This is repentance season—and before God pours out revival through the church, He is calling the church to return to Him. Maybe you are hungry for God to move, but you cannot understand why breakthrough seems delayed. Maybe you want to see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit—not only on a large scale, but in your own life and family. Maybe you know you have drifted, but you do not know what returning to God really looks like. Or perhaps when you hear the word repentance, you immediately think of condemnation. You think repentance is only saying, “I am sorry,” or enduring God beating down His people. But repentance is not God beating down His people. Repentance is the doorway back into fellowship, freedom, restoration, renewing, refining, and revival. By the end of this post, I want you to understand four things: * First, why repentance must begin with the house of God. * Second, what true biblical repentance actually means. * Third, what a lifestyle of repentance opens in your life, your family, and the church. * Fourth, how to return to your first love and do the first works again. And I need you to stay with me, because I am also going to share a Word from the Lord that I believe is for this moment. REPENTANCE BEGINS WITH THE HOUSE OF GOD This is a moment when the Lord is calling people back! He is calling us back to Himself. The Lord is calling the hurting, the weary, the broken, the battered, and the bruised. He is calling those who have wandered away and become lost again in their sins. Jesus is seeking to save that which was lost. With great compassion, He is calling those who have strayed to RETURN to the Lord. But it is an hour for the church first to return and come to repentance. I cannot get away from this thought from the Lord: it is REPENTANCE SEASON. * For the church, it is time to come home. * For the church, it is time to repent. * For the church, it is time to get our hearts back in line with our God. He longs to pour out among His people great power, overwhelming victory, and the goodness of His name. But it all begins with us humbling ourselves and returning to a place of repentance. And to those whose first thought is, “What do I need to repent of?”—you are the very ones He is speaking to! When we, in any way—whether in large ways or small ways—TURN AWAY and depart from the paths of righteousness, there is a great need to return. Listen to what Scripture declares: 1 Peter 4:17–18 NKJV-For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? [18] Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” We have to understand that our repentance affects more than us alone. Our repentance is a witness of hope to the world. It declares that God saves, God restores, God renews, God replenishes, and God refines. Our repentance speaks hope to people who lost their hope long ago and laid it aside. It tells the world that the Lord is a God of great mercy and grace, who forgives and redeems people from iniquity and from the places where they have wandered and strayed. In fact, if we are going to experience the outpouring of God, WE MUST REPENT. Whether your desire is to experience an outpouring from the Holy Spirit on a large scale, or simply to see Him move in your own family, it all starts with repentance. #1: repentance must begin with the house of God because God intends for His people to become a living testimony of His saving, restoring, renewing, replenishing, and refining grace. REPENTANCE MUST BECOME OUR LIFESTYLE. It must become the WAY we live every day. We must begin to care more about what the Lord thinks of us than what the world wants from us. Psalm 51:16–17 NKJV-For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart- These, O God, You will not despise. The Hebrew word for “sacrifice” is זֶבַח—zevach—which refers to offerings made to God. “Broken” in Hebrew is שָׁבוּר—shavur—implying something shattered or crushed and symbolizing deep humility. “Contrite” is נִדְכֶּה—nidkeh—meaning crushed or deeply penitent and emphasizing a heartfelt sorrow for sin. Each of these words foreshadows what Jesus would provide for us on the cross. These are expressions that Jesus is the ultimate and only sacrifice for sins that can ever save. When we place our faith in Jesus, He becomes FOR US the ultimate sacrifice on a personal level, allowing us acceptance with the Father. The sacrifices the Lord desires are a heart shattered and crushed in deep humility, along with a spirit crushed to the point of deep sorrow for sin. These things are the basis for true repentance, and without repentance we will not be born again. * To say that we have no need for repentance or for a lifestyle of deep repentance... * To say that we no longer need to search our hearts for sin and wrongdoing... * To say or think that we are so good that we do not need the Lord to cleanse us daily... * Is to accept and come into union with a religious spirit and a self-righteous spirit that stands obstinate against the Lord. For the church to become the bride of Christ He is returning for will require EACH OF US to search our hearts and ask the HOLY SPIRIT to search our hearts. I SAY AGAIN WHAT I’M HEARING FROM THE LORD: THIS IS REPENTANCE SEASON. WORD FROM THE LORD — This is the season, says the Lord, for my people to humble themselves and return to me, the living God, and see if I will not pour out my Spirit, blessing, and power upon you and among you. For I long to move in my people and pour out my Spirit. I long to send you FREEDOM that comes to those who submit to my hand, but you must SUBMIT. With conviction from my Holy Spirit, you must repent and come back to me in ALL your ways and stop turning to the right hand and to the left. You must allow me to lead and guide your steps and stop pursuing your own pleasure; instead, seek my face and the pleasure of my ways. For soon I come, says the Lord. I am returning for a people who have made themselves pure and clean in my eyes—those who have not given themselves over to their own ways and pleasures. I am returning for those who find their pleasure and their purpose in serving me and opening their hearts to the goodness of my name and the power of my Spirit. RETURN TO THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART Friends, it is repentance season! Joel 2:12–17 NKJV-“Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” [13] So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. [14] Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him- A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? [15] Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; [16] Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. [17] Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” * Where is our fasting? * Where is our weeping over our sins? * Where is the mourning heart that grieves for the wrong it has done? * Where are those who rend their hearts? * Where is our consecration and separation unto the Lord? Even in my own self, I search and ask the Lord, “Have I done what I am supposed to do? Have I declared all the Word of God? Have I cried out enough, ‘Spare Your people’?” I feel deeply that this is the word for the moment. Suddenly, the Lord is returning. Also, suddenly the Lord is coming back to His temple. Suddenly, He will come in to those who have prepared their hearts. Suddenly, He will say, “The time is now and the time has come.” We do not want to be unprepared and miss the move of God! We do not want to be unrepentant, with obstinate hearts full of our own ways, and be left behind. The people of God are the first fruits of the Kingdom. God is looking for hearts that want HIM MORE THAN ANYTHING! The deepest reason we repent is because we understand that He is the treasure. We develop a longing for Him over everything else, and we want NOTHING that hinders our relationship with Jesus. It is time for the people of God to stop trying to see just how much of our own pleasure He will allow, and instead pursue just how much of HIS pleasure we can receive. WHAT TRUE REPENTANCE MEANS Let me be clear about what repentance means. * REPENTANCE IS NOT ONLY SAYING, “I AM SORRY.” * REPENTANCE IS WHEN WE LITERALLY CHANGE OUR MIND AND ALIGN WITH GOD’S MIND, AND WE WALK IN A NEW DIRECTION BY OUR CHOICE AND FAITH. * REPENTANCE IS A CHANGE OF MIND THAT LEADS TO A CHANGE OF HEART, THAT CREATES A CHANGE OF ACTION. * God grants repentance. * Repentance always leads us to confession of sin. * Confession of sin leads to forgiveness of sin. * WE must confess AND forsake our sins. #2: true repentance is not merely an emotional apology. It is a God-granted change of mind that changes the heart, changes our actions, leads to confession, and causes us to confess and forsake our sins. WHAT REPENTANCE OPENS Repentance is not GOD BEATING DOWN HIS PEOPLE. Repentance is not just SOMETHING TO BE ENDURED. It is time for the church to understand that a lifestyle of repentance OPENS THE DOOR for the Lord to move in our lives! Repentance brings revival, restoration, renewing, and refining! Look at the results of repentance: Joel 2:
