“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” – Matthew 11:21
Nearly three years after the murder of Cesar Lopez-Flores, his killer pleaded guilty, saying he found God while incarcerated, which urged him to confess and repent.
In a statement that shocked the court, Danny Dashay Holmes pleaded guilty minutes after his trial began in August 2019, confessing to the murder of Lopez-Flores. In a packed courtroom, Holmes addressed the court, explaining his decision to confess to the murder. He said over a year ago, God changed his life. He felt as if God was putting pressure on him to tell the truth and confess to the murder.
"I knew the Lord was just on me, weighing on me over and over," Holmes said.
"I’m 30-years-old, and I’ve been fighting for nothing all my life. I’ve been fighting for gangs. … I ain’t never fought for anything that made sense. But I knew the Lord was telling me to fight for him this time. I just knew he was stirring on my spirit."
"Momma, you know I love you," Holmes said to his mother. "But Momma, I promise you, your baby boy, he’s going to serve the Lord forever."
Holmes recounted his flashy lifestyle to the court. He had money — lots of it — designer goods and expensive cars. Now he plans to tell all the young people he meets in prison about finding salvation through Christ, not cash or luxuries.
"My consequences deserve a life sentence," he said.
The Lord wants us to take responsibility for our sins, confess them, and turn away from them. Today in prayer, repent of any sin in your life and seek to follow Christ in all that you do.
“One of the most fundamental marks of true repentance is a disposition to see our sins as God sees them.” – Charles Simeon
God’s Word: “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
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2019, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN MATTHEW