REVIVALTALK

  Psalms 26:7 - “That I may publish (proclaim) with voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”             We are entering into a season of praise and thanksgiving. In the next few days we will gather with our families and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. People will travel great distances to gather around the table and share a meal of thanksgiving. This is a wonderful holiday and we should enjoy our time with family and friends.             Worship involves a number of elements. Two elements that are closely related are thanksgiving and praise. Though they are similar there are differences. Praise is a powerful weapon to be used against the enemy of our soul in spiritual warfare. Praise nourishes the soul, prepares the heart to become pure, and builds us up in faith.             The twin sister of praise is thanksgiving. These two elements of prayer look alik...

  II Corinthians 9:6-8 – “But this  I say:  He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  So let  each one  give  as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.    And God  is  able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all  things,  may have an abundance for every good work.”              The subject of giving can be a controversial subject in our churches today. Some will accuse the church of just being after their money. We must acknowledge there have been those who abused their position of leadership to manipulate God’s people for their own purposes.    The truth is God’s Word says a great deal about how we are to give and manage the resources He places in our responsibility. William R. Kimball writes, “Ch...

  Matthew 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible dealing with money and possessions.    The Scriptures teach us there are both right ways and wrong ways to give.    The Apostle Paul instructs us about what the attitude of our heart should be when we give in II Corinthians 9:7, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”              We give out of obedience and as an act of worship.    One of the highest expressions of worship available to the believer is the act of giving of our tithe and offering to the Lord.    Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” The Psalmist writes in Psalms 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”  Secondly, we are to gi...

Luke 1:68  – “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people.” We are currently experiencing a time of divine visitation in the church. The way we respond to this visitation will determine our future. How do we define a divine visitation? “It is a moment when God steps into human history with purpose, power, and presence.” (1) When we experience a visitation of God’s Spirit we will grow in our walk and relationship with the Lord. II Peter 3:18 says, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” When God visits in power there will be a restoration of the fear of God. Psalms 33:18 says, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy.” The fear of the Lord is reverential awe. A. W. Tozer writes, “When men no longer fear God, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is no deterrent when the fear of God is gone.” ...

  Job 37:5 – “God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.” When was the last time you thought about how magnificent God really is? He is an amazing God. He is incredible, wonderful, and awesome. He is awe inspiring. The word wonder is defined as “the emotion aroused by something awe-inspiring, astounding, or surprising.” [I] I believe we overuse the word awesome so often that we have dialed down its meaning. We have been guilty of describing mundane things as awesome. We declare good services to be awesome.  Webster’s Dictionary  defines awesome “as expressive of awe inspiring, terrific, and extraordinary.”  Have we lost our awe of God? We must recover our wonder of God. He is a God of wonders. What are His wonders? He liberates those held in captivity. II Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”  His very name is wonderful. Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto...

          The media is filled with advertisements encouraging people to plan for the inevitable. Funeral homes encourage individuals to pre-plan and to pre-pay for their funeral services.    Financial planners will encourage families to have a will.    Life insurance companies spend heavily advertising the fact that we need to provide for our loved ones in the event of our death.           Many in our society have pre-paid their funeral expenses, purchased life insurance to take care of their loved ones, and have drawn up a will. They have made the necessary physical preparations, but they haven’t made spiritual preparations for eternity.    The Bible teaches in Hebrews 9:27, “And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”     The words, “after this,” are very important.    They reveal that there is something beyond the grave that we must be pre...

  Matthew 6:33 – “ Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”             The key to spiritual growth and maturity is to make your relationship with God a priority.  Jesus encourages you to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  To prioritize your relationship with God is to put God first in your life. First things in the Bible are very important.  Proverbs 3:9-10 teaches, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.”  At the beginning of each month the Jewish people practice “first fruits.”  This is a time of celebration and worship to celebrate the new month.  The Jewish people would bring an offering to recognize that God was their source and to sanctify and cele...

  “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many” (Hebrews 12:15, NLT). A healthy tree has a healthy root system.  Roots anchor the tree and provide a storage and distribution system for nutrients. When tree roots are injured, the tree becomes stressed and is subject to fall.  Psalms 1:3, Isaiah 55:12, and Hebrews 12:15 compare a person to a tree. Hebrews 12:15 gives a specific warning about the root of bitterness.  A bitter root develops from a hurt that has not been forgiven and healed.  Bitterness is compared to a root because it is often hidden under an ill nature of ungratefulness, grudges, jealousy, and criticism, stemming from a judgmental mindset to blame others in order to justify the bitterness. Bitterness results in anger, slander, and malice.  To avoid a bitter root, we must be willing to acknowledge that people are hu...

  We are living in exciting times.  The Apostle Paul described our days in 2  Timothy 3:1, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.”  The word “perilous” means dangerous.  We are living in very dangerous times.               To quote Charles Dickens, “There are the best of times and the worst of times.”  Our society is increasingly becoming more perverse and violent.  We are inundated with news of shootings, violence, and drug related crimes.  Many times this violence is directed toward the most innocent of our society.               How do the people of God respond to a society that continues to spiral out of control?  We must be diligent to fulfill the Great Commission.  The times we live in demand a response from God’s people.  This is a “s...

  Isaiah 43:19 – “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness a nd rivers in the desert.”              We have been in a time of shaking. Hebrews 12:26-27 says, “whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” We learn two things from this passage. First, the shaking is from the Lord, and second, we are part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. What is God doing? Why is He shaking the earth? He is moving things in place for His last day plans.  We are entering a new season of ministry. We must be flexible and allow the Lord to bring forth our new wineskin so we can receive the new wine of...