February 5, 2010

THE ETERNAL GIFT FROM GOD - REPENTANCE THAT LEADS TO LIFE

Key Verse
"And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord." (Acts 9:21)
Read More READ TODAY'S PASSAGE
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Central Truth

The verse just prior to the subject text sums up today's passage very well: "God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."  (Acts 11:18b)

Reflections

The Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary in the Greek, and The Complete Word Study New Testament  both explain the richness of Acts 9:21:  

     "And the hand"- means metaphorically, the Power of God; 
     "[O]f the Lord"- signifying "having power" or "authority," One 
     to whom service is due on any ground; 
     "was with them, and a large"- great;  
     "number"-Arithmetic; a number; 
     "who believed"- To be persuaded of, to place confidence in, to 
     trust, reliance upon, not mere credence; 
     "turned"- to make to turn towards, to turn one's self round, be 
     converted, an immediate and decisive change consequent upon a 
     deliberate choice. Conversion is a voluntary act in response to the 
     presentation of truth; 
     "to the Lord"- signifying "having power" or "authority," One to 
     whom service is due on any ground.

Ten years ago, the hand of the Lord was with the people that He put in my path to help me when I suffered daily from alcoholism and post-traumatic stress. I couldn't leave my home, go to work, or go out in public for fear that the next episode would come.  I had to believe in God because nothing on earth could heal me. So He put a Godly woman in my path who suggested I watch a well known women's Bible teacher every morning. She was wonderful! It was like my Grandma taking my hand saying, "Honey, come; I'll show you where Jesus is." And she did!

At the end of her teaching I knew I had to agree with God and change my life style. The first change I made was to ask Jesus to come into my life as my Lord and Savior. As the Holy Spirit flowed through me, suddenly my mind was calmed, my soul was refreshed, and my Spirit was soaring. 

Because of the hand of the Lord, I had finally found what I had been searching for my whole life.  A saving relationship with Jesus Christ!

Discussion Questions

  1. Where were you when you first received Christ with all your heart?
  2. How has your relationship with Christ and His power healed you of your hurts, hang-ups and habits up to this point in your walk with Him?
  3. How has God spoken to you and stretched your faith to help you to grow in Him? What methods did He use to communicate to you, i.e., what people, what bible study, reading of the Word, or morning prayer? Can you give specific examples?
  4. Share the most amazing encounter with the Holy Spirit that you have had to-date.

Comments

The views expressed under “Comments” are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Grace Community Church.

  1. Lori Shepherd

    February 5, 2010 07:55 AM

    This is an awesome devotion Tracy! Thank you for sharing your heart. Love you girl! Lori

  2. Rick Black

    February 5, 2010 08:12 AM

    Thanks Tracy. It is so nice that God is the God of peace. It is a fruit of the Spirit. I enjoyed your devotion this morning.

  3. Denise

    February 5, 2010 08:40 AM

    Tracy, Thanks for sharing your testimony! The love and saving grace of God is very evident in you and I praise God His work in you! Denise

  4. Brett Andrews

    February 6, 2010 07:04 AM

    Tracy, Thank you for sharing this powerful and moving testimony of God's love in your life. What a great reminder that there is true peace to be found in the Lord daily.

  5. Karen

    February 6, 2010 10:00 AM

    Tracy - God DOES work miraculously! The part of this verse that also sank in is its timeliness. The Haiti situation where people are pouring out their hearts and sharing their pocketbooks appears in direct correlation with the disciples acts (and example to us) in Acts 11:29 when they learned their would be a famine: "And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief . . . "

  6. Robin Holland

    February 6, 2010 11:16 AM

    Thanks Tracy, I got excited and encouraged as I answered your questions and collected memories of when I received Christ and all that God has done in my life. I love hearing your story too! I appreciate you. Thanks be to God that He has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.

  7. Tracy Kincaid

    February 6, 2010 05:52 PM

    I want to thank each of you for your kind and gracious words of encouragement, even though I put the incorrect chapter down and I didn't do a very good job of enterpreting the scriptures. How embarrassing! Please forgive me. I was not physically, emotionally nor spiritually well this past fall. It was a very difficult time. Yet at the same time it a was most rewarding time due to the lessons God tought me as He brought me through it all. ANd so I'd like to share it with you. Namely, it was a rebuke for seeking man's approval to gain a feeling of self-worth instead of KNOWING my self-worth by who I am in Christ,in God, alone. Not by how well I perform at work their being pleased with me nor to gain my families approval of me. It was a rich and humbling lesson that showed me that I am enough by who I am in Christ and as a child of God who sealed me with His Holy Spirit as His mark of His covenant with me that I am His child whom He selected 'just as I am'. And ThaT is what gives me true self-worth. Not the worlds cheap immitation of it laced with it's conditions and never ending requirement to continue to earn that approval because it is only worth what it did for them today. So my prayer, after having read this devotion is that God will use it as an example to encourage others from Grace Community Church, who may have been too afraid to "Join the Journey" for fear of not being adequate enough. Or for fear of feeling that people wouldn't be pleased with it or approve of it as being "worthy" of publishing. I pray that this will encourge them to lay down their concerns, read the scriptures, meditate on them, and then write a devotion to God out of their love for Him, alone. And to know that this alone is what pleases Him and He will glorify Himself. That no matter how "off" they may be, as I was when writing my insights of the scriptures, that they will know that God uses all things for good and for His glory, both at the same time! I praised God this morning for each of you. This is the first I have had a chance to read this devotion since having submitted it. I thank God for using each of you to soften the sting after having read the devotion. I was very embarrassing and I felt shame which I know is not from God. So thank you for being the mouth of "Jesus", by speaking His grace and love for me during a very embarrassing moment. I love and appreciate each of you for it very much. Forever in His love and service, "Hope"Tracy Kincaid

  8. Doug Quinn

    February 8, 2010 01:55 AM

    Thank you for this very inspiring devotion and for sharing in such a powerful way!

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Tracy Kincaid

Tracy Kincaid

My name is Tracy Kincaid. I live in Peru, Kansas with my husband Marion whom I've been married to for nine years. We live in the country with our three dogs, Jessie, Harley, and "Blue," and our three cats, Hannah, Buddy and Thomas. It is "Heaven" there! Every day, as I drive home from Bartlesville, I am truly getting away. We live on 30 acres of beautiful land, and I am very much at peace there with my husband and the "kids." As a native New Yorker, I can't believe God has fulfilled what was once only a dream.