Acts 3:19
One of my favorite scriptures comes from the book of Jeremiah; the 29th chapter and 11thverse 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…
ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
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