REVIVAL TALK

EXCEPT WE BE AS CHILDREN In the eighteenth chapter of Matthew the disciples asked an interesting question of Jesus. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”   Many in the Body of Christ are still asking that same question today.   In our culture we tend to measure greatness in the Body of Christ by large numbers, beautiful buildings, and expensive budgets.   We tend to think that the greatest are the biggest and best.    Our society measures success and greatness by achievement and skill.   Although this is the method of our culture, it is not the method of measurement of the Word of God. In Matthew 18:3-4, The Lord shares His definition of greatness.   “… Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven."   Verse 4 continues, "Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heav...

The Sixth Month The Month of Access and Favor   To understand how God has created and orchestrates time we must understand how He measures time.   The Bible gives insight into how God works in time. He established the Hebrew Calendar in Exodus 12:2. “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”  This calendar is on a different time cycle than the calendar of the western world, the Gregorian calendar.   The Hebrew Calendar is both a religious and a civil calendar. The Religious year begins at Passover in Nissan (March/April) and the civil year begins at Rosh Ha Shana in Tishri (September/October).   The Bible refers to Elul as the “sixth” month. Historically the following things took place during Elul: ·       God begins to work through Haggai the prophet –Haggai 1:1. ·       Ezekiel is given a vision from God, sees several ab...

The Miracle Worker Hebrews 13:8     The Bible teaches that we serve an unchanging God.  Malachi the prophet wrote these words in Malachi 3:6.  “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”  When everything around us is changing at an accelerated pace the Lord we love and serve does not change.     The news today is filled with rapid changes.  The rise and fall of regimes, economic and political changes.  The economy is good and then it is bad, but the God we serve never changes, and He never fails.  Man may fail you!  But God will never fail you.     Hebrews 13:8 offers these encouraging words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  We serve an unchanging God.  His love, His mercy, and His purpose have never changed.  The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth for a purpose.  That purpose is found throughout the pages of th...

A Divine Interruption Luke 7:11-18     In this passage of Scripture there is a wonderful miracle that took place in the life of a lonely widow in the city of Nain.  Nain was located about ten miles southeast of Nazareth, just south of Mt. Tabor. It is about a day’s journey southwest of Capernaum, where Jesus had healed the Centurion’s servant.     This story is a story of conquest and compassion!  It is a demonstration of God’s miraculous power on behalf of a lonely widow who had lost her only son.  Verse 12 gives record of this widow’s plight, “A dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow.”      In our culture when we are passed by a funeral procession we pull over to the side of the road as a sign of respect.  In the Jewish culture of this time when people would meet a funeral session they would join with the mourners in the procession.  Jesus does more than just join with...