What does it mean to repent?

Revelation 3:19
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

To repent means to change one's mind. It means to realise that you are going in the wrong direction and you turn back from the wrong and turn towards the right. Repentance means you change your mind and you prove your repentance by the way you live.

The prodigal son left His Father, took his share of the inheritance and went to a far off land and spent everything He had on wild living and was left with nothing in a foreign land. To feed his stomach, he joined himself to a farmer of that country who sent him to feed pigs and he longed to eat what the pigs ate because no one gave him anything to eat. In the midst of his turmoil, He thought about His Father's goodness, love, freedom and provision, he came to his senses, he changed His mind, he rose up and came back to his Father. This is repentance. Its when you realise that you cannot survive without the Father and run back to Him. The prodigal son came back and as soon as the Father saw him, He ran and hugged him, accepted Him and welcomed Him home. He gave his son a robe, put a ring on his finger, slaughtered a calf and celebrated the return of his son.

Friend, there is nothing good for you outside of God irrespective of how good it looks and feels. God has the best for you. He has an awesome and a great life for you, the abundant and victorious life. He gave us Jesus to demonstrate his immense love for us. Repent, change your mind and realise that your works cannot save you. Repent, believe that Jesus has done all the works that needed to be done for your salvation and recieve Him as your Lord and Saviour. Repent, if as a believer you have made mistakes and restore your fellowship with the Father for you are His child. Dont run away from Him, Run to your Father in the name of Jesus, for this is your time to rule and reign in life.

You are brilliant!

You are brilliant.
- Pastor Ashish Mathews

II Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

God has given us an awesome and a rare combination, something that the world is desperately seeking for. God has given us His power, His love and His mind when He gave us His Holy Spirit.

You are a genius and an excellent person because you possess these three forces. You have the mind of Christ, you have the power and the love of God in you. In the world its impossible to find this combination of power, love and sound mind. You find power, but you don't find love and sound mind and if you find a sound mind and power, love is missing. Always there's something missing. In Christ, you have something that the world doesn't have and cannot get without Jesus. You are powerful, loving and you have a sound mind, which simply means you are an excellent person. You are brilliant. The verse doesn't say God will give it to you some day, it says God has given you. That means you have it now. When you acknowledge what you have and praise God for it, you will begin to see and experience the manifestation of these awesome realities. Settle this in your thinking by constant meditation and confession that you are brilliant because you have God's power, God's love and God's mind.

Friend, don't block these realities by speaking negative and stupid things about yourself. "I am no good, I can't do anything properly, I am so weak, my mind doesn't work and everything I do fails, I am just a horrible person" Change the way you speak. "Thank God that He has given me power, love and a sound mind through His Spirit. I am a genius and an excellent person. Everything I do excels and I am progressing and increasing in every area of life. Thank God for His goodness and for making me an excellent and a brilliant person" This is who you are! Hallelujah to Jesus!

“God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, of love and of a sound mind. I am an excellent and brilliant person. Everything I do prospers. The Greater One lives in me. My life is a standard for the world and brings great glory to Jesus, my Lord. Hallelujah.“

Your helper : The Holy Spirit

John 14:16
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

If you have recieved Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, then this verse is not a promise, its a fact, its a reality in you. The Holy Spirit abides with you and is in you forever. Praise God. Be conscious that God lives in you.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit is our Helper, which means He's with us and in us to help us. Thats His primary work. As believers, its important for us to understand that we cannot live the Christ life without the Holy Spirit, otherwise Jesus wouldn't have prayed for a Helper. Zechariah 4.6 says, "It's not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit", says the Lord of hosts. We don't have to live and walk alone, thank God we have a mighty Helper. The Holy Spirit will help you in everything, be it Bible reading, prayer, in your job, in your relationships, in your finances, in giving counsel, in making decisions, in choosing a partner and in any area that you need help. He will help you in overcoming bad habits, in overcoming sin and He will help you become more and more like Jesus. He will help you do everything in a right way that brings glory and honour to the Father and Jesus Christ.

Friend, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He will show you how to parent your children in a godly way. You need His help. Take His help and live the glorious life that God has for you. Aim to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit by praying much in other tongues. Dwell on the word richly so you can easily discern His voice. Refuse to do anything without His help. He is ready to help you anywhere, anytime and in any situation for He is your mighty Helper. Make Him your senior partner and you will be never the same. This is your time.

Unity is strength!

Psalms 133:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it  is For brothers to dwell together in unity!

Jesus said through the unity and oneness of the body of Christ, the world will know that God has sent Him. Our unity is a great testimony to the world and it is a good and pleasant thing.

Unity among believers makes tremendous power available to us in all our gatherings. Praying for one another, supporting one another, forgiving one another, getting along with one other and considering others better than yourself is a great thing in the eyes of God. Paul said endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, which simply means that unity is work. Unity doesn't just happen, we have to endeavor and give diligence at maintaining unity among ourselves. We have an enemy, Satan, who is the spirit of division and works tirelessly in creating strife, discord and division among believers. Division is powerful because Jesus said, Any kingdom or house divided against itself cannot stand. Therefore we must use our faith, pray and work with God in producing and maintaining unity among the church. Unity doesn't just happen, it requires diligence and sacrifices but it's worth it.

Friend, God himself testified about the power of unity when he saw people coming together to build the tower of Babel. He said, nothing that they have imagined to do would be impossible for them. Unity is powerful. As long as they were in one heart and one mind, no one could stop them but as soon as there was confusion and division, the work stopped immediately. Start with youserlf. You take a step towards unity. Forgive. Forget. Bless. Appreciate. Resist the spirit of division. Live in peace with all. You are a peace maker and this is your time.

Don't be stressed. Only believe.

John 14:1
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me."

Did you know your heart can be troubled? That's why Jesus said let not your heart be troubled. If you are not careful, you can easily allow what's happening around you and what people say to distract and disturb you.

Proverbs 4.23 says, Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the forces of life. Guarding your heart is your responsibility thats why Jesus said, You don't let your heart be troubled. A troubled heart results in a troubled health, a troubled relationship and a troubled life. Jesus said “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." Choose to believe Jesus, choose to believe His word. Choose to focus on His word and not the negative reports that Satan brings to you. Whatever you choose to focus and meditate on, decides whether you will be frustrated or at peace. Settle this in your thinking, you are an overcomer and nothing is impossible for you. Anything contrary to this, is a negative report and refuse to focus and meditate on it so you won't be distracted and disturbed. Fix your mind on the word just like Jesus fixed His mind on Psalms 22 when He was on the cross. The word will keep you at peace just like Jesus, in the midst of fierce winds and storms, was at complete peace.

Friend, refuse to be troubled by simply believing what Jesus has said instead of what anyone else says. Refuse to give any attention and power to negative things which are contrary to the word of God. Your best days are in front of you. Remember, there is no pit so deep that His love is not deeper still, With Jesus even in our darkest moments, the best remains and the very best is yet to be. Keep your eyes on Jesus and focus on Him, you will not fail, you will not sink, you will accomplish all that God has called you to do. This is your time.

Sweet smelling sacrifice.

Sweet smelling aroma.
- Pastor Ashish Mathews

Philippians 4:18
Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

Giving financially to the work of the Lord is a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice and is well pleasing to God. God loves a cheerful giver.

Psalms 24.1 says the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell in it. God owns everything. He doesn't need our tithes and offerings, He has no need of our money. The reason He commands us to tithe and give offerings is so He can bless us financially. Our giving is for our benefit. The Lord delights in our prosperity and wants to bring us to a position where we have all sufficiency in all things and thereby having an abundance for every good work. Glory to God. Jesus said the Father is glorified when His children bear much fruit. God wants to increase and prosper you. No seed of Abraham should ever be poor for poverty is under the curse and Christ has redeemed us from the curse of law by becoming a curse for us and the blessing of Abraham has come upon us. Financial prosperity is your inheritance. It's your redemptive right. Refuse to be poor. Choose to prosper and choose to increase.

Your giving positions you for increase. As you tithe faithfully and sow consistently in the kingdom of God, you will experience supernatural prosperity and your days of lack and scarcity will be over forever. Become a radical giver. Break all records. Develop a lifestyle of giving. Refuse to depend on the world system for the world system is failing but the kingdom of God is flourishing. Choose the kingdom way and be supernaturally prosperous and bless every nation on earth. This is your time.

“I am a giver. I am a tither. I am a sower. I trust God with my finances and I never lack financially. I live in the more than enough zone with more than enough for every need of my life. Hallelujah to Jesus, my Source and my Sustainer.”

God cannot lie.

Titus 1:2
in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

God will never lie because He cannot lie. His nature is truth and everything He says is truth. Everything that comes out of Him is truth.

It's impossible for God to lie, even if it costs Him everything He has, He will still speak the truth. Under tremendous pressure and fierce persecution, Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' He replied and said 'Yes, I am'. He knew this statement would cost Him his life, yet He proceeded with the truth. Numbers 23:19 says “God  is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?". God means what He says and He says what He means. There is no hypocrisy, flattery and duplicity in his words. His words are pure words like silver refined in furnace, purified seven times.

Friend, because God never lies, you can trust His word, you can step out on His word and you can hold firmly to his word. Nothing and no one can change His word. Heaven and earth will pass away but His words will never pass away. Times change, people change, governments change, climates change but His word never changes. Jesus himself stands as the guarantee of every promise that God has made in His word that if you believe it, it will be fulfilled in your life. Blessed be Jesus Christ, the Lord God of India.