REVIVAL TALK

  John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” In our culture we celebrate Christmas by exchanging gifts. We work hard to find the right gifts for the ones we love. We struggle to find the right gift for the person who has everything. What kind of gift can I get that will be pleasing to my spouse?  One of the busiest days of the Christmas shopping season is December 26. That’s when we exchange the gifts that didn’t fit, or we didn’t really like. There is a gift you will love. It is a gift you will never exchange. It was and is the greatest gift of all. This gift was sent in the form of a human baby.  Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and...

  In a time of prayer, the Lord spoke very clearly to me, “Son, I did not call you to be a political people, but I have called you to be a prophetic people.” The church is not a political organization. This does not mean we are not to participate in the political process. Every Christian needs to be registered to vote and help vote in leaders who share our values.   We must speak with a prophetic voice. God is calling us to speak into the political world about what is happening in our nation. The Old Testament prophets spoke out concerning issues of unrighteousness that would bring harm to the nation. Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.” Our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Like Abraham of old we are seeking a city whose builder and maker is God. This heavenly citizenship does not disqualify us from b...

  Isaiah 36:13-20 – “Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;    until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations del...

  James 1:9 - “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” The Apostle James, the half-brother of our Lord, instructs us be “quick to listen.” There are many voices that compete for our attention. When I was young, we only had three television channels in our home. We had NBC, CBS, and ABC. I remember when we first signed up for cable, there were just a few channels. Today we have hundreds of channels along with YouTube and other internet streaming services. There are so many voices competing for our attention. Radio, internet radio, podcasts, and even shortwave radio all have voices competing for our attention. When I was a child, we learned a song in Sunday School entitled, “Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See.” The second verse reads: Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,  Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear. There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love, Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear. Who...

  1 Corinthians 15:50-52 – “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.    Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—    in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  We are living in what the Bible defines as the last days.    Frances Dixon wrote, “The certain and glorious fact of the second advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is so clearly stated in the Bible that even a child can grasp the truth that Jesus, Who first came to earth some two-thousand years ago, is one day coming again the second time.” [1] What is the greatest event on God’s time calendar? According to the Scriptures the greatest event on God’s Calendar is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.    The Bible talks about the Secon...

Genesis 12:1-3 - “Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”      Why do we stand with a small Middle Eastern nation roughly the size of the U. S. State of New Jersey? We stand with Israel because the Jewish people are the covenant people of God. In a world filled with antisemitism and hatred for the Jewish people, we stand together with them against an enemy who seeks their destruction.      In Genesis 12:3, the Lord promises to bless those who bless the children of Israel, and He will curse those who curse them. Is this curse real? On October 7, 2023, Hamas brutally attacked Israel and killed innocent civilians, babies, and the eld...

        Psalms 122:1-9 This Psalm is a Psalm of David.  In these scriptures he writes about the joy of going to the House of the Lord.  Verse 1 reads, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  He continues in verse 6 with this admonition.  “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you.’” Why does the Bible encourage us to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem?”  Jerusalem was the one place among the twelve tribes of Israel that God chose to place His name.  Deuteronomy 12:5 reads, “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.” The Lord promises blessing to those who are a blessing to His covenant people.  God spoke these words to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be ble...

  Psalms 23:5 – “My cup runs over.”             The God we serve is the God who is more than enough. I love the words of Jesus in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The words “more abundantly” literally mean to the full, till it overflows.” The Complete Jewish Bible reads, “I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.”             God doesn’t just meet our need, but desires to over meet our needs. Ephesians 3:20 says, “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.” The latter part of verse 5, “my cups over,” is a picture of overflow and abundance. The Great Shepherd receives us with extravagance. Proverbs 11:25 says, “The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.”...