Day Two "Hunger for Holiness"

“But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am Holy.’” [I Peter 1:15-16]

There is little talk in the church about holiness today. Many people do not even know what the Lord means. The word holy literally means, “To be set apart, pure, consecrated.” Now when you look up and down the pews, or more importantly, in your own heart is holiness evident.

We have compromised and let the world influence and impact us. Many times our compromise happens so slowly we are not even aware of it. Before long we think like the world, talk like the world, react like the world, get entertained like the world, and as a result we are conformed to the world.

God, who is holy or set apart, calls His children to be set apart not just on Sundays but every day. We are commanded by the Lord Himself to be holy in, get this, ALL OF OUR BEHAVIOR. So let me ask the obvious question. How are we doing?

Let’s examine our thought lives. What sort of things has your mind been dwelling on lately? Have you been living out [Phil. 4:8] or [Col. 3:1-2]? Is your mind seeking things that are above, or have you allowed it to drift into the sewer of sin? Are your thoughts dominated with thoughts of the excellencies of Christ, or do you squander your time fantasizing about the fleeting pleasures of sin? Christ wants to rule our minds and not allow them to be conformed to this world. [Rom 12:2].

How are you doing in the area of your speech? Do you habitually use profanity, especially during fits of anger? Do you repeat or laugh at crude jokes? Do you repeat gossip or spend time in slander? None of these things honors the Lord. [James 3:6] “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.” God wants to rule over our speech and it be seasoned with grace and edification. [Eph. 4:29]

What kind of things do you watch for entertainment? Do you habitually watch programs where foul language is repeated and God’s name is taken in vain? Do you allow movies in your home where the sexual conduct is high? Do you welcome programs that deal with the occult and magnify Satan? [I Thess. 5:22] “Abstain from every form of evil.” I think that scripture is pretty clear. There is no wiggle room here. We are not to keep company with evil but go the other way.

This is just a start. God desires and expects us to make holiness a high priority. In order to do that in your life what do you need to change, eliminate, and examine in your life?

Steps to Revival

1. As you meditate on [I Peter 1:15-16] what do you sense the Lord is saying to you about the way you have living?
2. Is there anything in your life that God wants removed? If so, identify each of those areas.
3. What areas need to be adjusted such as television and movie viewing habits? Where does God draw the line concerning what is appropriate and what is not acceptable?
4. Have you been holy in all your activities concerning texting and Facebook?
5. Is there any area in your thought life that is not holy? If so what is it? Take it before the Lord and ask for His holiness in that area of your life as well.
6. Take time and commit I Peter 1:15-16 to memory.

Iron Indian III

This morning’s work out bordered insanity. We started with the word of the day. This is the time when someone brings a character lesson, often scripture based, to challenge the rest of the athletes. We follow this with a prayer. Afterward the fun began.

Today I worked out with coach Burtch. We warmed up doing agility ladders and then ropes. This gets the blood pumping. We started with pulling the sleds ten repetitions of ten yards as fast as we could go. Sweat began beading up on my forehead. It proved to be a foreshadowing of things to come.

After the sleds we did three sets of dead man sit ups throwing a medicine ball to our partner. You throw it at the top of the sit up starting with your back on the ground and the ball extended behind your head. He would in turn throw it back up high while we were seated so we could catch it with our feet suspended in the air. We laid back down and repeated the motion. The last set was tough.

We left that station to head to the leverage blocking apparatus. You have to stay low, drive the pad backward and then upward with your arms. Three sets of ten of those. This was followed by dummy throws. We take blocking dummies and with our back to our partner we threw thirty times from our left side with our toes pointing straight ahead twisting at the torso and thirty times to our right side.

At this point I had drops of sweat dripping from my nose. My grey t-shirt was drenched. There was still more to do. After this we headed for the tractor tire flips. I will go ahead and admit it. After doing these for close to six weeks I still hate them. The object is simple. Lift the tractor tire and then flip it over. You do this three sets of ten repetitions. You have to use your arms, legs, forearms, shoulders, and your mind. It has been twelve hours since that work out and I can still feel the fatigue in my muscles.

As I squatted down for each revolution I would leave a little puddle of sweat on the tire. This is as mentally challenging as it is physically grueling. My body screamed for relief but coach Burtch stayed by my side encouraging every rotation of the tire. It was sheer will power getting out the last five repetitions. Brutal. My legs quivered. I could barely find air. I was spent.

We stopped for a drink of Gatorade. My shirt looked like I had been thrown into the shower still wearing it. More puddles formed on the concrete dripping from my nose like a leaky faucet near the Gatorade. The end was in sight. All we had left was to swing twelve-pound sledgehammers into a tractor tire thirty times from the right side and thirty times from the left. I pounded that tire mercilessly. I heaved the hammer with grunts wanting to break through the tire.

Why do I keep doing this to myself I often wonder? I really do not have anything left to prove. My athletic career is over. There are certain exercises I refuse to do if I deem they might injure my back or knees. What motivates me to keep pushing my forty-three old body to the limit?

I see these Iron Indian workouts as training for life. Difficult days have and will come in our lives. Every time I finish one of these workouts I am reminded that with the same perseverance and with God’s help I can endure whatever life throws at me. God is doing more in me than building physical muscle and stamina. He is allowing me to speak for Him to those young men. It takes more than enduring a work out to be an Iron Indian. You also have to want God to develop your spirit like iron as well as your body. Your mind must be able to block out adversity as you set your sights on a worthwhile goal.

Being an Iron Indian is a spiritual thing to me. It is a work out of the body, mind, and the soul. Character is being shaped. Resolved is being forged like steel. I have watched other dads endure with their sons. God is doing something in the Iron Indians. I know this because He is doing something in me. This group of young men and one young lady are a special group. Pray for their souls and minds to be renewed in the Lord. These are more important than the body. Bodies grow old and wear out. Joints begin to ache. Muscles atrophy. The spirit can be renewed day in and day out. I pray we are all more spiritual Iron Indians. Let us leave the soul sweat to know and serve Christ on the battlefield of life.

Out of the Boat Again

God has called me to take another step out of the boat again into unknown and unfamiliar territory. The Lord has called me to a new ministry. I do not mean a new a church. God has firmly planted us in Seminole at FBC and we are extremely contented. He continues to bless our ministry here and the future never looked brighter.

God has called me to resurrect NO Compromise Ministries in many ways. What I want to focus on today is a call to help a family in need. There is a family in Seminole with a seventeen - year old handicapped son. He has Muscular Dystrophy. The young man’s full time nurse called our church looking for help. He is bed ridden and cannot leave his room mainly because his bed will not fit through the hallway. He does not even have handicapped accessible bathroom facilities. When the call came the Lord resonated it in my heart not so much for FBC. His call on me involved working through NO Compromise Ministries. This is a 501-C3 non-profit ministry I founded in 1998. Through this ministry I have travelled extensively preaching and published three books as well.

Since becoming a pastor it has remained dormant for the most part with the exceptions of these blogs. Anyway, God called me to rally the troops. Estimates are that this project with cost in the neighborhood of $30,000. I do not have that kind of money and neither does the ministry. Once again God called me to ignore all of that and commit to His work. So in blind faith I said yes to His latest call on my life. I have stepped out the boat and looking to Jesus to keep me afloat. I wasn’t looking to get out of the boat again but when God’s pierced my heart I said to myself, “Here we go again. I need to write a book about living outside the boat because I feel that is where God always leads me.” [Matt 14:24-29]

We are seeking to get other churches involved in this project. This whole thing is way bigger than me but it is not bigger than God. If the secular world can do extreme home makeovers, raise resources and garner volunteer labor I believe our God can do the same through His people. We are seeking to complete this project by late summer or early fall. We have already cleaned up the yard in preparation for the plumbing and foundation work. What we need to start is $10,000 for the plumbing and foundation work to begin. I need help with those of you who might have the ability to give a little bit toward this project. Some may be able and willing to give $25 and others more or less. Every dollar will be used to help this family in need. I assure you the money will be used for this project. I am not receiving any compensation for this.

This is being done in the spirit of [Matt 5:16]. “Let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works they will glorify your Father who is Heaven.” As Christians from all over come together with volunteer labor, a united purpose, and equal sacrifice lives will be touched. God’s glory will be furthered and the gospel will be shared. There are no strings attached. We are going to build a new bedroom 18’ x 22’ and a handicapped accessible bathroom and bless this family with this in the name of Jesus. I cannot do this alone though. God has called me to rally the troops and to raise the money for this project. This ignites my gift of faith. Though I am uncomfortable standing outside the boat I am also in the will of God and therefore know He will come through. [I Jn 5:14-15] He always provides where He guides. [Phil 4:19]

I ask you to help me in the following ways. Please pray with me about God’s provision. This is a large task and the only way this will ever happen is if God moves people to give financially in these difficult economic times and do to donate their time and talents to build these two rooms for a family who are not in a position to do it for themselves. Any gifts will be tax deductible and can be sent to NO Compromise Ministries at P.O. Box 722 Seminole, TX 79360.

This is all about the glory of God. This is about seeing Christianity lived out in a community. I am sure this will not be our only project. He brought this opportunity to me and I will answer His call by getting outside my comfort zone inside the boat. Are there some of you reading this who sense God calling you to get outside the boat with me. It is a bit unnerving in the beginning but when God comes through it is more than worth it. The waves and obstacles that stand between me, and the completion of this task are huge. God is bigger. If it promotes His glory I will continue to live outside the boat. I trust God will lead some of you to join me.

Son Burn

In just a few days I will be boarding a plane and heading to Panama City, FL where I will be preaching to a few hundred students at a youth camp. While thinking about this camp a few days and seeking direction for what to preach, I thought how those students will go out to the beach during the day and get sun burned. They are not used to being out in the sun that much. They will run and play on the beach. They will body surf in the waves and swim in the ocean waters. They will forget about the sun cooking their skin.

I then thought how they will come to worship at night and be SON burned in the presence of our glorious Savior. We all need to be Son burned. Our hearts grow cold and overloaded by the mundane affairs of everyday life. We lose our zeal and our passion. Much like the dark skin tones of the summer fade with the fall and winter, so do our souls lose their color and vibrancy as they fade into mediocrity and lukewarmness.

We all need some Son burn. That happens for me in the privacy of my office, in my living room, and off at quiet retreats as I sit and soak in the presence of my Lord. Jesus burns on my soul the truth of His word. At times it comforts me and renews my strength. At other times His burn breaks my heart for my lack of faithfulness. Regardless I need to sit before Him and let His presence burn into the deep crevices of my soul. I need the Lord Jesus to sit on the throne of my heart with power and sovereign authority.

My flesh does not want to linger before the Lord. My flesh hates the Light and longs to run to the dark. O how I need the Son to burn in me. I need His Son burn as much or more than any student who will be at that camp. I need His word to sink in and to draw me deeper and deeper into Him. I need to slow down and tarry with Him. I am looking forward to quiet strolls down the beach and early morning encounters with the Lord sitting on the deserted sands. I want Jesus to burn in me as the waves relentlessly pound the shore and then are drug back into the deep. In the same way I need the troubles, concerns, and demands of this life to be drug from my weary soul allowing my soul to breathe and come to life.

While getting sun burned can cause skin damage being SON burned can only make you more like Christ. We could all use more of that. My challenge for all us is to do something many did when they were younger. Remember how you would lay out in the sun to tan. Now they do that with tanning beds. I recall going to the pool and there would be people laid out all around the pool on colorful beach towels turning a crisp golden brown lathered down with sun tanning oil. People would bask in the sun for hours.

I am challenging all of us to do the same thing in the presence of the SON. I am urging us all to sit before Him and to bask in His presence until our hearts and souls are warmed with new love for Him. Just like you can tell when someone has been sun burned, may the masses see the effects of our SON burn. May they see a deeper love, a stronger zeal, and may they feel the warmth of the blazing fire in our souls because we have been Son burned. Look out students. Here comes the SON!

Day One “Run With Endurance”

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” [Heb. 12:1]

This marks a new beginning and a fresh start for many. You are committing to a forty-day journey to walk with the Lord and to prepare your heart and plead with your God to send genuine revival. As with most new endeavors there is a great deal of excitement. Expect that excitement to wane somewhere along the way.

We are pretty good at starting things but not finishing. If we do finish we do not always finish well. The focal point of our time with the Lord today is two fold. First, we must begin the process of seeing what sins are entangling us and tripping us up with the Lord. Second, we must set our face like flint to finish this time of preparation strong.

Let’s look inside you for a moment. At this time where are you in your relationship with the Lord? Are you closer to Him than you have ever been? Have you cooled in your fervent love for Him? If you are not closer to Him right now than you have ever been you are in need of revival. Relax. That is exactly where most of us currently are. We need personal revival. We need the Lord to quicken our affections for Him, to restore our passion to pursue Him, and to strengthen us to resist sin and to ardently embrace holiness.

What is standing between you and the Lord right now? What gets your deepest love and devotion? Whatever that encumbrance or sin is, will you give it up right now? We have to stand against evil and that includes subtle forms of evil that creep into our lives. We must pray for God’s discernment to see the areas where evil is entangling us. We must be doggedly determined to leave no stone unturned. There are things that need to be put away from us. There are some hard stands that need to be made and some firm lines drawn in the sand. We cannot afford to gloss over this.

Once we have laid aside our sin we must deal with the issue of endurance. Only God can empower any of us to desire Him more and to live in holiness. This is especially true over the next forty-days. There will be distractions. There will be obstacles. God is not asking us only to start, but to finish this journey as well. When these forty-days are up and the revival meetings have ended, we will start the new beginning of walking with the Lord for the remainder of our days.

You will get tired. You will get busy. We must resolve now to put away all excuses and to determine we will finish. We must resolve with God’s help to finish strong. These are the first steps toward personal revival.

Steps to Revival

1. Set aside some time for repentance. Take out a sheet of paper and ask the Lord in what areas you need to repent. Is there anything the Lord wants you to remove from your life?

2. Identify those areas that are competing for your love for the Lord. Are there any of these areas that also need to be removed from your life?

3. Spend some time praying about how you will finish these forty-days. Are you resolved to give your best effort and to complete the challenge?

4. What lost people are you trusting Christ to save? Write down their names and lift them before the Lord.

5. What are you fasting from? Why are you fasting? What is your spiritual goal?

Days of Preparation for Revival

Revival doesn’t just happen. Of all the revivals I have read about, they all started with prayer. As you begin making preparations to meet with God in significant ways you must pledge to spend time in prayer. In this section I will offer several practical suggestions to help you personally prepare for revival. I will also suggest some things that can be done corporately to prepare for revival.

Personal Repentance

As you begin to prepare for revival you can start in the area of personal repentance. Are there areas in your life where you have strayed from the Lord or compromised your faith? If so, now is the time to put those things away and be renewed in your relationship with the Lord.

[Joel 2:12] states, “‘yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘Return to Me with all your heart and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and relenting of evil.” This is the time to return to the Lord as the prophet Joel said, “with all your heart”. Even if you have lived in the squalor of sin for a long time it is time to return to the Lord. He is gracious and compassionate. He is kind and has patiently suffered long with you. Today is the day to repent and turn from sin back to the loving embrace of God.

Another scripture you can pray through is [Ps. 139:23-24] “Search me, O God, know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Take these days to remove anything and everything from your life that would keep you from experiencing God in a fresh way. Do not put this off or think of cherishing your sin over a fresh start with the Lord. Sin never satisfies. It only leaves us feeling ashamed and guilty. You have been declared righteous in Jesus Christ [II Cor 5:21]. It is time to live up to your destiny in Christ.

Solemn Assembly

There were times in the Old Testament when God’s people turned their backs on the Lord corporately and God called those people to corporate times of repentance. These times were called Solemn Assemblies. Few people today have even heard of them much less experienced one.

Several years ago the Lord led me to lead such a service at the church I served. It was extremely solemn. We looked at ourselves as a church and realized we had offended God by our actions and our attitudes. The church struggled for years with division, selfishness, un-Christ like attitudes in business meetings, gossip, slander, and much more. We started with prayer and the church body had the opportunity to repent of corporate sins.

From that night forward God turned that church around. The church quadrupled in attendance. People were saved. Relationships were restored. Business meetings were always started with prayer and people were civil in their treatment of one another.

I personally think the turnaround in that church happened the night we repented of our sins corporately. There was a night and day difference in that congregation from that night to this day.

Again the prophet Joel speaks to us, “Blow a trumpet in Zion. Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and the nursing infant. Let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, ‘Spare Your people O Lord, and do not make Your inheritance a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they among the people say, “Where is their God?”’ [Joel 2:15-17]

Prayer

If you really want to experience all that God has for you and your church you must set aside time to begin praying for God’s movement. This will be manifested in two different ways. First, you should pray for God to prepare the spiritual soil of people’s hearts to hear from Him. Many people today have resisted the Lord so long their hearts are like fallow ground. Please pray consistently for the Lord to break up the fallow ground so the seed of the Word of God can get in them to produce the fruit of repentance and revival.

A second thing that needs to be prayed for consistently is the names of lost people. Pray for God to save the lost. A prayer target will be in the prayer room where you put the entire name, the first name only, or the initials of persons you are burdened about their salvation. Over these days of preparation those names will be lifted to the Lord consistently by intercessors. You are encouraged to take a time to pray for those people without a relationship with the Lord.

There will be other opportunities to pray. Each Saturday night leading up to the revival you are encouraged to attend the Power Band prayer meetings. These are prayer meetings where the revival and the names of lost people will be lifted up between now and the start of the revival meetings.

Men are being encouraged to attend the Mighty Men of Prayer meetings on Friday mornings at 6:30 a.m. The primary focus of these prayer meetings is again to pray for God to move and bless with His presence and power at work in the lives of people.

Fasting

The scripture admonishes us to include fasting into our spiritual disciplines. Jesus commented on fasting in [Matt. 6:16-18]. “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Let me define fasting for our purposes as the absence or denial of something with a spiritual goal in mind. Our goal obviously is that God would send a true revival to our community. You need to determine the level of your fast and not tell anyone. You can fast from whole meals, certain kinds of foods, from television, etc. One time I heard about a girl who fasted from texting for forty days.

To have a successful fast what you need to do is take the time you would have spent eating, watching television, playing video games, etc and use that time for additional prayer. Many people use the excuse they do not pray more because they lack the time. By fasting you will have more time to spend in prayer for revival.

A Few Last Words

These are just a few helpful suggestions that might aid you in your personal preparations for revival. Like I said these are only suggestions. The more you give yourself to preparation the greater chances you will meet with God in meaningful ways during these days of preparation as well as during the revival itself.

I now invite you to go on a forty day journey with the Lord. At times you will be challenged and at other times greatly encouraged. Before you begin this forty day journey won’t you take some time and ask the Lord to give you the endurance to finish? Please cry out to Him to make your heart tender and receptive to His Word. Ask the Lord about what type of fast He wants you to do and commit to do that. These will be exciting days and days of anticipation as the revival dates loom closer.

“Lord, I lift up my brothers and sisters who are about to embark on this forty-day journey with You. None of us knows what to expect. We only know You have called us to this and we are looking forward to meeting with You and being drawn closer to You. Holy Spirit, I ask You to convict us of sin and to reveal truth to us. I ask You to even now to begin working on the hearts of the lost and drawing them to Yourself. We need You. We expect to meet with You in meaningful ways, Lord Jesus. I ask You to give each pilgrim the will, the desire, and the discipline to finish this journey and give You their best efforts. We trust You for the amazing results that will follow. In Christ’s name, Amen.”

Matt Edwards

May 26, 2010

Seminole, TX

Introduction

Where do I even start on such a monumental project? I guess I should go back to the beginning, about two weeks ago. When I awoke on May 11, 2010 the word “revival” dominated my thoughts. This is nothing new. For nearly fifteen years I have given a significant part of my life praying for revival, studying about revival, and even preaching several different revivals.

I have witnessed powerful moves of God both in my ministry and in places around the United States. On two different occasions I attended revival services in Pensacola, FL where people started lining up at 6:00 a.m. in the church parking lot to wait to get into the services. The doors did not open until 6:00 p.m. Those revival services lasted around three straight years. One hundred thousand were saved. I have never seen people wait twelve hours in the brutal sun just to go to church.

Twice I have been a part of much smaller outpourings. One Sunday night after the evening service at Burke Baptist Church in east Texas a group of people met with me at the back door. They had a strange request I had neither heard before nor since. They wanted to meet for church the following Sunday night. We ended up doing this for over two weeks. The Spirit was thick and the services lasted from two and a half to three hours nightly. God moved deep in our hearts during those days.

A few years later I was invited to preach a college revival on the campus on Angelina Junior College located in Lufkin, TX. The revival was scheduled for three nights. It ended up lasting three weeks! I have not been a part of anything like it since. On the first night after I preached and extended an altar call two significant things happened. God immediately convicted me to get out from in front of the people for He was pouring out His Spirit. I immediately fell prostrate on the floor and placed my head underneath a chair on the front row where I spent the rest of the evening in prayer. The other thing I clearly remember from that night is all the weeping around the room. God met with His people and called them to get right with Him. That first service lasted three hours and the majority of that time was the invitation with people repenting of sin and being restored to fellowship with God.

The second and third nights we experienced much of the same outpouring of God’s Spirit. We felt God wanted us to meet again on Thursday night as well as Friday night. God continued to move powerfully. We did not meet on Saturday night but I drove out to the Baptist Student Ministry building anyway. A thunderstorm pounded us that night but I stood on the front porch of that building crying out to God that I wanted more. I could not be satisfied. The decision was made to meet again on Monday night and the Lord continued to move. Several were saved and others were drawn closer to God. We repeatedly had two and a half to three hour services each night. We met again for a third straight week.

I will not soon forget when it ended. I showed up to preach and several students congregated outside. The first words spoken to me were about where we would go out and eat after the services. Each night we gathered at IHOP to eat. I did not eat before the services. We seldom left the campus until midnight or after. Before that night the focus had been on meeting with God and people coming to grips with holiness. When that young man asked that question our focus had shifted. As soon as the service began I could sense it was over. We took God’s mighty move for granted and the revival dried up. That was the last night we met. To this day I am convinced God had much more He wanted to do but we took His move for granted.

That was nearly a decade ago. When I say I awoke May 11, 2010 with revival on my mind, I want you to understand what I am talking about. I am not talking about just having an evangelistic series of meetings. I am referring to a sovereign move of God where His people come to repentance and are made alive again and restored to Him. Often this translates into spiritual awakening. Those were the concepts on my heart that morning over two weeks ago.

I went about my day as usual. A man dropped by to see me and before leaving he asked me to pray about having a ten-day revival. I told him the irony of his comments considering I had been thinking about revival earlier that morning. I started to make an excuse about evangelists when he looked at me and said, “I think you should preach it.” That unnerved me a bit and I assured the man I would pray on the matter.

I asked a few people to begin praying with me. On May 19^th I sensed the Lord speaking these words to me, “The enemy wants to take you out but I will overcome and have purposed to use you mightily as an instrument of revival. I do want you to preach a revival here at FBC Seminole. Schedule it for ten-days.”

The next day I doubted God had really spoken to me. As I prayed that morning I believe the Lord spoke to me again. “Do you really want revival? Revival is costly. You must be willing to pay the price. Read all you can on revival. Saturate your heart and mind with revival scriptures and books on revival. Do not neglect these preparation days. Initially I will revive the church and then bring spiritual awakening. Do not doubt that I am speaking to you.” That same day I discovered a scripture that touched my heart and seemed to confirm all I was hearing. The scripture is [Ps. 119:37-38] “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in Your ways. Establish Your word to Your servant, as that which produces reverence for you.”

Suddenly I recalled a prophesy made about First Baptist Church Seminole being used to lead a revival in the community. I emailed the leader of our Community Prayer Room to see if she knew of the prophesy. After doing some digging she sent me the following. “There will come a mighty River of God to Seminole and it will begin and come through First Baptist Church. The water will run deep in the aisles of the church. People will take dippers and dip them in the river and pass it out to other people.”

Since all of this, God has consumed me with thoughts and prayers toward this revival. The Lord spoke other things to me that at this point I do not feel at liberty to share. Part of His instructions for me included writing this devotion to be used by our church to prepare our hearts to meet with the Lord. Today is May 26, 2010. Forty days out from the start of the revival will bring us to June 23, 2010. That gives me about twenty-seven days to write the material, proofread it, duplicate it in house, bind it, and then distribute it. This is an impossible task without God’s intervention.

I am assured in my heart God birthed all of this and wants to move in significant fashion. I am moving forward in obedience and faith. I have devoted this summer to praying for and studying about revival. Once again the Lord has called me to step out of the boat. I cannot earn a revival. Only God can bring true repentance and healing to His church. Only the Lord can draw the lost masses to a saving relationship with Him. The Lord has reassured me that all of this is His choosing and not mine.

So with those words of introductions I am off and running. Preparations are being made. I have solicited prayer partners over the next ten weeks to pray specifically for me. I have begun my preparations and now am starting this massive project. I pray God uses it beyond Seminole. I pray the revival He will bring goes far beyond Seminole as well.

“Father, I am taking these steps in faith and obedience. I plead with you to move powerfully and show people that like Elijah, today you will let it be known that you are God in Seminole and that I am your servant. Let them know that I have done these things at Your word. Answer me, O God to turn hearts back to you in Seminole and Gaines County.” [I Kings 18:36-37]