Revival Means To Live in a New Way

“The LORD is good unto those who wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lamentations 3:24).

J.D. Grear in his book, “Jesus Continued”, said, “In an awakening, the Spirit of God does not typically do a “new” thing; he simply pours greater power upon the “normal” things faithful Christians are already doing. Prayers become more intense; worship becomes more joyous; repentance becomes more sorrowful; and the preached Word yields greater effect. The Spirit of God multiplies the effectiveness of our “normal” work of seed-planting, bringing a bountiful harvest. And he does more in a moment than we can accomplish in a lifetime.”

This is what I dream of everyday that I awaken from my sleep. Looking, longing for this is a great desire that many have for their churches and for their land. This passion should drive each of us to our faces before a holy and righteous God. Yet the passion runs deep and the need arises paramount.

Don’t you want to serve as a spiritual pyromaniac in igniting the heart of the church for Christ’s glory? Are you dreaming of this too? Could God do it here in Alamance County? Could you and I be used of God to help lead the way in a movement of unprecedented proportions to see the Gospel of God spread like wildfire and countless lives transformed?

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    “By faith, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt” (Hebrews 11:24-26).

    How did Moses make it? He led a rebellious people through hot, dry, deserted, desert land. The people did not like him (3 million of them), even raised up with rocks in their hands to cast him down. He left Egypt with all of its pleasures and treasures, why?…for suffering, reproach, turmoil, constant troubles, hot and dry; is this why?

    He endured because he saw Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:27). That’s the key to endurance. You see Him who is invisible. In other words, he saw God’s hand in everything and in every situation.

    We have a choice. In whatever we are going through, we can either shrivel up, pull in, fall down, and fade away or we can endure, seeing Him who is invisible, seeing His hand in everything and everything in His hand. The nail pierced hand of Christ, the visible God come down, has your world in His hand. Trust Him to frame it according to His Word.

  • Terrorism: What do we do?

    “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?”  (Luke 23:34).

     

    May God continue to be especially nigh to those who are being persecuted. May He use our prayers and our concerns and our monies to help the persecuted church. We know that the primary mission of the church is not to protect itself from the world, but to protect others from the world to come
    In the economy of God’s time today, what do we do for those who are being hurt by others who have no regard for God and the church?
    1. We mourn the loss of the victims. The Lord Jesus wept many times in His life on earth. Yet, God is afflicted with our afflictions even now.
    2. Pray for the Terrorist’s Salvation. Ours is to persist in loving, even if men persist in enmity. We are to bless when they curse, pray while they persecute. We are to “do good to them, and pray for them.”
    3. Keep Calm and Preach On. We are to continue to preach the gospel. It is the Master’s mandate, and it is the Master’s power.
    4. Forgive the Evil. The Christian man is not allowed to hate anyone.
    5. Live Each Day in Light of Eternity. If God had willed it we might have entered into heaven at the moment of our conversion, but He has not. Why are God’s ships still at sea? One breath of His wind might waft them to the haven of rest. We are not here in vain. We are here to glorify God, and that we may see others come to know his love.

  • Rich in God

    “So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him…Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left. Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company…” (Genesis 13:1; 9-10).

     

    Abraham and Lot were men who both acquired wealth from God. Abraham developed his wealth to do the work of God, while Lot used his wealth to build his own empire, pleasure, and building.

     

    At the end of life we find Abraham won more, for his inheritance was of the Lord. Lot lost it all, even his own family. His resources were depleted and he ended up in heaven with his soul but lost his life and all things he lived for.

     

    Lot depended on Abram early on. He had a second-hand faith, a faith that was dependent on another, even though he had a genuine faith. But a Lot cannot live like that forever. It will show up eventually. His dependence was with Abraham as long as the heat was on. But one thing that Lot could not handle was his prosperity.

     

    There is one type of test that a carnal Christian cannot handle or stand – it is the test of prosperity. And it will show up eventually. When all is going well then a Christian will let go of his dependence, a strong Abraham, and will find himself dependent in his prosperity. He has moved on

     

    May we realize that if our faith is lived by the presence of another, that eventually we will fall to the test of prosperity, and most of the time prosperity and materialism will win. There are too many Lots in our midst who have lost their way to glory. May we learn from the lesson of Lot!

  • The Most Important Word: Relationships

    “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16a).
    There are many people who can be reached with the gospel if we are ready before God. Broken relationships hinder the work of God. When you and I set ourselves upright with God by meeting God’s conditions, then the Lord will weigh us with a burden to pray.
    Something happens which is inexplicable, humanly impossible, that only God can engineer when we decide God’s purpose is more important in our lives than our own  feelings or bitter feelings we have toward someone.
    God can bring more people into our lives to have their needs met when we are ready. We become fulfilled as we see the fruit of God’s Spirit impacting lives of those around us. Nothing ever becomes dynamic until we become specific in our doings before the All-Seeing God that we love. Love is meeting needs. God wants to reach others through us.

  • A Purposeful Life

    “And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire” (I Samuel 30:1).

    As David’s exterior world collapsed, he returned to his interior, rebuilt his primary identity, recovered his base. David had escaped Saul, duped the Philistines, now endangered by his own men, and God brought David back to Himself and reliance upon Him.

    What do you do when your world collapses? You return to your interior, the interior of where God lives. God allows trouble to bring you to where we belong. We are united and in planted in Christ. Allow God to work. Allow His discipline to take hold.

    Christ is capable of living the Christian life, for the obvious and simple reason that He is the Christian life. Allow the grace of God to work in your bad situations and good situations.  As David faced much we are grateful that the Christ who lives in us is more than able to face anything and conquer

  • Let Me Show You Something

    “And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:26).

    The hearts of the two disciples have been overwhelmed with sadness, but now their minds have been opened by the Scriptures…and now they are ready for their eyes to be opened to the Savior.

    Only the Spirit of God can open the eyes and hearts to the Christ of God. He alone is the One who illuminates the Scriptures to our hearts. He is the Teacher who stands alongside to give us what we need for the hour.

    Frankly we don’t believe God’s Word because we do not depend upon the Spirit of God to open parts of the Word of God to us. There has to be a cross before there is a crown. There has to be a cross before there is a kingdom. Jesus wore the crown of thorns before He wore the golden diadem. And He will explain Himself to us if we will open the golden book of Scripture.

    The cross was a doorway into eternal glory for the Son of God and for all who will believe in Him! Oh my friend allow the Resurrected Word to explain the written Word. The Fulfiller of Scripture will explain the prophecies of Scripture. Oh He is the great I Am; the Passover Lamb Whose blood protects His people from the angel of death and the wrath of God.

    Father please open our eyes that we may believe. Help us to open the Book before the world opens our eyes. You are the Living One and we are dependent upon You. Thank you for Your written Word that is explained by You. We are thankful to be instructed in righteousness. In your name! Amen.