 | New Life For The Nations |
As sure as gold is precious and honey sweet, So you love this city and you love these streets Every child out playing by their own front door Every baby laying on the bedroom floor Every dreamer dreaming in her dead-end job Every driver driving through the rush hour mob I feel it in my spirit, feel it in my bones You’re going to send revival, bring them all back home I can hear that thunder in the distance Like a train on the edge of town I can feel the brooding of Your Spirit “Lay your burdens down, Lay your burdens down” From the Preacher preaching when the well is dry To the lost soul reaching for a higher high From the young man working through his hopes and fears To the widow walking through the veil of tears Every man and woman, every old and young Every father’s daughter, every mother’s son I feel it in my spirit, feel it in my bones You’re going to send revival, bring them all back home I can hear that thunder in the distance Like a train on the edge of town I can feel the brooding of Your Spirit “Lay your burdens down, Lay your burdens down”. Revive us, Revive us, Revive us with your fire!For God so loved the world…no if’s and’s or but’s about that truth. We all are created in the image of God regardless of gender or race. All He sees are people whe are created in His image hopelessly lost without Him. To every person mentioned in the above lyrics God is bringing them back home. Home is a place of security, a place of hope, a place of peace. I have high expectation that revival is in our nation now and will continue to grow in intensity.Our Word-faith for the supernatural! This is the time God is saying stretch forth your faith to press into the supernatural. In the supernatural realm there are unlimited turnaround, all are possible, all can be sought after. After all nothing is too hard for our God!Revive us, Revive us, Revive us with your fire!!!The book of Judges is about a very dark time in the history of Israel. This was a time when the chosen people of God turned away from Him and did what was right in their own eyes. The book of Judges tells us what happens when an individual or a nation’s turn from following God. God is no longer important and the very center of their lives. The book of Judges can be summed up in Judges 21:25 “Everyone did what was right in their eyes”. The word “eye” in the context of Judges means “sight or perspective or arrogance”. During the time of Judges the people did what they THOUGHT was right–not what WAS right.Hebrews 12:2 “Fixing our eyes on Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith”. God always has a cure. The cure for eyes that are fixed on doing what we think is right is fixing, or looking at nothing else than Jesus. By bowing our knees to the authority and kingship of Jesus in our lives. Living for Him and not for ourselves! May we never take our eyes of Jesus. Not doing what we think is right. What would Jesus do? When Jesus is King of your heart there won’t be room for self. Let’s not take our eyes off of Jesus!Let the King of my heart. Be the wind inside my sails. The anchor in the waves. Oh-oh, He is my song. Let the King of my heart. Be the fire inside my veins. The echo of my days. Oh, He is my song. (lyrics to – King of my Heart)Redemption is a rare and beautiful thing that God provided the world through Christ. Not one person was excluded from the blessing. The only ones that will not take part in the redemption plan of God are those who refuse to accept the plan provided.We, the Church, hold the key to solve all of man’s problems in the “day” of turmoil we are going through these past few months. We also have a permanent solution for all the hatred and violence we see each day. His name is Jesus the Christ, and He has the answer to all of the problems of the world.“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.” Eph. 4:30-32 (NKJV)Man’s entire scale of problems has an answer but not in human capability. The answer to all problems of man are found in the Word of God. It will not be found by seeking it to help our own wants and needs but to consider how God meamnt it to be. We have been so good making the Word of God fit our way. We need to find the truth of His Way. The above verses tell the story. We can’t even do the “easy” things He asks.Those outside the Church don’t care what God has done. And many in the Church don’t understand what God has done because we try to fit God into our way of thinking. Jesus told us to love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as our self. The Word(Bible) says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We are not called to fight the world but to help save it. Let’s stand up and do it!!“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Mattthew 6:25-34When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven of a rushing mighty wind that filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them as tongues of fire and sat upon each other. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4The church was birthed with power on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit that came on that first Pentecost is the same Holy Spirit that is active in the church and world today. This was a day God was equipping His Church with the power of His Spirit so that He will be glorified among the nations.The Holy Spirit is given to us not only so that we may know and experience God’s power and love in our lives but also to work in and through us to change both ourselves and the world around us.My heart has been heavy this past week with so much upheaval in our nation. How we so desperately need a fresh wind of Holy Spirit fire to invade our nation.I remember the lines of a couple of hymns-“Breath on me, breath of God. Fill me with life anew, that I may live as You did live, and do what You would do”–”Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me, Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me ,and use me. Spirit of the livingGod, fall afresh on me.”I ask that the Holy Spirit fall on us today-refill us again. That there would be no room for self and that the glory of God would fill our land. We are the presence of Jesus in the world today with the Holy Spirit in us.John 16:5-7 “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.In this scripture I believe Jesus was saying not only I am the way to the Father I am the way, truth and life on your journey in the earth now. He knew we would need help on the way.While you are navigating through life always remember, I Am your way, I Am your truth, I Am your life. When we began to understand the power of-I Am the way, the truth, the life statement that Jesus made we will be overcomers in this life.You need a way- Jesus says,“I Am the way maker”. You need truth-Jesus says,“I Am truth”. You need life -Jesus says, Follow me I Am the light of life”.He’s the “I AM”—the Jesus of the now—ready to be whatever we need Him to be!“I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” Eph. 1:16-18 (NKJV)There is much being said about prayer during these days of the virus that has led to havoc in all realms of life. As bad as it is, it doesn’t approach the death and destruction caused in the Middle Ages in Europe by the Bubonic plague when nearly half the population died. There are other events in history that I could name but in all of them man found a way to victory over them.In all the prayers I have heard and said during the days of isolation at home, for what have we been praying? I found myself asking God how I should pray for human conditions. He gave me the Scripture above and a Biblical example of how it works. In 2 Kings 6:11-17, is the story of Elisha and his servant when the enemy had them surrounded in Dothan by thousands of soldiers. The servant was terrified when he saw the enemy army. He asked Elisha what they were going to do. Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes to see the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around them. The servant needed to see things from God’s view. All of us need our eyes opened to see God at work. Second Corinthians 4:3-4 tells us that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of people that they can only see the fleshly things and fear. Let’s begin to pray for our leaders in all areas that God will open their eyes as He did for ( over) Elisha’s servant. God is going to bring us through this episode of life. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING but pray the right things.For at one time you were not God’s people, but now you are. At one time you knew nothing of God’s mercy, because you hadn’t received it yet, but now you are drenched with it! 1Peter 2:10The fix is in…meaning that the fight has been fixed” or in the sense that someone has paid to determine the outcome of the competition in advance. To make or become firm, stable, or secure.God has made our salvation secured through Jesus. Our past, present, and future sins are already forgiven. The fix is in. We stand in the position of victory. Ephesians 1:7-11 Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. He had decided to do this through Christ. He planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth. God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends. He planned all of this so that we who had already focused our hope on Christ would praise him and give him glory.I recall to mind the song-I owed a debt I could not pay-He paid the debt he did not owe-I needed someone to wash my sins away-And now I sing a brand new song Amazing Grace All day long Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay-He paid the debt on calvary He saved my soul-He set me free-Am glad that Jesus washed all my sins away-And now I sing a brand new song Amazing Grace all day long-Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.All because of JESUS!Romans 2:11 “For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another”. This Scripture I am so thankful for. His invitation is for one and all-come as you are. He receives us in all our mess and as we surrender to Him the transformation starts a brand new life. Yes, a new way of living. We are becoming on the outside what He has made us on the inside at the moment of our salvation. Remember the song-Jesus on the inside working on the outside oh what a change in my life.The house of the Father has built me and is building me into the person I am today. There is no judgment, no condemnation, no shame in our Fathers presence.The Word tells us in Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him”.Well praise the Lord in whom all blessings flow. May God continue to shower you and your family with kindness, goodness and favor in every area of your lives.We are living in uncertain times. Our world seems to be changing daily around us. But there is one thing that is sure – the WORD. That is what we return to over and over again in times like these. The Bible tells us in Psalms 119:89 O Lord, your word is established in heaven forever.For some it is easy to just believe what man has to say about what is happening in the world today. But have you ever thought what is on the heart of the Father concerning the complexities of these uncertain times. I am sure it grieves His heart to see the follies of man as they scurry around trying to find answers to all the things that are happening. Instead of the why let us just find our solace in the Word. That is where the Truth can be found.One thing the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart a long time ago, God is good and the enemy of your soul is out to do you no good. I remembered the Scripture in John 10:10 “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” God cannot be good and evil at the same time. God’s goodness is running to overtake you. Evil is birthed from the evil one. The enemy of our lives desires to overtake us with fear in the chaos that is happening in the worldJesus has told us in John 16:33 …..in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]Brothers and Sisters we live in a fallen world that has not been redeemed. It is groaning to be released and the groans are getting louder and louder as we come ever closer to the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Romans 8:22 We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.Soon and very soon we will be going Home. Until then stay in faith and keep on keeping on. Jesus is Lord and we win.This old hymn says it all He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me And talks with me Along life’s narrow way
He lives. He lives. Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART! HE IS RISEN “His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5We are in a time today with the Coronavirus running wild throughout the world, our nation, our state, and even in our local community when it is important that we make the right choices and do the right things. We are being told every scary thing happening around us and even some people with positive ideas are not too positive. All of us want to feel safe and protected from danger.One thing that is trying to take over our thought processes is fear. For the believer, there is much admonishment to “fear not” when conditions and situations are not to our liking. The Bible tells us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.In this present time it is important that we follow social rules and defensive policies set forth by leaders but at the same time not live in fear constantly. We know it is the thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Our present problems did not take God by surprise. He knows what His plans and purposes are for each of us, and by trusting Him, we can come through a winner in any situation.The verse at the top of the page is our guidance on what to do. Do not do any more or any less than what Mary told the servants to do. His way never fails us and He will watch over us as a good Father. Satan is a liar and the father of lies. And, as we sing, remember, “fear is a liar.” Be blessed and trust God everyday for the things we need that day. Tomorrow will take care of itself. See you soon.“Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary”. Psalm 107:2Through “redemption” we have been redeemed. Redemption means atonement, ransom, or to purchase our freedom. God has redeemed us by the blood of His Son Jesus.“Who gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people [to be peculiarly His own, people who are] eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with] beneficial deeds”. Titus 2:14Within the plan of redemption we have been given victory in every area of our lives. Victory is the result of pushing through, by faith, all that would keep us from walking in the truth.Our adversary is anything that would come to hinder us in living an abundant life that has been promised for the Sons and Daughters of God. We already have is Word on the situation – He has delivered us from the hand of the adversary onSo who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5“Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so whom He has delivered us from the hand of the adversary”. Psalm 107:2Through “redemption” we have been redeemed. Redemption means atonement, ransom, or to purchase our freedom. God has redeemed us by the blood of His Son Jesus.“Who gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people [to be peculiarly His own, people who are] eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with] beneficial deeds”. Titus 2:14Within the plan of redemption we have been given victory in every area of our lives. Victory is the result of pushing through, by faith, all that would keep us from walking in the truth.Our adversary is anything that would come to hinder us in living an abundant life that has been promised for the Sons and Daughters of God. We already have is Word on the situation – He has delivered us from the hand of the adversary onSo who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5THE PROMISE HAS COME It is time to pass over the Promise has come The river is flowing for all not just for some Dont wait, don’t hesitate Now is the time to participate Come As you are whether dancing, limping or leaping For all His promises concerning you He is keeping Be bold in your declarations Let His Word be your final proclamation Arise my beloved to a new day Choose to believe in what He has to say No longer be held back by traditions For now is the time His Word will come to fruition Don’t be moved by what you see for those things will soon leave After the storm you will find yourself still standing on his Word Because you have made Jesus your Lord All of His promises are now yours “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I John 4:9-10In Christian teaching today a great amount of teaching leaves us with a doctrine that tells us that God will bless us if we do enough “things” for Him. But, what did we do that made God love us enough to send His Son to die for us that we could be saved? We become sin conscious and then focus on what we do and don’t do as the basis for God’s love for us; when we should focus on what He has done for us.Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Every time Peter said yes. We will look at the situation in the sermon this morning for what the meaning is. Love is an English word that carries a lot of different meanings as it is used in our vocabulary today.. Truthfully, we have cheapened the meaning of the word in our over use of it. Let us open our eyes and perceive how we can restore the higher meaning of the word love.The Greek language used to write the New Testament has four or more words for love thus distinguishing the exact meaning when love is being used in a sentence. We need to be able to use the word love in its proper setting. Remember, the greatest of these is love.The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, dealt wisely, and sought after God, inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him [of vital necessity]. Psalm 14:2The word sought means: seek to go in search of, look for, to pursue. God first pursued us because of his great love he has for us. Then there is a desire in us to pursue Him. We love Him, because He first loved us 1 John 4:19. Jeremiah 24:7 tells us, “I will give them a heart to know me.”Psalms 142:2 tells us that the Lord looks down from Heaven to see if anyone is seeking after Him. God promises us that if we seek Him with all our heart we will find Him.God is not trying to hide from us or even makes it hard for us to find Him. It is all for the purpose of getting to “know” Him. Know is to be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information. In the Bible the Old Testament and the New Testament words for “seek” God will all your heart means: to seek the face of God, to desire, to seek earnestly, to diligently for to pursue.Everybody is pursuing something. What a difference it would make in our lives if our first pursuit would be to “know” God. To put Him first and allow that to be the foundation of everything else is in our life!Pursued by Love – Saved by Grace – Followed by MercyPursued by Love-God is on a relentless pursuit of you? For those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior yet, for those who have strayed from the path of following God, even for those who have trusted Him as Savior. He is forever drawing us to fellowship with Him. Because of His very nature – which is love – He seeks to have a relationship with us. He created us for His glory. See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are. 1 John 3:1Saved by Grace-We could not be saved if it was not for the pursuit of God. If you have accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation, you have been saved by grace! Salvation is not earned by our own effort or merit. It is a free gift by God’s grace (undeserved favour) in response to our faith God pursued you out of love that you might accept Him as Savior. For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ. Ephesians 2:8Followed by Mercy-Mercy in the Bible is God’s withholding of a just punishment. Mercy reminds me of the goodness of God in my life every day. Because of our nature, we deserved God’s anger just like everyone else. But God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us. We were dead because of our failures, but he made us alive together with Christ. (It is God’s kindness that saved you.) Epheisans 2:4-5 God is rich in mercy because of his great love he has for us.The good news of the gospel is that you and I are no longer slaves, but have received the Spirit of sonship.Romans 8:15 “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”In the midst of darkness of enslavement and hopelessness God breaks in with good news – But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law, to purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to [atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God’s sons]. Galatians 4:4-5When we accepted Jesus as our Savior our identity was established as children of God. We were released from the spirit of slavery and given the spirit of sonship. This spirit of sonship speaks about our adoption as sons of God.In Paul’s time the adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate child in his new family. Our adoption into sonship means that you now gain all the privileges of a child in the God’s family.We now live from the position of sonship. Knowing who we are and living and walking in the inheritance we have from Him.“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Col. 3:17“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Col. 3:23-24A few years ago there was a popular song that said, “Don’t worry, be happy,” and it was very much played on radio stations around the world. I say to you today it is the time to be happy and don’t worry. Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow for that will take care of itself.As a child of God and joint heir with Jesus our faith tells us to trust God and remember that tomorrow belongs to Him. We need to understand that we are not waiting for our inheritance to begin when we go to heaven. We are living in our inheritance now because the author of the will and testament has already died making the will in effect. Jesus is alive to administer the will and has put the inheritance in our hands as of today.We need to live like we believe and understand what the Word of God means when it says, “who is able to do exceedingly beyond what we could ask or think.” It means He has everything under control day by day.The world is in a mess caused by the people that live in it. Human nature is not a very nice thing if it is out of control and measured by the wrong standards. I hope your standard for behavior is what would Jesus do.? Read the above Scriptures and judge yourself by them. 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