Matthew 3:8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

If you are truly penitent, if you know what your sin is, if you are willing to repent, then do things which show you are!

It is one thing to talk about being sorry, but another thing to be sorry. Most people will see straight through you when you pretend to be sorry; especially God!

Just like a tree is known by the fruit it produces, so we will be known by the way we do things and the way we act.

Act like a Christian. Be a Christian!

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Jesus Christ was hung on the cross to be the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. If we do not acknowledge this, we are saying He did this for no reason.

But if we do acknowledge it and believe it in our hearts, we are lifting Him up as our Saviour.

When we do that, we will be in the right place to receive God’s mercy; Christ wants to forgive our sins but needs to hear we are willing to admit to them and allow Him to bury them once and for all!

John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.

This may be seen as a contentious statement by many, but it is the theme we are looking at here, not the physical wording…

God is holy. He cannot abide sin. Yet He does listen to us because Christ listens to us. But why should He have to listen to those who are actively rejecting Him or profaning Him?

He doesn’t have to listen to any of it! But He chooses to listen to us because we have accepted Him into our lives. We, as sinners, have accepted holiness into our lives, so He, as God, accepts our prayers into His life.