Repentance is turning around our hearts and behaviors to align with God’s will, but that’s where God’s refreshment comes into our lives. God will not only lovingly receive us when we repent; he will also redeem us and remake us. But that repentance is often so hard for us to do. We get stuck in old patterns of destructive and addictive behavior. We don’t want to admit that our way is the wrong way. We even can believe Satan’s deceptive lies are better than God’s loving counsel. We sometimes use self-deprecating thoughts to defeat the Spirit’s work in ourselves, so we succumb to Satan’s lies. So let’s come clean, confess our sins, and entirely turn our lives back to God. If we will, we will find God and his truly refreshing presence! “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.
September 18
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also