Revitalize Your Church

"I often think of the Holy Spirit as a mighty river, but a river dammed and held back by obstacles of one kind or another.  Fancy a man standing on the dam and pleading in prayer with the river to flow on.  How absurd! 'Why,' the river would answer, 'That is just what I want to do.  Don't waste your energy in such vain repetitions. It is my nature to flow.  I am more anxious to flow than you are to see me flow.'" -- Oswald Smith

A tattered book on my library shelf, Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians , by James Gilchrist Lawson, has been a tremendous blessing and spiritual benefit to me down through the years.  The stories of these godly men and women from the past inspire me to plunge in to the deep end of the prayer pool -- and live in the overflow of holy love. A digital copy is available here for free.

"Satan is not necessarily opposed to all Christian work. He cares little how zealously we busy ourselves at good things so long as we do not work in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is often pleased if we work so hard and so long that we begin to fret and worry. He is happy if we undertake more work than we can saturate with prayer. He would not seriously oppose if every Christian were a tireless worker -- so long as he worked only in his human energy and was not empowered and anointed by the Spirit of God." -- Wesley L. Duewel

God is love—love lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit in a community of gifted individuals playing one musical piece in different parts, a holy symphony.   Holiness is life lived by people in the fullness of the Holy Spirit who are empowered to offer a drastic alternative to the world around them. Love is the melody running through the community, underneath the community, and all around the community.   The Christian community is not a place of jarring instruments singing different songs, or a place of gossip, conflict, rejection, pain, strife, and hatred. It is a place where the Spirit’s fruit is present in abundance, so much so that the world around the Christian community can’t help but join the melody. It is a community that is so unified, so melodious, so beautiful that it stops others in their tracks. Those on the outside can’t help but peer in, and watch with awe and wonder, and notice the unity of the symphony.   Instead of...

"Satan is not necessarily opposed to all Christian work. He cares little how zealously we busy ourselves at good things so long as we do not work in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is often pleased if we work so hard and so long that we begin to fret and worry. He is happy if we undertake more work than we can saturate with prayer. He would not seriously oppose if every Christian were a tireless worker -- so long as he worked only in his human energy and was not empowered and anointed by the Spirit of God."  -- Wesley L. Duewel

  This morning, I was inspired by something beautiful. The basic idea is from an old evangelist from 100 years ago named S. A. Keen. When we our lack becomes evident -- and we realize we need more than we can possibly offer in order to make it through (rest, assurance, cleansing or power) our natural tendency is to ask for "it."  "God, please give me strength. . . God, please give peace. . ." But, often, those prayers only bring little trickles of help. Instead of asking for "it", try asking for HIM. "Lord, I don't need 'it' nearly as much as I need You. Please come, and fill my heart, my soul, my mind, my strength, my memories, my moments -- with YOU!   If we ask for "it", we may or may not get it. But if we ask for HIM, He will come and bring it with Him!  He, alone, is our secret source of soul refreshment.  The next time you pray, just say, "Lord, give me your Holy Spirit that I may know I am you...

"Now, who is going to trust God for the winged life? You can crawl instead if you wish. God will even bless you if you crawl; He will do the best He can for you, but oh how much better to avail ourselves of our wonderful privileges in Christ and to “mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint.”  O beloved friends, there is a life on wings. I feel the streams of His life fill me and permeate my mortal frame from my head to my feet, until no words are adequate to describe it.  -- Carrie Judd Montgomery

 You will make better decisions when you are led by the Holy Spirit and this guidance is available to you right now!  As Romans 8:14 says, ". . . those who are led by the Spirit are children of God."  But this begs the question:  how does the Spirit lead us?  Here are a few ways.  1)  Scripture:   Search the Scriptures daily, and God will give you a special word that fits your situation.  Whatever you're going through, God has a word for it!  You will never go wrong by living in the Word.  2)  Prayer:   We fail to find guidance in our prayers because we are too prone to tell God what He should do, rather than asking Him what WE should do.  If we ask, He has promised to grant us wisdom (James 1:5.)  Consider your pressing issue:  Have you seriously prayed about it?  3)  The Grand Purpose:   Rather than getting hung up on "What is God's will for me?" it might be be...

Seriously!! A powerful post by my dear friend, Keith Drury -- convicting and oh, so true.

How many Christians there are who cannot pray, and who seek by effort, resolve, joining prayer circles, etc, to cultivate in themselves the holy art of intercession, and all to no purpose. Here, for them, and for all is the only secret of a real prayer life -- Be filled with the Spirit -- who is the Spirit of grace and supplication. -- Rev. J. Stuart Holden

It was truly a delight to recently discover Experiencing the Spirit written by Henry Blackaby and his son, Mel. In a soul-gripping manner, these two godly men call us to a deeper walk with the Lord, and challenge our spiritual mediocry with this simple concept: Repent, Trust, Obey and Be Filled With the Holy Spirit! As I was reading this book, it seemed to be reading me! What a delightful treasure! Books like this don't come around very often. Experiencing the Spirit ranks right up there with my other spiritual "meat and potatoes" books -- such as Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitehall Smith, Wesley Duewel, Bounds, Tozer, and Brengle. (Most of those are more a hundred years old -- how exciting to find a fresh expression of the same thing!!) Speaking of treasure, if you haven't read Randy Alcorn's little book, The Treasure Principle , There's a recently revised edition available with a profound concluding chapter: 31 Radical, Liberating Questions to Ask God About Y...

Our generation is rapidly losing its grip upon the supernatural; and as a consequence, the pulpit is dropping rapidly to the level of the platform. And this decline is due, we believe, more than anything else, to an ignoring of the Holy Spirit as the supreme inspirer of preaching. -- Dr. A. J. Gordon Gordon's words certainly apply to today's church. God help us.