Friday, December 17, 2010

Genuine Revival Isn't Free

Amos 9:13(NKJV)
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.

I read this scripture this morning in my devotion time. I love this verse! The promise that harvest will come so fast that there will hardly be enough time to plant the seed. As a pastor and a God Chaser, I dream of a day when the harvest of people coming to know Christ as their Savior will occur so rapidly, we won't even have time to sow the seed, they will just come. I've heard it preached that way for a long time. A Revival of Souls so great we just can't contain it is right around the corner! And I believe it too.

But, as the great Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith might put it........HOWWWEVA!!!

There is a great big however to this line of thinking. Christians, especially westernized Christians are so quick to latch on to the "good" promises of God and make them our own, we leave out the other promises that are also equally important. Sometimes we even like to pull the good ones out of context to make them mean what we want them to mean, but check this out!

Amos 8:11-12(NKJV)
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it.


How come us fired up Christians aren't posting this little encouraging word on our Facebook status, or on our twitter update? If we are going to believe in the former promise, do we not also have to believe the latter?

The point I'm trying to make here is that we can't just pick and choose what we want to believe about revival. If we choose to believe there can be a great awakening in the United States and around the world, we also have to believe there can be a famine of the word of God. A time of sin and Idolatry that can cause God to send judgment.

Uh-Oh there I went and said it! We're not supposed to talk about judgment. It's not politically correct. We're only supposed to talk about the 24 hour miracle or the ten thousand fold return on our 1 dollar we dropped in the offering last week. We are supposed to water down the true gospel so far, that it is barely recognizable as Biblical truth, so we can draw as many "Christians" into the Kingdom as possible.

No, I'm afraid it's not supposed to work that way. The Old Testament Prophets, almost all of them, have a message that goes something like this. You were my people, I was your God. I blessed you in huge ways, but you took it for granted. You turned your back on me and followed after idols.(In The Bible, Idols were things like Asherah poles, and baal statues, Today Idols are things like money, power, wisdom, and popularity. Same Problem just different Idols. But I digress) Because you turned your back on me, I'm going to rain down judgment on you(followed by a lengthy explanation of what that judgment would look like) UNTIL you and your people turn back to me with your whole heart, at which time I WILL POUR OUT MY BLESSING!

See, The problem is we want to shortcut the process. We love to quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 that says, "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, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." We say we want God to hear us, to forgive us, to heal us, to bless, us but.......cant' we do it without all that Prayer and repentance and humble, contrite spirit stuff? Couldn't we just do what we want, when we want, and how we want and still have God bless us?

The truth is, it has never worked that way, and it never will. God will never shortcut His process in order to make us comfortable in ours.

As I'm writing this, we are about to come into a new year, 2011. I'm not one for New Years Resolutions, because they usually just set us up for failure. I do have an idea though! What if we come into the New year with humble, contrite hearts and spirits? What if we really focused on the first half of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and let God take care of the second half?

I really believe a great harvest is very close. I really do. I also know that it will not be free. Let's start a movement this next year... In fact, why not today, why not right now? A movement of those who are so consumed with Knowing God and seeing Him become known in our Cities and in our world, that we would be willing to pay any cost.

What would that look like?
What kind of impact would that make?
I have a feeling I know and I want it! How about you?

Let's do it!
Let's try it and see. I have a feeling the results could change the world.

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