And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.
(Acts 17:30)
God is calling us back to a time of prayer and repentance. Repent is derived from the words re – which means again and pent – which means the highest place; like the pent-house or Pent-agon. Therefore, repent means to go back again to the highest place; on the human body, the highest place is the human mind. Repent in the truest essence of the word means to change your mindset. Throughout the word of God, God has sent His servants, John, the Baptist and even Jesus with the message that it was time to repent.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)
When God is asking you to repent, He is asking you to change your mindset concerning Him or the things of God. In Matthew 4:17, John the Baptist and Jesus preached the message of repentance because God was getting ready to introduce to mankind, the supernatural dynamics of His heavenly kingdom.
Many times, when God asks you to turn from your way of doing things, He wants you to look to His way of doing things. Noah preached for 120 years to the people of His day and warned them that the floods were coming and it was time to repent. (Genesis 6; Matthew 24:37-39; Hebrews 11:7); Jonah preached to the Ninevites and commanded them to repent and turn to the One True God. (Jonah 3) Elijah called down fire from Heaven and defeated over eight hundred and fifty false prophets admonishing the people of his day to turn away from serving idols and false gods and turn to serve the Living God. (1 Kings 18)
13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts
to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:13, 14)
In every instance, once the men of God delivered the message of repentance, the choice was given to the people to decide if they were going to continue doing as they were doing or if they were going to truly repent, throw down their idols and turn to serve God.
In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God is saying to His people that if they are wiling to repent that He will cleanse the land and the hearts of the people. I believe that God was giving them a prophetic symbolism that their willingness to repent and turn back to Him would not only heal the land, but the it would also serve to cleanse their own hearts and minds from their idolatry and bring them back into right standing with God.
Beloved, I encourage you to make the decision to draw nearer and nearer to God. Repent from dead works; dead things; idle conversations and the like. It is time to seek the Lord, for real. Draw nearer to Him and He will draw nearer to you, for there is a place in His presence just for you. (James 4:8)
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall
come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19)
PRAYER: Father in the mighty name of Jesus I pray that your people will begin to read the signs, turn from their wicked ways and begin to seek your face. I pray that the person reading this will begin to let go of anything that is not of You, fall on their face and seek You like never before. I pray that they will be loosed from every chain of bondage, in Your mighty and holy name I pray, Amen!
PROPHETIC DECLARATION: I decree and declare that this will be the year that you seek God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength and that nothing shall hinder you from spending time in His presence or developing a more intimate relationship with Christ Jesus.
SCRIPTURES:
Genesis 6
Matthew 24:37-39
Hebrews 11:7
Jonah 3
1 Kings 18
