Jul 5, 2023
We can find dry spells plaguing the lives of godly men and women throughout the Bible. This low period in the spirit comes mostly to those whom God intends to use. Indeed, it is common to everyone he trains to go deeper into his ways.
As you look back on some of your own dry spells, ask yourself if those times followed a renewal of the Spirit in your life. Maybe you had experienced a fresh awakening, asking the Lord, “Touch me, Jesus. I feel lukewarm. I know my service to you isn’t moving forward as it should. I’m hungry for more of you. I want zeal to do your work, to pray for the sick, save the lost, bring hope to the hopeless. Renew me, Lord. I want to be used for your kingdom in greater measure.”
Because you got serious with God, your prayers began to get answers and you started to hear God’s voice clearly. Intimacy with him was wonderful, your passion was increasing, and you had a strong sense of his movement in your life.
Then one day you woke up, and the heavens seemed like they were made of brass. You were cast down and didn’t know why. Prayer seemed like agony, and you didn’t hear God’s voice as you once did. Your spirit felt dry and empty. You had nothing but faith.
Beloved, if this has happened to you, do not panic, and don’t beat yourself up! I personally know this kind of plunge from the mountaintop to the lowest pit seemingly in an instant. Peter speaks of it specifically, advising us not to think that some outlandish thing is happening to us: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13, NKJV).
The Lord allows our dry spells because he is after something in our lives. Be encouraged! Rejoice and praise him even though you may not feel like it!
Jul 3, 2023
In Galatians, the Apostle Paul wrote, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14, ESV).
The crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord is the unique, incomparably central point for all of mankind and all of history. All of history is split before Jesus and after his work on the cross. It radically changed the whole world. However, it not only changed the world, it also radically changed us. So for how many of you is the ‘before and after Christ’ not just a historical thing but also a personal BC and AD in your life? The realization of the cross and Jesus’ presence changes everything.
The cross is not only the unchanging reminder of God’s eternal intentionality but also his invitation into an eternity with him. Nothing before that invitation is comparable to what comes afterward. Everything that has been ruined and broken by men can be restored at the cross of Jesus Christ, and you would never want to go back.
No one was better equipped to talk about the power of the cross than the Apostle Paul. Very few people had the level of formal training in religious matters and scripture than him. On top of that, very few people had a deeper revelation of the nature of God, salvation and grace; yet Paul also was a man who experienced some of the most incredible manifestations of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, visions, healings and visitations. He even talked about being transported in the Spirit to the third heaven.
Despite all that, he declared that his message, ministry, mind, soul, heart, passion, priorities, convictions and preaching would all be fixed on the cross. The world and all of his achievements and accomplishments in it had been crucified to him. It was dead. That’s how much it was worth to him, compared to the cross. The glory of the gospel and his Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the cross and raised from the grave eclipsed every other thing in Paul’s life.
Do we also live and think that way about the cross? Do we truly grasp how beautiful and powerful God’s work there was? Let’s be crucified to the world and everything it offers to give us value. Let’s fully embrace the cross and the glory of Christ!
Jun 29, 2023
Abraham didn’t stagger in his faith. Rather, he was “fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to perform” (Romans 4:21, NKJV). He recognized that God is able to work with nothing. Indeed, our Lord created the world from a void. With just a single word, he creates. In the same way, he can create miracles for us out of nothing.
When all else fails, when your every plan and scheme has been exhausted, that is the time for you to cast everything on God. It is the time for you to give up all confidence in finding deliverance anywhere else. When you are ready to believe you will see God not as a potter who needs clay, but as a creator who works from nothing. Out of nothing that is of this world or its materials, God will work in ways you could never have conceived.
How serious is the Lord about our believing him in the face of impossibility?
We find the answer to this question in the story of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Zacharias was visited by an angel who told him that his wife, Elisabeth, would give birth to a special child. Zacharias, well advanced in years, refused to believe it. God’s promise alone was not enough for him. Zacharias answered the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Simply put, he considered the impossibilities. He was saying, “This isn’t possible. You’ve got to prove to me how it will happen.” It didn’t sound reasonable.
Zacharias’ doubts displeased the Lord. The angel told him, “But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time” (Luke 1:20).
The message is clear. God expects us to believe him when he speaks. Likewise, Peter wrote, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good, as to a faithful creator” (1 Peter 4:19).
Jun 28, 2023
No matter what crisis we face or what sorrow may come, our blessed Lord is leading and caring for us every step of the way. The economy could tank; our health could collapse, or our dreams could be derailed. No matter the trouble, our God is in front of it and is preparing the road ahead for us.
The children of Israel couldn’t wrap their heads around this level of faith, and God finally had to disown those he delivered out of Egypt. Why? Because they doubted and limited him after having been so miraculously delivered time and again. It isn’t simply that God would like for us to trust him in difficult times; he demands it. This is why scripture so strongly warns us against unbelief. We are told that it grieves the Lord and shuts us off from every blessing and good work he has promised. Our unbelief makes every promise “of no effect.”
Most of my life and ministry has been in both the United States, Israel, and throughout the nations on every continent, and throughout the world faith is not a dead theology. Those of us who minister globally have to practice what we preach just to survive each day. If we did not fully trust the Lord’s promises and rely on Jesus with all that is in us, we would freeze up with fear and panic. The streets in many places are like war zones; people live in constant fear, and bystanders are often in the line of fire. The needs of hurting people are enormous, and the costs to care for them are heavy. If we did not rest in God’s steadfast promises, we would be overwhelmed.
We are not overwhelmed, and we are not afraid. As the problems grow worse, we grow stronger in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 46 has a passage to plant your feet on. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (Psalm 46:1-3, NKJV).
Jun 27, 2023
The Spirit has made it clear to me that all my praying is in vain unless I pray in faith. I could weep, fast, intercede, agonize and travail in prayer and still make no impact with the Lord at all unless I am doing it with simple, childlike faith.
God will not act on our behalf without faith. Scripture says, “Let not that man [the doubter] suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:7, NKJV).
Despite this, we often have very little confidence in God, so little faith in his willingness and desire to answer our heart’s cry. When we get to heaven, we will be amazed to discover all the blessings, peace and power we had at our disposal but did not appropriate because of our weak faith.
I am moved upon by the Holy Spirit to challenge you to increase your faith. The book of Mark relates the story of a man who brought his son to Jesus. “He has a mute spirit,” said the man. “When it seizes him, it convulses him and tries to destroy him. He is in great agony. I took him to your disciples, but they could do nothing. Please help my son!” Jesus was moved with compassion for this poor, suffering child and his distraught father. He said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Hear the father’s raw honesty as he cries out with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
Take your unbelief to the Lord and lay it at his feet. He wants to flood your soul with confidence in his willingness to over-answer your prayers with abundance, more than you can ask or think.
Do you want to increase your faith? When you go to prayer again, lay hold of the following scriptures and use them to reason with the Lord. He will not deny his own Word.
• Psalm 62:8
• Psalm 91:4
• Psalm 56:3
• Proverbs 30:5
• Jeremiah 29:10-14
Hold on by faith! He will answer you soon.
