December 2015 to indict a murderous cop in Milwaukee, WI, I essentially threw my hands up and rolled over in prayer. What is the purpose of all this, Father? How will you be glorified through all this violence and hatred? What do you want me to do? I awoke the next morning with a will to write.

I am an instrument secure in the hand of my Creator. God is my safety and in Him is all my trust. He is just and He will not be mocked. His ways are above our ways. Those who think they are free to live without consequences for taking human life without cause will learn in time that God’s vengeance will be much more than they can bear. With this knowledge, I urge all police officers who have killed, to repent. Turn yourselves in, ask for prosecution and make reparations to the families you have shattered and to the communities you have betrayed.

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. ~ Luke 6:27-36

Posted on February 22, 2012 by LaShawnda Jones — Leave a comment

Excerpt: What does it mean to “repent”?

from The Process of Asking for, Receiving and Giving Love & Forgiveness by LaShawnda Jones

You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right. ~2 Corinthians 7:11

Repent is a word not often spoken in contemporary culture. We as individuals are told to be ourselves, do what we want, live as we please and enjoy life. But, invariably, following one or all of these cultural myths will lead to someone in our life getting hurt by something we say or do. As a result, our relationships suffer. Though suffering is a part of life and we grow most through our struggles, the unfortunate truth is that most people try to avoid suffering and speed through their struggles – getting as little as possible from the experiences.

The self-centered person will not take the time to focus on the individual they hurt. And the hurt individual will, sometimes, try to hide their pain, or simply “get over it” on their own. Neither of these approaches improves nor strengthens the relationship.

In our contemporary language we “apologize” or say we’re “sorry” for causing offense. However, neither being sorry (feeling regret, sorrow, grief or sadness) or offering an apology (expressing regret, remorse or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another) is the same as repenting (to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one’s life for the better).

I had a male acquaintance who used to apologize for not following through on his word. Every time he disappointed me, he admitted his failure. After so many apologies, I asked him why he bothered to say anything at all if he continued to behave the same manner. His response: he continued his hurtful behavior but omitted his apologies.

He completely missed the point. And I blamed myself for not expressing my frustration in a clearer manner. In addition to that, my desire to be a loving Christian led me to repeatedly pardon his dismissive behavior. In effect, I enabled him to continue treating me in a way that hurt and belittled me. It was obvious I valued the relationship and equally obvious how little value he placed on it and me.

He did not change his behavior, therefore he did not repent. Eventually, I reached a point where I could no longer ignore my pain and I sought to disassociate myself from him completely.

As our relationship with God exhibits, all relationships are salvageable. There simply has to be a desire within both parties to do what is necessary to restore the relationship. In the case of my former acquaintance, he would have to give me what I desire – true repentance.

Now I am glad I sent it [letter], not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants His people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right. My purpose, then, was not to write about who did the wrong or who was wronged. I wrote to you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how loyal you are to us. ~ 2 Corinthians 7:9-12

Restoration of our relationship would have to involve the process outlined above. I would have to know that the pain of our broken relationship caused him to change his behavior towards me (v. 9). I would need to see that his desire to reconcile moved him to take action to save the relationship. I would need to know that he does not want our relationship to be one of the dead things in his life (v.10). I would need to experience his earnestness and his true concern for me. I would need to see that there is some alarm at the prospect of our bond being dissolved. He would need to show me that he is doing everything in his power to make amends and that he is indeed loyal to me (v. 11,12).

A flippant “sorry” or “oh, well, I’ll do better next time” doesn’t even begin to cover all that. When you hold people accountable for their actions against you, you assist them in becoming better citizens of Heaven. You improve their walk as well as your own. In doing so, you both become better representatives of Christ and the God who sent Him.

In each of our human relationships, we are equal parts teacher, student and negotiator. We continuously teach the other person about who we are – our likes, dislikes, boundaries, and goals – while learning the same about them. When disagreements occur, if there’s a desire to maintain the relationship, both parties will negotiate for an equally satisfying solution.

Additional “repentance” posts:

Question: To Forgive or Not to Forgive?

Psalm 51: Repentance vs. Apology

Excerpt: The Psalm 51 Example: Repent and Live

Excerpt: The Psalm 51 Example: Repent and Live (PDF)

Posted on February 22, 2012 by LaShawnda Jones — 1 Comment

Excerpt: The Psalm 51 Example: Repent and Live

from The Process of Asking for, Receiving and Giving Love & Forgiveness by LaShawnda Jones

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts. ~ 1 John 1:8-10

According to the Bible, repentance is the ultimate communication leading to forgiveness and resulting in a restored relationship. Repentance consists of:

acknowledging your sin (wrongdoing, transgression, offense)
accepting responsibility without defending or excusing yourself or your actions
understanding the severity and repercussions for what you have done and how it affects your relationship
humbling yourself and requesting forgiveness from the one you harmed
knowing that mercy and grace are not deserved
expressing a sincere desire and intention to change your ways
doing what you need to do (i.e. what’s requested by or negotiated with the offended person) to restore the relationship.

Psalm 51 is an excellent example of David’s true repentance for a very specific sin against God. It’s an amazing declaration of his love and devotion to God, as well as an expression of his desire to be cleansed and live as a righteous man. It’s an example of how we should seek to heal and restore our relationship with God first, then others.

Repentance is so much more than an apology. It’s completely turning away from the course you are on and committing yourself to God’s ways. In human relational language: repenting is committing yourself fully to the relationship you are seeking to restore, while staying in alignment with God’s laws. Repentance is not something that works by picking and choosing elements that suit you. It’s other-person centered. It’s an expression of love and appreciation for the other person in the relationship. It’s a humbling of yourself for the benefit of your relationship.

If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. ~ 1 John 3:14-15

When you don’t repent, you’re sowing (planting, giving) hatred and death to the person you wronged. Not only are you killing the relationship, you are killing a part of them. Visualize it this way: whatever part of you overlaps with the person you wronged is now dead in both of you. The only way to bring that part of you both back to life is to repent. The above passage from 1 John 3 states so simply and eloquently, if you love someone, you have passed from death to life, however if you have no love to give, you are still dead. The dead cannot give life; death only reaps more death.

Fortunately for us all, God made a way for us to choose life every day, in every situation, in all of our relationships. We can choose to love and receive love. We can choose to repent and accept repentant acts. We can choose to forgive and accept forgiveness. Those are choices for life. When we choose not to love, repent or forgive, we are willfully choosing death.

David understood this and appealed to God’s love for him when he repented. He sought to restore life to himself through love.

Have mercy on me, O God, because of Your unfailing love. Because of Your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. ~ Psalm 51:1

Those who love have a desire to relieve the suffering of their loved ones. Their compassion gives them an awareness of the distress their loved one is feeling. Through love, they are able to see the repentant heart reaching out to them, and they are able to reach back to alleviate it. The Word tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:7 that love never fails.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Right there you have it! Love will survive anything and everything. We have to allow it to work when we are given the opportunity to do so. In other words, love is never going to be the issue; how we process it and apply it will determine rather we succeed or fail in our relationships.

Further in his appeal to love in Psalm 51:9, David says,

Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.

He is asking for absolution. It’s direct and clear. Again, 1 Corinthians 13:5 supports his request,

Love keeps no record of being wronged.

When you allow love to work in your relationships, it is only a matter of time before complete healing manifests. Healing is initiated when the party responsible for causing offense repents for the wrongs they committed in the relationship.

David wasn’t done. He continued in Psalm 51:12-13,

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You. Then I will teach Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You.

He brings to God’s remembrance their former relationship. He had been happy! He had joyfully basked in the salvation of his Lord. He wanted that back. Give it back to me, please, he’s asking. And he doesn’t stop there. He asks for assistance in keeping on track. He is aware of his imperfections. He’s not trying to act as if he will never be tempted again. He’s asking to be held accountable in a loving manner. Make me willing to obey you. Think about that….

Has anyone ever forgiven you, and then ignored you? Or forgiven you and then treated you harshly? While at the same time expecting you to keep the promises you made to them when you repented? How difficult was it to keep your promise?

Now think of a time when someone has forgiven you and never mentioned your transgression again. The love flowed freely between the two of you. How easy was it to keep the promises you made when you repented?

These are rather simplistic examples, but you should get the idea. Nothing in a relationship is about just one person – though many people go through great effort to make it seem so. Every interaction in a relationship has a double-sided effect. How we respond is equally as important as what was initiated and how it was initiated. In other words, you may not be the cause of a difficult situation, but how you respond will have as much impact on how your relationship survives that difficulty as the person who caused the offense.

David wraps up his prayer of repentance, his direct appeal to God, with:

The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. ~Psalm 51:17

Again, what we learn explicitly about love in 1 Corinthians 13:6 is,

Love does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Why is honesty in relationships so difficult? I don’t know if there’s any one answer, but since Adam and Eve fell from grace in the Garden, people have been hiding their true selves as much as possible, whenever possible. It’s only when we come clean, bare all, open up and be true to ourselves and to others that we experience the true joy of love rejoicing for us. Love is never going to be happy in the midst of wrong. But love will always rejoice when the wrong is made right. David was so secure in God’s love for him that he appealed to that love knowing God would not reject him when he humbled himself completely and addressed all his wrongdoing.

Did you know David was completely forgiven? Not only was he forgiven, but God held him up as an example of what He was looking for in mankind. How is that so? David’s story is full of war and sex and an arrogance that comes from repeated triumphs due to God’s favor. His sin against God was adultery. God had blessed David’s life so much that David got to a point of thinking that God’s laws no longer applied to him. He saw a woman he wanted, took her and had her husband killed. These are the sins David is repenting for in Psalm 51.

David is on God’s list of favorites because he loved his Lord and praised Him, he loved God’s laws, he studied the word, he prayed, he sang, he worshipped. The cherry on top – David repented when he became aware of his sin! Every time. Deeply and whole-heartedly. His intention was to remain in right standing with God all his life. When he failed, he acknowledged his failure and pleaded for forgiveness. We all fall short, it’s in our DNA. The truest proof of our character is how we correct our mistakes.

The prophet Nathan confronted David about his sins against God with a very eloquent parable. David was convicted with awareness of his grievous wrongs and immediately acknowledged his actions as sins against God. Just as quickly, God forgave him. The conversation is in 2 Samuel 12:1-14.

So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”

David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

“This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the Lord by doing this, your child will die.”

Do you see how God followed His own process? Nathan the prophet was His mouthpiece. Nathan was sent directly to David to confront him with his sin. Isn’t it interesting how David saw the sin immediately when he thought Nathan was talking about someone else? We’re still like that, aren’t we? We can identify everyone else’s faults long before we see our own. But Nathan was emphatic: “You are the man I’m talking about!” Then Nathan proceeded to pronounce God’s judgment on David right there. David immediately acknowledged and confessed his sin against God. Nathan then replied, “Ok, God forgives you and you may live. However, you will reap the consequences of your actions.”

Just because you repent and are forgiven does not mean that there are no consequences. You will still have to face the consequences of your actions. Remember that.

Had David’s punishment been up to him, he would have died on the spot. A sinner’s judgment can be harsh! Thank God for His loving compassion!

The first thing David uttered after hearing Nathan’s story was that such a man deserved to die. Spiritually, he had died because God was not with him in His sin. This is such a glaring example of what happens to interpersonal relationships when there’s a huge offense separating the two parties. Each party is able to see the other person’s transgression so clearly and barely have awareness of their own. Until the person who caused offense steps up to say, “I am the one at fault, what can I do to make amends” the relationship will remain fractured and the parties will remain separated. Repentance leads to life – when you repent in your interpersonal relationships you breathe life into them.