When I was a new believer I was blessed to attend a church where a revival broke out in San Jose, California at Calvary Community Church. It was the Mario Murillo Crusade back in the early 80’s. It was a crusade that was intended for 4 days and lasted 6 months, an estimated 250,000 people attended. It was incredible, night after night- healing’s, salvations, great teaching, worship, people clamoring in to hear the man of God.
Our faith was at the highest like the people in this picture. There was a buzz going on in the bay area. We’d float back to our day jobs with words of excitement and great anticipation about what God would do next. We were carrying the overflow of God’s Spirit out to the workplace. It was such an Incredible time to be a New Believer. We had people coming and going from our cubicles where we were sharing the Word of God and inviting them to the Crusade.
What is stopping us from seeing that same mighty move of God today? I believe it’s our unbelief and complacency. Overtime maybe things haven’t happened the way we thought they should. Maybe God didn’t answer our prayers the way we thought He would. So we’ve become disappointed and maybe even bitter. And/or we began to see success in our own efforts and hard work so we became self-suffiient and filled with pride. Maybe we’ve just had our heads down and solely focused on the task at hand, either way we’ve stopped the flow.
If our enemy, satan, can’t stop us from accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior then his next tactic must be to stop us from sharing Him with others!
Don’t forget there is a real battle going on and the enemy wants as many souls in hell as he can get while our Lord wants all to be saved.
Do you remember the mighty things God has done for you? Do you recall the joy you of when He first called your name or the way He was there just in the knick of time, the way He carried you through those trials? Our faith has dwindled by our pride, selfishness and things of this world and we need to get excited again about the things of God.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? Gal 5:7
4 For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. 5 And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
1 John 5:4-5
It’s time brothers and sisters to say ENOUGH! If we want to see revival in our surroundings it must start with ourselves. Where do we begin you might ask?
1- We must humble ourselves before the Great Creator, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Who snatched us from the pits of hell and then consciously turn away from the lies of self sufficiency and doubt.
2- We MUST get back into God’s Word and build up our faith.
3- We must get back into the safety and fellowship of other believers.
4- We must get back to church and Bible studies and invite others to join us.
5- We must put off our feelings of inadequacy in the things of God, step out in faith and just watch Him show up.
How can we see God move if we don’t give Him the opportunity to do it?
Let’s pull our heads up from our own paths and start looking around to see where God is moving. Let’s open our eyes and look in the eyes of the people He is bringing us to reach for Him. There is a thirsty dry world of people out there who would give anything to just have a drop of the Living Water that lives within us.
8 There was a man in Lystra who couldn’t walk. He sat there, crippled since the day of his birth. 9 He heard Paul talking, and Paul, looking him in the eye, saw that he was ripe for God’s work, ready to believe. 10 So he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Up on your feet!” The man was up in a flash – jumped up and walked around as if he’d been walking all his life. Acts 14:8-10
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Matt 9:37
Let’s get excited about our God again! Let’s join Him in His quest to save the world from hell. Let’s believe that He is Who He says He is and He can do what He says He can do!
Dearest Lord-
Please forgive us for turning our backs on You. Forgive us for taking You for granted and letting unbelief and pride seep into our lives. Forgive us for focusing so much on the task at hand that we’ve taken our eyes off of You.
Thank You Lord for loving us so much that You eagerly reach out to take us by the hand once more, pull us up, dust us off, give us a hug and join us in our steps of faith. To You be all the Glory, the Honor and the Praise. In Jesus Name, Amen!
