DAILY HOMILIES #repentance

Whatever possession you have that you do not need and at the same time, cannot give away is an idol that you are keeping. Seeing these idols every day may give you a sense of security but they cannot save you nor can they answer prayers.

For thirty-eight years the man remained there “hoping against hope” that one day, he would enter the pool before anyone else. You may have been trying unsuccessfully to overcome the same sin. Don’t give up. You may have failed countless times but let your answer to Jesus’ question remain: “Yes, I want to be healed.”

The prodigal son represents that desire in us to grab and grab the material pleasures of the world. That he squandered all he had within a short time shows that all that the world has to offer only lasts for a short time; money reduces in value, beauty fades, things get broken, fame diminishes, love soon turns to hate and so on… In fact, nothing lasts forever on earth! We must never lose sight of our true home; heaven.

Like the children of Israel who called out to God in prayer when they were suffering in the hands of the Egyptians, the key to fighting sin is prayer. Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8). If asking has to do with praying, seeking has to do with making efforts. Yes, God is interested in the efforts you are making

Wash the inside of your cup. Believe that you can do without sin. Make efforts like the men who brought their paralytic friend to Jesus through the roof. Let Jesus see your faith and He would reward you with grace to overcome temptation. Don’t look down on yourself.

Dear friend, come back to God today. He will not only give you another chance, He would make you His shining star. There is just no limit to what God can accomplish through you.

To say baptism is a gate is to imply that it leads somewhere. Baptism is just the beginning. Jesus did not remain where he was after baptism, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he fasted and prayed forty days and nights. He was no longer the same person afterward.

Repentance brings healing. Repentance is saying “No” to the devil so as to allow God to come into your life and where God is, sickness, disease, stagnation, demonic possession etc. cannot remain

“If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30) Enter this New Year as a man/woman of great faith. Believe that you serve a God who knows how to provide, how to create dry roads in the midst of rivers, how to make ways where there seems to be no way. Expect the best.

Do not be so glued to social media, spend time with real human beings, mend broken fences, forgive past hurts, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Let us not be like stubborn sheep refusing to follow the shepherd back to the fold. No matter how sweet sin is, it is never sweeter than righteousness.

If you can succeed in making a person repent, renounce his former ways, and start living righteously, then I tell you there would be a lot of dancing in heaven because of you just as a man would dance when he finds a lost sheep.