Humility, Essential For the Presence of God.

                 For thus says the high and exalted One
                 Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
                  I dwell on a high and holy place,
                  And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
                  In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
                  And to revive the heart of the contrite.
                                        Isaiah 57:15 NASB
   
     God is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7-10), but He only dwells in two places. As the Holy God, He dwells in the high and holy place. He also desires to dwell with man, but cannot dwell where sin reigns. It is in the place of brokenness, the humble heart submitted to the Savior, where Christ desires to dwell.

Clean Hands, and A Pure Heart.

     It has been said that if you desire revival, draw a circle on the ground, step inside, and ask God to send revival and begin with me. It is a fact that God must first work in the hearts of His chosen vessels before He can use them for greater purposes. He must first cleanse His church before He will use it to bring souls into His Kingdom. Judgment begins in the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
     The Scriptures are filled with examples of this truth. Before Moses could lead Israel out of Egypt He first had to circumcise his son. This was a sign of his covenant relationship with God, and was something he had neglected to do (Exodus 4:24-26).
     Joshua could not proceed into the promised land until all of the males born during the forty years Israel wandered in the wilderness, were also circumcised (Joshua 5:2-9). This physical act is symbolic of the removal of the sin nature in our hearts (Romans 2:29) (Deut 10:16) (Jer 4:4).
     Years ago a group of seven men were moved by the plight of the backslidden churches around them. They made a covenant before God to seek Him on a regular basis until He sent revival. They faithfully met three nights a week to seek God, praying until four or five in the morning. They met like this for weeks until early one morning one of them arose from prayer and opened his bible and began to read from Psalm Twenty Four. "who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood (Psalm 24:3-4NASB).
     The men were cut to the heart and all began to confess their sin and rededicate themselves to Christ anew. this was the beginning of a mighty revival that swept the Hebrides in 1949.
     We must be clean to approach A holy God. We must put away sin and surrender ourselves to Him. He must have us before He will use us, but once cleansed and filled with His Spirit there is no end to the great things He can accomplish through us!

Here in Your Presence with Lyrics New life Worship

Mätthu Wisler & Friends - Take me in (Acoustic)

No Rights.

     In society today, people cling tightly to their rights. We claim rights to property, possessions, feelings, and countless other rights. Just let someone infringe upon our rights and we get fired up, bent out of shape, and go to work protecting our right to whatever it is that is being threatened. This is especially true as Americans. Our country is founded upon the idea that we have certain rights that are guaranteed us, and laws are in place to protect those rights. 
     It is the same within the Church as well. The vast majority of people calling themselves Christians hold to what they feel are their rights. Once again, this is a product of the culture that we live in, a society founded upon the idea that we have rights guaranteed us.
     However, this is not how the Kingdom of God works! As Disciples of Christ we are called to give up our rights! This is what Jesus means when He speaks of losing our lives for His sake (Mark 8:35). We are called to renounce, give up our right to all of our possessions (Luke 14:33). It will cost you everything to gain Christ (Philippians 3:8). All of your plans, hopes, and dreams, all of your money and finances, all of your friends and family are no longer yours. You give up your right to anger and bitterness. You give up your right to live and do as you please. You are no longer your own, you must relenquish the right to your very self (1 Corinthians 6:19).
     We are so deceived. Many so called Christians today are living for themselves, clinging to their rights, standing up for things that do not really matter, pursuing things that have no value in the eyes of eternity. Jesus is looking for those who will deny themseves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25). He is looking for those who will get up on that cross and die to themselves, so that He can live through them (Galatians 2:20). Nothing less than this can be called true Christianity.

Pray for Northeast South Dakota.

     I believe that God has great things in store for Northeast South Dakota. We desperately need revival. This is a hard place spiritually, as is the case in many other communities. Many have cried out to God for years for a move of His Holy Spirit, holding on to Him by faith to do it. I believe that the time is about to come. I believe a mighty revival is about to sweep across this State. Not a fluffy revival of fleshly nature, but one born through the Spirit's mighty convicting power, as evidenced by deep personal repentance and transformed lives.
     Join me in prayer, that God would do this for His glory, that He would have a spotless bride in South Dakota. We desire to see changed lives here, we want things to be as God intends them to be!
     Please pray!

Repentance.

     Every true revival is preceded by a deep repentance. Here is a post on repentance from the blog site Contending for the faith.
http://contendforfaith.blogspot.com/2011/03/repentance.html