Seeking God With Your Whole Heart

Seeking God with your whole Heart

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

The Bible says in Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. The word repent is to express sincere regret and remorse one’s wrongdoing and sins. Repentance is the action of turning away from that wrongdoing and sin and not partaking in that again. The thing we really need to understand is that repentance is not a one-time event that one does to receive salvation.

True repentance causes a person to say, I have sinned and prove it with a 180-degree change of their direction.

Repentance requires true brokenness. It is NOT asking God for forgiveness with the intent to sin again, but is an honest, regretful acknowledgement of sin with a true and total commitment to change.

I remember some years ago while I was still young in ministry we had a Deacon at our church, Deacon McCrary and I remember him saying to me “We need to repent everyday”. I then was still in the mind-set that repentance was something just for salvation until I found myself having to repent not committing some atrocious sin prese but omitting something, like not studying like I should, not fasting when I should, or praying like I should.

Since God was dealing with me as the first partaker with this message I had to repent because I began to see what I was omitting and falling short of the glory of God in my life personally. I began to be like David and pray like he did in Psalm 51:6 -10 “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”.

Now before someone gets the wrong impression, I am not talking about committing a sin that is punishable with Hell’s damnation, but I am talking about realizing your personal short comings and being totally pleasing unto God. There's a saying that confession is good for the soul. It comes from an old Scottish proverb, which said in full, “Open confession is good for the soul.” There is biblical truth in that! When John the Baptist was preparing people to meet Jesus, his first advice was to repent. Peter then on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38 said “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”.

PRAYER:-

A Prayer for Daily Repentance

Dear Lord, thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for not abandoning us to our mistakes, but for reaching out instead to bring us home. Help convict me of sin and help me accept your mercy without shame. Thank you for the love you have poured out for me and all your children. Help me live out of that love today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

OPENING: - The year of 2020 has really caused us to stop and shake our heads at what is going on. Everything from a cessation of nearly all activities due to an unseen pandemic that is still running rampant and killing even more people now even-though there is a vaccine that will supposedly fight against it. The world watched in horror as the life of George Floyd was literally choked out of him on national T.V. We have seen history made with the nomination and election of the first woman who is a woman of color as the Vice President Elect of the United States of America Senator Kamala Harris who chosen by the Democratic front runner and soon to President Joe Biden. To the unimaginable civil unrest and domestic terrorism that took place on the Capital Building in Washington D.C. We are witnessing a change in our normal way of life as we now have more military troops guarding the Capital Buildings in all 50 states and Washington D.C. then we have troops in Afghanistan to protect from the threat of Domestic Terrorist.

We have experienced unprecedented life events that leave us bewildered at best. The truth of the matter is that this past year will change society as a whole and will change many of us personally in ways unlike any we could not have even imagined. For many, the old pattern of life has been broken, and a new one has come into play. Social distancing has changed the way we will interact with people probably forever. Hand shaking and the ever-popular hug except for close family members will if ever done again will be done with extreme caution. Personally, my wife and I love to cruise and have even been talking about well we will have to find another type of vacation to do from now on after all the cases of Covid-19 that have been reported on the cruise ship.