Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #2 Repent and believe the gospel

I hear the Lord telling me to write forty prophecies over the next forty days and share them with whoever will read them. If these strike a chord in your spirit please share them. Here is day two of this assignment.

Mark 1:14-15  “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,  (15)  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

The season ahead demands that we know the content of the gospel; what is it? If you ask the question among the church (remember again my definition from yesterday, the universal body of true believers) you will find that there is little agreement on what the gospel is. Jesus mission statement is found in Isaiah 61:1-2a according to Luke’s gospel. It is the following: Luke 4:17-19  “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,  (18)  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,  (19)  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

This gospel mission is not primarily natural, rather it is spiritual. It is a mission to eternal spirits. It is a path of reconciliation to God, and please remember, that all who have been born from on high have become ambassadors of reconciliation. We are now in a season that demands our recognition of Jesus mission, and in turn our mission of reconciliation. We must invite the world through our love and peace to be reconciled to God. This does not happen in weekly services but as we live out our lives with true faith in peace with God through the reconciliation brought about by Christ Jesus.

So what does it mean to repent? Not what most people think, that is for sure. Repentance is a change of mind and attitude. It is NOT a change of behavior necessarily. The change of mind can change our behavior, but it is first and foremost a change of mind. When we repent and believe we accept by faith what God is saying. This is the real catalyst of true change. We must believe against all contrary evidence, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself not counting sin against them. Further that he made Jesus the one who did not even know sin to be made sin for us that in turn we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

There you have it. This is the necessary ingredient for going forward in this season. Our success depends on it. Overcoming the enemy depends on it. Remaining close to God at all times depends on it. We must believe that we are made the righteousness of God. We must recognize the accuser of the brethren even when he is standing in a pulpit with a robe and title. We must accept by faith our position before God on behalf of Christ.

All victories, all successes, all blessings depend on our believing the gospel. It is not our way of walking and talking, it is not our level of apparent obedience to the law or God or man, it is our trust in the blood of the lamb. This is for all of us no matter how much we already trust in the Lord... It is the source of victory in the season ahead. I am excited to see what God is revealing… more to follow tomorrow!