Acts 2:38

Then Peter said to them, “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.”

Personal Challenge

Repentance is our first step in our lifelong journey with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That journey does not stop there. We continue our process of transitioning from being a person of the world to a citizen of heaven by submitting our lives to Jesus and demonstrating that by our baptism. He equips us with the Holy Spirit to guide us through our journey. The act of repentance becomes one of the most critical acts in our lives because we need it every time that we turn our backs on God and commit sin. We must continually repent and return to Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner!

Psalms 57:1-3 (56:2-4)

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will hope,
Until lawlessness shall pass away.
I will cry out to God most High;
My God who is my benefactor.
He sent from heaven and saved me;
He gave over to disgrace those who trample me down. (Pause)
God sent out His mercy and His truth,

Encouraging Words

Our God is real! He is alive! He reigns over all of creation! Because of these truths, we can freely call out to Him and ask for His mercy and protection. Because He loves us, and all of His creation, He gives us that mercy and acts as our benefactor. Glory be to God! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Acts 1:9-11

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Encouraging Words

So many of the world religion look backward to base their teachings and actions on. In our Christian faith we look backward for the teachings and events that lay the foundation for what we believe and look forward to the return of our King as promised 2,000 years ago. This gives us hope for tomorrow. Glory be to God!

Psalms 56:3-4 (55:4-5)

I will not fear by day,
But I will hope in You.
I will praise God with my words all day long;
In God I hope; I will not be afraid; what will flesh do to me?

Encouraging Words

I love reading through the psalms and learning from David, the author of many of them. God, himself, labeled David as “a man after His own heart”. David had a very diverse life filled with challenges as well as victories. He sinned in and repented completely. He also proclaimed very often that his hope was in God, and God alone. We can learn from his writings and his passion for his God. Glory be to God!

John 21:7

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.

Personal Challenge

How much do we really love God? How about Jesus? Do we abandon everything in our life and “plunge into the sea” when we see Him active in our lives? It is so easy to get all caught up in the tyranny of the urgent that we miss those times when Jesus shows up in our lives. Or worse yet, we are so focused on the world that we live in that we stop looking for His presence. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 55:22-23 (54:23-24)

John 20:29

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Personal Challenge

They say that seeing is believing. I wonder if this saying comes from this account of Thomas. Jesus, however, teaches that believing is seeing. He calls those of us who believe in Him, having never seen Him, blessed. He appears to raise up the believers with higher esteem than the seers. We put our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ whom we have not seen, and we begin to see Him. Praise be to God!

Psalms 55:16-18 (54:17-18)

But I cried out to God,
And the Lord heard me.
Evening and morning and midday, I shall tell;
I shall proclaim, and He will hear my voice.

Encouraging Words

God hears us. Whether we whisper His name in the quiet of the night or shout it out in the midst of our trials, He hears us and responds. This is how much He loves us and cares for us. Glory be to God!

John 20:25

The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Personal Challenge

How much are we really like Thomas? We will not believe our God and the truths about His works unless we see it with our own eyes. Where is our faith? Of course, we must be diligent as the Bereans to question what comes our way, but once we have validated the truth, we should hold on to it and live be it. We also need to be careful of going the other way and believing every conspiracy theory that comes our way. We can only fine the truth in Christ. Glory be to God!