Yesterday we had a sudden thunderstorm here: heavy rain, loud thunder, and lightning. It stopped as suddenly as it started, and reminded me of the thunderstorms in the south where I grew up.
Afterward, everything looked so fresh: the emerald-green grass, the tree’s leaves, and the beautiful flowers like our neighbor’s cherry tree, pictured above. This reminded me of Acts 3:19-21, NIV:
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
The word “sin” isn’t very popular today. We like to call it by other names: mistake, weakness, or “I just screwed up.” (If we even admit it; sometimes we blame others, hide, justify, or make excuses for our sin.)
But God, who is holy, calls a spade a spade: it’s sin! And He knows that sin will destroy our lives and hinder your purpose and mine.
God is not an angry Deity ready to just zap you with lightning and send you to hell every time you mess up a little! Hell was created for the devil and his demons, not man. God loves you and has a good plan for your life. (Jeremiah 29:11) God wants you to repent of your sin, so that nothing will stand between you and Him. He wants to be as close to you as possible.
When we repent of our sins, we are refreshed. We feel relieved. We don’t carry around that guilt, and worse, condemnation for our sins. Jesus died on the Cross over 2,000 years ago for you and me, as a sacrifice to God and a substitute for our sins, so we wouldn’t have to carry the burden of them. His death and resurrection sets us free. When we repent, we are in right relationship with God and others. We are forgiven–forever.
Today, ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart for any sin. Confess it to God. Ask His forgiveness. Let nothing stand in your way of intimacy with God. and fulfilling your purpose.
Receive the refreshing rain and the beauty, like the flowers after the rain, of His forgiveness, love, and power in your life.
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https://goo.gl/rRQhIC
Do you feel that you have sinned too much and that God can’t and won’t possibly forgive you?
He will forgive if you repent. God is faithful, even when we are not!
Read my encouraging life story about my childhood abuse, adulterous affairs, and three abortions, Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search for Authentic Love, and how God forgave and delivered me by clicking here.
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