The High Place

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

Some reading this today may be a little surprised to see a Sozo Today post. After all, it’s been about two years since I’ve written anything. It was during that time, that I got off course in some areas of my life and I just wasn’t thinking the way He was. I’ve been open about my mistakes and shortcomings to many, but maybe you haven’t heard this from me yourself. Well, let me say to you, “I’m sorry.” I’m sorry if I let you down in any way. I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you, and let you down through bad decisions and bad choices. It’s been a tough two years, and sometimes I thought I had lost my way and that God may be finished with me.

When God has a call, a destiny, and purpose for your life (and that includes everyone) our adversary will do everything in his power to get us off course. But, thank God for His mercy and grace. Thank God that when he calls us to repent, He’s not asking us to carry a weight of condemnation and guilt around with us for years and decades. All He’s asking us to do is to return to His way of thinking.

When you think of the word “Repent,” what comes to mind? For many years, whenever I heard the word repent, I thought of anguish, condemnation, asking for forgiveness over and over and carrying the weight of a mistake or sin with me until I finally felt some kind of release. My traditional approach to repentance seemed only to create within me a vicious cycle of defeat. I would beat myself up so bad, that with in no time I found myself needing to repent all over again for the same mistake.

Here’s the real question, what’s God’s idea of repentance? The word “repent” is a combined word with two meanings coming together. The first is “re” which is derived from the word “return” or “redo.” The second word “pent” originates from the meaning of something high. It’s where we get the word “penthouse” or “pentacle.” So when you look at these two words from this perspective, you can see that the word “repent” means to return to something high, or the “high place.”

The Greek word in the New Testament for “repent” is metanoéō and it simply means to “change ones mind, or way of thinking.” So what can we conclude? It’s easy to see, that when God asks us to repent, He is asking us to come up to His way of thinking, which is the highest place to be. You see, when we think the way He thinks, and see ourselves the way He sees us, we are then walking and living in step with Him.

Maybe you’ve made some poor choices and mistakes along the way. If so, don’t beat yourself up another day. True repentance, is the highest, not lowest, place you can be. Return to Him today. You are forgiven! You are free! His love for you is everlasting, and never failing.

Return to the High Place today!