Repentance

Sometimes there is confusion about what repentance really is.  It simply is change.  It isn't just a confession, an admittance of doing wrong; it is about recognizing the wrong done and being committed to making the needed change.  It is a critical part of coming to our Lord, of being acceptable to our Lord.

We see the importance of repentance in lots of New Testament verses.  We read that the Lord is very concerned that we repent in 2Peter 3:9,  "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."  The Lord is on our side.  He wants us to be on His side.

Paul was preaching in Athens as recorded in Acts 17:30 and said, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent."  Obviously, this is taken out of context, but the context here is that Paul is addressing the fact that the people there have been worshiping idols and following false Gods.  Now it is time to repent, to change.

And in Acts 2:38, Peter was preaching to the Jews who crucified Jesus.  He told them how wrong they were.  In verse 37, they recognized their wrong and said, "..what shall we do?"  Peter's answer to them was, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  The first step was to repent, to make that change of heart, to commit to Jesus.....then to follow that with baptism. 

We must all be willing to recognize our wrongs, then make the true commitment to change and conform to the will of our Lord, to repent of our wrongs and to move forward without the baggage of the past dragging us down.  Hebrews 12 tells us, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (great men and women of the past), let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus..."

Thanks for reading.  Keep the faith. Feel the love.

Cornelius--A Good Man

The book of Acts is truly an interesting book to read as it follows the early Christians in their spreading of the Good News.  We see early in the book that the Gospel is taken first to the Jews in Jerusalem.  It makes sense that God would give the Jews the first opportunity to find salvation through Jesus since they were His relatives, they were the ones who had been God's special people, and they were also the ones who turned on Jesus and demanded His crucifixion.  So we see in Acts chapter 2 that Peter and the rest of the apostles preached the first Gospel sermon there in Jerusalem to the Jews. 

As time goes on, we see the Gospel being taken to Gentiles; this occurs first in chapter 10 with God's direction.  Acts 10 begins this way:  "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always."  He is further described in verse 22 as "..a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews..."  The first point here is that he was a good, God fearing man in so many ways. 

As the story continues, we see that Cornelius, though a wonderful, God fearing man, needed something else in his life; and, in fact, this is why we see Peter being directed to go to Cornelius and to bring him to another level.  Peter, speaking of Jesus in verse 42, said, "And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.  To Him all the prophets witness that , through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."  But as we read on, we see that this belief included being baptized; note verse 47: "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."

The point of this is to show that, just like Cornelius, the world is full of good people who are so kind and helpful , sacrificial, and even God fearing.  But there is a higher level that is required; one must be a true follower of Jesus, a baptized believer just as Cornelius became.

And I would be remiss if I didn't point out that perhaps the main message of this story of Cornelius is to show that the Gospel is for all; not just for Jews or Gentiles or men or women, not for any one group of people.  It is for all....and this message comes through clearly as we read this story.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Hannah's Prayer

Hannah is a very Godly woman that we read about in 1 Samuel.  She had a good husband, Elkanah, who always was more than good to her.  But she was very sad because she could not have children.  This is a brief recount of how Hannah dealt with this problem. 

Hannah "..was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.  Then she made a vow before the priest, Eli, and said that if the Lord would give her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord and no razor would ever come upon his head.  This does occur; Hannah has a son, Samuel, who would become a strong leader and follower of God.  And he had lots of hair.

Hannah's reaction to this great success from the Lord was to go to Him in prayer.  We read about this in 1 Samuel chapter 2:  "And Hannah prayed and said: 'My heart rejoices in the Lord....no one is holy like the Lord.  For there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.'

'Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed....The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.  The Lord makes poor and makes rich;  He brings low and lifts up.  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory.  For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He has set the world upon them.  He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness.' "

Hannah realized that the Lord is everything.  He had blessed her; but then, He blesses all who follow Him.  Hannah knew this and gave all of the praise to God.  We should do the same.  Praise be to God, the Father, and to Jesus Christ His Son!

Thanks for reading again.  Feel the love; spread the love.