repent

June 25, 2021

“Repent of Your Sins”

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19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. — Acts 3:19 NLT        

 Acts 3:17-21 ISV

Except for Jesus, all humans were born with a sinful nature. We, including Jesus, were brought into a sinful world.  Before the death and resurrection of Jesus, most people could use the excuse of ignorance of that fact as a reason not to accept His story.  Even in today’s world of high tech and instant communications, there are still some who can legitimately say that they have never heard the name of Jesus.  Although the Gospel has been preached in every country, it is believed that there are more than 6550 people groups that have never heard the gospel.  There are even more groups who have heard the Gospel but don’t have established Christian organizations to witness to each and every one of the people. Even in our own country and in a lot of our own neighborhoods, there are those who may have heard the name of Jesus but have little or no idea of His story of eternal life.

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.7 If you have known me, you will also know my Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.” – John 14:6-7 ISV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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March 28, 2021

“All People Everywhere”

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29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. — Acts 17:29​-30​ NIV

When we read scriptures about idol worship, we tend to think of those that worship statues or symbols of dead men or useless religions.  While we may not have an image of the dollar setting on the mantle of the fireplace, we can still be worshiping all the things that money can buy.  While we may not have statues of anyone in our homes or churches, we can still hold others in higher esteem than we hold Jesus. If someone asks you to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or violates your beliefs and you go ahead and do it, you have placed that person above Jesus. Our work here is to do the will of the Father, not the will of those around us.

38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.– John 6:38 NIV

We are not in a popularity contest.  Our goal should be to please our Father.  If we do that, He will take care of us. If we are obedient and seek Jesus and His righteousness, He will handle all of the issues that satan puts in our way.

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. — Matt. 6:33 NIV

“All these things” is everything that we need to live a Godly lifestyle. Everything means everything.  Don’t stress out. Repent, Relax, Remember, Repeat.

 “The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

February 2, 2020

“Remain In Fellowship With Christ”

28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. – 1 John 2:28 NLT

i John 2:26-29 NLT

We need to remember that we are always in God’s presence. He is omnipresent, there is no escaping His eye as it roams to and fro over the earth. We must strive to live holy lives every day.

17 I see everything they do. They cannot hide from me the things they do; their sin is not hidden from my eyes–Jeremiah 16:17 (NCV)

While our sins are forgiven, any unconfessed sins in our lives temporarily breaks our fellowship with God. That was the reason for the prayer that Jesus prayed in Gethsemane. He knew that when all the sin of the world was put upon Him, His fellowship with Our Father would be temporarily broken. That would be the one and only time that would be true and it caused Him great anguish. We should feel that same anguish when we fail. When we fail, we should never let satan use that as a weapon to bring us down. What we should feel is not guilt or condemnation, but conviction that causes us to repent. But that is not the end of the story. Just as Jesus was restored to full fellowship with God, so will we be. When God looks at us, He sees us through the blood of Jesus. So, He sees us as righteous just as Christ is righteous. Hopefully, as we strive to live obedient lifestyles, we won’t have to suffer through many of those times of broken fellowship.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 02-02-2020

January 20, 2020

“He Is Patient for Your Sake”

9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. ​ — 2 Peter 3:9​

2 Peter 3:5-9 NLT

God spoke everything into existence. Everything is held in place by the power of His word. Because everyone was “doing what was right in their own minds”, God destroyed the earth with the same water that had once covered the earth. Then He placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign to us that He would never again destroy the earth with water. Instead, the day is coming when He will destroy the present heavens and the earth with fire. We have once again arrived at that point where “everyone is doing what is right in their own mind” and not obeying the Lord. The Holy Spirit will not always strive with man and the time will come when God’s promise of destruction by fire will come. When? No one but the Father knows, but He is not bound by time, as we understand it. Our finite minds need eternity broken into small pieces so we can grasp it. That is not necessary for God. The One who is coming will come. While He is being patient with us, we need to be laboring in the fields that are white with harvest. It is not His will that any should perish and everyone will have more than ample opportunity to accept Him as Savior and Lord. But, we know that no matter how long He waits, there will be those who choose to go to hell rather than accept His free gift of salvation. Fill your lamps with oil, trim them to keep them burning and buy extra oil. Be alert! Be ready! The bridegroom is coming soon!“

The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 01-20-2020

January 7, 2019

“Can God Deliver On His Promises?”


2 The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!”  But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” — 2 Kings 7:2 NLT 

2 Kings 6:24-7:2 NLT


King Ben-Hadad of Aram had laid siege to the city of Samaria. When armies laid siege to a city, they completely closed off all entrances to the city.  No one was allowed to leave or enter.  In those times, the fields and pastures were outside the walled cities, so once the siege was laid, the people were isolated form their food supply.  This siege had continued for so long that people were eating donkeys’ heads and dove dung.  The famine was so bad that two women had even made a pact to eat their sons.  After one son had been eaten, the second Mother refused to fulfill her part of the contract.  The king of Israel blamed all of this misery on Elisha and God.  Of course, the real problem was the sins of the king and the people of Israel.  They refused to repent so God allowed exactly what He said would happen to happen. The refusal of the king’s assistant to believe Elisha’s statement is just more proof of their refusal to repent and accept God’s message and deliverance. How many times do we refuse to believe the word of the Lord and fail to see the fulfillment of His promises in our lives?  When God has revealed Himself as Jehoavah-Shammah, why do we feel abandoned?  When God says He is Jehovah-Jireh, our provider, do we still worry and fret over whether we will have enough of everything we need to sustain us?  When God says His name is Jehovah-Rapha, do we doubt that He can heal us? When we know His name is Jehovah-Shalom, do we refuse to access His peace?  Is God not able to deliver on His promises?   Can and does God deliver on His promise of abundance of food and the fate of the king’s assistant?  Check back tomorrow for the rest of the story.
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 01-07-2019

December 21, 2018

God Loves A Repentant Heart

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14 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” 
— 2 Samuel 24:14 NLT
2 Samuel 24:10-17 NLT

David was a man after God’s own heart.  Time after time, David sinned and repented and God always forgave him. God blessed David with peace and with a super-abundance.  Why does God do this for those of us who fall time after time? Because He loves us with a love that we cannot totally grasp or understand.  He continued to forgive David because David always had a godly sorrow for his sins.  After the heat and passion of the moment had settled, David always turned back to God and begged for His forgiveness.  This was a continuing battle for David and it is a continuing battle for any of us as long as we remain in the flesh in this sinful world.  God knows that we cannot be perfect in this flesh.  If that were possible, then Jesus would not have had to die to redeem us and the old covenant would still be in effect.  When we fail and come short of the mark, we must remember to be like David,  admit our sins to God and repent from them.  When we repent, we turn from the old way and to a new way.  True repentance requires actions that show God and those around us that we are serious when we ask God for forgiveness. When we fail and we all do at some point, don’t allow satan to beat you up with guilt and condemnation.  Follow David’s example and choose to be disciplined by God.  His mercies are new every morning and there is plenty of mercy for all of us and enough to last throughout eternity.  When God saved us, He knew our weaknesses and He knew that sooner or later, we would fall, but He chose us anyway and He hasn’t changed His mind about our salvation.  Be honest with God, He already knows what we did and what we will do in the future.  Those sins are already forgiven, but we must repent.

1 John1:5-10 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 12-21-2018

April 14, 2017

Teach and Encourage Others

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15 You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them.  — Titus 2:15a NLT


The very moment that we repent and turn to Jesus for salvation, we are saved. Don’t let anyone deceive you, if you died the very moment you accepted Jesus, you would go to heaven. But for us who live, we are continually being saved as long as we walk on this earth in these tents of flesh. We are looking for the day when we will be completely saved. That is our hope and His appearance is what we are waiting for. God has given us His Spirit to train us to live godly lives so we can live self-controlled, moral lives today. Jesus died to cleanse us from all sin and make us a special people for His glory.

However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.– 1 Peter 2:9 (GW)


This is our belief and our hope. We are called to stand firm, encourage and correct others. If they choose to ignore our words, they are ignoring God’s words and they do so at their own peril.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 04-14-2017

April 9, 2017

Show Me – “Who Do You Love?”

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3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. — 2 Timothy 3:3 NLT

Every day we see and hear about more and more evil. The spirits of discord, deception, violence and disobedience are more and more apparent and open. All of us seem to be more concerned about ourselves and our possessions and less concerned about our neighbors. We are filled with pride. Society scoffs at the idea of a God, yet our actions show that we worship our bodies, our families, our careers and our entertainment to the point of making them our “gods”. We have become an ungrateful, unloving, unforgiving people. We take no responsibility for our own actions always blaming things on others. We say we believe in Jesus Christ but we refuse to be accountable to Him or to obey Him. We speak about religious things but we deny the power of the Holy Spirit, not allowing Him to change our lives. We need to bend our knees, ask God for forgiveness, repent and start living a lifestyle that lets the world know that we love Jesus and will remain faithful to Him.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 07-09-2017

January 30, 2017

Living in the Light

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9 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.– 1 John 1:9
1 John 1:5-10 NLT
Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, God’s Spirit comes to abide within us. He will lead us in the path God has chosen for each of us,if we are willing to follow. But, we are not going to become sinless over night and we shall never become perfect in this world. There will always be a struggle between our flesh and our Spirit. Nevertheless, our salvation is secure. Does this mean we won’t fail? No, of course not. If we could do this on our own then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. God knew even before He redeemed us that we would fail, He is not surprised by anything we do, because He is omniscient. But, because He loves us so much, He is waiting with open arms for us to repent and return to Him. He is always faithful and just to forgive us when we ask. He cleanses us and restores us over and over and over again. We are His children and He cares deeply for each of us.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 01-30-2017

May 12, 2016

Can He? Will He?

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2 The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!”  But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” — 2 Kings 7:2 NLT

 
2 Kings 6:24-7:2 NLT
 
King Ben-Hadad of Aram had laid siege to the city of Samaria. When armies laid seige to a city, they completely closed off all entrances to the city.  No one was allowed to leave or enter.  In those times, the fields and pastures were outside the walled cities, so once the siege was laid, the people were isolated form their food supply.  This siege had continued for so long that people were eating donkeys’ heads and dove dung.  The famine was so bad that two women had even made a pact to eat their sons.  After one son had been eaten, the second Mother refused to fulfill her part of the contract.  The king of Israel blamed all of this misery on Elisha and God.  Of course, the real problem was the sins of the king and the people of Israel.  They refused to repent so God allowed exactly what He said would happen to happen. The refusal of the king’s assistant to believe Elisha’s statement is just more proof of their refusal to repent and accept God’s message and deliverance. 
How many times do we refuse to believe the word of the Lord and fail to see the fulfillment of His promises in our lives?  When God has revealed Himself as Jehoavah-Shammah, why do we feel abandoned?  When God says He is Jehovah-Jireh, our provider, do we still worry and fret over whether we will have enough of everything we need to sustain us?  When God says His name is Jehovah-Rapha, do we doubt that He can heal us? When we know HIs name is Jehovah-Shalom, do we refuse to access His peace?  Is God not able to deliver on His promises?  
 
Can and does God deliver on His promise of abundance of food and the fate of the king’s assistant?  Check back tomorrow for the rest of the story.
Post 05-12-2016