Have things gotten kind of dark where you live? How's the crime and corruption levels there? Do you live in a divided Land of strife, contention, or violence today? Is it sorta like that in your home? Have many people there lost hope, lost vision, lost direction and the viable solutions to these changing and perplexing problems the people are facing? What are the greatest needs there?
Hey, take heart Buckaroo. God’s light can shine brightly again. There can be another outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the people in need. Yes, even on you and me today. Nothing would come close to beating that down here!
Perhaps we have a little bit of time to pause, to pray, to go share our own story, and to witness for Christ using the Bible. You have opportunities to use for the glory of God don’t you? Ask Him to help you see em. Ask for some more -- have others in mind as well. The Lord delights to gives us opportunities.
I love working with people at Global Media Outreach cuz so many contact us daily simply wanting to hear about the basics from our missionaries who really pray for them daily. They want to hear verses and and Bible passages like regarding the simple Gospel message. Many are hurting, have vices holding em down, are confused and convicted in their consciences. Some have been rejected, divorced, disenfranchised, disillusioned with life or a so called church or a cult and now want to return to Jesus Christ. I try to emphasis His goodness and plan and returning to Him. You know.. Come to or come back to Him just as you are.
Want to hold out a living hope and real life for them -- and they come running to Him for a second chance.
I’ve also been asked to come teach again at my church on Sunday, at Prestonwood in Plano, and I view this as a great privilege that I don’t really deserve at all. Perhaps you’ve been granted some opportunities where you live? None can earn such opportunities to minister to people. I try never to say no.. if I’m not given a red light so to speak. Sometimes it’s challenging to get up early on the weekend, but it’s important to grab hold of what God brings our way people. Our time is so limited -- there must be a sense of urgency in us or something is wrong.
Perhaps we have a little bit of time and good opportunities before us to use for the Lord.. you know, for what will last in eternity instead of merely seeing temporary results here that vanish away. What will we each do with the time allotted to us? What will I do with those minutes and hours? Do you ask about this? Ever experienced an authentic revival, believer? Ever seen a spiritual awakening in your Land? Both can happen again and probably will if we pray and obey.
Got some opportunities before me so I pray that the people would be soundly ministered to by the word of God on Sunday as I teach in Acts again. Perhaps there'll be some people I'm around today even? You know there's much so called ministry these days that is half sound or not at all sound. It distracts people away from the word, but I pray that the Holy Spirit will give me His love and just help me in Jesus’ Name to glorify God the Father, but not for my sake -- for His sake. Want my life motto to be Yes Lord. Want to point people to Him not merely to an org or group or mere mortal. Don’t want for a sec to be selfish on Sunday or any day really -- been there done that before. It ain't about us. I pray that He will indeed minister to believers through us. Yes, there at my church so they will be built up a whole lot, be encouraged, be comforted, be edified, and be revived if they need that. I want them to pray in faith more ..daily.. to worship better too, to disciple people in a non-controlling sorta way, to impact their world with the Gospel.
It’s so simple -- I want more people to love and follow Jesus. Nothing beats knowing Him. I pray that not one minute will go to waste or be in vain in there. I pray like I always try to do.. that God will send to our Land a biblical spiritual awakening and that it’ll start with us. Why not here and now? Why not us too? We need a fresh outpouring here. Turn our Land back to You Lord -- to the word of God. Refill us. Renew us. Restore us. Revive us Lord, give us clarity of vision -- yes, each one of us a clear vision for how You want to bless and use us, God. We want You more than any blessing.. than anything you can give or do here. God, I’m available -- the people need Your truth with timely practical application, with accurate facts, helpful illustrations to make important decisions. We need discernment and Your understanding -- Your great love. I tend to get all emotional at times, but God please let those emotions not get in the way. There're only so many seconds with each opportunity. It’s far more important what You want to say and do.
Don’t want to be left out of what You are doing here. No believer should want to be left out of this. He can do it again. We can turn and trust Him to do it again. Where are you at in regards to the opportunities God has given you? Do you have a testimony to share? Is it time to repent from a life of selfishness, willful independence, spiritual rebellion, idol worship, distracted carnal worldliness? Are you born all over again, or were you born only once?
Are you using your minutes, hours, and days wisely? Dr. Leslie Weatherhead calculated the average length of a life using the hours of one day to illustrate the importance of recognizing the value of time. He concluded that if your age is 15, the time is 10:25 a.m. If your age is 20, the time is 11:34. If your age is 25, the time is 12:42 p.m. If you’re 30, the time is 1:51. If you’re 35, the time is 3:00. If you’re 40 the time is 4:08. At age 45, the time is 5:15. If you’re 50, the time is 6:25. By age 55, the time is 7:24. If you’re 60, the time is 8:42. If you’re 65, the time is 9:51. And if you you’re 70 the time is 11 p.m.
The Bible in Psalm 90:12 reminds us, “Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom” (NKJV). Or as the Living Bible puts it, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.”
Ephesians 5:15 says, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise” (NLT).
Remember when Jesus told the story about a guy who went on a journey and left his money with his servants to use, to invest, to put to work for his sake. Well, we too can take what God has given us and use it to bring Him glory. We can use it for what God has planned here.
It starts in one heart and then spreads out to others. It starts with repentance. Go tell. We can’t earn real revival or a biblical spiritual awakening -- we can’t even organize such between such and such an hour in such and such a place. You've heard it all, "Come to the healing revival between 9am and 10am." Come on, He is God not any of us. We can believe God to send what we need down here though. He delights to do so!
He long for us to look to Him to meet needs. Doing good works won’t make revival arrive. Ask believing. The Bible tells us that “it is impossible to please God without faith” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT). And the book of James tells us what true faith is, sure, the kind of faith that God requires from every one of us.
The Bible says, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” (2:19–20 NLT)
True saving faith, the kind of faith that God requires, is a faith that always will bring results. It is a faith that shows itself in actions. James says, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? … So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless” (2:14, 17 NLT).
But why revival -- why ask for it? Cuz many have been lured away to lesser things that don't meet real needs. Jesus said to the church of Ephesus, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4–5 NKJV).
Do you remember reading about R.A. Torrey. He was a friend of Dwight L. Moody, who was another great preacher and evangelist. Well, he gave this prescription for revival during a February 1917 address at Moody Bible Institute:
“Let a few of God’s people, they don’t need to be many, get thoroughly right with God themselves – the rest will count for nothing unless you start right there; then let them band themselves together to pray for a revival until God opens the heavens and comes down. Then let them put themselves at God’s disposal to use them as He sees fit. That will bring a revival to any church, any community.”
Let’s review what's needed: 1) Get right with God, 2) get together with other Christians and pray for revival, and 3) make yourself available to God, especially in witnessing for the purpose of winning souls.
You have a story to tell. What has God done in your life? Others need to hear it. Spiritual awakening, that outpouring of the Spirit, is up to God. We can’t organize it, but we can agonize for it in prayer and call upon God to send it.
Remember when Jesus said to the church of Ephesus, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4–5 NKJV).
Have you taken a stride from the Master’s side? Ask yourself.. am I lukewarm spiritually, carnal in my mind and lifestyle, cold dead and lost inside? Do I want to be revived as a believer or awakened -- made alive inside? In these verses we find the three R’s of getting right with God, the three Rs of having a spiritual revival personally. First, remember. Were things different before? Was your faith stronger before? Remember that. Mark it. Second, repent. Change your direction. Do a U-turn. And three, repeat. Do those things you used to do. Remember from where you have fallen.
Is it time to turn (repent) and trust (with biblical faith) the Lord who has a plan for each of our lives? Take what God has given to you and do the most that you can with it for his glory. God can do a lot with a little. If you don’t believe me, just ask the boy with the five loaves and two fish who gave everything he had to Jesus. It didn’t seem like a lot, but Jesus used them to feed a hungry multitude.
We are children of the day, not of the night. Why waste time living for self and partying away in the night? Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23 NLT). This doesn’t mean that we must take a vow of poverty or get all religious. It simply means we recognize that it all belongs to God. Our lives belong to God. Our time, our talents, our homes, our families belong to God. Everything is his -- while we can be involved do Your thing in us. Please save others, help em and use us all for Your glory, Lord, please do send a revival that spreads like an aggressive forest fire here (only positive) and turns into another spiritual awakening here. That would go right to the very root of the problem in people's hearts, and to the core of so many issues that we are seeing in our news daily.
