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| heatherking.org |
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that time of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Acts 3:19 (NIV)
Peter and John had healed a beggar at the entrance to the temple. The people came running toward the duo and the healed beggar.
He spoke to the crowd about their part in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He reminded them that they disowned Christ before Pilate, although he had decided to let Jesus go. He then told the crowd to: “”Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that time of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
The priests, the captain of the temple guards, and the Sadducees spoke to Peter and John. This message disturbed the officials. The two men wound up in jail.
Isn’t Peter’s message relevant to our world today? When we as Christians realize things are out of synch, not quite as they should be, in our lives, the first thing we need to do is to search within us to discover if the issue begins with our hearts.
The next step we have to take is to seek God’s forgiveness. This involves confessing any sin we find in our hearts. The passage tells us to repent. To repent simply means to turn away from something evil, to never do it again.
When we go through this process, we allow God to come into our hearts and refresh us. The pray, confess, and repent process has to be a daily practice. As time grows closer to that time chosen by God for Jesus to return to earth and set up His kingdom, let us all be more open to the need for repentance and refreshing from the Holy Spirit.
Thank you for encouraging us to repent, Cecelia. You are right: we need to examine ourselves every day. Yet we often forget to look inside when things are amiss, and we're tempted to blame God, the devil, our hormones, politicians, or the weather!
ReplyDeleteSteve Green has a beautiful song called "I Repent" that speaks to my heart and helps me realize the same truths you shared here.
Jeanette: Thank you for telling me about Steve Green's song. Sometimes, we have to let the Lord search our hearts. (Psalm. 139:23) We do forget that we are capable of doing things that displease God. All we can do is ask for Him to forgive us.
DeleteThere is an old hymn that I remember called "Send Refreshing"...The chorus goes: Send refreshing, send refreshing from Thy presence, gracious Lord! Send refreshing, send refreshing and revive us by Thy Word!" What a great message...to be refreshed and revived by God's Word...and that can only happen when we are willing to repent and yield our hearts to Him. Great post. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePam; Thank you for the new song; I don't believe I have heard that one. Our pastor tells us we experience revival at each church service. We can be revived when we read God's Word.
DeleteTimes of refreshing - how good does that sound in today's world? Thank you for this reminder! I needed it today. :)
ReplyDeleteKaren: You are welcome.
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