Tag Archives: revival

Nineveh’s Story

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Jonah’s story excited me this morning. Usually I look at the man Jonah, and the lessons he learned through his experience recorded in this book. But today I saw the city of Nineveh. It was a city full of sinful people. 120,000 idol worshipers living in spiritual darkness. But God had been working behind the scenes in the hearts and lives of the residents of Nineveh. They were ready to hear the Truth. As soon as Jonah preached God’s words, they repented. They repented! They realized their sin and called on God – and they were saved.

Many of us believe the US is too far gone, that destruction is inevitable, that this is the end. Is it? Or is God preparing hearts to break in the face of sin? Is he waiting for a Jonah (or Jonahs) to speak his words, then step back and watch God at work? Can there be a mass turning to the Savior in the US? There was in Nineveh.

May we pray believing. May we obey God’s call and not waste any time in the belly of a fish. May Satan be defeated in this land in such a miraculous way that all the nations will recognize God is who he says he is. May God pour his Spirit out on the people living in spiritual darkness right here in the United States of America. And may we turn to him like the people of Nineveh turned to God thousands of years ago.

Pray, dear one. Pray!

Get Rid of It?

In I Samuel we read that the Philistines captured the Ark of the Lord and took it to their temple. They placed the Ark next to the statue of their god, Dagon. During the night, God pushed the idol over and the next day the people put the idol back where it was. That night, God did the same thing and in the morning the people found Dagon face down again. This was no coincidence.

When the Philistines began to break out in an epidemic of tumors, they had a choice to make. Faced with the reality that the God of Israel was real and powerful they said, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer. He’s against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.”

That’s just sad.

Here they were in the presence of God himself and their answer was, get Him out of here. They had to admit that their god was powerless, yet they decided to cling to that worthless carving.

Why didn’t they bow before the One True God and destroy the idol themselves? Why did they cling to it instead of turning to the Living God who was trying to get their attention? Why did they decide to get rid of the Ark?

Oh God, I see America 2014 in this story.

When the facts show that God has blessed America while we were a nation that honored him, and when those same facts reveal that he cannot bless us when we turn our backs on him, why don’t we bow before him and turn from our worthless idols of self, of science, of intellect, of power, things as worthless and meaningless as Dagon?

We’re doing the same thing the Philistines did. Get rid of God. Take him out of schools, Label Christians “haters”. Remove the 10 Commandments from our courtroom walls. Legislate laws that contradict God’s Word. Tolerate all faiths and differences. Pay homage to a god of love at the exclusion of his holiness. Don’t talk about Jesus. Deny the existence of God.

That’s not just sad. It’s serious.

Dear God, I pray you will raise up Christian men and women who will get involved in our political system and reclaim America as a nation under God. Forgive us for sitting back and allowing ungodly people slowly expel you from our country. May your children pray, speak out, stand up against Satan and his pawns. I pray for a mighty revival in the hearts of each of us who call the US home. Don’t go, God. Please don’t go.

Famine in the Land

When the Bible talks about a famine in the land, I look for the spiritual application for the times when my relationship with God dries up. You know those times, right? When God seems so far away, when you have a longing that isn’t realized. Something is missing. You feel lost and alone, scared and sad.

I also think reading about famine in the Bible refers to the Church’s lack of ability to grow, to reach lost souls for Jesus.

So what can we learn about the dry days in our personal lives and in our churches? Joseph instructed the Egyptians in Genesis 47 to give him everything: their material possessions as well as their own bodies. They could hold nothing back. They laid it all at Joseph’s feet and in return, he gave them everything they needed.

Now here’s something important to remember. The Egyptians didn’t receive what Joseph gave them and go home and turn on the TV. They went to work. They planted crops that would feed their families and produce seed to keep planting food to feed their families. They paid their taxes with the grain they planted, cultivated, and reaped.

God wants us to do the same. Whether it’s our own personal time of drought or an ineffective church, we are told to bring everything to God, lay it at his feet and leave it there. We cannot hold anything back.

Our material possessions? His. Our health? His. Our dreams, our fears, our jobs, our relationships? His. Our families and our bodies given to him with no strings attached.

God wants us to know that he will give us everything we need. He’ll feed us and revive us, give us strength and assurance. Then we need to get to work. God will bless us and care for us. But we need to be obedient.

He’s given us his Word. Do we read it? He’s promised to hear our prayers. Do we pray? He’s told us he will go with us and help us share the gospel. Do we talk about him to those who need him? He tells us to flee sin, to guard our hearts, to be separate from the world. How’s that going?

Jesus said he is the Bread of Life and the Living Water. May we allow him to feed us, to refresh us, and may we get out there and point others to the One who can satisfy their souls, too.

Father, I thank you for being everything we need every minute of every day. May we who are experiencing a kind of famine in our souls follow Joseph’s example and bring everything we have and are and lay them at your feet. May we trust you to provide what we need and may we enjoy the blessings that come from feeding on the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Then, Lord may we serve you with grateful hearts. May others find you because we are faithful.

August 20

Jeremiah 52; Psalms 74, 79, 85

If you don’t read anything else today I hope you’ll take a few minutes and at least read Psalm 85. It really spoke to me today and I’m feeling pretty loved right now. This Psalm was written after the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of over 4,000 Jews. The city and the temple are destroyed. These psalmists are crying out to God to come to their rescue. And I understand that.

But the first three verses of Psalm 85 remind us that God has been faithful since the beginning. He forgives sin and turns from anger when his people repent.

Verses 4-7 contain a plea that God will once again restore his people, that there would be a revival and God would once again grant his salvation. Sounds like a prayer for 2013 to me.

God’s conditions are there in verses 8&9. We need to listen to God, not return to our former way of life, and we need to fear him “that his glory may dwell in us.” God wants to bless us. He misses us when we aren’t walking with him. May we listen and obey and enjoy the blessings that result.

Verses 10-13 thrill me. It’s a picture of our loving Father and his obedient children when love and faithfulness meet together. We the faithful look up and God pours his righteousness down on us. He gives us what is good so that we can produce fruit. And he prepares the way for us. How amazing is that?

I don’t know about you but having read this psalm today I am feeling loved. Yes, I need to keep up my end of the bargain by being obedient. But my heavenly Father lavishes me with blessings beyond imagination when I do. His love. His righteousness. His goodness and Presence, hope, strength… shall I go on?

Is your heart right with God? I pray that it is. And if it is, let him love you today. Look to him and allow him to pour out his blessings on you.

Just take a minute and enjoy it.