23 May, 2021
Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit”. Acts 2:38
Abba Father, Deliverer and Merciful, Compassionate God, Whose covenanted promises, unshakable and everlasting, have helped us rise from the dredges of sinful existence to a hope of gaining eternal life in your Presence, we extol your Holy Name. You have saved us and redeemed us to a lasting reconciliation and relationship with you as our Father, restored, sanctified, justified, adopted, by the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.
Reparation for our sins by a resolute repentance and a renewal of our lives, to new holiness, through abiding in you, is the requirement, if we want to be truly consecrated to you and reborn through the Spirit descending upon us, as our indwelling Counselor throughout our life on earth. We have crucified our Savior, but he has redeemed and saved us. We need to take up our crosses and follow him, for by rebirth in the Spirit, it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ, your anointed Son, who lives in us.
Lord, help us, through baptism in Christ and rebirth in the Spirit, manifest the total transformation in our lives that this deep faith brings about. It reforms the soul, through which we conform our lives to faith in the Apostolic testimony that Jesus is our Messiah. We invoke your Holy Spirit, Heavenly Father, who came at Pentecost, to descend upon us, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there we will find life and joy, in Jesus. Amen