Purpose & Definition of Repentance:
The PURPOSE of REPENTANCE is to come in line with God's will and Living A Life Pleasing to God, hearing His Voice, and having your Prayers answered, and not wanting to hide from His Presence like Adam and Eve did, after they have disobeyed God's Will, by eating from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. After that moment, they just wanted to hide from God's presence, not wanting to have any fellowship with Him anymore....
They felt naked and guilty, and out of place. 'Cause that is what disobedience to God's Word & Will does to your heart..., you want to run away and hide from God. and only Worship Him from a distance, and you hardly want to pray to Him at all...
Repentance, is what brings us back into that Fellowship with God, and having our Guilt and Condemnation removed, knowing we are Forgiven, and Loved by God.
NOW looking at the bible:
The Biblical Definition of Repentance is 2-fold:
- To Recognize and Admit that you are on the wrong path - and not in line with God's Word and Principles or Will
- To Change your mind, and to do things differently from this day forward - never going back to your old ways
Let's look a bit deeper into these 2 points:
Recognize & Admit you are wrong
Pro 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Our life is formed from the day of our birth, by what we hear and see from our Parents, Grand Parents, Family, Friends & Peers over the years. From this, we are forming a certain mind set and thinking patterns, as well as behaviors..etc.. which are also referred to as Characteristics.
NOW: not all of our Thinking Patterns and Behavioral Patterns are always 100% in line with God's Word and Will...!!!
And we need to compare our lives to the Word of God on a Daily basis, checking where we are "Missing the Mark"....
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In order for a person to be able to recognize that they are on the wrong track, they need to be confronted with a "different way of thinking and doing things", that has never occurred to him/her before...
And the Bible says the only way to know that we are "Missing the Mark" to what God wants, and to realize that our lives aren't always as pleasing to God, as we would like to think that it is, and to understand His Will, we need to be confronted with and by the Word of God.
Because Without the Knowledge of the Word we are ignorant of God's will and Plans for our lives, and we struggle, and we don't understand the reasons'of our suffering, etc...
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
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The Apostle Paul continues in Romans 10 that the only way to know the Truth and to Know God and the Salvation He has worked for us - is to have someone Preaching GOD's TRUTHs to us...
'Cause while someone is preaching the Words of Truth - the Holy Spirit will work in someone's heart convicting them of any specific Wrong Thinking, doing, etc...
Jesus says in John 16:
Joh 16:7-11 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.
And when He is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
And it is during this time of someone listening to the message being Preached, that they will be able to Recognize that they aren't in line with God's will....
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BUT: Recognizing you aren't in line with God's Will, is only half way towards living a Life pleasing to God..
Because Recognizing you are on the wrong track in some or other area of your life, you will feel Guilt and Condemnation and even Sorrow filling your heart and mind.
And if you walk away from that point and not going through with the process, you will constantly feel guilty and condemned, but you won't be able to change any of it on your own strength, and things will in fact just get worse from that moment onwards....
You need to take the next step - of:
ADMITTING you are wrong, and CONFESSING everything to God that you were in the wrong for so long...!!!
And this does not have to be a long process, with lots of tears and sorrow..etc..
Although, that often happens when the heart realizes it is wrong, we can't help but to cry. But Tears in itself isn't the sign of true Repentance.
And this brings us now to the 2nd Step in the Repentance Process of:
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Change Your Mind / Thinking
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. This 2nd step involves the following again:
- Realizing that you are wrong - and asking for Forgiveness for your wrong thinking, and behaviors
- Receiving God's Forgiveness for you
- Learning from God, what is the "RIGHT WAY" going forward
- And work hard at staying on that new road - changing your ways, your words your thoughts and behaviors
And when you find yourself going back to our "old ways" - to work through the whole repentance process yet again of asking forgiveness, receiving God's forgiveness, and learning and working at changing...
And that is how TRUE Repentance, will help you change and move forward in the Ways and Will of God, being FULLY PLEASING to Him, and being in Fellowship with Him, not wanting to Hide away anymore, and your prayers are being answered, and you can hear God's Voice and Hid Will for your life..etc...
Now let's look at the 4 Major Areas of Repentance - so referred to by us at the Repentance Ministry:
The 4 Torches of TRUTH
The First Repentance TORCH is our Initial Salvation - stepping over from Death and Darkness into LIFE Everlasting and into the Kingdom of God
Col 1:13-14 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Should you want to know more on Salvation - please go to our page on Salvation
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Then the 2nd Repentance Torch is where we need to be Cleansed and Set Free and Forgiven of all our old sins and strongholds we got entangled in through the years...
'Cause Our Initial Salvation only brings us into God's Kingdom, and delivers us from eternal death.
But we can still walk in wrong ways and mind sets, that needs to be changed, or we will still live a life of frustrations and ignorance in many areas.
And this is where the Holy Spirit will regularly bring some or other issue to mind, that He wants us to deal with.
And when this happens, we again and again, need to work through the Repentance Process listed above...
And this becomes a daily process, of Recognizing and admitting we are wrong and not fully in God's will.
Asking for His Forgiveness, Receiving His Forgiveness, and then also, learning what He wants from us, and changing our ways, words, thoughts and behaviors to come even closer to Him, and be more and more cleansed and perfected...
Ephesians 5 is a perfect example of the changing from our wicked (twisted / deceived) ways brought about the old sinful nature, and changing to become pure and cleansed as a bride adorned for her husband:
Eph 5:26-27 That He might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church also referred to as the Bride of Christ) with the washing of water by the word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
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And now this brings us to the 3rd Repentance Torch: To Repent on behalf of your Nation
For only once your own life is cleansed, you can now start to pray for your own family, neighborhood, town, city, province and eventually your nation.
These prayers are also called Intercession - where you step out of our own area of Authority, and stepping into a bigger area of Authority and start to repent before God on behalf of the sins of others, where God starts to show you where your nation or country is missing God's will and mark for their lives.
'Cause, as you grow in the Lord, He will ask of you to pray on behalf of others to come into the Kingdom, as He will show you His Heart and desire for lost souls first, but then also for your country to change in their ways, so that your own life can improve, as your country's laws and ways have a direct impact on your life as well.
As it is hard to live God's way in the midst of a country that does not want to follow or obey God's will and Laws and Commandments. And Jesus wants all His Children to have peace and good a good life on earth - and thus we need to pray for our country, our President, our Government, and every decision they make, and every law they bring into practice, etc...
As it will impact our lives and how we live..!!!
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And the 4th Repentance Torch is to Repent on behalf of the GLOBAL CHURCH itself..!!!
As Eph 5 says that the Church needs to be cleansed by the Washing of the Word.
And that is also where the 5-fold Ministry need to step in - as their calling is to help the Church (the Bride of Christ) to come into Maturity (Eph 4)
And therefore we need to repent as the Church together in unity on a regular basis - recognizing that we aren't always walking in God's Will, and that we are "allowing" all kinds of strange doctrines in the church which aren't from God at all, but is a cunning craftiness of the enemy, deceiving us, and causing confusion, and many to go astray...!!!
Revelation chapters 2 & 3 gives us a clear indication of how Jesus feels about His Church when they are going astray in any specific area, and what will happen to them if they don't repent and come back in line with God's Will and Word and Ways...
THUS: when we notice or are convicted by the Holy Spirit, we need to call a day of repentance in the church, and cleanse the church from where we have missed the mark, and went off in any wrong directions, again following the same 2 step process mentioned above.
And that is what this Website "Torch of Truth" is all about...!!!!
Calling individuals, Churches and all the different Nations of Africa unto Repentance before God, and for Ministries to work together and to arrange regular Repentance Meetings either on Neutral Grounds or within Specific Churches to teach and train People of Repentance and to guide them in the Repentance Process.
As we have seen various testimonies over the years of how a nation can change through Repentance prayers, praying and cleansing themselves and interceding for their churches and countries...
For example - You can visit the website for National Repentance Malawi - and read up on their testimonies and Blog Posts etc of how God has recently intervened in their Elections Process between 2019 & 2020, and how the whole nation of Malawi was impacted by and through the Repentance Ministry...
We are also on a regular basis joining hands with Christians world wide for a Global Day of Repentance where we make a list of 24 Sins (Repenting of one sin per hour) for and on behalf of a Nation that needs to be Confessed and cleansed of and ways needs to be changed and be brought back under God's Will and Word.
You can also register on this Global Day of Repentance to hear more from us, and to receive a daily News letter of Repentance Prayers and Testimonies, etc...
And thus we invite you to join hands with your fellow Christian Brothers and sisters from different nations on these days, and pray for God's Forgiveness, etc...
THUS: Please Register with us, and let's work together to bring all the Nations of Africa unto Repentance before God..!!!!