Recipe for Times of Refreshing from the Lord

“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).

Times of refreshing…

Doesn’t that sound good right about now? There is so much happening in our world that is out of our control:

• On going Covid issues,
• the political turmoil,
• the increasing homeless issues,
• rising crime rates,
• rising cases of substance abuse,
• rising cases of suicides,
• 17 missionaries held hostage for ransom in Haiti,
• the Afghan refugees…

Sheesh!

Yes, please….times of refreshing!!!

Our text tells there are three stipulations to times of refreshing.

The first stipulation to experiencing times of refreshing from the Lord is that we need our sins wiped out. The presence of sin makes it impossible to have peace with God. Sin separates us from God.

So, how can we get our sins wiped out?

That brings us to the second stipulation: repent. The Greek word for repent means to have a changed mind. Whereas at one time our minds and hearts were set on sin, repenting means that we have a change of mind and heart. It is not merely saying that we are sorry for our sins but a change of mind and heart regarding sin.

But in order to have a change of mind and heart, we have to ask what our minds and hearts should focus on instead of sin. That brings us to the third stipulation: turn to God.

Did you see that? We repent by turning our minds and hearts away from sin to God. The Greek word for repent is “metanoia”. At the root of this Greek word is the picture of soldiers who are marching in one direction and they are told “metanoia” and they do an about face, a 180 degree turn, a complete turn around. The idea is that while we were marching toward sin and away from God, when we repent we do an about face and turn and move toward God. It is a spiritual u-turn, no more running to sin. It is turning away from sin to turning and running to God.

Yes, please…times of refreshing.

Now you know how. Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.