You must repent

So Jesus’ key message was that we should repent.

The purpose of this post is to encourage you to press into being led by the Holy Spirit so that God’s Kingdom can be seen in a greater and greater degree; until the waters cover the sea.

As I’m sure you’re aware, ‘repent’ is our translation for the word ‘metanoia’ which means to change your mind, rather than to own up to a list of things you shouldn’t have done. When you repent because the Kingdom is here, you are changing the way you think about what you are currently experiencing, basically say to yourself:

“Ok, Father, what are you saying in this situation?”

I punctured the rear tyre on my bike this morning. I must have gone over a piece of glass because there was a slash half way across it. I put the bike on my shoulder and started on the 2km walk home. Occasionally I looked around to see if there were any vans or estate cars that I could flag down to ask for a lift. I was thoroughly prepared to do this.

Then God called me to repentance. It comes when you feel the Holy Spirit challenging you on your thinking and behaviour. What was I doing wrong? “Father, what are you saying?” I was walking along hoping that I could persuade someone to stop their vehicle to help me and God wanted to teach me how to take a step of faith. I prayed: “Father I ask that you speak to the driver of a vehicle, to drive this direction, even if they weren’t planning to, and that when they see me they will then know why, and pull over to pick me up.”

How did I behave? With faith. I carried on with my bike, not looking back, believing that at any moment there would be a ‘beep’ and a vehicle would pull up next to me. I could have taken a short cut across a park, but decided not to in order to give the individual the chance to be obedient.

“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” John 10: 27

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” Romans 8: 14

The thing about faith is that it’s not dependant on the result. What’s the difference between wishful thinking and faith, between recklessness and obedience? Learning to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. Simply deciding to give the keys to your car to some random person on the street is foolishness, and foolishness is not celebrated by God. However if it was under compulsion of the Holy Spirit, it’s faith.

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” 1 Cor 1: 25

What we see as foolish, God sees as wisdom. His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. Why on earth did Jesus rub mud on the eyes of the blind one moment, and just speak healing on another occasion? Why did he tell His disciples to find money to pay their taxes in the mouth of a fish? If he had only three years of ministry, why didn’t he conduct a crescendo of bigger and bigger healing meetings in larger and larger venues?

Why was this repentance necessary? Why was this change of thinking and step of faith important? Because God is training me how to behave as His son. To see God’s Kingdom come and His will done on earth we HAVE TO operate in faith, so that that which is unseen can be seen.

• without faith it’s impossible to please God
• faith grows. just like any living thing – you feed it, invest in it, it HAS TO grow
• someone was spoken to by the Holy Spirit, just as I was. The fact that they were disobedient is between them and God, but the OPPORTUNITY was there.
• I was at peace! I knew that I had played my part, if someone had pulled over they would have been blessed
• I believe that life is about taking opportunities God gives
• We are transformed by the re-NEWing of our minds

So, what are your next steps? To speak healing over your neighbour who has just been diagnosed with cancer? To give your full tithe? To say sorry to your wife?

If you’re starting out on this journey of faith, just like with riding a bike, start off with stabilisers before you attempt to ride without using your hands. Find a Christian you are walking with and ask them to help you with this. Call them – “I think that God’s asking me to do this… can we pray together about it?” In this way we can encourage each other as we submit to one another, and as we grow into the head which is Christ Jesus.