Why personal revival?

Just in the same way that you and I made an individual decision to follow Jesus so we need to receive from Him a personal reviving of our spirit, a personal restoration of our vigour and vitality, a personal re-awakening of our lives to God, the things of God, His ways and lifestyle.

Any movement begins with one person. So too, a revival.

Do you remember a time, when you were a new Christian, when you were so enthusiastic for Jesus?

Did you used to look out for opportunities to talk to people about your faith?

Did you get excited about reading your Bible and coming to the prayer meeting?

Has it all become just a little too familiar?

Has it become a bit too comfortable?

Are you no longer being stretched in your faith, in your lifestyle, in your day-to-day?

We’re going to look at a dozen keys to personal revival. Every one will require something of you if you want to open the door to a deeper spiritual walk with God, a life more like that of Jesus and to see the Spirit at work.

Will you join us on the journey? A journey to personal revival…

The concept of fireseeds – a conference organised by one of the largest Christian student movements – is that each one of us can be a seed of fire in our community, in our neighbourhood, in our family, school, college, university or workplace.  A seed of fire that, just like the spark that it symbolises, can kindle flames of the Spirit in all who are prepared to be tinder for the Master.

This weekend at MSCC we started a new series on the 12 Keys to Personal Revival – to being on fire for Jesus, to being fired up with the passion of the gospel, to having the fire of the Spirit burning within – a fire that will spread form person to person, from community to community, from small campfires to vast forest blazes…

Do you want to be part of that sort of movement?  I know I do!  If you do, here’s the prayer from the conference – why not pray with me that the world may be changed one fireseed at time?

Jesus, you are the original Fireseed.

Thank you for relinquishing the glory of heaven to become human and to die for me.

Thank you that in you I can know forgiveness for all my sins, and a brand new and fulfilling life with God and others.

Jesus I need you.

I want to be your fireseed in the world, to live for your Glory and to be a life giver to those around me.

I surrender my life to you now.

Fill me with your Holy Spirit life.

I commit myself to you, to be whoever you would have me be.

To do whatever you would have me do.

To go wherever you would have me go.

Set me ablaze by your Holy Spirit.

Kindle in me great love for you and for others.

Ignite through my life spiritual fires that would spread right throughout my community, city and country to the very ends of the earth.

For your name and for your Glory alone Jesus I ask these things.

Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, why not let me know that you have joined me on this exciting adventure of faith?  Comment below…

So I’ve been thinking about the country covered in snow and ice and yesterday blogged about how that humbles us as human beings making us realise that we are not the all powerful folk we sometimes like to think we are. Whether it be a tsunami, a hurricane or 40cm of snow and temperatures of -18C it is surely plain that “nature” can throw at us some difficult and dangerous circumstances. This is always an opportunity for us to acknowledge that God is God and we are not – that He is all-powerful (the Almighty) and we aren’t.

Here we are, standing at the start of another new year, another new opportunity to put the past behind us and to move on into all that God has for us. Oh, and we have snow! And that, actually, is a perfect illustration for us. Take a look out of the window when the snow is still fresh on the ground and notice how everyone’s gardens, cars, paths – everything – looks the same. Everything is covered over by a lovely white coating. Well, Jesus has made it possible for you and me to have a “lovely white coating”, so to speak, of pure, white robes of righteousness (right standing with God) so that all God sees when He looks at us is Jesus. That means each of us have the same opportunities to be all we can be in Jesus.

Its a cliche, but true! Christmas does come but once a year…

Although in the church we celebrate Jesus coming into the world each week for most people its only at this time of year that they stop to give at least a half-thought to who Jesus was/is. We know and celebrate that Jesus came, was born as a baby, lived a perfect life that pleased God, went to a cruel death and rose again to a new life making it possible for us to know the Father. We know that and many of us know Jesus personally.

Its so good to know Him and to have the adventurous full life He calls us to.

But do we keep it to ourselves or do we share it?

Do you pass on the good news of the Christmas message?

Why not this Christmas?

Tell your family, speak to your friends, invite your neighbours.

Let’s celebrate together this Christmas!

We’re well into September now and it brings many of us back to the school term, to work routines and to trying to re-engage brains after the summer break.

At MSCC we’ve decided we need to give our spirits – the real us on the inside – a bit of a boost by engaging in a little “brain training for reigning”!

As Christians we have been given the right to be children of God (John 1:12) and God is now our Father and we are His heirs and joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:14-17). This is awesome (10) stuff! You and I, if we are born again believers, are children of the living God. We are His “sons”. That’s not sexist, it’s a technical term that goes back to the ancient times in which it was written and means that you and I have the full rights of inheritance. Not just that, we are able to act as the Father’s heirs now and have His full authority to act in His name: truly amazing (10)!

Romans 5 verse 17 says we are able to “reign in life” through Jesus. We are a “royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” according to Peter. So if we are meant to reign in this life through Jesus as the heirs of God, as a royal nation of priests then we need to train ourselves up to take on that role.

All royalty receives training from the moment they are born. Training to think, act, walk and speak like princes, princesses, kings and queens. We need to do the same – to train oursleves and to plaec ourselves in positions where we are tutored in the way to think, act, walk and speak as the royal sons and daughters of the King of kings.

Over the summer we have been hearing about the Pentecostal heritage that we have at MSCC from Jean-Jacques. He brought to us some amazing (8) accounts of how God had worked in the lives of ordinary men and women in the past and seen miracles, healings, people turning to Jesus and lives transformed. And this not from dry history books but from a man who has met and known such greats as Donald Gee and Fred Squire. It was a truly inspirational time.

But we don’t want to stay looking backward. We want to look back to inspire us to look forward. We have a great heritage and a wonderful inheritance through Jesus. We are “heirs of God” (Romans 8:16-17) and should live with all the authority, responsibility and excitement that comes with that.

This week, remember your spiritual inheritance as the heir of the King. Look for His Kingdom rule and reign in your life and in the life of those lives you touch.

We’ve been talking a lot about being the Joshua generation that have entered in and can now take possession of the Promised Land. Over the last month we have looked at these principles from Joshua 5:13 onwards.

After speaking about (1) recognising the problem, (2) positioning yourself for fresh revelation, (3) praising God for who He is, and (4) receiving the prescription for action we move onto the next stage in this process of possessing which is:

5. Putting the prescription into practice

Sometimes God’s prescription to us for dealing with obstacles or problems in our lives don’t seem to make sense to human eyes. Just take a look at Noah and that ark, Moses and his stick, Naaman the leper, the blind man and the pool of Siloam or Ananias and Paul. They all were given strange prescriptions – and it was no different for Joshua. And did Joshua question or argue with God. No. We read that he simply accepted the word of the Lord and put it into practice.

That should be our response. When God reveals to us His prescription to overcome the obstacle we should be willing to:

• be obedient: say “yes sir!” and do as He says!
• be persistent: keep following the prescription
• apply your faith: take action believing God will do as He promises
  

6. Possess the Land

Someone has once said:

“If you want something you have never had, then you have to do something you’ve never done.”

The Israelites didn’t just receive the Promised Land, they had to take possession of it. Similarly, the heroes of faith noted in Hebres 11 didn’t just receive what was promised, they gained it. Taking possession of what God has for you and me means that we need to do something. It is us that take possession, that gain the promise, not simply receive passively from God all that He has promised in Jesus by the power of His Spirit.

To gain the Land we need to be courageous. It has been said that “cowardice turns pilgrims into wanderers.” This was certainly true for the Moses generation.

But courage, on the other hand, turns pilgrims into possessors. Courage and faith turned the Joshua generation into a nation that took possession of the Promised Land.

Let’s be a Joshua generation that take hold of all the promises that God has for us in our lives and together as the people of God today.

Yesterday it was so good to have the folk from Caminul Felix Romania (www.caminulfelix.com) at MSCC. The 6 young people sang and spoke of how this amazing (8) work had changed their lives for the better. Merca (one of the house parents) spoke of how he and his wife have dedicated the last 17 years to caring for a family of 12+ and how the concept of “a family for life” can have such a wonderful impact.

God gives each of us dreams – seeds inside, desires of our heart, ideas for ways in which we can serve Him and the people around us. Be inspired by Caminul Felix. Support what they are doing financially if you can. Plan to join one of the trips we will be organising to go out and help them. Or maybe start on that God-given dream project you have: God promises that if He begins a good work He will see it through to completion. So go for whatever God has put inside you to do and go for it with all of your heart!

The principles we are looking at this month are found in Joshua 5:13 onwards:

1. Recognise the problem
2. Position yourself for fresh revelation
3. Praise and worship
4. Receive the prescription
5. Praxis: put the prescription into practice
6. Take possession

Last week we looked at 1 and 2. This week we take the next two…

3. Praise and worship: Joshua’s response to the fresh revelation was to fall facedown and worship. When was the last time you received a fresh revelation of God that caused you to automatically worship Him? The disciples in the boat were stunned when they saw Jesus walking on the water and were even more amazed when Peter joined Him! But when Jesus entered the boat they turned the revelation into immediate worship. We should do the same because (i) God simply deserves it; (ii) as we worship we align ourselves with His power and resources (as Joshua did); and (iii) we acknowledge and accept His command over us.

4. Receive your prescription for action: “See!” is the first instruction the LORD brings. “See, the situation is different from My persepective”, says God. He is going to move on to more detailed prescription, to more detailed instructions of actions Joshua and the Israelites must take. But first, God wants Joshua to see from His perspective. To see with prophetic vision. To see himself as God sees him. To see the outcome as God sees it. To look with the eyes fo faith into the word of God and believe it to be so.

Some one has once said, “If you do not see what you cannot yet see then you will not see it.” How do you see your situation today? If you see yourself, your God and your situation with the eyes of faith you can begin to take possession of the Promised Land.

Remember: as you align yourself with God’s authority and power, submit to His command and see from His perspective you will be well positioned to take the next step!