I Stand Amazed

I don’t know about you but I like control. I like knowing what is going to happen for the most part. If we pray for revival we are saying to God that we are giving up control to Him and will do whatever He directs.

Have you read in the bible the kinds of things he has people do? Radical amazing things, where people get hurt and live hard lives and many time don’t know where the next meal is coming from.

-Revival means giving up all our stuff, our jobs, and freeing ourselves from the comforts of this world.

Can you honestly, I mean really honestly, say that you want revival?

-Revival means giving up control and not feeling sorry, or feeling like you made a mistake. It means not saying WE never did it that way before… we can’t afford it, …. I’ve done my part it, …

-Revival in a church starts with individual people. It is not just about your stuff. You must sacrifice something else on the alter of God. After letting go for the physical stuff we have to let go of ourselves on that same alter. We have to sacrifice the I, in I think or I believe, I want.

- Revival of ourselves is when we give up the control of what we will and won’t do for God! We turn the Holy Sprit loose in our lives, and more importantly in our hearts. Let God direct and realize that we are just a tool in the hands of God, it is God that will get the results.

It started when Peter went with Jesus in the first place. He walked away from the fishing business and most of his friends and family. He left the world, as he knew it, to see where this man would lead. He freed himself from the worldly stuff in his life.

Personally, I believe that before the day of Pentecost, Peter had not fully submitted himself to God’s use. He still thought he had something to loose.

--He protected it when he denied Christ. He feared loosing his life. The tensions were still high with the Authorities; religious and Roman. They all risk be arrested at most any time.

It was not until Pentecost that Peter actually gave all of himself to God. When he finally placed himself on the alter as a sacrifice for Jesus. That is when he received the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was not until then that the full astonishment of what Jesus was and did sank in. When he submitted completely he received full understanding of his personal forgiveness and could finally be free enough the risk everything for God.

What Peter discovered is when you don’t have any stuff to protect - you are free to speak and act for Jesus.

In a way it might have been easier for Peter to act than for us. We have more stuff. We like our comfort and don’t like the unknown. We like control and don’t like surprises, especially negative or risky ones. Maybe it is really harder for us to approach the alter and really give the Sacrifice God is asking for. It is hard to get excited enough to even try because the stories are the same but we are different.

Maybe, Peter and the other believers were excited enough to risk even their lives because they had heard the sound of crutches being thrown to the dirt streets, they witnessed people being given sight, they saw a dead man get up and walk. They were absolutely amazed and what they knew to be true. They had a level of excitement that kept them at the edge of their seats wanting a chance to tell the story - over and over again.