SPIRITUALLY RENEWED CHURCHES

“Christ is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”  (Colossians 1:18-20 NKJV)

God has always desired to work through His people, but they have not always recognized His initiative in their lives or His activity around them. But for those churches who repent -- those who take time to hear the Spirit; to believe what He tells them; to adjust their plans, structures, and programs to Him, and then to follow the Lord regardless of how impossible it may seem -- these are the churches that will be spiritually renewed and that will experience God's mighty deeds through them to bring a lost world to Himself in a great spiritual awakening. 

-- Dr. Henry Blackaby in “What the Spirit Is Saying to the Churches”

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HOPE FOR TODAY

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  (Romans 15:13)

Yes, there is hope.  There is hope for the present because I believe the stage has already been set for a new spirit in our nation.

One of the things we desperately need is a spiritual renewal in this country.   We need a spiritual revival in America.  And God has told us in His Word, time after time, that we are to repent of our sins and we're to turn to Him and He will bless us in a new way… And from the Cross, God declares, "I love you.  I know the heartaches and the sorrows and the pains that you feel.  But I love you."…

But now we have a choice: whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation -- or, whether to choose to become stronger through all of this struggle -- to rebuild on a solid foundation.  And I believe we're in the process of starting to rebuild on that foundation.  That foundation is our trust in God…

My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us, and will know in our hearts that He will never forsake us as we trust in Him. 

-- Reverend Billy Graham

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REVIVAL COMES

EDITOR’S NOTE: As many of our SOUND BITES Ministry subscribers have heard, an “awakening” or “revival” has been taking place over the last week and a half at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. One subscriber sent the following that just “happened” to be the devotional for yesterday, February 19, in “Our Daily Bread.”

REVIVAL COMES

Aurukun is a small town in northern Australia – its Aboriginal population drawn from seven clans. While the Gospel came to Aurukun a century ago, eye-for-eye retribution sometimes remained. In 2015, clan tensions grew, and when a murder happened, payback required someone from the offender’s family to die in return.

But something remarkable happened in early 2016. The people of Aurukun started seeking God in prayer. Repentance followed, then mass baptisms, as revival began sweeping the town. People were so joyful they danced in the streets, and instead of enacting a payback, the family of the murdered man forgave the offending clan. Soon 1,000 people were in church each Sunday – in a town of just 1,300!

We see revivals like this in Scripture, as in Hezekiah’s day when crowds joyfully returned to God (2 Chronicles 30), and on the day of Pentecost when thousands repented (Acts 2:38-47). While revival is God’s work, done in His time, history shows prayer preceded it. “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,” God told Solomon, “I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

As the people of Aurukun found, revival brings joy and reconciliation to a town. How our own cities need such transformation! Father, bring revival to us, too.  

-- Sheridan Voysey in “Our Daily Bread,” February 19, 2023

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A REVIVAL OF PRAISE

"Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful…
Praise Him for His mighty works;
Praise Him for His unequaled greatness!...
Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with a clash of cymbals;
Praise Him with loud clanging cymbals.
Let everything that lives sing praises to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!" (Excerpts from Psalm 149-150, NLT)
 

"Praise should be proportionate to its object," counsels Charles Spurgeon; "therefore let it be infinite when rendered unto the Lord. We cannot praise Him too much, too often, too zealously, too carefully, too joyfully." The Psalms do teach us to praise God much, often, zealously, and joyfully. When our praise seems so inadequate, how encouraging to turn to the Psalms and find the freedom and joy of these hymns to God. It is exciting to begin to exalt God by awakening the dawn with… songs of praises to His Holy Name!

-- Cynthia Heald in “Intimacy with God”

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REVIVAL IN OUR TIME

“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.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

The faith that [John] Wesley lived engaged head, heart, and hands. It held together both the evangelical gospel, calling us to trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, and the social gospel, calling us to be God's instruments for healing in a broken world. It was characterized by a "reasonable enthusiasm" -- guided by strong minds engaged in theological reflection and study, and at the same time marked by strangely warmed hearts and a deep spiritual passion. It combined a belief in the wideness of God's mercy with a call to holiness of heart and life. I believe that Wesley's faith -- grace-filled, authentic, passionate, personal, practical, intellectual; shared in small groups, celebrated in worship, lived out in the world -- is a faith with the power to captivate the hearts of a whole new generation of people and to bring revival in our time.

-- Adam Hamilton in “Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It”

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THE STORMS OF LIFE - Part 1

“When [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ He said, ‘why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”  (Matthew 14:30-33 NIV)

It’s interesting how God works in the storms of life. I’m not suggesting God sends them, though there are a few examples of that in Scripture, but if we’re paying attention we certainly can see that God uses them and works through them. Storms often play a part in great revivals of faith. Noah, Jonah, Peter, and Paul all had profound encounters with God in the midst of storms. Martin Luther left his law studies to become a monk because of an experience in a storm. And storms in the Atlantic, during which the terrified Wesley thought he was dying, prepared him for his own Damascus Road experience. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It”

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PRAYING FOR REVIVAL

He never received a formal education, yet he lectured at Harvard. He was born in a gypsy ten, yet he was summoned to the White House to meet two presidents. Born in the Epping Forest outside of London in 1860, Rodney “Gypsy” Smith crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean forty-five times, preaching the gospel to millions. Few evangelists have preached with more passion. His secret? Private prayer. More powerful than his preaching was his praying.

Gypsy’s secret was revealed to a delegation of revival seekers, who asked him how God could use them, just as He was using Gypsy. Without hesitation, Gypsy said, “Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.” 

-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker


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