PROPHETIC WORDS

A TIME OF RECALIBRATION, REFINING, AND REDEFINITION

by Lyn Packer

February 2024.

God is doing a continuing, deep, work of recalibrating mindsets and perspectives, both on a personal level and as churches. 

On a personal level

A great edit and rewriting is happening. God promised in the Bible to write His laws on our heart and mind. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” Heb 8:10. (Also see 2 Cor 3:3.)

God is editing and rewriting much of what has been previously written in our hearts by life and our responses to it, by our beliefs, cultural expectations, etc. He is removing entries, pages, and chapters, and writing in new things as He shows us the things that have tripped us up, held us back, twisted our thinking, or deformed our growth.

God is calling us to examine what we believe, and to allow Him to challenge us and change our thinking. We are being called to live a repentant lifestyle; this repentance is greater than just repenting for sin and feeling sorry. It is true repentance – metanoia; a ‘coming to our senses’, the renewing of our mind so that we see and think like God does, and transformation of our life because of our thinking being changed – Rom 12:1,2 (other verses on metanoia can be found at the end of this word). It’s about transforming our thinking, our mindsets, so our lives can be transformed into the image of Christ, not just feeling bad because we did something bad.

God is leading us into a shift in thinking from occasional bouts of repentance to the realisation that we are called to live a continually repentant lifestyle of allowing God to renew our minds and change the way we think. He is aligning our thinking with the mind of Christ. The goal of true repentance or metanoia is to get us know truth, and in doing so, to see and believe like God.

In the church

There is an increased focus on shifting from a church mindset and lifestyle to a Kingdom mindset and lifestyle, from a belief-based religion to a practice-based lifestyle of love.

God is calling us to examine our hearts and minds to see whether the things we have promoted, or practiced, over the years actually do line up with God’s heart, intent, and instructions to us in Scripture. Some examples of that are found in these practices – being involved in arguments that create factions around who is right or wrong, calling people heretics because they see from a different perspective, or have a different interpretation of a Scripture to ours, debating over who are true believers and who are not, who has the truth and who does not, whether someone is okay or backslidden, based on our assessment and beliefs, how often we should take communion, certain ways of praying or ministering to people, etc…

A shift from church to Kingdom

The age of the church, as mankind has known it for centuries, is in decline and God Himself is calling for its end. Before you get all up in arms, let me clarify. We are in a paradigm shift, a change in the way we see the church and how we think about it. We are shifting from a time when the church, and what happens within the church walls and amongst its congregation, is seen as the most important thing, to a return to the understanding originally given by Christ. That understanding is this – that the Kingdom of Heaven is here now, and that Christ’s plan is to establish it on earth through Him being seen in His ecclesia. (Ecclesia means God’s children – those who are set apart to serve God and work together for the betterment of society.)

We are seeing a shift back to God’s original intent, as both leaders and ecclesia are awakened, and mindsets are renewed. As this happens there will be a shift from allegiance to an institution, to renewed allegiance to God, and seeing His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.

This shift is causing confusion and shakings within the church as more and more people begin to question why we do what we do. If we do not understand that this questioning is a necessary part of God bringing change, then many people (including pastors) will receive the questioning wrongly and seek to label it so they can try and make sense of it. Some of the names people will give it are ‘the great falling away’, ‘deconstruction’, ‘rebellion’, etc. Instead of calling people’s faith into question, God is looking for those with wisdom and maturity who will show others how to process questions about their faith in a healthy way. He is calling for a whole new surge of discipling others.

A shift in how we view the gospel and share it

As this is happening we will also see a shift from preaching only the gospel of salvation to sharing the good news, or the gospel of the Kingdom – the same gospel that was preached by Christ. The gospel of salvation deals only with the salvation of a person’s soul; the gospel of the Kingdom deals with all the things the cross affected – this includes not just salvation, but the reconciliation and restoration of all things that were lost in the fall (including the material/physical world).

A shift from escaping to establishing

God is continuing to replace the mindset that Christians have of seeking to escape this world, with a reformation mindset – that of seeking to see heavenly solutions released, and of stewarding the earth in a way that brings replenishment to dark dry places, giving people hope, meeting needs, and restoring abused and ravaged lands and peoples. This is a work that will continue to take place over time as people’s hearts are reawakened to God’s intention and desire to see His Kingdom of love and peace – that which was lost on earth by the fall – rebuilt on earth.

Some verses on metanoia/repentance

“Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.” Rom 12:2.

“God exalted [Jesus] to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might bring Israel to metanoia and forgive their sins” Acts 5:31.

“When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, even to Gentiles God has granted metanoia that leads to life’” Acts 11:18.

“Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of metanoia. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus’” Acts 19:4. (Note here the correlation between metanoia and belief.)

“Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to metanoia …Godly sorrow brings metanoia that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” 2 Cor 7:9-10. (Note here the difference between metanoia and feeling sorry.)

BIO