Revival?

2010 is a year of Readying for Revival for me and for the local church I pastor. It's more than a theme, it's like a mandate on my life to invite our people to get ready for a fresh spiritual awakening in and beyond our lives. I must say, as I saturate in 2 Chronicles 7:14, I have vision like I have never before known, yes vision that is overflowing with awesome anticipation and encouraging expectation. In short, I am very humbled, totally grateful, and somewhat speechless as I consider my Lord's promises.

What is your most inspiring definition of Revival?

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

A.S.K.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) -- (7) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

A. = Ask Specifically
S. = Seek Diligently
K. = Knock Boldly

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

We Do Not... We Do Not...

...we do not lose heart.
-- 2 Corinthians 4:1 (NIV)

...we do not lose heart.
-- 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Living Right With God

The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. -- James 5:16b (The Message Paraphrase)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Nothing

I want these words from Psalm 32:2 to be a relationship reality in my life. I have personalized the paraphrase:

God holds nothing against me
and I'm holding nothing back from him.
--The Message Paraphrase

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Retreat... Advance.

Unless we take time to retreat in solitude with our Lord, can we really expect to advance in His strength?

Isaiah 40:31 (NLT) -- But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

The Call, The Mind, & The Love of Christ

I want to live The Call of Christ.
I want to know The Mind of Christ.
I want to receive The Love of Christ.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Great Spiritual Danger -- Reverse Thinking

A person with great authority who has nobody to be obedient to is in great spiritual danger. -- Henri Nouwen

I'd like to thank my friend, Bruce, for e-mailing me this meaningful Youtube. Click link for a powerful experience in reverse thinking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFU5Ak88-k

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
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Love God. Stay Close.

Love God, all you saints;
God takes care of all who stay close to Him,
But He pays back in full
those arrogant enough to go it alone.
-- Psalm 31:23 (The Message)

My God, You are My God Who knows me, cares for me, loves me and waits for me to trust You completely. Help any human unbelief that may still exist in my life to be changed to holy belief. In Jesus' name. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Forever?

I challenge you to come up with a definition for the word forever. It will be a frustrating but inspiring experience if the Lord is Your Good Shepherd.

Psalm 23:6 (TLB) -- Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with You forever in your home.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
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Be Ready. Speak Up. Be Kind. Keep Clear.

Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. -- 1 Peter 3:15-16 -- The Message

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Only Fools

Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline. -- Proverbs 1:7 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
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If...

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap... if... we do not lose heart. -- Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

My All-Consuming Vision

Lord, give me the eyes of Your Spirit, Your heart of compassion to know. And I want You, Lord, to be my all-consuming vision. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.
-- Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

How To Be Strong & To Keep Standing

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NLT) -- (10) A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. (11) Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. (12) For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.(13) Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. (14) Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. (15) For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared. (16) In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. (17) Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (18) Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

He Cries When You Cry

John 11:32-35 (NLT) -- (32) Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (33) Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. (34) And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” (35) Jesus wept. (36) Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

I remind you of a song written by a Gospel piano man named Mr. Ross. The encouraging words are engraved in my mind. I pray you will be blessed by them as well:

Just remember Jesus cares. He cries when you cry.
And He pleads your case, to the Father up on high.
Place your trust in Him today. For there is no other Way.
And remember Jesus cares. Just remember Jesus cares.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Raise Praise

In the coastlands of the sea, praise the name of the LORD...
-- Isaiah 24:15 (NLT)

Lord, as a native island boy, I raise Your praise in holy harmony with those who dwell in the coastlands of the sea! Let everyone that has breath Raise Praise in the name of Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Your Hope

...put your hope in the LORD — now and always.
-- Psalm 131:3 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

God, Be God, All By Yourself!

Until we totally commit our troubles and burdens to God, that is, until we leave our cares with God alone, we will not be able to fully trust God, and we will surely sabotage His ability to work on our behalf.

It is wrong to say God cannot be fully trusted to work on our behalf, if we have not yet totally committed our troubles and burdens to Him. I say, Lord help us to pray the seven-word prayer that I have often heard my dear friend, Brother Earl Clarke pray: God, You be God, all by Yourself.

God doesn't need our help to be God. When we totally commit our cares to Him and leave them with Him, we take our hands off and only then do we really begin to fully trust Him alone with those cares. God is then able to work out those things we have totally committed to Him in His wonderful ways -- ways that we never could have imagined.

In a few words: If we will totally commit our cares, our kids, our burdens to God and take our hands off, we can finally begin to fully trust God to be God. Then and only then God can work!

2 Kings 4:8-37 (NLT) -- (8) One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she invited him to eat some food. From then on, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there to eat. (9) She said to her husband, "I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God. (10) Let’s make a little room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by." (11) One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to his room to rest. (12) He said to his servant Gehazi, "Tell the woman I want to speak to her." When she arrived, (13) Elisha said to Gehazi, "Tell her that we appreciate the kind concern she has shown us. Now ask her what we can do for her. Does she want me to put in a good word for her to the king or to the commander of the army?" "No," she replied, "my family takes good care of me." (14) Later Elisha asked Gehazi, "What do you think we can do for her?" He suggested, "She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man." (15)"Call her back again," Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, (16) "Next year at about this time you will be holding a son in your arms!" "No, my lord!" she protested. "Please don’t lie to me like that, O man of God." (17) But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said. (18) One day when her child was older, he went out to visit his father, who was working with the harvesters. (19) Suddenly he complained, "My head hurts! My head hurts!" His father said to one of the servants, "Carry him home to his mother." (20) So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. (21) She carried him up to the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. (22) She sent a message to her husband: "Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back." (23)"Why today?" he asked. "It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath." But she said, "It’s all right." (24) So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, "Hurry! Don’t slow down on my account unless I tell you to." (25) As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, "Look, the woman from Shunem is coming. (26) Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, with your husband, and with your child?’" "Yes," the woman told Gehazi, "everything is fine." (27) But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone. Something is troubling her deeply, and the LORD has not told me what it is." (28) Then she said, "It was you, my lord, who said I would have a son. And didn’t I tell you not to raise my hopes?" (29) Then Elisha said to Gehazi, "Get ready to travel; take my staff and go! Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Go quickly and lay the staff on the child’s face." (30) But the boy’s mother said, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I won’t go home unless you go with me." So Elisha returned with her. (31) Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, "The child is still dead." (32) When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. (33) He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the LORD. (34) Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And the child’s body began to grow warm again! (35) Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room a few times. Then he stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes! (36) Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. "Call the child’s mother!" he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, "Here, take your son!" (37) She fell at his feet, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she picked up her son and carried him downstairs.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Seven Verbs for Revival

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. -- 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)

Could it be that God's simple, yet profound formula for revival is all written down in the form of seven verbs in 2 Chronicles 7:14?

In this verse there are four verbs for us and three for God:

If we will...
(1) humble (2) pray (3) seek (4) turn?

God says He will...
(5) hear (6) forgive (7) heal!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Being Confident

This morning at our local church's weekly Men's Dawn Patrol Prayer Time and 20/20 Bible Study, my heart as a daddy was tenderly touched and my spiritual eyesight was enhanced as I listened to my 23-year-old son read aloud one of his daddy's life verses:

Philippians 1:6 (NIV) -- ...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6 (MSG) -- There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

True Redemption, Great Loss

Because He gave His One and Only Son to be crucified as the Paid-In-Full Sacrifice for our sin penalty, God the Father made it undeniably obvious that true redemption can only be found after great loss. Yes, The Son of God endured the most hellish pain and punishment known on earth to offer to us holy and heavenly gain for all eternity. Such Loss! Such Love!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (TLB) -- For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Holy Wounds, Wholly Healed

HALLELUJAH!!! Jesus Is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!! And, surely in His Resurrection, our Resurrection is guaranteed. What a Great and Wonderful Joy! All Joy! Pure Joy! By His Holy Wounds we are Wholly Healed!!!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
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I'll Breathe Again

Let us never forget these seven powerful words spoken by our Lord Jesus. Yes, the memory of just seven words frightened The Son of God's accusers soon after He breathed His last breath on the Cross. However, the same seven words (now fulfilled prophecy) serve to chase fear from the lives of those of us who cherish Him:

After three days I will be raised.
-- Matthew 27:62 (The Message)

My three-word paraphrase of those seven powerful words is:
I'll breathe again!

Yes! Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives!
--- Lyrics by Bill & Gloria Gaither

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Three Men Dying

As we look back at the Crucifixion Day of our Lord and Savior, we see three men dying.

(1) Jesus, The Man in the Middle, died for sin, so we could choose saving peace over sin's penalty.

(2) One man crucified beside Jesus, died to sin. Humbling himself, he prayed: Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. He died focused on Jesus, with the Hope of perpetual Paradise.

(3) The other man crucified beside Jesus, died in sin. So close to the Savior, he chose to turn away from Jesus and died in the horror of eternal punishment.

Two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on his right and one on his left. -- Matthew 27:38 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14. Grateful

Want to Breathe Again? Rest Area Open!

Due to financial cutbacks in The Commonwealth of Virginia, in 2009 our elected government officials in Richmond decided to close multiple rest areas designed for motorists along the interstate highways across the state. Because I am a reasonable citizen, I can surely understand financial shortfalls, but I must also say that when I heard many of Virginia’s roadside rest areas were closing down, it produced some measure of unrest in my peace of mind as a driver of vehicles. Especially as I grow older, I appreciate like never before the simple blessing of roadside rest in long-distance travel.

During the Christmas season in 2008, even with all of Virginia’s rest areas still open, our family came up on an awful automobile accident just north of Roanoke in the southbound lane. We were probably the third vehicle to approach the scene – a dear couple, in their late sixties, were traveling to southern Virginia to celebrate the holidays with their son and his family. The mother, who had been driving, had fallen asleep at the wheel. It was so sad. A failure to stop and rest adequately was the culprit. As the Pegasus chopper airlifted the father to UVA Medical Center, I called their son on the mother’s cell phone to tell him what had happened along the interstate highway. He didn’t answer so I left a careful and prayerful message on his voice mail. Months later, the daughter-in-law called me to thank me for assisting her in-laws. Her mother-in-law had survived. Her father-in-law had not. Tears.

Our spiritual lives can be illustrated as a car-trip on a highway. We travel along all excited about wherever it is we think we’re headed, all-the-while carelessly discounting the dangers of soul restlessness. As we ride south, the Resurrected Jesus stands alongside the highway with nail-scared hands outstretched. I can see Him holding a sign of hope in those nail-scared hands. His sign of hope is a simple but profound three-word invitation: Rest Area Open!

Matt. 11:28-30 (NLT) – Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”

Why do we as weary motorists need rest areas? That’s obvious. We need rest areas because we get weary. Staring through the windshield mile-after-mile can be dangerously mesmerizing and can easily cause us to carelessly forget that our lives are at stake, as are the lives of those traveling with us. Will we stop and rest? Will we take time to catch our breath before it’s too late?

Why do our eternal souls need Easter? We need Easter because it echoes loudly the personal, eternal-life-invitation of the One Who was dead, but is now alive, forever. (Rev. 1:18). Will we finally exit this Easter on the ramp that leads to R-and-R -- Rest and Resurrection? Do we Want to Breathe Again? Rest Area Open!

P.S. Under the leadership of a new governor, in 2010, The Commonwealth of Virginia has now reopened the roadside rest areas. :-)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful