The Daily Fountain Devotional Wednesday, December 21, 2022
The Daily Fountain Devotional Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Wednesday, December 21,2022
TOPIC: REPENTANCE AND THE COMING OF CHRIST
TEXT: Mark 1:1-8
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
The Daily Fountain Devotional Wednesday, December 21, 2022
INTRODUCTION TEXT
In this passage, John announces that repentance is the way people come to God, and the result is the forgiveness of sins. This is what the people who I streamed out of Jerusalem to listen to John were looking for, and they j found forgiveness of sins. This came by way of repentance. Isaiah sees repentance as a way of preparing for the coming of Christ. Thus, John came preaching repentance as a bulldozer - building a highway in the desert for God to reach the isolated stranger in the midst of the wilderness.
John brought people to Christ through acknowledgment of guilt and repentance. When you come this way, God will meet you, cleanse and forgive you. The greatest blessing you can experience is to have your sins forgiven. Stop defending your sinful actions. Don't blame others for them. Admit that it's your fault and humbly come to God for forgiveness. You can do so now while the opportunity lasts; tomorrow may be too late. In the quietness of your own heart, where God alone hears, you can say to Him, "Lord, I repent. Send me the Holy Spirit through Jesus." And He will. This is the only way to prepare for the coming of Christ.
Prayer: Father, please forgive me and cleanse me in Jesus' name. Amen.