Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the Lord spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. [2] And the Lord spake unto me, saying, [3] Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. Deuteronomy 2:1-3
I think this was an Old Testament GPS direction. It was an old Testament way of saying, "recalibrate".
Northward means hidden, unknown, and treasures.
*Unknown means new, different, never experienced before, unexplored.
*Unknown means that you don't know the way. You need a guide.
*Unknown speaks of a faith walk.
*Unknown means you can only get there by faith, led by the Holy Spirit.
*There are unknown, hidden treasures that we can only access by faith.
Sometimes in life, we either slip or we drift away from the course we started out on, and we're supposed to be on, and we need to recalibrate.
I have been doing my best to give to you what I have been hearing the Holy Spirit saying, and I have felt that God has been speaking to us about Revival. And about the need in our country, and in our churches for Revival
I don't know if I can even begin to be able to describe how critical it is to our where we are right now and our future in America, that we experience revival.
Revival is God's guard rail of mercy, at the top of the mountain, to try and stop a person or a nation from plunging into destruction.
I’m going to say this unapologetically… I have my political views, and they run in agreement with what the Bible says… and I absolutely have my opinion who can do the best job in the white house. But I will also say, it is not policies or legislation, or laws that will save America. Who the President is or isn't, is not the saving grace, and not the guard rail to save this nation from destruction. It is mercy in the form of Revival. Policies and legislation can never fix the heart of a man or woman, it takes the Spirit of God.
As I have been praying and seeking God, and meditating on this, and on how God wants us to approach it, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me we need to recalibrate.
Of course I asked the Holy Spirit what do you mean, am I wrong about what I'm feeling, about the urgent need for Revival in our personal lives, and churches, and in our country?
The Holy Spirit answered me, no you are not wrong but we need to recalibrate. You have pointed the church in the right direction, but there's some important course adjustments we need to make.
Of course I asked the Holy Spirit, what are you speaking about and what do you mean when you say course adjustments?
I love the fact that the Holy Spirit enjoys conversation. I've never been reprimanded or chastised by the Holy Spirit for asking him a question.
So I'm hearing the Holy Spirit say we need to make some adjustments. Ok, I get it that's understandable, we're on a path to Revival, we can expect some course corrections along the way.
The Holy Spirit said, revival is not something that we can produce ourselves; the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Revival. The Holy Spirit is the one who produces the spirit of Revival within our hearts, and within our lives. We cannot manufacture Revival.
Then he said... Revival must be caught. Principles can be taught, but Revival must be caught.
So there are principles that are imperative in the process of Revival…
*Hunger
*Humility
*Repentance
You cannot divorce these from the spirit of Revival. But Revival itself cannot be taught, it must be caught.
And so the Holy Spirit said to me, here is the course recalibration that I want to bring to the message that you're presenting.
I don't want my people fixated on what you call an Awakening or Revival. Although this will certainly be the end product, it is not to be your aim or your focus.
That kind of rocked me a little bit. Because I have been seized with the sense of the urgent need for Revival in my own soul, in my own heart, in my own life, and in our church, our community, and in our society.
Then the Lord spoke to me, and he said, I know that's true and that's right. But there is just this slight course correction that must be applied... You must direct the hearts of the people to me. Jesus said, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.
Here is what he said to me. He said, Revival in the true scheme of things, is really a resurgence and a revitalization of the person, and the presence and the goodness of Jesus being manifested to us, in us, and through us.
The Holy Spirit said to me…
*Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
*Worship Jesus.
*Magnify Jesus
*Glorify Jesus.
*Fix your gaze up on Jesus.
*Talk about Jesus.
*Let Jesus become your everything, like he was when you first got saved.
It's not about the preaching, it's not about the singing, it's not about anything else that we can do, or that we can manufacture. It's all about Jesus.
We can do everything perfectly; we can dot every I, and cross every T. We can shout at the right place, and we can cry at the right place. We can clap, we can shout, and dance. We can preach great sermons that are theologically and doctrinally correct.
And at the end of the day, if we haven't touched Jesus, and haven’t been touched by him, we're just another valley of dry bones. Well dressed bones, good smelling bones, very religious bones, but still very dry bones.
The Holy Spirit said to me, you are not wrong, I want to revive my people, but this revival will be the product and the fruit of seeking and finding my manifest presence.
Don't seek Revival, seek the Christ.
Don't seek for an experience; seek for the one who is the reality of those experiences.
I'm thankful that this early in our Revival journey, that the Holy Spirit has intervened with this course correction.
It is not an experience called Revival that we need. It is the tangible manifested presence of the living Christ, walking and talking, and moving and flowing through us, by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what we need, and that is Revival.
True Revival is nothing less then the manifested presence of Jesus, coming close to his people, and making himself known to them. And touching the heart, and awakening the heart hunger for his goodness, and for his presence, to live in them and to abide in them.
As we come near to the presence of Jesus, we also come near to his holiness, and the Holy Spirit begins to convict of things that are not pleasing to him. This is the repentance part of Revival. Then we must deal with those things in order to get closer to him. This is the plowing up the ground of our own hearts, and pulling the weeds, and other junk out, so that our hearts are clean before him.
*To truly worship God, you must be honest with him. That's why the Bible says that God is looking for those who will worship him in spirit and in truth.
*Truth is the pathway to intimacy with God. The less truthful you are with the Holy Spirit, the more distance there is between you.
*Truthfully, you can't really hide anything from God, but your willingness to give him total access to all your heart, will give you access to all his heart.
*We draw near to him with our words, and the worship of our hearts.
Then as his Holy presence shines a light on the dark or shaded areas in our hearts, we let him deliver us, and free us from these things, and as we do our worship deepens and widens. And God begins to once again sit on the throne of our hearts, and govern us through his love for us, and our love for him.
Now those things that we were once reluctant to do because our flesh was so strong. Now we rush to obey, because we have been conquered by love.
Psalm 110:3 AMP - Your people will offer themselves willingly in the day of Your power, in the beauty of holiness and in holy array out of the womb of the morning; to You [will spring forth] Your young men, who are as the dew.
Revival is not just a few tears, or a shout and a dance, and a Hallelujah. True Revival produces a change. True revival has fruit.
The fruit of true revival is repentance, and a changed life.
• Liars quit lying
• Thieves quit stealing
• Fornicators quit fornicating
• Drinkers quit drinking
• Drug addicts throw away their drugs
• Haters quit hating, and start loving
• The luke warm catch on fire
• The proud are humbled
Don't even suggest to me that you have been revived if there is no change in your life.
*The closer you get to Jesus, the more like him you will look, and you will sound.
*The closer you get to Jesus the less worldly you are.
*You don't want a horoscope or a psychic, having any control of your life.
*You won't tolerate pornography in your presence, on your computer or on your phone.
• Revival is the prodigal church coming home to the father’s presence.
• Revival is the prodigal church recognizing they don't just need God's blessings; they need his knowledge, his wisdom, and his governance
.
The church to a large degree has followed the same path of the prodigal son. That means that just like the prodigal son, the church has got her blessings from the Lord, but they don't want the father in their business.
When you really get revived, the first thing you will recognize is, you need the father all up in your business. You will run to him, and you will invite him to govern every part of your life.
There's another word the Bible uses for recalibrate, it's a word we don't hear from many pulpits today, and it’s the word "repent".
There's not a lot of repentance in many churches today, because there is seldom a word preached that brings conviction.
John the Baptist preached repent.
Jesus preached repent.
Peter preached repent.
Paul preached repent.
The apostles preached repent.
Charles Spurgeon preached repent.
John Wesley preached repent.
Charles Finney preached repent.
Billy Graham preached repent.
And every man or woman of God who ever had the call of God on his or her life has preached it, and will preach it… Because there is always a need for repentance.
Too many preachers today are more concerned with their pay checks, and being popular, than they are about people being right with God, and making heaven.
*Biblical repentance is not just feeling sorry about doing wrong.
*Biblical repentance means a change of direction.
*There is no such thing as revival without repentance.
I don't know if this is speaking to anyone else, but I feel the Holy Spirit saying, it's time for some recalibration.
Today these altars are the work bench, and I believe the Holy Spirit is performing some recalibrations.
There is not one person under the sound of my voice that doesn't need to repent for something said or done that shouldn't have been. Or for something you should have done or said but didn't. Or some secret sin, hidden sin, lust or desire, that you have made an alliance with.
Ho 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
This is the hard part of Revival… It's when we personally have to attend to the hard and calloused, and uncultivated areas of our hearts, where we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to plow, and tenderize. We have to look at ourselves in the light of his holiness, and admit to the areas that grieve him, and hurt his heart. Then we intentionally and agressively go after those things to rid them from our hearts.
So essentially the Holy Spirit is saying… You do it. You go in to those places that you’ve locked me out of, and you start plowing up the ground, then I’ll come with my Holy Spirit, and I will revive you.
A.W. Tozier said… Revival follows the plow. That is still true today.There's no such thing as Revival, without repentance. And the depth of the plow will determine the depth and the width of Revival in our hearts.
Beloved, let me ask you... How many know this is a word from God today?
How many know that there are some areas in your life where you need to recalibrate, you need to repent, and you need to plow up the fallow ground?
Come on; meet me here around the front of this building. That’s what these altars are for. For laying down our lives, and getting right with God.
