Repentance - Changing Frequencies! The Lord is always waiting for us to turn to Him! By Richard Crisco Lam 3:22 Through the LORD's mercies we are not Judges 6:1 Again the did evil in the eyes of consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for 11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son was threshing wheat in a winepress Instead of Repenting to their ROCK, to keep it from the Midianites. they built shelters in natural rock! 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." 13 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian." donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like 1. A God encounter: swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 God will meet you where you are!

Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out Gideon was confused because he had succumbed to the to the LORD for help. circumstances of his surroundings. 7 When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is It is easier to feed fear than it is to feed faith; what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you because lies are more prevalent than truth. up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all Fallen man can believe a lie much easier your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave than he can believe truth. you their land. 10 I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not It takes discipline and discernment to find truth! worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me." Gideon had a bad theology: Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions “If the Lord is with me 2. God’s Commission: then only good things will happen.” Go in the strength you have!

Gideon asked the wrong questions; Gideon is still tuned in to the wrong frequency: Therefore he comes to the wrong conclusion! How can I… My clan is the weakest… Conclusion: God has abandoned us! I am the least… Right Answer: We have abandoned God! The Angel was still trying to alter the frequency of We do not have to know the right answers, Gideon’s thinking! We have to ask the right questions! 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring Gideon was tuned in to the wrong frequency! my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, The Angel was trying to alter the frequency of "I will wait until you return." Gideon’s thinking! 19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an We have to change our perspective (Frequency)! ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the (Repentance) meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

Faith (or fear) is based upon what one is hearing! 20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the out the broth." And Gideon did so. word of God. (Ro 10:17) 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened 14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. Am I not sending you?" 15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" 23 But the 16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are will strike down all the Midianites together." 17 Gideon not going to die." replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give 24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and me a sign that it is really you talking to me. called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions 25 That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the Courage is not the absence of fear but the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years determination to face our fears! old. Tear down your father's altar to and cut down the pole beside it. We will continue to struggle with fear 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD until we repent and walk in obedience with God! your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? a burnt offering." 28 In the morning when the men of the town got up, 3. The Assignment: there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the a. Tear Down: newly built altar! 29 They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they “Tear down your father’s altar to Baal carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.” v. 25 Joash did it." 30 The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has b. Build Up: broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." “Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your 31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, God.” v. 26. "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family when someone breaks down his altar." and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than 32 So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," in the daytime. saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

4. Obedience in the face of fear! 33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other

Who did Gideon fear? eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan (1) His family. and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit (2) His neighbors. of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. We will always have to face fear when we obey God! Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling 36 Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and hand as you have promised-- 37 look, I will place a wool Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them. fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you 5. Empowerment of the Holy Ghost! will save Israel by my hand, as you said." 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the Many misinterpret an encounter with God next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew-- as an empowerment of God. a bowlful of water. What happened to this simple farmer’s son that made 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. him into a mighty warrior and he simply blows a Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more trumpet, commission’s messengers and entire nations test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the obey his call! ground covered with dew." 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with Gideon’s dynamic leadership was not a result of… dew. …public recognition and demand …his personal ambition for leadership God does not require perfect faith. …a high opinion and confidence in his own abilities He uses people who struggle with doubt and fear, …an inherited reputation or social status as long as they do not succumb to those elements but NO! BUT his dynamic leadership was a result of the continually to submit to Him. knowledge that God had called him and was leading him. 3 Days of intense Prayer and Fasting!

During the period of the Judges there was no Heb. 11:6 …He is a rewarder of those established leadership, such as under a monarchy who diligently seek Him. where the son of the king would rule after the death of the king. The Lord says I am extending my scepter. I am calling the Esthers to intercede in this season of physical and Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: spiritual danger. I am calling those who, as Esther, every man did that which was right in his own eyes. when chosen to be a bride in the house of the king, prepared herself to please the king. She purified God raised up individuals to deliver Israel from the herself with the oil of myrrh, meekness, the gateway to bondage and persecution of their enemies! my spiritual blessings.

Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions I am extending my scepter to those who, as Esther, melt as wax before you as you persist and not grow although surrounded with luxury, comfort and weary. Vanish the thought you can do this in your own entertainment, did not forsaken her First Love, strength. I say not by might or by power, but my Spirit. staying grounded in her identity in Me. She discerned But fear not, look to Me for I am your God and I with my Spirit speaking through Mordecai, obeyed, you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. humbled herself, fasted and prayed three days in I am YHWH Tszvaot, God of the angel armies of preparation to entreat the king. She did not listen to heaven. I go before you and I am your rear guard. the voice of the enemy, the fiery darts to the possible The wax seal of my scroll has been sealed with the consequences. Esther knew that either way she could declaration of the outcome; VICTORY! lose her life but was steadfast in the hour of her destiny. She overcame the fear through fasting, prayer Judges 7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, and trust in Me. Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. I have opened a portal of favor and grace for my The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near Esthers, my Bride, who desire to approach my throne the hill of Moreh. to intercede. I say come, for there are only blessings 2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men when entering my throne room in repentance and for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that meekness. Come, mercy and grace is the atmosphere Israel may not boast against me that her own strength of heaven and I wait to pour them on you. has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, 'Anyone My Bride is a powerful weapon in my hand. I, who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Elohim, long through you to display my manifold Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten wisdom to the principalities and powers in heaven. thousand remained. Come, be anointed for the battle. Array yourself in Fear can cripple you to the point of disqualification. Me, your armor. I will strengthen your arm to skillfully wield the sword of my Spirit for the enemy Don’t look into the paralyzing eyes of the enemy. will always succumb to my word. Look into the empowering eyes of Jesus! I have placed my seal on the edict for the destruction of your physical and spiritual enemies. Nonetheless, as 4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too the king through Esther gave the command the Jews many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift were permitted to destroy their enemies, they had to them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' engage in the battle with them. They fought tirelessly he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' until all perished. he shall not go." I have prepared the scroll with battle ready 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the strategies to defeat your enemies. This mountain will LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with

Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite drink." 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to overturned and collapsed." drink. 14 His friend responded, "This can be nothing other 7 The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his his hands." own place." 15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the We must remain disciplined and alert! camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has We are in a War! given the Midianite camp into your hands."

8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents God can speak through unbelievers! but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three Midian lay below him in the valley. companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the 9 During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get hands of all of them, with torches inside. up, go down against the camp, because I am going to 17 "Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the encouraged to attack the camp." So he and Purah his LORD and for Gideon.'" servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other Unity is key to victory! eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on 19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the the seashore. edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their Gideon was obviously afraid because he went to hear trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. what the enemy was saying. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and 13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round

Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

Rochester Christian Church’s Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Family, Worship/Prayer, Servanthood, Outreach/Missions Fasting according to the word of God. Important read

Isaiah 58:1-14 Complete Jewish Bible Version

1 Shout out loud! Don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a shofar! Proclaim to my people what rebels they are, to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 “Oh yes, they seek me day after day and [claim to] delight in knowing my ways. As if they were an upright nation that had not abandoned the rulings of their God, they ask me for just rulings and [claim] to take pleasure in closeness to God,

3 [asking,] ‘Why should we fast, if you don’t see? Why mortify ourselves, if you don’t notice?’ “Here is my answer: when you fast, you go about doing whatever you like, while keeping your laborers hard at work.

4 Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting, to lashing out with violent blows. On a day like today, fasting like yours will not make your voice heard on high.

5 “Is this the sort of fast I want, a day when a person mortifies himself? Is the object to hang your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself? Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases Adonai?

6 “Here is the sort of fast I want — releasing those unjustly bound, untying the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke,

7 sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you see them, fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!”

8 Then your light will burst forth like the morning, your new skin will quickly grow over your wound; your righteousness will precede you, and Adonai’s glory will follow you.

9 Then you will call, and Adonai will answer; you will cry, and he will say, “Here I am.” If you will remove the yoke from among you, stop false accusation and slander,

10 generously offer food to the hungry and meet the needs of the person in trouble; then your light will rise in the darkness, and your gloom become like noon.

11 Adonai will always guide you; he will satisfy your needs in the desert, he will renew the strength in your limbs; so that you will be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.

12 You will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise foundations from ages past, and be called “Repairer of broken walls, Restorer of streets to live in.”

13 “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, Adonai’s holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.

14 If you do, you will find delight in Adonai — I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.” Matthew 6:1 – 34 Complete Jewish Bible version

6 1 “Be careful not to parade your acts of righteousness in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So, when you do good deeds, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 3 But you, when you do righteous acts, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your righteousness will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, don’t babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 You, therefore, pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven! May your Name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as in heaven. 11 Give us the food we need today. 12 Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us. 13 And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. For kingship, power and glory are yours forever. Amen.’

14 For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.

16 “Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 17 But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself, 18 so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.

22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money. 25 “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, 29 yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. 30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have! 31 “So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ 32 For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. 33 But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough trouble already! Jonah 3:3-10 Results of Jonah’s three day fast and repentance…

3 So Jonah set out and went to Ninveh, as Adonai had said. Now Ninveh was such a large city that it took three days just to cross it.

4 Jonah began his entry into the city and had finished only his first day of proclaiming, ‘In forty days Ninveh will be overthrown,’

5 when the people of Ninveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

6 When the news reached the king of Ninveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.

7 He then had this proclamation made throughout Ninveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, no person or animal, herd or flock, is to put anything in his mouth; they are neither to eat nor drink water.

8 They must be covered with sackcloth, both people and animals; and they are to cry out to God with all their might — let each of them turn from his evil way and from the violence they practice.

9 Who knows? Maybe God will change his mind, relent and turn from his fierce anger; and then we won’t perish.”

10 When God saw by their deeds that they had turned from their evil way, he relented and did not bring on them the punishment he had threatened.

CJB

We fasting for a breakthrough and great awakening in our lives and in our Nation.

The purpose of not eating for a length of time or Fasting is humbling of oneself. The body was created to be fueled by food. When you deny your body its fuel and pray seeking the Lord, the spirit man becomes stronger and alert, the flesh less dominate. Think about it, the first sin or fall of man that broke relationship with God was over food. If we pull away from food and seek the Lord, our relationship with him will be strengthened and hearing his voice will become clearer.

Prayer Focus during fasting

1. Ask the Lord for the gift of repentance, brokenness and humility for you personally, ask for deliverance and victory over personal temptation so you can walk in holiness. Psalms 139 23-24 & 51:17 Nehemiah 1:5-6 1 Peter 2:9 Isaiah 57:15

2. Ask the Lord to break of fear and release His protection, peace and anointing upon the ecclesia (churches ruling Authority) so we will bring peace to the fearful, healing to the hurting and comfort those who have lost loved ones. Isaiah 61:1-3

3. Pray for healing and restoration in marriages and family relationships, for the healing in our economy, recovery of businesses, jobs and finances. Malachi 4:5-6 Psalms 85:6-12

4. Ask for wisdom to be given to Pastors and the Church that during and after the pandemic we would be bold in speech, become stronger in faith and more unified in Christ. Ephesians 1:17-13 & 2:22

5. Pray for the heart of our nation! That our governmental leaders and “we the people” would humble ourselves and turn back to Adoni God and biblical foundations. 2 Chronicles 7:14

6. Pray for President Trump, for his family and staff. For Protection, Wisdom, Health, direction and discernment as they make prompt decisions for our nation during this pandemic.

7. Pray for our President for a. Angelic protection and assistance b. from any attempt assassination. c. to uncover corruption in the government. d. Expose the lies of the media e. physical, mental and spiritual strength. F. a growing relationship with God Psalms 91 Isaiah 54:17

8. Pray for protection for Police, fire fighters, all involved in the health care, medical field, for peace, wisdom and for physical, emotional and spiritual strength. Psalms 91

9. Ask for the last day outpouring of the Holy Spirit and salvation over our nation and over the earth especially for the millennials and youth. Ask for the Lord to release laborers into this great harvest field. Joel 2:28-29

10. Pray for the nation of Israel for unity and the peace of Jerusalem. Psalms 122:6-9

Ask the Lord to open and anoint your eyes and ears to hear and obey His voice. Now that the church is outside the four walls of the building, it is your time to arise and shine! what is He asking you to do in this challenging time in your neighborhood, state and Nation? Isaiah 6:8