Repent – Refresh – Restore
Acts 3: 19-21 – “Now REPENT of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of REFRESHMENT will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final RESTORATION of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.” NLT
We are now face to face with a new year, 2021. I feel that we have to admit that 2020 did not live up to our lofty expectations. Last year we were faced with an ever changing landscape that involved our isolation, our increased anxiety, our hunger for affection and personal contact, and challenged the fabric of our basic mental health. Well, 2020 is over and there is room for change.
I was led to the words of Peter to the new church from the book of Acts and I was caught up by what he told them that the expectation was. If they wanted to survive, and thrive, then they would have to repent of their sins, allow the Spirit of God to refresh them, and soon Jesus would come to restore all things as God has promised.
This month we will usher in our theme for the year to repent, refresh, and restore. We will need to focus on daily repentance, not just between ourselves and God, but also to our fellow man. Through our daily repentance we can find a refreshing from the Spirit that the world cannot give. As we do these two things daily, the Spirit will open up to us the restoration of our Spirit, and the coming Jesus. Each week this month we will break down each of the words and what they mean to us, and how we can take hold of 2021 and make it the best year yet!
My prayer for you this year is that you experience the Holy Spirit. I pray that you not only experience this Holy Spirit every week during services, but that you understand and learn how to cultivate this relationship and this experience wherever you may be and at all times. If we are expecting the world to change and experience a renewal of the Spirit, then it must start with each of us as individuals first!
Take a long look at your life. Look for the Spirit of God within Scripture. Look for ways that you can choose to repent, refresh, and restore your spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit.
~ Pastor Mike
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