Prevailing Prayer

Prevailing Prayer

Psalm 28:6  Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

     Today it may be, dear Christian, that your heart is heavy, toppled with a burden of care and sorrow.  Or perhaps yesterday that weight settled upon thee, or maybe it will be yet on the morrow.  There is but only One who can lift this care and create light in the dark tunnel of uncertainty.  The Lord God shall hear the voice of our supplications.  Have we seen ourselves as trapped in a mountain of darkness?  Then hold your course in prayer.  So as it was with the young boy who took to the darkness of night to wait upon the coming train by the tracks.  There he waited, patiently, even into the late hours of night.  Though the train seemed as tardy or not coming at all, he was determined to board it.  The need must me met, the journey must be made.  So it was after a while, in the distance, a great light was seen on the horizon.  Finally it had arrived, and unmistakable was that arrival; for it boasted itself vividly with a great light and the whistle of the steam engine.  Even as this, so must it be with you and your prayer life.  Have you taken these burdens to God and awaited His light to fill your soul?  If so, why then should we so soon rise from our knees if God has not taken every pound of that dreadful weight off our shoulders?  Yea rather, we must beseech our Lord until we can say as David, "He hath heard the voice of my supplications."  The train has arrived, our Lord has heard our supplications.  We may undoubtedly know the Lord has heard our prayer when the Spirit of God turns our heaviness into joy.  When the unpleasurable feelings of our heart are swallowed by peace that passes all understanding, it is the hand of God taking the helm of our supplications.  Tell me, saint, have you ever in great distress fallen to your knees and prayed until God's peace has filled your soul?  Such a thing is an unmistakable evidence your burden has been lifted from your shoulders and is carried now in the hands of God.  Burdens are dispersed at times from the hand of God onto His people.  These burdens are to drive us, an apathetic people at times, into action: the proper action.  This action is prayer, and certainly prayer is the tool that moves God into action.  God does all things well!  Oh, praise be to God who knows how to stir the hearts of the saints for their own bettering!              

New Timber at God's Expense

New Timber at God's Expense

Ezra 6:3-4  In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house: 

     Here we find a letter sent from King Cyrus to inform of the building of the temple, and its full payment from the king's hand.  It is a most true statement that God turns the heart of kings to fulfill His will; however, let us take this logic and correctly apply it to the maintenance of Christians from the expenses of Heaven.

     The timber is new, not that of rotten wood.  So is it that Christ can make all things new.  The hard-working Carpenter, who carried His trade into Heaven to build the lives of people, is not interested in rewarding His bride with more old timber, rather Christ is in the business of making new construction in the lives of people.  Do you know a man who is down in the pits of sin?  Do you know one who has wrecked his life to the uttermost?  Do you know one who is disheartened and depressed and can see no light?  Send them to the Savior!  Christ can rebuild a life with new timber for the soul.  Let the construction begin!  Let Christ remodel the inward parts and see how quickly the outward road and the path it leads to change!  How can Christ do this?  He does it justly through the cross of Calvary where He shed His blood for all men.  No matter how deep and dark the sinner, Christ will utterly forgive all and purge their life to build it anew.  New timber is new desires that are present because of the wonderful act of salvation brought to man by God's perfect plan.  New timber is new principles in which the believer now builds his life upon.  And what of the cost?  Do not think it must be paid by us, for we cannot pay such a large debt; rather Heaven has paid for this by giving the Son of God to die for our sins.  And as such, the Christian life must continue in the same grace.  Observe this thought: we are saved by grace and not the works of the law.  Why then do so many people start in the Spirit and try to grow by holding to the works of the law?  Rather they should let the grace of God uphold them in righteousness by asking Him to do so.  Heavens airfare was paid by Christ and so is the price of our growing in grace.  Christ is graciously still building us to make us what we ought to be; herein is a great work of sanctification in the saints.  Happy is the Christian who meets daily with the Master Carpenter, and allows Him time and room to build with new timber in his life.    

As a Christian, Have you Found God Today?

As a Christian, Have you Found God Today?

Jeremiah 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

     So then Christian, God has found you, and you have found God through His Son. Only, have you stopped at that?  Your eternity is of the most important state very true, but is there a hunger to know Heaven on earth?  Do you find yourself longing for the fellowship of God to land on your heart as the tender morning dew?  Is your soul twisted inside of you, fighting for the hope of deeper communion with the God of the universe?  Then seek the Lord, and seek Him with your whole heart.  It is the Christian who disciplines himself to search with much passion who finds God in the fuller extent.   Let us not think that a half-hearted approach shall get us far.  God desires the full heart to seek Him; a heart that is overflowing with desire to hear and obey His leadings.  It is a full heart that gets filled.  Not a heart that is full of the world but rather one that is full of holy yearning for the Savior.  A heart that is filled with desire shall soon have that desire turned to joy.  Only press on and let not the world distract you.  If our hearts be in another place, we are not seeking God with our whole heart.  Be attentive, for if  your mind is consumed with the thoughts of possessions then God has not your whole heart.  The saint who whole heartedly seeks the Lord is the saint who gets the special privileges of God.  It is they who have the most peace and the most power.  So then seek the Lord today!  Have your life full of better blessing than the rest!  Seek Him with all your heart and you will soon find that He will be found of you!  What child can be in the direct favor of God and not receive more than his cup will hold?   Make a promise to yourself and God now; ask Him to help you seek Him daily with your whole heart.  In doing this you shall truly find the greater blessings and power of God.

How to Get Things From God

How to Get Things From God

Jer 33:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 
Jer 33:2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 
Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not


     Have you found yourself afflicted today, saint?  There is good news, and not just good, yea rather jubilation for the soul.  God answers prayer.  Tell me, Christian, who is heard of their parents the most?  Is it not the child who lies in distress that first steals the aid of the loving father?  So then afflicted soul, expect God not just to hear but to answer our prayers.  The word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah while in the middle of great distress.  Yet it is here God chose to bring this wonderful thought to His servant: "Call unto me.".  A great encouragement to the discouraged child of God.  Should we dare expect any other form of delivery than that which comes by prayer? Certainly not, for prayer is God's appointed means to give His children their requests.  "But I have prayed,"  you may say.  Even then, pray again.  Jeremiah had prayed (Jer 32:16-25), yet the solution had not changed.  Think of this: a busy father may not fully notice the tug of his child on his leg at the first, for he is covered up in work.  Yet in much persistence, he should surely come to notice them if they do not relent on the intentions.  You may be assured God sees our first prayer and regards it.  It is altogether in His divine will at times to act as though He did not.  This is to teach us reliance on God and not our own doings.  So pray and pray again.  
     Be now encouraged by this promise those of you who remain afflicted.  We are bid to call, and God has obligated Himself to answer.  We should not remain hopeful for answers, but rather we should expect them.  Oh, to see great and mighty things which we know not, and we shall!  They are here for the taking!  Heaven has stored them, and Christ has unlocked them for distribution unto the saints!  Our Father waits now upon His throne willing and waiting, pleading with us to come in earnest prayer so that He may bestow on us what should be ours.  Are you in turmoil?  Has a grievous cloud come upon you today so that it seems hard to find good?  Then take the instruction of God to Jeremiah and claim it as your own, for it is yours!  Call upon the Savior now!  He sits always able and willing to move Heaven and earth to aid His own.  Wait upon the good things which you know not, for in them God is able to apply a soothing salve to our heart which may heal us in a much greater way than we think possible.

The More Excellent Roads of Life

The More Excellent Roads of Life

Proverbs 15:24  The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.   
    
     My soul, what now is the direction that you may take?  May it exuberantly proclaim the road above!  For in this choice the benefit of one's self and the good of others is at stake!  Aim for this high road now with me!  Choose it because there lay another path, and its end is one of bitterness and sorrow.  With such knowledge, why then would we not make the road above to be our blissful choice?  This good road is one of instruction, a beaten path, cleared by the Word of God so it may be happily traveled.  On this road lay the good things of God and to those who stay on it the deep and rewarding things of His inexpressible fellowship.  Never has such a feast of divine blessing been laid out to men as while in this path.  Abiding therein the  believer finds nourishment in times of languish and good consequences to his wise choices.  This road is lovingly hedged by the protecting hands of a caring Father, and its road signs are those marked by peace, joy, and tranquility to the inner parts.  The way of path is maintained by the workings of the great Creator.  While sojourning on this better way, the unforgiving damage of winds and storms are corrected by God, and it is more than hasty patchwork.  These sinkholes are repaved, smoothed for the soul by the counseling Spirit of the Almighty, so  there is no more sorrow found hidden in them.  Choose now this higher road!  The road to live by God's principles as a holy Saint!  I beckon to all now choose the godly road, for below it is hell beneath!  Retain the path above and you shall remain unclaimed by the damage of foolishness!  Let us not think to take the road of the world.  Rescue your loved one by supplication if they be on this path!  For we have seen its end and it is a sorrowful one.  The road of ungodliness is one of bitter remorse, full of needless destruction which wisdom calls to deliver us from!  Such a terrible road of self-created sorrows!  On this road paved below the cruel world may have the mastery of those who abide thereon, but praise be to God who can lift us off this path!  Have you found yourself on this dreadful highway today, saint?  If so lift your voice to God who can deliver you and set your feet on the right trail.  Have you wondered the worth of following Biblical principle and denying sin?  Never has the path of destruction lead to anywhere other than to destruction and as well never has the path of God's love fallen short of expectation!  Let not foolishness dictate your heart's purpose now, saint; for in choosing the way above you shall miss many sorrows and avoid much destruction.

Are you 100% For Sure You Are Going To Heaven?

Are You 100% For Sure You Are Going To Heaven?

      There are only 4 basic things you need to know that can assure you Heaven is your home.  We can know for sure!  God wants us to know for sure!  Here is how we can know!

1. We have all sinned.

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

     We have all sinned.  There is none righteous, no not one.  There is not a person alive who can say they have lived their entire life without sin.  The Word of God clearly states that we have all sinned and have come short of God's glory.

2. Sin has a penalty.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

     Wages are what you earn.  The paycheck for sin for everyone is death.  What is death?  It is separation.  Upon death our soul is separated from our body.  If we are lost without God and not going to Heaven, then death is also separation of the eternal soul from God.  God is in Heaven; therefore if the paycheck for sin is separation, then that penalty is a place of eternal torment called Hell.

3. Christ Jesus has made a way for us to go to Heaven.

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

     God showed His great love to us by giving Christ to die on the cross.  There, Jesus suffered the torment and separation that a sinner would face in Hell.  God loves man, but sin must be payed for.  So Jesus Christ the Son of God payed the debt of death that we owe by dying on the cross.  He made the way to Heaven.  He is the door to Heaven.  God laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  Christ was buried, and three days later He was raised again from the dead, showing His triumphant victory over death, so we could have victory in Him!

4. God wants to give everyone this free gift of Heaven paid for by Christ.

Romans 10:9-10  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Romans 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

     God tells us in His word, that if we shall confess the Lord Jesus and believe the good news that He is the way to Heaven we can be saved.  With the heart we believe and we desire salvation.  With the mouth we pray and ask God to come into our heart and save us.  

      Many may ask what else is there?  Must I work?  Must I be baptized?  Must I take communion?  No to all of these.  Christ has done all the work needed for you to go to Heaven.  You need not  add anything else to the good news of what Jesus did on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection.  You need not take anything away either, if you take away Jesus, you take away the door to Heaven.  

Do you believe all have sinned?

Do you believe hell awaits those separated from God?

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

Do you believe that Jesus made the only way to Heaven by dying on the cross for our sins?

Are you willing to put your faith in the work of Jesus on the cross to take you to Heaven?

The Bible says anyone, "whosoever" shall call on the Lord shall be saved.  

Pray now if you need to be saved and ask God to save you and take you to Heaven.  Tell Him you are trusting only Jesus to get you there.  Now believe God has saved you if you prayed this.  God has promised everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  Our part is to only call on Him in faith, His part and His promise is to save you!

Have you trusted Christ as your Savior just now?  Then tell someone about the good news!

What is Your Value In Life?

What is Your Value in Life?

Proverbs 10:20  The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

     Ask yourself this question today, Christian, "How valuable are you to God and others?".  There is a sure answer for this question, in that, this question reveals its answer by the condition of our heart.  Is your thinking ravaged with unlawful thoughts?  Are your desires overwhelmingly drawing you into sin?  Have you a deep abiding love for the Savior and for souls?  If we in truth answer these things and with avid searching find the result of these question to be negative, we are then living a life that presents little value to God and others.    

     

     Think now of the value of living righteously.  Is not choice silver a most desirable thing?  Certainly it is, and so is your life ever valuable and full of worth when  living holy and yielded to God.  When others see the wisdom given to men from such dependence on the Son of God, they may find great value and respect for the vibrant thoughts that roll from their lips.  If they, who have a quickened desire to know God's principles hear us expectantly and they find our mouths full of wisdom, then have we bent an ear to acknowledge the wisdom found in the Word of God?  What value there is in speaking right things to people, and what value to God that we can be used by Him to influence people!  Yet only consider this, with the wicked heart it is not so.  They cannot build up others; but rather in their lips are poison.  They intend to strike as a venomous snake with grievous words looking to wound their prey.  Their tongue is poised and ready to strike with words that stir up anger or eat as a cancer at the emotion of those afflicted.  The wicked look to deceive and gratify their pleasures in sin, all the while harming those who are close and sometimes those who are afar.  What little value to God is the heart of one who stinks of death.  How should God spend your value to service others when we offend with the rank odor of sin?  How could God value the wicked of as much worth as He could those who are as choice silver in His service?  May our hearts be in right standing with God!  

     

     Now take this final thought.  All the while God sees the sinful, and in them He sees the potential in every life.  This is so true that if the wicked would allow God to reign in their life they would find the Savior has masterfully crafted a road for them follow. And what a road  it is; one of sweet splendor and joy found in knowing Christ!  The value of every soul was worth the life of the Son of God, and in that great transaction that took place at Calvary, a wicked heart may be made new and become of great worth and value in the service of the King!    

What Do You Provoke God to do in Your Life?

What Shall We Provoke?

Ezra 5:12  But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.

     In what way today, Christian, has your life provoked the Lord?  There is a law which holds ever true:  sowing and reaping.  Have you sowed your life today to God and brought blessings on your life?  Or have you been lacking, sowing to the flesh bringing about certain corruption?  Let us look now at how we may provoke God to blessings!


Hosea 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

     We have a field to sow in.  And what a responsibility it is, for this field is our heart.  As any proper field, this soil, when met with seed, cultivates and nurtures the seed.  A fallow ground is a plowed heart ready to receive the Word of God in its fertile soil.  The good seed is the Word of God.  Good seed is that which is produced by the Holy Spirit and takes root in your heart.  There is another seed type present among us as well.  This is the ungodly seed which is held by satan and the ungodly people of the world.  This is planted in your heart to produce that which is sinful.

     Our hearts will cultivate the seed of suggestion.  It is in design that God has made us to do just that.  The ideas and thoughts which we allow to pass through the gates of our senses lodge in our minds.  There they sit, often nourished, thought upon, and in doing they grow until they produce the fruit of their kind.  Every voluntary action has a thought before it.  Tell me Christian, have you ever sinned a sin that you have not thought about first?  Has not every yielded temptation come because you gave into the thought of it?  And so it rings true, a thought is cultivated until it blooms, and that bloom is the action produced from the planted seed.  So then, think and realize the direction of your life.  Your actions determine the direction of your life, and they are the fruit of what you have sown in abundance to your mind.

     Christian, be ever careful in this day!  For we are bent towards the hazards of sinfulness.  Beware,  because we have an enemy who wishes to sow tares and thistles in our minds.  And how subtle he shall be when doing it at times.  If we see unholy fruit we may be sure that we are not sowing good seed but the seed of the world in our minds.  And what if this is the case today, Christian?  Then we must diligently weed the tender soil of our minds.  Ask Christ to help you, and He will.  Count all tares as the curse they are and let the Lord pull them out of your heart so that it may be ready to receive that good seed !

     I encourage you today, child of God, to sow the good seed of the Bible in your heart.  Daily it should be sent to cover the field of your heart, and its harvest shall be rewarding.  The righteous Word harvested shall be mercy, which when gathered in its due time shall cause the God of Heaven to rain righteousness upon your thirsting soul!  His reward will come in the splendors of showers of blessings.  Surround yourself then Christian with godly influence; for we must sow to reap!  And if it be that the seed is good, and from it we produce holy actions, then we shall provoke the God of Heaven to bring blessings in our lives.  Only let not the seed be that which the enemy has sent the world to sow.  Unholy actions may provoke the Lord to a righteous anger.  Sow to the Spiritdfe and reap in joy, for it is time to seek the Lord!

Pierced Hands

Pierced Hands

Luke 24:5-51  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

     Christian, imagine today if you will this marvelous sight as beheld by the disciples.  Those precious hands of the Savoir, lifted to bless, as He began His ascent into Heaven to be received of the Father.  The disciples were first taken to a personal place, a small town of Bethany.  It is here that the Lord decided to make His departure into Heaven.  Bethany was not the center of any splendor, except that the Lord was there.  Yet it was Bethany that was chosen; so a lesson is born: we must get with God in secret before we have proper things to say in public.  Find Bethany, and there find the Lord!
     But think now of this, those wonderful hands of the Savior which were lifted, were lifted to bless.  And so does God intend to bring blessings on the heads of His people.  These great hands were lifted to bless, because authority was given unto the Son to do just that.  These hands were lifted to bless by unloading to the disciples that wonderful work of going to the multitudes with the message of the Gospel.  The human duties to be entrusted to the disciples, in this regard, were a blessing to them.  Never could the Heavenly duties be transferred, because only Christ can be our great High Priest, and with those pierced hands He holds the office firmly.  Ah but the human duties to occupy until He comes.  So we see a great blessing given, the blessing that man may lead sinners to God through Christ.
     Imagine now this sight, as Christ raised His hands in ascension, the last glimpse of Him being His palms,  turned down towards the disciples, as His hands were raised.  The state of those hands, pierced, scarred where calvary had at one time left Him lifeless. But praise be to God He was not left that way!  Such a statement made without a word said when the scars of calvary are pondered upon.  Perhaps this served as a great reminder of what authority Christ had, who gave His life and He Himself took it back again.  Undoubtedly, these hands served as a sobering reminder of the great price which was paid for redemption.  How could the disciples forget such a sight?  These hands could be raised to bless because they were pierced for our sins!  And as these hands bought our pardon, they are the continued way of blessing for God's people.  We do not lean on the works of the law, our ability to control, or our character in right and wrong when dealing with besetting sin; rather, we come to these strong hands which are mighty enough to cover us in God's grace, and they alone lift us to our proper company in sonship.
     These hands, as the disciples well-knew, were the hands which would hold their future.  And so it is with us as well, Christian!  What mighty hands they are!  There is no circumstance too small or too great to place on those nail scarred hands!  These hands hold our earthly affairs and our eternal ones.  May we rejoice in the thought of such!
     Think now lastly on these thoughts regarding Christ's hands.  They are hands which eternally bear the proof of payment for the sins of mankind.  These mighty hands are they which grasped the arm of Peter and brought him up from the waters with his simple earnest exclamation of, "Lord save me!".  And so is it with us today, Christian!  These are the hands of the Master Carpenter, calloused from hard work; and they were hands which healed all who would come to Him.  These hands were they which were seen limp and lifeless after calvary, but vibrant and and full of life they were three days later!  These are the nail-printed hands which now knock on the hearts of men.  Does He knock on your heart with these hands?  Why would one ever deny such a loving Savior entrance?  Call on Him now as Peter did, "Lord save me!".   Christian, do these hands knock in an area of life in which you will not let Him reign?  Throw open the door and allow Him access now!  For these hands are gentle and loving, and they shall never lead thee wrong.

Can We Have Revival?

Romans 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

     Believer in Christ, take notion if you will of this wonderful fact: we have truth diffused to us as sons!  God has made many things abundantly clear to man in His revelation of Himself.  Perhaps one thing most well-known is the great favor that God has given in bestowing grace to cover sin.  We must quickly learn this; that where there is sin, there is an abundant supply of grace to correct it.  Joyful is the man who is pulled from the deepest places of sin, for much grace is his reward in repentance.  To us is offered grace in greater proportion than sin multiplied of itself. What a wonderful truth that brings vast jubilation to the soul!  Grace is greater than all of our sin! So then, what of this grace?  How far can it take us today, Christian?  Can  it propel us to the brink of this thought and beyond: can we have revival in this day?  While we ponder on this, we may think to ourselves, "One says things are worse than ever, and another says God has foretold that revival cannot be in this age."  Look now soul to this encouraging truth, if sin abounds, then grace shall be in greater supply.  God needs not to send a revival in the midst of revival.  Rather it is reserved for when needed, held until things become grim and unbearable to the soul.  For if greater the display of sin, then greater the manifestation of grace.  Take great comfort now in this delight, we are in the wonderful age of grace, and the church is on the offensive!  Grace can bring us revival.

     Is then revival as imminent as the Lord's return?  Shall we see it if we desire to?  Observe this thought of sensible reasoning.  Ponder this until it becomes clear to your mind.  If we are in sin then the Lord would have us claim fire from Heaven to revive and our souls.  If Christians are to keep themselves in a Christ-like way then, from time to time, we need a revival ourselves.  If we must be revived so we may return to holy and Christ-like living, then we now see that reviving ourselves has become a duty.  This makes revival our duty because living holy is our duty.  Muse on this thought, would God deny us the power to fulfill a duty He requires of us?  Would He deny us the power to live in the Spirit as He has commanded?  Should He then deny us the method of restoring our spiritual walk?  Certainly not.

     Think on this verse.  2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  Is this verse not true?  If we then meet a condition, God shall give a result.  Has this verse been found false?  Or have you found an expiration printed within its words?  Was this not written by the same God that we have today?  Has God not honored the fullness of His counsel?  Have some portions of canonized Scripture become unprofitable?  Truly all Scripture is profitable and all of its divine promises true!  Herein is grace extended to the saints by a condition to meet with the promise of revival.

     Might I interpose now into your mind this one thought of conclusion, the devil loves preaching that would say we cannot have revival.  He quivers in delight over such a mind set but quivers in fear over the thought of revival coming to fruition.  Revival would lead to holy living of saints and sinners being converted in masses.  Our adversary wishes to deaden all such hope of revival.  May we then in duty more than ever expect God to give revival to our souls and churches.  We are robed in grace and indwelled of the Holy Spirit.  In such sure hands we should excite ourselves now, church, on this fact: we can have revival.  Meditate on this my fellow Christian and let it ring in abundance through the hallways of thine ears; if sin abounds, then grace does much more abound!

Do We Need A Revival?

Do We Need A Revival?

Hab 3:2  O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. 


     Without a doubt yes!  And He so desires to send us revival!  Never is there a thing more dear to God than sinners being converted to Christ and believers drawing in closer fellowship to the Lord.  A revived work is what the Lord longs to do for His people!  May we believe He can and know He wishes to do so.
    
     For what reason would it be that we need revival?  Has the church the same power as it had in Acts?  So we say yes it does, in that, it is available to us now just as it was then.  Only we differ in this: we seem to be drawing from a well of lesser proportion than in yesterdays.  Have we seen mass conversions of souls to Christ?  Have we seen carnal Christians repentant and grieved deeply over their sin?  Has the heart of God's people been in great travail to birth in prayer a revival that was planted in the mind of men by the Holy Ghost?  By all means we need revival.  We would all hastily admit that we live in a day where we see multitudes in churches.  Only I interject this; if they were in revival, we would see the end of backbiting and malice in that church.  They should be rid of distrust of the pastor and the longing of the world if they were in revival.  Multitudes of conversion would be present by the working of God's people to reach others with the Gospel if they were in revival.  They should be more readily, individually and collectively, formed into the image of Christ if they were in revival. So then we whole-heartedly see evidence of a need for the revival of God's work in America.  This is so, but in some countries this type of godly zeal is taking place even now.

     A revival makes tender the heart of the saint who has hardened themselves through the deceit of sin and the cares of the world.  The flesh of our carnal nature is a wicked thing, and it pulls naturally on us, relentlessly at times, to position us in opposite directions of God's will.  We must be abased from pride and admit that from time to time we need a revival to tune us to the sweet orchestra of God's melody.  A revival is needed when the church slows at winning souls.  It is needed when the service is preached as if to dry bones that lay lifeless due to the preaching being absent of unction from God.  We may boldly say a revival is needed when the church of God has lost their desire and enthusiasm to serve Christ and see success in the church.  A revival is needed when the altar has dried of tears, for if the Spirit has moved then the altar would be full, or the people have grieved God in rejecting His leading.  A revival is needed when the people of God are no longer willing to do what they must to see success in the church.  We may know that we are in a most desperate state for revival when there is discord among the people.  We conclude that revival is an envied thing when their is rebellion against the direction of a godly pastor doing right.  If we think we need not revival, then we need it most certainly even more.

     Are God's people grieving deeply over their sin and the sin of others?  Are they weeping over the eternal state of lost ones who have not Christ?  If this is not a dominating concern in our lives we need revival.  Certainly, we must remember our fellowship with God and our family; yet after that may we live in the world but care for the things of eternity.  Has God planted in you the desire for revival?  If not, then go to Him and beg Him for it!  If yes, then do not grieve the Spirit until He leaves you alone, but rather pray until He lifts the burden in a sense of fulfillment!  Is it as it should be with us towards God?  If not, we need a revival.

Next post - Can we have a revival?

Are You Wise or Foolish?

Are You Inherently Wise?

Proverbs 24:7  Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
     How lies the fundamental direction of your discernment today Christian?  Is it well with you and with God, or does it lack the quintessential elements of truth and understanding?  May we strive to be able to truly say, "not so!".  We lack nothing in good discernment for we are graced with the wisdom of God, and He has bowed the heavens to deliver it unto us by His hand!
     Wisdom is unattainable to the fool, while he is a fool.  It is in his nature that the problem lies.  A fool may even be born again, in that, he has made one wise decision by the enlightening of the Holy Spirit for his need for Christ; however, to one who has seared himself from the holy things of God, the holy things of God have no clarity to him.  Overtime they will become as one who has forgotten they were once purged from their sin. A scorner is one who purposely rebels against the things of God, and the fool is one to whom it has become as a nature to live in error.  Though they hear, they cannot bring themselves to comprehend.  Though they see the truth displayed in the lives of Christians, they cannot bear to live it themselves, even though it would better them.  They are without a desire for wisdom; and the comprehension to find the wisdom in the well-explained proverb, though it be taught plainly, is dormant.  The fool's way is to him better than any other way, even while his life is in a course of decline.  He may receive instruction, and while he can repeat the matter back to others, he himself will not heed it.  The nature of wisdom lies on a shelf much higher than the reach of a fool.  The fool opens not his mouth in the gate.  He has nothing constructive to offer in the place where high councils may meet.  If the gate be the entrance of a city, then we may conclude that a fool has not the ability to start a practice or relationship with wisdom. For he opens not his mouth to seek God to begin in wisdom.  In this, the fool sets up his life for constant folly.                                    

     But to the wise man, there is a different course that grace has paved in his midst.  If the spirit of wisdom rests upon a believer as it did with Solomon and the apostles, then we can attain to this necessity of life even now!  Solomon asked of God and wisdom was distributed to him with the personal caring touch of the Father!  Does God care any less for you?  Certainly not!  So we may expect the same!  The apostle James boldly proclaims that if any man be without wisdom, let he himself ask of the Father!  Christian reader, it will be with great liberality that God shall pour out His spirit of wisdom upon you fresh and anew!  May this thought bring jubilation to the soul, for this is not the decree of a man but the promise of the One who holds the  universe in His palm!  God shall not withhold wisdom from His children who seek wisdom earnestly, and He never tires of our asking for it.  Do we seek monetary gain?  Do we not search for bargains and deals as well as earthly knowledge?  Then how much more should we seek wisdom in whose return is much better than that of gold?  How precious it is to enter every situation endowed with the mindset of God.  Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus! As we ask of the Father for this wonderful grace,  He shall lift our souls to the attainable places of wisdom so that we may reach that which was once incomprehensible.  When we hand God control of our life, He transforms our thinking from that of foolish in nature to wise in nature!