God is Holy.

     By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.
     Lev. 10:3 NASB

     Before God will come and dwell among us, He must be treated as Holy. He must be treated with reverence and awe. We must come to an understanding of who he is, and who we are. What is needed is to stand in the fear of the Lord.
     We do not enjoy being in the company of those who do not respect us. We would not invite someone back who ignored us when in our homes. Likewise how can we expect God to show up where he is not truly wanted?
     Many want revival, they want to have God present, but they do not know what they ask.
     God is a Holy God, awesome in presence and power. His presence is all consuming. It will either change us or drive us away.
     We need the refining fire, we need a holy fear, come Lord Jesus, come.

The tongue of fire.

    
Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God.
     1 Peter 4:11a esv.

    What we need today, are individuals who will boldly proclaim the whole council of God. We need individuals today who will proclaim God's word under the annointing of the Holy Spirit. We need pastors and teachers who will speak as God directs them. We need pastors and teachers with clean hands and pure hearts, we need them to be prayed up, full of the Holy Ghost and fire. The Church does not need to hear sermons and teachings, the Church needs to hear God.
     The old time holiness people spoke of the tongue of fire. This was the word delivered with power. Pastors and evangelists spoke with conviction. The fire fell, and people came under conviction. It was as if God himself was speaking. Their words cut like a sword and stuck into hearts. The Church was brought back to their first love, backsliders repented, sinners were saved, the presence of God was ushered in in a very real sense.
     Peter spoke with the tongue of fire on the day of pentecost, and three thousand souls were brought into the kingdom. Men were cut to the heart, and said "What must we do?". Stephen spoke with a passion and power that few speak with today. Those who opposed him, could not contend with the Holy Spirit who was enabling him to teach the word of God. It cost him his life, he was completely consumed for God. He would not back down. This was how the gospel was spread in the days of the apostles. Paul lived in the annointing of the Holy Spirit, he preached with power, and saw results. This was how the early Church worked. they preached and taught, and evangelized in the power of the Holy Spirit. It was not the words of man, but of God that were proclaimed, and heard.
     This same power was experienced by evangelists, and oastors and revivalists of more recent history. Edwards, and Brainard, Wesley, Whitfield, Finney, and a host of many others all spoke with an authority that few speak with today.  Leonard Ravenhill, Smith Wigglesworth, David Wilkerson, all spoke with conviction. They delivered a message to the Church in a very prophetic sense.
     We need the fire today, we need to hear God today. We need the Holy Spirit to come and convict. We need Him to edify and strengthen the Church, to build it up for the work He has called us to.
     Pastors, sunday school teachers, evangelists, leaders, let God speak today.









    

Standing on holy ground.

     But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
     Habbakkuk 2:20 esv

     Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
     Hebrews 12:28,29 esv.

     In reading accounts of past revivals, one thing I come across is the sense of God's presence in the midst of His people. People came to meet God. They came in expectation. They came with with a holy fear. They hungered for God, He was what they desired.
     There was no small talk, no visiting with each other about the events of the week, they came to meet with God.
     It is said that the area a few blocks away from the Azusa street mission was permeated with the presence of God. People could feel it. Some would come under conviction, some were drawn to the services. People considered that they were standing on holy ground, when they entered the mission. Not that the building was holy in and of itself, but God was there in a very real and tangible way.
     Why is it that so often we come to church and act like we are 
 going to a social event, instead of coming to meet with the holy God? Is it because His presence is not there among us? Is it because we have no real fear of the Lord? Is it because we are really not expecting or desiring to meet with Him?
     The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is where it all starts, the foundation. God help us to have a holy fear, to reverence Him, and treat Him as holy, to come expecting.

    

The hungry.

     Jesus said "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled". God is looking today for those who hunger and thirst after Him. He is looking to fill those who hunger after him with all their being. These are the ones who are consumed by thir desire for Him. Nothing else will satisfy. Like Paul, they do one thing, and one thing only, they press on to know Christ, forsaking all for Him.

Old Time Religion.

http://contendforfaith.blogspot.com/2011/09/old-time-religion.html
     This is a link to another post from Contending for the faith. It gives a glimpse into what is on my heart.

Has the law been lost?

     King Josiah was a godly leader who began to purge the kingdom of Judah of idolatry. The temple of God had been neglected, and fallen into ruin. while it was being repaired, the book of the law was found, and read to the king. Through the word of God he was shown how odious the nation was in the eyes of God, and that they deserved the judgement of God (2Chron 34:8-21).
     I fear we have lost the word ofGod as well today. We have lost the word in the church! Too many pastors and teachers have compromised the message. We have become seeker sensitive. We attract the lost into our churches, but we do not want to offend them, so we leave out sin and judgement. We do not mention hell because we don't want to scare anyone. We do not want them to feel left out, so there are no deep messages. Yet the writer of Hebrews tells us to leave the basics, and press on to maturity!
     We need to return to the word of God. We need to study it, we need to meditate on it, it must be proclaimed in all of its truth from our pulpits, and we must live it. It was when Josiah heard the word, and acted upon it, that the kingdom of Judah experienced a revival

Seek the Lord.

     It is time to seek the Lord. Seek Him while He may be found, call on Him while He is near. Seek the Lord that you may live. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face...
     We need to seek God. Not for what he can do for us, but seek God for who he is.

Prayer and expectation.

     Revival will not come without prayer. God is looking for those who will seek Him, who will travail in prayer until the burden is lifted. Just like real birth pains and labor leads to the birth of a baby, revival is also birthed through much labor and pain in prayer. This is praying in the Holy Ghost, the Spirit praying through us with groanings to deep for words. It takes time and effort, it is strenuous. Few desire this kind of prayer life, it is too hard for the natural man. History proves that where this spirit of prayer is poured out, revival comes in power. Azusa Street, The welsh revival, and the Hebredes revival were all birthed through this kind of prayer. This is the praying that preceded, and accompanied the ministry of Charles Finney.
    We need to pray...
   

Stopping at the brink.

     Here is a post I shared a while back on my Contending for the faith site.
http://contendforfaith.blogspot.com/2012/02/stopping-on-brink.html

Dr. Brown on revival!

http://www.voiceofrevolution.com/2012/02/18/the-holy-presence-the-word-on-fire-by-dr-michael-brown/ Read this link to an excellent article on revival, and be challenged!

If you abide in Me.

     The other day I stayed late at work. Most everyone else had left including the maintenance guys. I went over to a coper to cope some rails, and turned it on. All I got was a hum, nothing else. The motor would not turn. I shut it off and tried again with the same result. Without a maintenance guy, there was nothing I could do about it. I went back to work trying to do without the coper. All of a sudden I thought to check the plug. It runs on 220 so I went to check it out. It was only plugged  in half way. I plugged it in and turned it on and it worked perfectly!
     Many Christians are like that half plugged in coper. They are connected to Jesus, but they do not abide in Him. He said "If you abide in me, and my word abides in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you". The text goes on to show that God desires us to bear fruit for His glory, and that it is impossible to do so without abiding in Christ. We witness and work, and pray, until we are tired out with little or no results. We get discouraged and give up, blaming it on a host of things, without stopping to see if the problem might originate with us!
     We need the fulness of the Holy Spirit. The mighty baptism of power that is available to all who will take it by faith. It means a full surrender of ourselves, a complete devotion of our all to the cause of Christ. It is a full and complete abiding in Christ. It means that we hold His word dear, and allow it to mold our lives. If we would truly delight ourselves in Christ, truly abide in Him, and allow His word to form itself in us, I believe that our prayer life will be transformed. Our requests will change, our motives for asking will change. We will see answers to prayer. Our labor for Him will take on new meaning and will be done in new found strength.
     O how we need to be plugged in to the only true source of spiritual life. We must abide in Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing!

My prayer.

    Revive thy work in the midst of the years. In your wrath, remember mercy. Revive us O Lord, so that we may rejoice in you!

Behold I stand at the door...

      "Behold I stand at the door and knock." These are the words of Jesus to the Church: self sufficient, comfortable, and soft. He is on the oustside, longing to come in and fellowship with His bride once again. He says "If anyone hears My voice, and will open the door, I will come in."
     Down through the ages His voice has been heard amidst the deadness and compromise that has plagued the Church. Men like Luther, Whitfield, Wesley, Finney, Moody, Parham, Seymour, Evan Roberts, Duncan Campbell, Wigglesworth, Lake, and a multitude of others, have heard the knock at the door, gone to the door and opened it.
     Jesus is knocking today. He longs to come back into the Church. His presence is sorely needed today. Do you Hear the knock? Can you hear His voice calling you? Will you open the door for Him?