Jul 14, 2008 - Retrospection

Jul 14, 2008
Retrospection
Current mood:hungry

It has been a long time since I have posted a true BLOG. When I started out my Myspace journey I wrote a few blogs to encourage the people I grew up with.

I suppose in a way that is what I am doing again. However, this is different. In reality it is encouraging myself as well.

Tonight I was thinking about a friend that I used to spend a lot of time with. As many of you know I started preaching at the age of 16 at a small church in Shelby, MI. During this time I met a friend named Curtis.

Wow! What times we had. During the summer months I would go to Shelby and we would have church, hang out with some people and then after everybody else was in bed he and I would stay up and talk about what God wants to do in these last days. We would talk about revival, signs wonders and miracles. We would talk about God's people passionately pursuing him, knowing His voice and paying whatever price it meant to do his will.

Since that time LIFE has happened. To be able to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning recounting the stories of past revivals and prophecies yet to be fulfilled seems like a luxury busy schedules don't allow.

You know what, I long for those days again. There is once again a renewed hunger in my heart to see the church and believers love the Lord their God with all of their mind, soul and strength.

Paul told the Corinthian church that he was concerned that they had left the simplicity of the Gospel. Something krept in and caused them to leave simple pure love for God. Today there are many things that can do that. . . Busyness, relationships, unwholesome entertainment, lack of devotional time, and a religious man-made view of who God is.

You know our enemy doesn't cause a believer to backslide overnight. In fact the Bible says that he "wears out the saints." Dan 7:25 He will work at you in whatever area you will allow him. He will work and work and work. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT. . . The Bible tells after we have done everything we know to stand that we are to STAND.

It's time ~ Look at your life. Has he been wearing you out? If he has STAND. Run back to the secret place. Run back to quiet place where you and God have an intimate times of fellowship.

Back in the healing revivals an Evangelist was praying about the final outpouring of God's Spirit. God asked him a question and said, "When you look to the sky at night what is the first thing you see?" Jack responded, "I look for the big dipper." "What is the second thing you look for?" "The little dipper." God then revealed to him, "As is the little dipper, so was the first outpouring of My Spirit in the Book of Acts, as is the big dipper so will My final outpouring be."

Another pastor during the Charismatic renewal of the 70's talked about a day when a believer would be walking down the street and the presence of God would be so strong on them that their shadow would touch someone and that person would fall on their knees and ask "What must I do to be saved?"

This isn't a stretch ~ In the book of Acts people used to bring the sick so that Peter's shadow would touch them. As many as did were healed.

What other things does God have in store? Did you know that Is 8:18 the Bible says that God's children are for Signs and Wonders on the Earth? Or that Daniel procalimed that those that know there God shall be strong and do great exploits? Paul made it clear in Rom 15 that you are not fully preaching the gospel unless Signs are following. Paul again told the Corinthian church that he didn't come to them with the enticing words of mans wisdom, but the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power so that their faith would not be in the wisdom of man but the power of God. In I Cor 4:20 He said the Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.

Then to top it off Jesus, in Mark 16, gave us a whole list of signs that will follow believers. Oh what great things God has in store for us if we will just obey the first commandment!!!!!

My prayer for you and me is that we can say daily, "My life is not my own it's yours, Lord." The apostle Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live, but Jesus Christ now lives in me." I have prayed since I was a child Pauls words to the Phil. church. "Lord I want to know you and the power of your resurrection, the fellowship of your sufferings that I might be conformed to the image of your death so that by an means I might attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Finally, Romans tells us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your REASONABLE service of worship.

I know this wordy. I just want see a generation that falls in love with Him again. We need revival in this nation. America is the only nation in the world that Christianity is not growing. The reality is ~ Our lukewarmness and man made religion is to blame.