Repent ye therefore,
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
Acts 3:19
One of my favorite
scriptures comes from the book of Jeremiah; the 29th chapter and 11th
verse declares, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah
penned this verse at a time when the Israelites were disobeying the will of God
and were captive under the Babylonian kingdom… Through this oppression the word
of God reminds them that despite what they are enduring, the Lord has a divine
plan for them if only they would repent
and be converted… This same message embodies our devotion today which comes
from the 3rd chapter of Acts… Understand today that the word of God is
founded on His promises; however, His promises can only come to fruition when
we adhere to His calling… So many people often say that they are waiting on God
and the truth of the matter is that He just might be waiting on you… He is
ready to move and before you were formed He already had a plan for you;
however, your willingness to walk in faith is what will ignite the plan of God
or delay it… Remember that we are governed by time; however, God is above and
in command of time… There is no timetable set for God to complete His task, but
there is indeed a timetable which we abide by and will never be able to go back
in… It’s a sad truth that there are so
many in this world who don’t realize how defiled and corrupt their lives are… Many
people don’t see the flaws or are disillusioned about how they are do to the
material things they invest their thoughts and time in… Luke reminds us in this
historic book of acts that we must repent and be converted in order for our
sins to be blotted out… Understand today, that you must come to a point in your
life when you realize that you are messed up, you are a filthy rag and that the
ways of this world are the ways that will lead to happiness and peace… This
time of repenting is very tricky to grasp as a child of the world… The main reason why I say this is because
until we experience something that is catastrophic or life-changing we often times
don’t realize that we are in need of a change… Saul was persecuting the church of God; however it took a
bright light that blinded him and the voice of God to speak to him in order for
him to change… Jonah was thrown off of a ship and swallowed up by a big fish
before he sailed to the land God called him to go to… Today, let us heed the
warnings written here in this verse and repent before we are faced with
calamity and destruction… This avenue must be taken if you want to experience
the blessings of God and see His faithfulness manifested in your life… The most
critical step that we must take in life is accepting the fact that we are not
perfect and can’t reach heaven or eternal bliss on our own… Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one mans disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous…” We are all sinners and must repent and accept
Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior to be made righteous and become
co-heirs with Christ…
The historic book of Acts reminds us today that the first
action one must venture on is to repent and turn from wickedness… We enter this
world as sinner’s and find ourselves daily walking the path of darkness which
leads to destruction… The bible declares that we all have fallen short of the
glory of God; through the disobedience of Adam and Eve we all enter this world
as sinners... Luke writes to us in
the book of Acts telling us today that we need to repent and be converted so
that our sins may be blotted out and we can be counted in the number when
Christ returns! The difference between being a child of God and a child of the
world is “Forgiveness…”All who become children of the most high have
sought and received forgiveness from the Lord… Forgiveness of sin is a two step
process; first we must repent, to repent means to turn from or focus toward
another position! A lot of us say sorry, but we don’t repent from our sins… We
continue down that spiral road because we haven’t turned away from bad habits,
we haven’t changed our outlook on life and we haven’t removed certain things
from our daily walk… Understand that you have to turn and it is a painful and
trying time, but if you want to be in God’s kingdom it MUST be done! After forgiveness has been obtained, the
second thing that takes place is conversion… We have to be converted; which
means that we are made over or changed… Our
relationship with the Lord grows daily and becomes more and more intimate as we
embark on this step… This takes us deeper than just repenting from sin; we
have turned from our sin through repentance, now we must be converted so that
those sins (sometimes peer pressure, and fleshly desires) can be crucified
through Christ offering on the cross! We must be strengthened by Christ love
and be converted by His sacrifice to remove the weight and stain of sin upon
our lives! So many people repent and turn from their mistakes, but they never
convert to Christ power and His will, they try to do things on their own and
end up right where they left off! Today, repent from the past failures and sins
that you committed, but also be converted through Christ’s love and might that
you may be elevated from that place and will not fall into the same trap as
before! The bible says that, “I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me!” (Philippians 4:13) This just lets us know that we can do nothing
without Him! We all have fallen short, but it’s not to late… We all have made
mistakes, but they can be corrected… We have slipped from time to time, but we
still can be kept from falling down completely to the ground… Jesus came to
give you life and give it to you more abundantly… Trust Him, repent and be
converted… Not only will your sins be
forgiven, but you will learn the love that God has for you and really begin to
live…
BE BLESSED!!!
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