Greetings ConnectPoint & RC family members and friends,
Glynis and I are so grateful to God for allowing us the privilege to pastor and shepherd such amazing and incredible people!
YES! I mean YOU!
Do you know that you could choose anyone to be your pastors? So with that in mind we want to say thank you for allowing us to fill that position in your life. We want you and your family to enjoy incredible success in this life and in the life to come.
Family, do you know that we can discover and realize many, amazing benefits through the blessing of repentance? In fact, repentance brings strength and relief in our body, soul and spirit. It also brings great joy and peace. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength”.
Most Christians never associate joy with repentance, but repentance is actually the mother of all joy in Jesus. Without it, there can be no joy. When David disobeyed, he lost the joy of the Lord and it could only be restored by true repentance. So he prayed, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me” (Psalm 51:2-3). David also prayed to regain what he had lost: “Restore to me the JOY of Your salvation” (51:12).
Family, it’s impossible to maintain the joy of the Lord if sin is present in our life. We must deal with and repent of all sin immediately and swiftly. God doesn’t convict us of sin in order to condemn us but rather He convicts us of sin to change us. He wants us to have a closer walk with Him.
Repentance confesses, “God, I am wrong regardless of what anyone else has done.” The moment we say, “God, I am wrong but so are they,” we are trying to find a defense for remaining the way we are.
Family, sin that is confessed brings relief to life, but confession alone does not free a person from the oppression of sin. While repentance, “the turning away from sin and the turning toward a godly life,” will not free a person from the results and consequences of sin, it will free him from the guilt and cruelty of sin.
Our God reveals sin to redeem us not to condemn us.
In a post that I recently read by David Wilkerson he gave a list of the “7 benefits of repentance” I’m going to list them here and I hope that you and your family will reap these benefits every day of your life.
- Repentance will bring you closer to our Father in Heaven Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 1:3says: “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.”
- 2. God will wash your sins away. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”Acts 3:19
- God will purify you.“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:19
- You will start prospering. “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses, and renounces them finds mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
- You will inherit God’s Kingdom. “The time has come,”he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15
- You will start eating the good things of the land. “If you are willing and obedient,you will eat the good things of the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:19-20
- Your will receive eternal life. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28
Family, I trust and pray that you and your family members we begin to reap the benefits of repentance starting today.
