REVIVALTALK

  Acts 2:2 – “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”              There is a fresh new wind from heaven blowing on the Body of Christ today. This wind is the wind of revival. After Jesus ascended to heaven there were 120 who gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem.    They were praying and waiting on the promise of the Father.    Jesus had instructed the disciples in Luke 24:49, “ Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem   until you are endued with power from on high.”              Throughout the Bible wind is figuratively used to represent the Holy Spirit. In John 3:8 Jesus used the wind to describe the Holy Spirit, “ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it com...

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 – “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”             In verse 4 David writes, “I will fear no evil.” Verse 5 reveals why we do not have to fear. I John 4:18 says, “Fear has torment.” As believers we have power over the spirit of fear. We have the promise of 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” In the Middle East the shepherd carries only a rod and staff. Phillip Keller writes, “Each shepherd boy, from the time he first starts to tend his father’s flock, takes special pride in the selection of a rod and staff exactly suited to his own size and strength. He goes into the bush and selects a young sapling that is dug from the ground. This is carved and whittled down with great care and patience. The enlarged base of the sapling where its trunk joins the roots is shaped into a smooth, rounded head of hard wood. The sapling itself is s...

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that God works and moves in seasons. God does not move according to man’s timetable. He does not always work in the space of minutes, hours, days, and weeks. The Bible teaches us that the “times and seasons are in God’s hands." God is not bound by time, but reigns above the time and space continuum. Ecclesiastes 3:1 – “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:” There is a time to weep, a time to rejoice, and a time to mourn. We don’t always understand the seasons that we find ourselves in. Note the words in Ecclesiastes 3:1 – “To everything there is a season.” God has a purpose in what comes into the life of the believer. The Bible teaches us in Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Recently in prayer I had the thought, “What God does is sometimes mingled with pain.” What do I mean by that statement? Often times our vi...