Jan 26, 2023
Since the cross, all spiritual giants have had one thing in common. They were in close communion with the Lord; they became lost in the glorious vastness of Christ, and they died lamenting they still knew so little of him. So it was with Paul and the disciples; with many early church fathers like Luther, Zwingli and the Puritans; with the pious English preachers; and with many godly leaders today.
Every one of these giants shared the same ruling passion: an ever-increasing revelation of Jesus Christ. They cared nothing for success, ambition or worldly fame. They prayed not for things, physical blessings, to be used or for anything of self. They prayed only for a fuller revelation of the glory and vastness of their Lord.
Satan is displaying greater power, and hell is unleashing its fury on this generation. The enemy strongholds are much more fortified, powerful and entrenched than in any past generation. Without a doubt, Satan is revealing himself to the world as never before; and he is becoming better known, less feared and more accepted.
A basic Bible knowledge of Christ will not be enough in this final war! Knowing about him is not enough. We must seek a greater revelation of the Holy Spirit. That requires spending time at his table. You get to know him only by being in his presence, sitting with him, hearing his voice and waiting on him for divine wisdom. Busy, preoccupied people seldom get to know him.
Paul was committed to an ever-increasing revelation of Jesus Christ. All he had of Christ came by revelation. He said, “By revelation he made known to me the mystery” (Ephesians 3:3 NKJV). The Holy Spirit knew the deep and hidden secrets of God, and Paul prayed constantly for the gift of grace to understand and preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). Paul said we have access to these glorious riches in Christ. In speaking of God’s eternal purposes, he said, “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him” (Ephesians 3:12).
God is looking for believers who will seek a revelation of him that is all their own, a very deep personal intimacy that unlocks “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Jan 25, 2023
Help yourself! I am not speaking of the godless self but the regenerated self, possessed by Christ. One of the most important verses in God’s Word is John 4:14: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (NKJV).
This life-giving water is for us. Here is proof that everything you need in this life was given to you when Christ came into your heart.
• “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37-38).
• “As his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue…” (2 Peter 1:3).
• “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17).
• “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power” (Ephesians 1:19).
• “Make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever…” (Hebrews 13:21).
• “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (Ephesians 3:20).
• “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man…” (Ephesians 3:16).
• “[He has] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus “ (Ephesians 2:6).
• “But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
There is a great, indescribable power within me! I sense it. It is a feeling that an explosion of greatness can break forth. This power is the Holy Spirit, and he knows and sees all. He alone has all the answers we need. Everyone who calls Christ Lord and trusts in him has the Holy Spirit in him to help make life abundant and glad!
Jan 23, 2023
I think Leonard Ravenhill had the best definition of revival that I’ve heard. Ravenhill said this: “Revival is when God gets so sick and tired of being misrepresented that he shows up himself”, and I think that’s what revival is.
Now we should delineate between revival and awakening. I think awakening is what happens when the Spirit moves in the world; revival is so much harder because it’s when God has to pry away what’s easy from his church.
What I see in revival is God is coming back to do something in his church first. I think it’s when God comes back first to his church to make sure that it’s a place where there is a harvest and the seed can be thrown out from that good ground. He’s doing something through both conviction and exposure. I think it is what we’ve seen happening interdenominationally. We see it happening all over.
When God comes back to his house and starts cleaning it up, it’s for a reason. It is disciplinary, but it is also preparation. When all of a sudden we have plastered across the news that there are atrocities happening within certain denominations and that certain high profile people have fallen into sin or been revealed in sinful lifestyles, my heart breaks for that. I grieve for those churches and the people who have been hurt in those situations.
That said, there’s also something in me that thinks, “God, this is not just disciplinary. This is preparation because you want this church to be a place for people to come when you start bringing in a harvest of people.” This calls to mind Paul’s cry to the church. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2, ESV).
I’ll tell you what; seeing this, while it sometimes hurts my heart, also makes me excited when I think about what God is doing in the church today and what he’s preparing us for. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!
Jan 20, 2023
Jesus said that when the prodigal son came home, he was welcomed back into his father’s house. He received a new robe, ate at his father’s table and had full forgiveness. But that didn’t make him an angel.
On the contrary, I believe the prodigal’s father experienced a lot of problems with him before it was all over. However, the one thing this son had to know was that he was secure in his father’s love. He had to know his father would bear with him, work with him and love him.
That’s how our heavenly father is with us. He loved us before we were even born! Yet, we keep telling ourselves, “One of these days, I’m going to be so perfect and right before God that it will be easy for him to love me.”
No. He loved you when you were a sinner, a reprobate, an enemy to him. How much more does he love you now that you’re reconciled to him? God has already said to you, “I loved you when you were an alien to me, when you were in rebellion and sin. Will I not love you even more now that you have committed to sonship?”
We don’t rest confidently in his love as we should. The Lord says of himself that he is love. John wrote, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:15-18 NKJV).
Jan 19, 2023
You cannot know God in fullness until you see Christ as God wants you to see him. Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9 NKJV). We must see Jesus, not as man teaches, but as the Spirit reveals him to us, as God wants us to see and know him.
There are many volumes in my library about Jesus, written by good men. Yet, I believe many of these men have never seen Jesus as God would have us see him. We are to get God’s vision and testimony of Christ, then we will know God as he desires to be known. Here is how I believe God wants us to see his Son: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
Jesus was a gift! God wrapped all his resources up in Jesus, and “He gave His only begotten Son” (see John 3:16). Do you see Jesus as God’s perfect gift to you? Do you see him as all you need to live joyfully, victoriously, righteously, and full of peace and rest?
God gave Israel many wonderful gifts in the wilderness: A cloud to shelter them from the desert sun, fire at night to assure and lead them, water out of a rock, a branch to heal bitter waters and a brass serpent to heal the snake bitten. Yet all of these good things were only shadows.
Who was the rock from which water came? Who was the fire? The manna? The brass serpent? Everything God did for Israel was through Jesus Christ. That’s right—Jesus was every one of those gifts. “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
Today we have much more than the shadow. We have the actual substance, Christ himself! And he lives in us.
