“Repent” is not a popular word. I even felt a twinge run up my spine as I typed the title. I prefer writing posts that make everyone feel good, but more so, my goal is to share what Holy Spirit lays on my heart. So, here I go.
This is not a political post. This has nothing to do with the way you vote, but it has everything to do with our country’s standing with God. I confess, I’ve never felt compelled to join others who’ve called for repentance for America until the other day.
Standing at my kitchen sink doing the dishes while listening to a news program, fear washed over me as the newscaster reported a proclamation made that day—one of the most holy days on our Christian calendar. It was Good Friday. Either with great audacity or complete blindness, our president had chosen to give a press conference on Good Friday to announce that this year “Transgender Day of Visiblity” would be held on Easter Sunday.
Stand in the Gap as We Repent
My heart thumped in my chest as I tried to discern what I had heard. I began to wonder if the timing was intentional. I did not know, but one thing was definite: Satan’s fingerprints covered the entire scheme. Deep sorrow filled my soul. I feared we as a country just spit in the face of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I heard my voice praying:
“Lord, forgive us! Forgive us of this terrible sin. Forgive our nation!”
For the first time I understood why we must pray collectively for America. I began to realize my role as a member of the people of God. We are Christians living in a land/world becoming more and more pagan every day. If we don’t repent, no one will, and we will lose this great country if we don’t stand in the gap. This is part of our purpose.
3 Things I Received After I Did Repent
My prayers continued throughout the weekend. The call to repent wouldn’t leave me. Every scripture in my Bible reading plan that week pointed to repentance. But repentance was not the only word I heard from the Lord Easter weekend. Two other messages came during our church service Easter Sunday. They were all so encouraging.
I drove to our church to celebrate our risen Savior with the call to repent heavy on my heart. But as soon as the congregation began to worship in song, lifting our hands to Jesus, and praising God, Holy Spirit whispered, “Day of Visibility could not stop your worship. It could not stop the millions who are worshipping today. Just as Jesus defeated death, the darkness cannot overcome the light.” I couldn’t stop smiling. I kept imagining all the millions of people and churches celebrating Jesus. Our worship was not thwarted.
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Love those in the transgender community.
As I continued to worship with hundreds of voices, I had a vision of sorts. In my mind I saw myself at a parade probably much like the ones held to celebrate Day of Visiblity, and in this vision, I walked up to one of the participants and hugged him. I knew the Lord was telling me through this picture in my mind to love them.
One of the scriptures on my reading plan had been about the people Jesus chose to eat with.
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds” (Matthew 11:18-19).
Could it be that the “tax collectors and sinners” of our day are those in the LGBTQI community? Certainly, Jesus would eat dinner with them. This is not condoning their sin just as he was not condoning tax collectors. Matthew left his career to follow Jesus. All have sinned and fallen short. We all must lay down our sin to follow Him, and we must love the lost. Love is active.
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God’s love is not just emotion.
We think of love as a feeling, but that’s not what Agape is. When Jesus told His disciples to love their neighbors as themselves, the ancient Greek word we’ve translated is Agape. A better translation of this type of love is “charity” or “benevolence.” Both words involve active kindness.
We are called to be kind, give grace, and help hurting people. Those who needed a day set aside to be seen, need to know God sees their deepest wounds and scars. He loves them. Again, please don’t read this as condoning. We all need a savior. We all need Jesus.
Your Prayer and Actions Matter
The stakes are getting higher. As a nation, America has turned from God, but not all Americans have. Your prayers matter. Stand in the gap repenting, confessing, and praying for our national, state, city, and church leaders. Pray for those lost in this confusion and darkness stealing their identities and destinies. Keep on worshiping and every chance you get choose charity, choose kindness. Respond to people very different from you with Agape. Together, with the love of Jesus and the fear of God, we can make a difference. Be the light.
Prayer for the Church
“Father, we have sinned. We as a nation have turned from you. We’ve even tried to change our bodies to be something you didn’t create. Forgive, Lord. Please forgive and help us extend kindness and charity in order to reach everyone with the good news of Jesus. We pray you free the ones trapped in this darkness, and you help us carry the light, truth, and hope to our dying nation. The harvest is great. Send more workers! We love you, and we thank you for Jesus. Amen.
Other Post on America:
AMERICA UNDER SIEGE AND THE FAITHFUL SHIELD OF GOD
For a more in-depth teaching on repentance, watch this video on Andy’s channel.
