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Friday, June 8, 2012

Baptism of repentance

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. - Mark 1:4
One thing was common ground in the speech of both John the Baptist and Jesus, that everyone must repent of their sins in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. 

This was called the gospel, the 'good news', that God's love reaches out for everyone, but it had something in that message that though it was 'good', it was not actually 'new' since it was a recurring message since the prophets of the old testament, that one can not please God with an unrepentant heart, a heart that will not bow down in recognition that God is Lord and we are his servants.

The thing about repentance that really touches the heart of God is our acknowledgement, by humbling ourselves, that we are not sufficient by ourselves, that our own efforts or merits are far from perfect, that we desperately need Him, his power, his presence, his love, his forgiveness, his grace, his comfort, that his way is better, his will is perfect...

Only by confession and repentance of sins we are forgiven, that is exactly the first step into accepting the lordship of Jesus in our hearts, for the Savior only came for those need saving (Mark 2:17).

My prayer today is that God touches our hearts so deeply that we turn again from our sins and into his love, that He makes us see that our sins separates us from Him, and that He gives us the strength to let go of them, confess and repent, as we are welcomed back into his fellowship. God bless.

3 comments:

  1. I was praying about repentance today! God is awesome like that!

    The more i seek God, the more i find the inner desire to be holy..... which is living in a repentant state.

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  2. amen brother, this sister agrees, Holy Spirit does quicken me to confess and repent almost immediately after sinning, which is a daily occurrence with me. Thank you Lord for not giving up on me!!

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  3. True repentance requires change. Changing the direction of one’s life from sin centerness and self centerness to God centerness. If we are willing to renounce our sin filled way of life and turn to God, he will give us a new direction in life.

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