Repentence

Ministering to the Greater Body of Jesus Christ

Repentance:

A Powerful Weapon in War

By Rosey Andrews

As I pen this article my hope is to communicate with compassion God's desire to gather the body of Christ like chicks under His wings (Matt.23:37). The hour is sober. Our Bridegroom desires us to come fully into His protection, even as our enemy rages. For me, repentance has been a powerful weapon in war. Let's begin by looking at an account in Joshua I believe will help unfold this concept.

"Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst"'" (Josh 7:13, NAS).

The hand of God was on the Israelites. Extraordinary signs and wonders were performed on their behalf. They were required to keep themselves separate from the ways of the world. Often God sent their enemies into confusion leaving the Israelites victorious in battle. What happened to cause the Israelites to be the ones running from their enemies in this episode?

Throughout their history, their sin always affected the outcome of the battle in a negative way. Just one person's sin cost them innocent lives and thwarted their destiny causing them to be carried away into captivity.

………. Did you know our lack of consecrated living affects God's ability to move in our midst? It's effects come at various levels. While engaging our enemy in warfare, we may simply get wounded. Other degrees can be sickness and death.

Asking the Holy Spirit to bring fresh conviction before engaging in spiritual warfare is one of God's safety nets. God loves us. Any conviction His Holy Spirit may bring is His loving embrace of protection for us. Our enemy hates us. He is merciless. The fear of the Lord should cause us to humble ourselves, admit to our sin and forsake it, which places it under the blood of Jesus. The Blood is a weapon applied through repentance. When Satan hurls his arrows at us, the Blood of the Lamb will repel them. When we are engaging in spiritual combat, Satan looks for an access point into our lives. His main objective is to defeat us. It is sobering to think that innocent people can be injured by our unconfessed sin. This thought should cause us to sit with great care under the conviction of the Holy Spirit before we go to war. (see Ps. 81: 8-16)

………. There is always a consequence to our sin. Often the consequences we reap are manageable, so we let the issues slide never really thoroughly working through the details. As long as we are in these earthen vessels we are in a battle to keep ourselves free from judging others. When we fail, grace assists us in confronting one another and admitting where we were wrong.

………. Our hearts needs house cleaning. The Holy Spirit helps us see the dust that has collected in the corners. No one is exempt. We must be willing to wait UNTIL the Lord convicts us. God desires to sanctify our souls.

Our past wounds easily infect others leaving us powerless in warfare. These wounds must be dealt with. The Holy Spirit searches deep within. He shines on the places where we are flirting with the world, taking its idols into our homes, and overspending money calling it need.

"Examine us Holy Spirit. Have we run ahead of what the Father is doing or have we lagged Behind? Has our model, before our children, neighbors and those we lead, been compromising? Awaken us to subtle rebellion and unbelief." It's fresh conviction that prepares us for war!

………. God is leading us into a fierce battle with a ruthless enemy. Our lives are not our own. We've been bought with a price (1Cor. 6:20). We CAN stand in the evil day in the strength of the Lord. We WILL see His Glory and prevail against the devil's attacks of sickness and disease. But not without cost! The Holy Spirit is beckoning us to return to our first love. "Return to Me. Come to Me. Follow Me." This is God beckoning us to forsake the world's system and come back to our purpose and destiny.

………. True repentance is seen as a gift from God. It's part of His kindness to us as mere humans. The Holy Spirit assists us by convicting us of our sin. We respond by forsaking our sin and God transforms us into more of His image. Repentance is us asking God to change our thoughts and opinions so that they line up with His (see Is. 55:8).

………. Repentance is a powerful weapon in war. Would you join me with one voice and ask the Father to pour out His gracious gift of repentance on us? Let's walk into the battle dressed in robes of righteousness with our armor drenched in the blood of the Lamb.