Repentance in our daily lives

I had the privilege of gathering with a group of about 10 people in the localarea on Thursday August 21 when we enjoyed a great time of teaching and sharing from the group as God poured Himself out in our midst.

I was given the freedom to write some of what was shared together in that meeting. And I will do it through the eyes that I see and know, and it could be that others, seeing from another vantage point, might have heard what God was saying to them differently.

So I am sharing what has impacted me today. And what has impacted me the most is the confirmation and reaffirmation of several other prophetic words that I have read recently by other known apostles/prophets.

It is not anything shocking to us that hard times are coming to the USA. We know the threats of ISSI to come to America, and beyond that their leaders have said that they are already here! Nor is it shocking as we think about also having a renewed,, energized Russia sitting off our Northwest border of Alaska which sees that the leadership of this nation is passive in the face of global threat. As I have talked with others about these things and pondered them myself over the past week or two, it appears clear to me that some of these things are “set” as far as the fact that they are going to happen. The question is WHEN:what the timing of the event is? And it appears that we, the saints of God, do have some opportunity in participating in the timing of the events that will come upon the USA.

Yet, as I listen and wait upon the Lord personally, and seek to assimilate the understanding that He is working in me, seeking to comprehend His overall message which was reiterated today and also in other posts, I see rather clearly is NOT about what is going to happen or even the time. In fact, I see Him asking us to get our eyes off those things and allow Him to work in us what He is doing. There seems to be many issues in front of each of us that He is taking us through, and it is these “obstacles” that we are experiencing that are the training grounds for the days ahead. Today it was mentioned that a new Army recruit doesn’t put on the uniform and go right into war. He has the lovely opportunity to go through Basic Training,where he will be required to work through a variety of obstacles by which he is equipped, strengthened and trained for the days ahead. Even the infantry men then go through Advanced training before they go out on the field of battle.

Some of us are tired of the obstacles in our path, and there is within the Body of Christ a philosophy or way of thinking that says those obstacles are the devil working and effort is made to identify the “spirit” working in that obstacle and remove it. My heart heard Him say tonight that it is the condition of OUR HEART that the obstacle is giving us opportunity to be changed. Psalm 150:1 talks about Praising Him in the sanctuary. This house of flesh that I dwell in is presently the sanctuary in which the Holy Spirit joined with my spirit is living in. He wants to rule and reign in my house of flesh on this earth in August 2014.Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And that will require that we come to know Him in whom we abide and put our faith and trust in who He is in us above all else.

Perhaps this is what is meant when preachers speak and say, “Seek my Face not my hand.” I think in part this means that we seek Him in the sanctuary, which is Christ in me the hope of glory rather than looking at the things He does around us and the circumstances around us that frustrate us and make life difficult for us. His way seems to be to focus on allowing HIm to be all He is IN us,. He is inviting us to open the gates of our hearts by yielding our mouths to Him in thanksgiving in all things. For the scriptures say, “In everything give thanks for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

We cry out to the Father that we want to do His will and we focus on doing doing doing for that is what we have been taught so long. Yet He says…”it is My will that you open up the gates of your heart to me in thanksgiving and THEN come into My courts/presence with praise.” There He says He will dwell and where two or three gather together and walk IN HIS NAME, He will manifest Himself. It is all about Him, not even what He is doing much less even than what I am doing. It isn’t about what I want HIm to do in a given situation or circumstances. And NOT what the devil is doing in a given situation. Where the saints are operating out of the sanctuary, having entered through the act of obedience called thanksgiving and praise, He is free to do what only He can do and has purposed. There He can teach us His way that we might walk with Him in what He is doing. We quickly learn and come to be aware of what “dead works” are no matter how effective they are in terms of results. They leave us empty hearted.

We are blessed as children of the Father and sons and brothers in Christ Jesus that Papa sees our frame that we are weak and frail. So as I look out at those who are spending most of their time dealing with “spirits” that are “out there” instead of dealing with the Spirit of God that would rise up within us when we are in thanksgiving and praise, “oned” with Him in Him, I get concerned. Spiritual works aren’t a whole lot different than social works. I know my share of both types of activities and both, though they may accomplish something in the natural and God may even use to proclaim His name, will leave our hearts void. Spiritual gifts don’t mature us. Abiding in Him, dying into life, offering up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, these are the foundation stones of life in Christ Jesus and the process by which we are “established” in Him! Yes there is a place for spiritual gifts, thank you Jesus! Whatever we receive by spiritual gifting must eventually be worked out of us to become Christ Himself in us. Spiritual gifts are free. True Spirituality or a life in Jesus or allow Christ to be himself in us requires dying, the work of the cross, REPENTANCE.

And at the gathering there we had some teaching on Repentance. I like the Hebrew word for repentance and the rabbinical way of addressing it and it fits in so well with the message given us today and which I am hearing across the nation. Here is a quote that gives some perspective.
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To regret doing something alone without changing your way or making amends is NOT to repent.

The Hebrew word for repent is teshuvah.

“Teshuvah” is the word for repent which comprises the two steps involved, nicham (to feel regret or sorrow) and shuv (to return)

`When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Eternal, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he

has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. [Numbers 5:6-7]
30:8 You will repent and obey God, keeping all His commandments, as I prescribe them to you today.

Ve’atah tashuv veshamata bekol Adonay ve’asita et-kol-mitsvotav asher anochi metsavecha hayom.

Deuteronomy 30:8

note the Hebrew word tashuv there

teshuvah is the NOUN for repenthttps://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111011101706AAKZ3ax
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Today the key word was RESET. One could look at it as if one was rebooting. It means we turned off the power or recognized we had turned the power off and turn it back on. When my computer updates the software for the computer itself, it always requires a “reboot.” How many times have we taken in a ton of new information, been stirred, sometimes out of our wits, so to speak, but we never “rebooted?” It takes the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives to bring us awareness of the need to reboot/reset the way of life we were living. Otherwise we continue in the same patterns. How do we know we are doing that? One of the ways is when we hear ourselves saying to ourselves or others,”I know that!” I may know it. I may have knowledge of something, of information, but if I haven’t reset the system, that new information isn’t integrated into the programing to create a new path. The old errors and bad scripts remain and we are never truly set free of the bondage that those errors and bad scripts held us in.

Once we are willing to reset/reboot which is the initial step of repentance brought about by the Holy Spirit, then comes the reassignment. And most of us know that just because we “hear” or gain insightfrom the Father that we have a destiny, mission, or call, doesn’t mean that we are to step out and start doing those things. Instead, it requires the next “R”.

The next aspect of repentance is realignment. This involves being realigned to God and his plan and to get our actions and reactions in align with His. This means learning to hear and see what God is doing and learning to be a colaborer in what He is doing and what He is saying.

The next aspect of repentance is REACT. When we have reset and been reassigned and brought into the alignment with Him that will allow us to co-labor with him in that “assignment” then we will be reacting out of Himself:Christ in us our hope of glory.

And that will bring us back to repentance because our reactions in our assignments will always be imperfect. For we are human beings being formed in His image, a process that will continue until the image of Christ predetermined before the foundation of the world is completed in us.We will mess us, we will screw up, we will make major mistakes and each of these brings us back to Repentance as Holy Spirit reveals things in us that aren’t like Him and gives us the opportunity to be formed in that area in to His image.

These five R words describe fairly clearly what I read about “Teshuvah”. And I suggest you might find it profitable to do your own study on the OT concept of repentance. The NT concept which comes from the word metanoia is often seen and interpreted in a much more limited basis though clearly not within the full biblical context of repentance. Once we change our minds about something, it alters our feelings and prompts us to choices of different behaviors. Which is why scripture speaks of the “renewing of the spirit of the mind.” As a man thinketh so is he. And if we have the full concept of metanoia which involves literally a change of behavior as a result of incorporated thinking change, then we see Repentance in its fullness as the OT illustrates.

As this gathering was also discussion of the letter R which is the 18th letter of the alphabet which is associated with or symbolic of bondage. If you look up some of the biblical use of the number 18, you will gain some further understanding about the way we come out of bondage, which is through repentance.

In closing, I am copying and pasting the words of a song that was shared at the gathering with slight change in the repeated phrase because Jehovah is not just another god…THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT JEHOVAH!! These indeed are the Days of Elijah.

The Days of Elijah

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord
And these are the days of Your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored

And these are the days of great trials
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
So, lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee
Out of Zions hill, salvation comes

And these are the days of Ezekiel
The dry bones becoming as flesh
And these are the days of Your servant, David
Rebuilding a temple of praise

And these are the days of the harvest
The fields are all white in Your world
And we are the laborers in Your vineyard
Declaring the Word of the Lord

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
So, lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee
Out of Zions hill, salvation comes

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
So, lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee
Out of Zions hill, salvation comes

Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!

Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!

Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!
Theres no God BUT Jehovah!

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
So, lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee
Out of Zions hill, salvation comes

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
So, lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee
Out of Zions hill, salvation comes