Blessed Repentance

Welcome to another Daily Encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Arthur Jackson wrote today's reading entitled it, Blessed Repentance. Broke was the street name Grady answered to and those five letters were proudly emblazoned on his license plates. Though not intended in a spiritual sense, the moniker fit the middle-aged gambler, adulterer, and deceiver. He was broken, bankrupt, and far from God. However, all that changed one evening when he was convicted by God's Spirit in a hotel room. He told his wife, I think I'm getting saved. That evening, he confessed sins he thought he would take with him to the grave and came to Jesus for forgiveness. For the next 30 years, the man who didn't think he would live to see 40 lived and served God as a changed believer in Jesus. His license plates changed too, from broke to repent.

Repent. That's what Grady did, and that's what God called Israel to do in Hosea 14 verses 1 through 2. But the gap can be closed by turning from sin to God and receiving the forgiveness he's graciously provided through the death of Jesus. Whether you're a struggling believer in Christ or one whose life looks like Grady's did, your forgiveness is only a prayer away.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Hosea chapter 14 verses 1 through 4. We will never again say our gods to what our hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion. I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. Let's pray. Father, would you search our hearts for anything that would contribute to our own downfall and distance from you? Cleanse us, forgive us, and use us for your honor. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.