All posts tagged Revival Articles

Bridging the Gap of Revival

I love bridges!  I have been able to see and travel across many famous bridges.  I have traveled across the 7 Mile Bridge in the beautiful Florida Keys.  I have visited the great Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA.  I have looked down the extreme height of the Royal Gorge Bridge in Canon City, CO.  I have also seen the impressive Mackinac Bridge that spans the five mile gap between lower state of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Built in the 1950′s, the Mackinac Bridge was an engineering feat.  There are two lanes of traffic each direction that flow 200 feet above the icy blue water at mid span.  Weighing over a million tons, it is unbelievable that is even suspended by two beautiful towers.  These towers reach from the water level up 552 ft. and from the water down 300 ft. until they hit the bedrock in which they are anchored. Imagine with me standing on the shore of the lower state of Michigan peering into the horizon.  We barely see our destination of the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) off in the distance.  How are we going to get across except we use the bridge.  This phenomenal structure spans the gap and allows us to access the other side.

Now imagine with me a group of over 2 million people standing at Kadesh Barnea trying to decide whether or not they are going to go in the Land of Canaan.  The choice is simple yet difficult.  Will they by faith take God at His promise and go possess the land?  Unfortunately they doubted, hesitated and missed the opportunity before them because their lack of faith. Hebrews 3:19 states “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Like the children of Israel, who hesitated to go into the Promised Land by faith, we also can miss out on the blessing of revival. Faith is the missing element in accessing the revival that God wants to send.  Our ministry theme is Faith for Revival.  We want to encourage churches and individual believers that we can believe God for revival and soul winning in today’s time. Let us take the admonition from this passage to not repeat the same error they did.  Hebrews 3:12 warns us “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Access the “Promised Land” of revival in your life by depending upon God’s promises that He has given you.  What we need more now than ever is Faith For Revival!

Are YOU Thirsty for Revival?

As a lost traveler wanders through a desert land, with each step his craving intensifies. The unbearable heat, along with the stinging sand, takes a toll on his exposed skin.  His chapped lips crack and bleed with no immediate remedy.
Each forced swallow becomes more painful.  The dryness is all around him and as he stares in every direction, the horizon promises nothing to quench his thirst.  Now for the sake of survival there remains only one desire – water.

Just as this traveler, we live in a dry land spiritually in need of revival.  We are in a day where there is little victory over sin, effectiveness in service, and power in soul winning.  May God create in us a thirst for revival and His presence!  We need the Spirit of the Lord to be poured out!  Isaiah 44:3 says “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” He promises to pour out the refreshing water of revival on those who are thirsty.  The water is an illustration of the Holy Spirit.  We need the filling and the power of the Spirit in our lives as Christian.  When we will be rightly related to the Spirit, we will then have revival.

The question remains for us in this condition “Are YOU thirsty?”

Revival Articles

Expecting The Impossible

The story is told of a pastor leaving his home one evening to go to his church to pray with some men. He was stopped by his young daughter, who was asking where he was going. Because the area was experiencing a drought, he explained that he was going to the church to pray for rain. To this she asked, “Where’s your umbrella?” The pastor was going to pray but was forgetting something vital. He was forgetting (besides his umbrella) his expectation.  Faith expects God to do what He says, even if it means the impossible.

In Mark 11:20-24, Peter forgets his umbrella. When Peter and the rest of the disciples heard Christ curse a barren fig tree in Mark 11:14, they were shocked the next day to see the tree’s condition. Peter blurts out “Behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away” (Mark 11:20, 21). It was not a declaration of faith but a statement of shock. He did not expect that God would do exactly what He said He would. How do we know that he did not have faith? Directly after Peter’s statement Christ never again addresses the tree. Jesus simply goes directly into His three lessons on faith: the imperative of faith (v. 22), the impossibilities of faith (v. 23), and the impact of faith (v. 24). These lessons seem to have a progression with them. It first starts with the command of faith (the imperative), which leads to the life of faith (the impossibilities), that pours over into the prayer of faith (the impact).

Let’s start with the imperative of faith which is the four word command in verse 22. “Have faith in God”, Jesus says. The very fact that he tells Peter and the others to “have faith” proves the omission of faith. How often do believers omit faith by simply being shocked to see what God clearly declared He would do? Christ also states the object of our faith when He says “in God”.  One may ask “Isn’t God’s Word the object of our faith?” We must not separate the promise of God from the Person of God. The word of someone is only as trustworthy as the character of the person. If we have known a trustworthy person for some time, then we will believe what he says. So then why do so many believers worry and trust? I don’t believe that they don’t think the character of God is trustworthy. I believe it is another reason. Let me illustrate it then explain it. Imagine you receive a knock on your door one evening. You then open the door to see a somewhat shady character staring at you. You then find out that this stranger has a suspicious story of traveling to visit his Aunt Mildred and he has run out of money. He then asks you for a $100, which is followed by a stunned silence. Realizing your hesitation he then promises you he will pay it back next week when he travels back through town. What would you do? The bottom line is that you are not going to give a suspicious stranger with an unlikely story a $100. The reason is because you do not have an intimate relationship with him, in fact, you do not even know him! Are you worrying about God’s provision for you right now? Does the One at the door promising to repay you seem to be a stranger? Perhaps you do not trust His promises because there is a lack of intimacy with the Person of your Savior.

Let’s hear the second of Christ’s lesson of faith: the impossibilities of faith. These impossibilities only occur in the life of faith that has obeyed Christ’s command. Jesus says in verse 23 “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Speaking of moving actual mountains, Jesus promises miraculous impossibilities coming to pass. Here we see that the life of faith exercises expectancy. In the middle of the verse the Bible says “and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass”. Faith does not only passively think that God can, but actively expects that He will. When a believer exercises faith he is fully convinced that God can do what He said, and fully expects that He will even if it means the impossible.

Are there some impossible occurrences that need to take place in you life? Although Jesus speaks about literal mountains, let us first apply it to moving some figurative mountains in your life. Maybe the mountain of worry over finances needs to be moved. If a financial strain is stopping you from giving as the Spirit directs, you need to exercise faith by obeying God’s command to give, thus expecting God to provide. Would you trust your Savior, if He were at the door asking for $100?

Can we not experience miraculous life changes in areas that we have counted as impossible to transform? What about those strongholds of the flesh and Satan in the areas of bad habits? I am addressing especially those areas of sin that have been in lives for years. Perhaps the sin of complaining has been in your life for so long that you have excused it as part of your personality. Maybe the habit of your constant short temper has been counted as “It’s just who I am.” In today’s times addictions of the flesh run wild. Alcohol, drugs, nicotine, pornography, and over eating – these are the mountains in many believers’ lives, which God can and will move if they will believe.

In light of the fact that faith expects, we need to seem three areas that are not included in the life of faith. First, there are no exclusions. Our Savior uses the words “whosoever” and “whatsoever.” The first includes any one and the second includes any thing. Can you please list on paper the areas that are not included in these two categories. Therefore, no one is excluded from any area in the life of faith. No one can say well I am not a preacher, or that my area of life is different. Second, the life of faith is not based on experience. Peter had never experienced a fig tree being cursed, but should have known it would come to pass because of expectant faith. I remember a young believer telling me that he did not believe in prayer. He did not believe, because God had not answered his requests. His basis was his experience. To refute him one may argue that God does answer prayer, because He they have seen Him answer their own. Although exercising faith can help build greater faith for the future, the basis of our life of faith is not our experience. The basis is on what God has said; “he shall have whatsoever.”  We now can see the third element missing from the life of faith: experimentation. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus said “and shall not doubt.” Some will try to move mountains for the sake of an experiment. They would like to see if this really works. When God says to prove Him, He is not speaking of a half way experiment, but is speaking of placing our full trust and confidence on Him.

The final lesson is the impact of the prayer of faith. Verse 24 says “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” The unlimited possibilities of “what things soever” are repeated throughout scripture in verses like these: Matthew 21:22, Mark 9:23 and Ephesians 3:20. The impact that is being made around you is directly related to the effectiveness of your prayer life. When I first realized that, it was quite convicting. Let me ask what happens “when ye pray”?
Let me challenge you to “Have faith in God.” As you expect God to do what He promises, it is then that God will do the amazingly impossible through your life. Oh, one more thing, don’t forget your umbrella.