Andy Hall writes:
“Times of refreshing from the Lord?”
Acts3:19 “…repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing come from the Lord…”
Peter tells his Jewish hearers that they needed to repent about who Jesus was. What about us who know who Jesus is? How do we access the promised refreshing of God?
“…repent then…” we need to change direction away from sin not run towards it
“…turn to God...” we need to seek God’s face for that is where refreshment comes from.
“…that your sins may be wiped out…” the word in Greek here “Exaleipho” does not mean sins covered over (by the blood) but rather false coverings and false anointing that need to be removed so they don’t cut us off from God presence. These false anointings like the spirit of religion shroud us and cut us of from the refreshing cool relief of God’s Spirit.
The Jewish hears minds would have gone straight away to God’s promises in Isaiah 44:3
“… for I will pour out water on a dry and thirsty land…”
But no matter how good and abundant the water poured out on the land it can’t penetrate the soil, if we have hard ground in our hearts Hosea 10:12 says “…break up your fallow ground…”
Sins in our hearts must be ploughed up before we can receive refreshing from the Lord. Sin contaminates and separates it, causes us to try and dominated and control people. Sin always defends itself, trusts only itself and is totally self-absorbed! God can not refresh this, it needs to be repented of otherwise we end up as saved saints but dwelling in a parched land. Heaven bound but hungry on the journey. Connected to God but feeling like a stranger.
The good news is the “…today is the day of salvation…” today we can start to restore the soil of our hearts. We need to urgently; throw down, overturn, root out, and energetically send away from ourselves all the sin symptoms of a hardened heart.
Idols must go. Other “gods “must be expelled, the doctrines of demons must be renounced, our minds changed, our bodies sanctified to God’s service.
How does this happen? By heart searching and confession. Psalm 26:2 “…test me and try me oh Lord and see if there be any unclean way in me…” Ask the Holy Spirit to show you.
Then confess that sin based on 1John 1:9 bring stuff into the light and onto the cross where Christ blood can deal with in.
Finally, we must expect and claim the promise of Isaiah 57:15
“…I live in a high and holy place but also with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit. To revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite…”
Andy Hall Associate Minister CCBN