Worship

“Available” by Elevation Worship

Scripture

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 3:1-2 (ESV)

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 4:17 (ESV)

Understanding Biblical Repentance

I had a dream on April 4. It was a four-part dream about the Church. In the third part of my dream I was sitting watching a man all dressed in a white suit leaning over an enormous white roulette table. As he threw the white ball on the round spinner and it bounced around, he said these words, “There have been many prophetic words spoken, but there is one people are not listening to. That word is repentance.”

I have thought about this dream nearly every day since then. What are we missing or not hearing, Lord? What is in your heart in revealing this word and it’s not landing? After all these weeks, I have attempted to unwrap what God is speaking to His Bride right now. It comes with a weight in my heart for us.

• Repent was the first word of John the Baptist’s gospel (Matthew 3:1-2).
• Repent was the first word of Jesus’ gospel (Matthew 4:17).
• Repent was the first word  of the twelve disciples preaching ministry (Mark 6:12).
• Repent was one of the first words in the instructions Jesus gave to His disciples after His resurrection (Luke 24:46-47).
• Repent was the first word in Peter’s word of exhortation in the first Christian sermon  (Acts 2:38).
• Repent was a primary emphasis of Paul’s ministry (Acts 26:19-20).

The True Meaning of Repentance

To be honest, I have always struggled with the word “repent” just because it carries with it the image in my mind of anger or wrath. Do this or else. Turn or burn. But what if that was never in God’s heart in the first place. What if our English translation of the word is off from God’s original intent? Listen to the translation notes from the Mirror Bible:

“The word ‘repentance’ is a fabricated word from the Latin word, penance, and to give religion more mileage the English word became re-penance! That is not what the Greek word means at all! The word, metanoia, comes from meta, together with and nous, mind or mental awareness. This word suggests a radical mind shift; it is to realize God’s thoughts towards us. It is an awakening to the awareness of God’s thoughts. To co-know!”

God wants us to metanoia to Him—to gather our thoughts around His thoughts in this hour more than ever. I believe He was inviting us from the very moment we encountered his goodness to begin to anchor our thoughts in His thoughts, His promises, and His character. Whether we are being faced with difficult or painful experiences or growing in our identity in Him, it’s critical to continue to anchor our lives in His thoughts toward us. Forever it will be a turning away from and an anchoring into Him. So beautiful and so safe.

One commentary quoting D.A. Carson and John Howard Yoder says, “Repentance is more than turning away from sin—it is also a turning to a fruitful life—‘a fundamental turnaround involving mind and action.’ … ‘To repent is not to feel bad but to think differently’—and therefore to act differently.”

There is an invitation to the fruitful life Christ has intended for you when He saved you by His grace. For example, because He sees me as holy, I can live in holiness. Because He calls me His beloved, I can love myself and love others. Our lives originate in God’s thoughts toward us and we live out of this truth and reality.

Living in God’s Truth

As believers, we have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He died the death we should have died. He took our sin and the wrath of God and bore it on the cross in our place. All of our sin, guilt, shame, accusation, and charges are wiped clean. So how do believers repent? It boils down to this question: Are your thoughts and beliefs aligned with His? Ask Him. What you believe, you will live out.

If John, Jesus, the disciples, and Paul all preached repentance, where have we backed down from this same message in the Church today? Where are we not aligning with the heart and thoughts of God toward lost people, fellow believers, or even toward ourselves? God’s heart is always love toward His people, but He also desires holiness and righteousness. The Church in America has lost her voice because of her great desire to not offend people, and it gave the enemy an open door to a spirit of fear. It’s time to repent and get back to God’s thoughts about you and me and the lost who don’t know Him yet. We have to speak God’s thoughts and not be silent.

“Repentance in our time looks like this: We abandon methods that while good, would be a drag on revival. We examine crimes we have committed against the Holy Spirit and we forsake them. We end our theological apology tour. We look culture right in the eye and say, ‘I know you will hate me and say I am judgmental, but what I am about to tell you will bring you life—life you never imagined.’ And we prepare.” -Maurio Marillo, “Vessels of Fire and Glory: Breaking Demonic Spells Over America to Release a Great Awakening”

As we have much to return to as it pertains to God’s original heart and purposes for the Church (as birthed in the book of Acts), He also has original intent for us as believers when we were adopted as daughters. We were given a new identity and a new calling, commissioned to take the gospel forward from our very lives. His intent was that we believe Him and hold to His Word—His love letter revealing His passion for His people. If there are lies we are believing about the goodness of God, holiness, grace, the truth of His promises, we need to return to His truth and His promises. We need to repent and re-align with what we believe He says and hold fast to what is TRUE!

“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.” -1 Timothy 6:20-21

Personal Application

In circling back to the worship song above and my dream, I want to beseech you to be available for the Lord to show you where you have come out of alignment with His heart and His truth. I believe that God wants us to hit the jackpot on repentance, so we can have the fullness of truth in our current reality. He wants us to know and live in the covenant He made to us in regards to abundance and His goodness. Would you dare to ask the Lord to search you and reveal to you any places that you need to return to His thoughts and align with what He is saying about you and others.

In all transparency, here are a few from my own from life over the years:

Lord, I have believed for too long that I am timid and afraid of mean people. I repent and come back to what you say of me. I am hidden in you and courageous because you live in me, Jesus.

Lord, I have bought the lie of the American dream for my comfort and my kingdom. I repent and ask you to build my life upon Your Kingdom values and Your Kingdom purposes.

Lord, I have been waiting for the “next shoe to drop.” I repent and return to your never ceasing goodness, faithfulness, and mercy for me today. Help me align with your thoughts and promises for me.

“All those I dearly love I unmask and train. So, repent and be eager to pursue what is right. Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.” -Revelation 3:19-20, TPT

Lord, speak and return us to Yourself in the areas that need re-alignment to Your heart. May we be available in every way to let You search us and return us to your original intent for life in abundance with You, in Jesus’ name!

Together

You are a part of a community of women who are setting aside intentional space and time to passionately pursue Jesus. Join the Arise Facebook group to start sharing prayer requests and testimonies as we journey together.