A Call to Repentance

 

 

This is NOT a national prayer, as many today have made it out to be. It is a prayer that the Church should be praying for the Church. When Solomon wrote this, it was for the nation Israel. But God is telling His CHURCH- that we must obey this command 

 

2 Chronicles 7:12-22

 The following contains excerpts of a message I preached on Sunday, July 7, 2024. God had woke me up in the middle of the night and gave me this message. I had already had a message prepared and ready to go, but God changed it. With all that is going on in the world and our nation today- this message is, I can say, directly God's desire for His people. It isn't anything new and many have spoken, preached and written about it. But it is time for the Church- God's people- who are called by His name, to repent- to humble ourselves, seek Him and His will, pray and turn from our own individual ways- and He will- and does- hear from heaven. He will heal us as a Church- and He will bring healing into our land. But it must come from those who call themselves Christians, those who are known by His name. It is time for God's people- us- you and me- to humble ourselves and declare that we have and are nothing except through God's grace. God has been dealing with me in many areas of my own life. If we say we have not sinned- we are mistaken. 1 John 1:5-10. Verse 8: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." 

 Time is short, friends. It is time for the Church to wake up and begin to pray and intercede as never before. I believe that the next sweeping revival will be one of holiness, humility, righteousness- a revival of TRUE REPENTANCE- an acknowledging of our sin, our inability to do anything for Christ on our own, our total dependency on Christ and His righteousness alone. Gone are the days of showmanship, performance, choreographed worship, etc. The Church has lost its spiritual compass and is following a path quite like the world. The Word is being watered down, full of compromise, idolatry- putting anything above God and His holiness, tolerance for sin is on the up rise. Some of God's leaders are leading entire flocks down the wrong path and into deception, and eventually into a devil's hell, if things don't change. Many in the Church today are dabbling in things of darkness, deception and being caught in satan's trap. We must wake up!!!  We must pray for a true spiritual awakening in the hearts of people today!

 Repentance means turning back, to return, to get back to God. It doesn't mean just being sorry about sin- but a true inner remorse that turns us completely around the other direction. Our minds are changed into the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16). Repentance is a reversal of our destiny! We renounce our sin and announce our complete faith and trust in God for our future.  I don't think there is enough emphasis on repentance today. Ministers want to quickly add to their numbers and get people signed up to their churches. The teaching about repentance has become lost in the churches today. We just rush people through a "sinner's prayer"- and off they go! There never is time to truly teach what repentance really means according to God's word. I am not saying that we morbidly drag up every sin we ever committed and dwell on it forever. I am saying- that there has to be true remorse, an abhorrence of sin. Enough remorse that we are convinced that we never want to sin again. There is a reason why Christ went through so much suffering on the cross. It wasn't just to feel a little sorry that we  sinned. We have to understand what is all about.

 Rev. 2:1-7(The Passion Translation)

Verses  4-5 “But I have this against you: you have abandoned the passionate love you had for Me at the beginning. Think about how far you have fallen! Repent and do the works of love you did at first. I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place of influence if you do not repent.”

We are losing our influence on the world. Instead, the world is influencing the Church. The Church has lost its first love and passion for Christ. In its place, there is love for other things- the world, the creature, our reputation- we don't want to offend anyone. We don't want to be considered intolerant.  We don't want to be ridiculed. But Romans 8:18-23 states that the suffering we endure in this life is less than nothing compared to the glory that we will receive. The Passion translates it as "the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us."  Creation is moaning and groaning, waiting for the manifestation of Christ in the Church! This can only come through a humble, repentant- yet bold in faith Church. 

Repentance. Living a life of repentance, being an influence to the world around us, having our lives back up our speech. Repentance is a turning from sin and turning towards God. It isn't enough to just turn away from something- we must replace it with something better. We must have the mind and heart and passion of God.

Do you hear it? Or are you too busy? Is your mind filled with other voices? Do you hear the call? The call to repentance? If you hear that call, then it is your duty (and mine) to pray and intercede like never before! Time is running out. Christ is about to be reveled through His church and it will happen with or without you- or me. He has a remnant ready to go! He has a people that have been through the fire, have been tested and have been filled with that fire- have been going through the process of preparation- and are ready to manifest Christ to the world! If you are part of that remnant, prepared people, the voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord- I encourage you to maintain your position- to continue in your alertness and preparedness- because it will soon take place. Let the boldness of Christ rise up in you and speak the truth.

If you are one who hasn't heard that call, or you have and you haven't yet responded. I challenge you to get yourself away, away from all the noise of the world (social media, news, tv, etc)- push away all those voices that lull a person to sleep-- and pray, seek God and ask Him to speak to you and then be obedient. This is a message for the Church, for God's people, you who call yourselves Christians- it isn't for someone else- it is for you- for me. Let's be obedient and listen to what God is saying today. 

Revelation 3:19-22: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

~Donna