Saturday, April 16, 2011

Fast and Pray for Revival

April 17, 2011

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God promises forgiveness and healing for His people – at a scope that will touch and impact the society that we live in. Revival is needed when the church falls into a state of complacency and maintenance. When God’s people become spectators instead of participants, when our hearts are lukewarm toward God and our faith has inconsequential effects on our values and lives.

Prayer is the only way to bring about a passion for God. Fasting sharpens our need for God and whets our appetites to ‘live not on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”. What do we pray for in seeking personal and corporate revival?

• Pray for an awakening in all our senses toward God’s Presence
• Pray for greater power of the Holy Spirit and conviction that we cannot
live without it.
• Pray that we may not be ashamed of Jesus
• Pray believing that this is in accordance with God’s will
• Practise “P.U.S.H” (Pray Until Something Happens).

Dr. R. A. Torrey’s first rule for revival is that “a few members of any church must get thoroughly right with God”. Can you imagine what it will be like if all of us gets thoroughly right with God? Sin will be shunned like a cancer; radically dealt with and removed. Then - revival fire will come upon BHLC and the Holy Spirit will once again sweep our nation and transform our land.

Until that day comes, we must fast, pray and seek His face.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Don't give up

Galatians 6:9
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Are you tired of doing the same thing again and again but seeing no results? Do you feel discouraged? Are you questioning the worth of investing your time, energy and love in a project of a person? Or perhaps you are getting weary in serving the Lord and seeing no returns or response?

The Lord wants us to hang on. Don’t give up. Continue doing it. Focus not on the present. Keep an eye on the possibilities of what your service will yield in the future. Take another day in stride. Keep doing it. Don’t abandon what you have already started.

God has a timing for everything. The time for the project and people to bloom will come. Stay on the course. God wants us to learn perseverance. It teaches faith and trust in the Lord’s timing and promise.

The gardener who cultivates a garden must first prepare the soil. He must not give up after the third day of watering. He must weed the garden, fertilize the soil and ward off the pests. Growing the garden takes time and consistent care. The harvest is guaranteed but the gardener who gives up too fast will not reap the rewards.

So be encouraged in your service for the Lord. Never give up too fast. Give it another day. Give it another push. Recite the promise of God to yourself and press on. Then when the harvest comes, enjoy the satisfaction of having partnered with God and smell the aroma of success!

Monday, April 11, 2011

By his wounds we are healed

I Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

All of us have wounds -we are all inflicted in some ways by a sense of incompleteness and brokenness because of sin.

Some wounds heal fast while some wounds are so deep that we might instinctively try to repress them. To pretend that the deep wounds are not there will only make it worse. We must admit that we have been hurt and are in pain in order for healing to begin.

Jesus took those wounds physically, emotionally and spiritually for us when he suffered and chose to die on the cross for us.

Nothing is impossible for God and with God – He could have chosen to just say the words. ‘Your sins are forgiven. You are healed’ and we would be zapped into health. He did so for those seeking Him during his ministry years on earth.

But for us He did it the Jesus’ way – the LOVE way.

HE SUFFERED FOR US AND DIED FOR US – SO THAT WE WOULD BE HEALED.

That is the most convincing act of His love and the sure evidence that no wounds of ours is too ugly and deep for Him to touch and heal.