Kingdom Surrender

Posted on FaceBook Dec 18, 2020

KINGDOM REVIVAL 8 Repentance

Hello, Kingdom

“. . . . and turn from their wicked ways . . . .”

And now we come to the final ingredient in the recipe for revival, as given us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, which is repentance. Scriptures give several examples of God’s wrath unleashed, or threatened to be released, on His people. Yet in each instance, His mercy is also on display.

– Genesis 3:21: God banishes Adam and Eve from Eden after they disobeyed his command to not eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But, showing His mercy and to make a point, He clothed them with animal skin.

– Genesis:5-9: God’s wrath with man is apparent when He causes Noah to build an ark to save his family and 2 of every animal on earth before destroying the rest of humankind in a great flood. There was no opportunity for repentance.

– Genesis 19: God decides to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sinful, wicked, ways. Abraham, learning of the impending destruction, pleads with God that if he could find 50 good men (and eventually just 10), the towns would be spared. God agrees, but angels found only Lot, warned him to gather his family and leave immediately. Lot could convince only his wife and two daughters to flee with him. But Lot’s wife looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.

– Book of Jonah: God instructs Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and warn the people He would destroy it in 40 days because of its wickedness. Jonah takes the scenic route, going away from Nineveh by boat, and returning inside the belly of a great fish. Jonah was running away in fear of going to the wicked Nineveh. When he finally arrives and preaches the message God has given him, he does such a good job, the King and the people repent and turn from their wicked ways. God relents from destroying them.

These are but four examples. In the first God banishes but shows mercy before following through. In the second, God saves Noah and his family, but destroys everyone else. In the third, God, after allowing the righteous to flee, follows through with the destruction. In the fourth, God gives opportunity for repentance, gets a great response and relents from the promised destruction. Now we find a similar situation as Jonah, in 2 Chronicles, when God gives Solomon the “recipe” for revival.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God gives us the promise of restoring our lands. The story of Jonah later in Scriptures, is an example of what “turning from their wicked ways” can accomplish. That promise of hope is as valid today as it was when Chronicles was written. God may not have created this pandemic, though He could have to test our faithfulness. Had we as one body responded and repented immediately at the onset, things might look a lot different today. Have we become so lost that God resorted to wiping out many? Whether this pandemic was created and unleashed by God, or He is using it for His good, the response by us should have been the same: repentance. This pandemic gave us an opportunity to draw closer to God, to choose a path of personal and spiritual revival, a reset of our walk with Jesus Christ. How well have we done? How have YOU responded? Many of us thought this pandemic would end on Resurrection Sunday way back in April, but here we are 8 months later, still in the middle of it all. Now we may be hoping that it will end with the season celebrating the birth of Christ.

Now, as then, and way back 2000 years ago, our focus is still off-center. We are looking for a quick fix rather than a life-style change. We must turn from our wicked ways, seek God’s face, pray and humble ourselves before God.

I’ll leave you today with God’s Word from Ephesians 4:30-32: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ Forgave you.”

Be Blessed!

Posted on FaceBook Dec 16, 2020

KINGDOM REVIVAL 7

Hello Kingdom!

Before we look at turning from our wicked ways, a couple additional comments about prayer and seeking God’s face.Before giving us the model prayer during His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus tells us (Matthew 6:5-7):

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many rewards.” In verse 11, Jesus tells us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Jesus wants to pray to His Father. Whether short and sweet or more drawn out, He wants fervent, heart-felt prayer, as we seek to draw closer to Him and to see His face. As we seek His face, the Holy Spirit will guide us: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26-27)

See how closely prayer and seeking God’s face are interconnected? Scriptures are replete with the need and call for prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is powerful and power-packed. Time and again, scriptures tell us to pray for what we want and God will provide according to our needs. He already knows our hearts, but He wants us to take that humble step of being dependent on Him and asking anyway.

Those 7 words in verse 11 referenced above are truly powerful. They point back to the early days of the Israelites march to the Promised Land. Shortly after crossing the Red Sea, thus escaping the pursuing Egyptian army, and entering the wilderness, the people began complaining because they could find no water and were hungry. God provided for their needs in a unique way. He caused manna to fall from heaven every morning and quails to appear every evening (except the Sabbath). But He cautioned them to collect only what they could consume each day, no more. Anything left would be infested with worms by morning and thus useless. God would provide for their needs every day. He allowed them to collect two days worth the day before Sabbath, so they would not have to work by collecting on the Sabbath.

His prayer reminds us that without Him we are nothing. We are to pray every day to Him, asking for Him to provide our needs, our daily bread.

May your needs be provided today and every day. Be Blessed.

Posted on FaceBook Dec 612 2020

KINGDOM REVIVAL 6

Hello Kingdom!“ . . . and seek my face, . . .”

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Our last ingredient, prayer, actually goes hand in hand with this ingredient. Prayer turns our focus towards God, which is our attempt to seek His face. However, as we shall discover, we cannot see His face. I ended the last Revival post stating that He was asking us to do the impossible: to seek His face.

In Exodus, Moses asks God to show him His glory. But God responds, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see me, and live.” (Exodus 33:18-20.) He then places Moses in a crack, covers his eyes and passes him, removing His hands from his eyes, allowing Moses to only see His back. And in Isaiah 59:2, God tells us, “But your inequities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” So, in Exodus, God tells us we as humans could not see His face and live. 2 Chronicles tells us God wants us to seek His face, an act that if successful, would kill us. And in Isaiah He tells us that our sins have hidden His face from us, so that He would not hear our prayers.

God wants us so committed to Him, so focused on Him alone He wants us to seek his face, an action that, if successful, would kill us. Obeying God’s will in this would take a leap of faith. It’s like the African Impala. The Impala is a beautiful animal, one that can jump 10 feet up or 30 feet forward. Yet a 3 foot wall surrounding the Impala will trap him. The Impala will not jump where he can’t see his landing spot. He has the ability to easily jump the enclosure, but his lack of faith is impossible to overcome. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” God wants us to completely trust in Him, so much so that He has given us an escape clause, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Scriptures tell us that the only way to God is through Jesus (John 14:6.) A few verses later Jesus tells Philip, “He who sees me, he has seen the Father.” God has made it possible to seek Him by seeking His Son. That’s a foundational Truth and a key ingredient for revival. We must continue to get back to the basics, hold fast to these Truths, in order to forge ahead. Thus far we’ve stirred in humility (surrender,) prayer and seeking God. One more ingredient to add to the pot: repentance. We will discuss that next time.

Until then, Be Blessed.

Posted on FaceBook Dec 2, 2020

KINGDOM REVIVAL #5 Proper Prayer

Hello, Kingdom!

“and pray . . .”The next ingredient in our recipe for Revival is prayer. After recognizing that God is in control and humbling ourselves in surrender to Him, we continue that journey towards revival in offering our prayers to God. For some of us (very few, unfortunately), well tuned into our walk with Christ, a simple “Thank you, Jesus,” might fit the bill. But for most of us, it will take more, much more. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century friar, spent every waking moment praising God in everything he did and saw, whether slopping pigs, cooking, cleaning, whatever (The Practice of the Presence of God.) These are two examples from opposite ends of the extreme, but that’s not enough for what God is asking in 2 Chronicles 7:14.He wants more than prayers from each of us. Yes, scriptures tell us to ask that we might receive (Matt 7:7, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:13, John 16:24.) Individual prayer can sometimes go wrong. James 4:2-3 tells us, “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James is telling the 12 tribes that they are praying wrong hearted. They are praying for their own selfish, lustful desires. This paragraph ends by referring to what I talked about in the last segment, the first ingredient in our recipe for Revival: “God resists the proud, but gives Grace to the humble.” (Verse 6) Look closely at 2 Chronicles again. God is talking to Solomon and tells him He has heard his prayer. Then He addresses Verse 7:14 to the people of Israel by saying “if my PEOPLE will humble THEMSELVES,” “turn from THEIR wicked ways,” “will forgive THEIR sin and heal THEIR land.” As Christians, we are grafted into all God’s promises to the people of Israel as His adopted children. God wants His people to come together in one accord to pray for one common theme: revival of their hearts and land. Prayer not for any individual lustful wants or desires, but universal prayer for communal healing. That is a clear ingredient for revival, yet as a people we are stuck.

I’ve commented several times concerning this pandemic. God may not have created it, but He is surely using it for His good. As churches were shuttered many months ago, and people were told to “shelter in place,” we should have been focused on God, drawing closer to Him, humbling ourselves and surrendering to His will. Then as churches began to meet again, we should have been giving Him all the praise and glory in Thanksgiving. Yet many of us grumbled at having church doors shuttered, then complained (and still are) about social distancing and mask wearing in church as churches were allowed to open again. As a whole, we have missed the boat. But it’s never too late.At the onset of this pandemic, Pastor Jimmy Evans, Gateway Church, and others joined together in UNITE714, centered around 2 Chronicles 7:14, calling for everyone to join together at 7:14 am and 7:14 pm every day to pray this scripture, the scripture that calls us to join together in communal prayer for healing. There are roughly 24 time zones in the world, which means that there would be two time zones praying in unison every hour of each day across the world. The US is included in 6 time zones, which means prayers would be lifted up half the day, two six hour stretches. That’s a lot of prayer going on. Do you think God would hear those prayers? If you think this ingredient is such a difficult one to add to the mix, wait until we look at the next ingredient. God is asking us to do the impossible: seek His face. Until next time,

Be Blessed!

Posted on FaceBook Nov 19, 2020

KINGDOM REVIVAL #4 Humility, Surrender and Scripture

Hello, Kingdom!

Last time I outlined the recipe for revival, as discussed in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Today we will explore the first ingredient in the recipe: “if My people will humble themselves…”God is telling us that in order for revival to occur, we must first humble ourselves before Him, surrender completely to Him and dig deeper into His Word (Scripture.) Therefore, let’s turn to His Word to walk this out.

James 4:6,7, and 10 tell us, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” “Therefore submit to God,” and “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” Earlier in James 1:21, he says, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

So, what is this “implanted word?” John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” A few verses later (14): “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word was Jesus Christ. John 16:13 tells us that after Jesus departs, “when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” And 1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” And when God is talking to Ezekiel about prophesying a revival of Israel, God says “I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them.” The Holy Spirit lives in each of us, to guide us to submit to God and walk in His ways, in essence, obey His Word. Jesus is the Word and, through the Holy Spirit, lives in each of us. Therefore, the Word is in us. The Scriptures contained in the Bible are God’s inspired words to man. As believers we must stand on faith that every word written in the original Bible was as God wrote them Himself. Knowing the Word is in us is enhanced by 2 Corinthians 9:8, which says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

God has placed in each of us everything we need. We just have to figure out how to access all that knowledge. One way is the same way as our path towards revival: surrender. One of the hardest things for a human in the world to do is give up control of anything, much less everything. Yet that is the first step. There is nothing more humbling than to admit we can do nothing without Him. The more we study Scripture, the closer we draw near to Him, the more we realize that. And here’s a bonus. After telling us to receive with meekness the implanted word, James tells us in the next verse (22), “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Just reading Scriptures is not enough. We must walk out what we read. Bring the Scriptures alive through our every action. That’s how revival will begin to sweep the nation. Others, seeing the growth in us will desire to join us in that same journey.

Revival entails a return to the basics, which is found in Scripture. I’m convinced God did not create this pandemic. But He took advantage of it, allowing churches to be shuttered for a time. Individually, we should have maintained our focus on Him, dove more into Scripture, and strengthened our personal relationships with Him, a good step toward Revival. How many of us did that? Next, we will examine the second ingredient in the Revival recipe: Prayer. Until then, be Blessed.