Dig For Your Life!

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

“On one condition.” Ever heard that phrase before? It is often the deciding factor whether a contract between two parties is completed. In this passage in Matthew, Jesus promises His followers that they will be filled, or another way of putting it is spiritually satisfied, but first they must meet one condition: they must hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Ever feel as though you’re in a spiritual drought, like your journeying through a spiritual desert? These times come to all of us at some point, but regardless of what your circumstances might be, whether you make it through the valley, is going to be decided based on you meeting that “one condition.”

Spiritual hunger and thirst does not come upon us suddenly, it does not occur through osmosis. It comes as it is cultivated and invited. We must create a place of emptiness that cries out to be filled. Friends what I am going to say now is very important, the intensity of our hunger will determine the depth of our filling.

In most cases, we lose our spiritual appetite because we have allowed our souls, to be filled with the things of this world. We change our standards, because societies standards have changed. Women looking and dressing like men, men looking and dressing like women, and so many so called ‘believers’ embrace these things with the justification that society has changed. God has not called us to conform to the standards of this world, He has called to be transformed. The Apostle Paul warns us in Colossians not to be led captive through philosophies based on human tradition which are contrary to God’s Holy Word!

Hunger, thirst, spiritual desire is the single most required characteristic of the growing maturing, advancing Christian life. Yet it seems at times to be the most easily forsaken or lost. What is our attitude toward the Lord, His presence, and His Word?

Luke 10:38-42

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Martha welcomed Jesus into her house, but forsook His presence for earthly concerns. She took his presence for granted, she felt what she was doing was more important than what Jesus was saying. In contrast, Mary sat at his feet and heard Jesus’ words. Martha had not accepted the “One condition.”

The church is filled with people like Martha who are busy about the Lords business but have never met the condition. Their lives are full of everything except the presence of God. Thirst and desire are the thermometer that determine the spiritual health of a believer, a church, or a ministry.

When we lose our spiritual appetites for the presence and the glory of God in our midst, then our spiritual lives are in critical condition. If you’re not hungry and thirsty, you won’t eat, and you won’t drink, and if you won’t eat and drink, you’ll die.

Psalm 63:1-2

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.”

Isaiah 44:3

“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:”

In 2nd Kings 3, we find three kings facing a dilemma: they were deep into the wilderness surrounded by hostile kings and they were out of water. The Solution, “One condition” become empty. Make this valley full of ditches, the ditches represented a capacity for receiving.

At the word of the Lord they began to dig ditches. It didn’t make any sense, they didn’t feel like it, they were battle weary, they were tired, they were scared, and they were desperate, but they started digging. They were not digging for amusement, or for exercise, they were digging for their lives.

I believe today that many of you need to start digging for your lives. This is not about comfort, convenience, preference, or what makes you feel good, it’s all about spiritual survival and it’s a matter of life and death. You’re in a desert, you’re dry, you’re weary, and you’re struggling just to hang on. If you don’t create a place of emptiness for the Holy Ghost, if you don’t get on your knees and start digging, you’re not going to make it!

In the hour that we live in there are many that are going to have to make a choice: are you going to do what you’ve always done because you’ve always done it, are you going to hold on to your way and try to force God to agree with you? Are you going to die of spiritual malnutrition, or are you going to accept the “One condition” and start digging?

You’ve got to dig through religion, it will not sustain you. Dig through your anger, resentment, frustration, dig through pride and stubbornness, dig through feelings and emotions, dig through the cares of life. Dig, create a place of emptiness, prepare yourself to receive the power of the Holy Ghost!

John 4:14

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Dig until you hit a fresh and holy anointing of the power and glory of God like you’ve never experienced before! Dig! Dig for your life!

River of Life

Revelation 22:1, 2

"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Amid the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

One of the most beautiful scenes of the Bible is described is these two verses. John was given a vision of the great River of Life that flows from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. This river begins as a trickle from the Throne and then flows throughout the New Jerusalem to provide healing and life for all who live on its shores. What a day that will be when we get to see Heaven’s glorious scenes for the first time. All the troubles and trials of this life will pass into nothingness when we see Jesus face to face.

One of the greatest pictures of the power of that river is given to us in Ezekiel 47:1-5:

"Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over."

Ezekiel has been down to the valley of dry bones, representing the dead spirituality of Israel as a nation. These dry bones also stand for every man who ever lived who did not have the life-giving flow of God in their lives. When God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?”, He was asking a question for which there was only one answer if we answer in the power and ability of man. The answer would have to be NO! But, in the power of the life-giving River of God, these bones could not only live but they could become a mighty nation and able to do great things.

When we look a little further, we can see Jesus as he is waiting for the woman at the well who heard the words of Jesus as he said in John 4:14, " But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

As the waters of that river flow, there is much that it will do those who will step into its water and wade out just a little bit deeper each day. Every Christian must step out into the water and begin to explore the things of God. As Christians mature in Christ and their relationship grows, they begin to wade out a little farther from the shore and a little farther until finally they are lost in the love of Jesus Christ and learn to live by faith.

Too many people won’t go out into the deep water of relationship with Jesus because it requires a commitment of faith to believe that Jesus’ power will keep them afloat. We must understand, only the River of God brings Life!

All those who choose to be washed in the Blood of the Jesus through repentance of sin, and are baptized in Jesus’ name have access to this river through the baptism of the Holy Ghost, this same well of living water springing up from within them through the indwelling presence of the risen Christ!

Jesus is the source of the River of Life, and He dwells in the heart of everyone who repents and is baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38), to provide the ability to reach out to other people and have them washed in the blood also. The Holy Spirit within each of us is the manifestation of that river of living water as He speaks through us, leads us and teaches us every day.

We live in a dry and thirsty land. Life in this world is hard and we must be on guard against the power of sin as it tries to invade our heart and bring the sentence of death upon us again and again. I told my pastor on the phone last night, “I feel like the enemy has had his foot on my neck all week, and I need some fellowship around the throne of God.”

If it were not for that constant flow and the power of the Holy Ghost as the River flows upon us, what chance would any of us have? But we have a promise of God’s help. God will not allow the power of sin to overcome us but will come quickly to our aid to deliver us from temptation. God has promised us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

The River of God, that begins at the Throne of God and of the Lamb, that comes from the foot of Calvary’s cross gives us the power to overcome and the power to be satisfied by the Spirit of God in every circumstance for we know that God has it all under control.

A painting that I saw at a Museum in Eureka Springs, Arkansas showed just a portion of what that live giving flow is all about. In that painting, the Blood of Jesus Christ flows from His side as He is hanging upon the Cross of Calvary. That blood becomes a giant wave of His cleansing and keeping power as it washes across the pages of history. This painting is specifically designed to picture America from its foundation to the modern times but the Blood of Jesus Christ as the river of God has flowed throughout the entire history of man.

Every event, every war, every birth and every death have been affected by His Blood. The river has washed upon the shore of every nation and every life. The Blood of Jesus is given that all men can experience its cleansing power.

The early church began as a trickle of the out-pouring of the Holy Ghost upon men. Only 120 were gathered in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost as the Holy Ghost came upon them like a might rushing wind. Those 120 began a revival that is continuing to grow throughout the Church Age. Down through history the River has continued its journey. The Blood of the Lamb has never lost its power and it never shall.

At Azusa Street in California another great revival broke forth because men were seeking for the baptism in the Holy Ghost and that revival is still going forth today. The Bride of Christ, the Church, people like you and I, will not be stopped because the River of God is flowing stronger than ever. Around the world people are being saved. The river flows onward!

The Russian Bear of Communism has collapsed and the gospel is being preached behind what used be blocked by the KJB and the Iron Curtain. The gospel is going forth behind the Bamboo Curtain of China and souls are being saved by the 1000’s.

The Church will not go out of this age as some emaciated, weak and dying ember! The church is the Bride of Christ and will go out in a blaze of glory!

Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

That’s not a picture of a church that is sitting around doing nothing and waiting to be delivered. That’s a picture of the church as it stands under the mighty anointing of the Holy Ghost and defies the god of this world and steps out into the territory of the devil himself to bring the message of the gospel to anyone and everyone who will hear.

The enemy cannot stop the River of God as it moves on! Satan and the Antichrist are destined to be washed away by its cleansing power! The River of God cannot be stopped! It is a flood of God’s power to cleanse the world!

Has the River Washed You Clean? Have you made a Step into the Water of His love?

There is only one limiting factor in the power of this River of God to cleanse. That limiting factor is your own will. God is a perfect gentleman and never forces his will upon any man. It’s up to us to accept His gentle offer and wade out into the river just as Ezekiel had to do.

God wants to let the river flow in your heart today. Why don’t you open the doors of your heart and let the cleansing power of the Blood of the Lamb to wash over you? Swim out into the water of the River of God, repent of your sin, be baptized in Jesus’ name, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and experience the great salvation and peace that Jesus offers.

You Stand, I'll Deliver!

Exodus 14:13-14 (KJV)

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

¹⁴ The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

After the Israelites had been in bondage for over 400 hundred years the Lord sent them a deliverer named Moses.  Now we find them on their way out of the Egyptian kingdom and at the edge of the Red Sea.  God has visited nine plagues upon the Egyptians and so the Pharaoh told the children of Israel to get out, he agreed to set them free.  And with them they took much of the wealth of Egypt in the form of gold, silver, and precious jewels.

But now, after having had some time to reconsider the Pharaoh begins to have second thoughts.  He decides that letting them go was a mistake and he pursues after them with six hundred of his chosen chariots.

After many years in bondage the children of Israel came out of Egypt thinking:

• That their bondage was over

• That this chapter of their lives was over.

• That they would never again feel the sting of the whip up on their backs.

• That they would never again suffer the oppression of slavery

But Pharaoh didn't want it to end, he wanted them back under his control.

In a recent sermon our pastor pointed out that Egypt represents sin, that the Israelites going through the Red Sea represents baptism, and that the presence of God in the cloud and the pillar of fire represent the Holy Spirit’s presence to guide and lead us until we receive the promises of God that we have hoped for.  

What an insight and encouragement this has been to me from God’s word.  God has a plan for my life, God has a plan for your life as well.  He wants to free us from the bondage of our sin, to wash us in the waters of baptism, and to give us power for living and reaching the end, our inheritance, by blessing us with His presence through the baptism of the Holy Ghost!

How many of you know that Satan doesn't let go of his former subjects so easily?  The devil doesn't like giving up any territory.  Once you are freed from the chains of sin he will come after you, he will try and get you back into your chains, and he will use any means necessary.

My purpose today is not to tickle your ears, my purpose is to speak into the lives of those who are being pursued by Satan, to declare to you today that God is going to put an end to Satan’s work in your lives. God gave me this word, to create and establish, that today as the end. I am telling you that the Lord has told me, many of you are going to reach the end.

I don't know what it is in your life that has been trying to destroy you, but you know and God is aware of your situation.  I don't know if it’s physical, spiritual, relational, emotional, or if it’s financial, but here's what God says about it.

Nahum 1:7-9

7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.

8 But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.

9 What do you conspire against the Lord?  He will make an utter end of it.  Affliction will not rise up a second time.

How many times have you faced situations and circumstances and problems in your life and wished you could just put an end to it and move on?  How many times have you wished you could just say the end, and it would be over with?  How many times have you looked at the mountains and the giants you’ve faced and heard the enemy whisper, “You’ll never be free, I’m going to keep coming at you.”

Satan is a liar and he wants you to buy into his lies:

• He wants you to just accept it as normal

• He wants you to think it'll be easier on you if you just learn to live with it.

There's something about us that when our normal is interrupted there is an immediate resistance and we fight against it. But when the situation or problem is persistent, we tend to lose our fight and accept our condition, our situation, our problem as the new normal.

Today I want to stir up the fighter in you. I want to wake up the anointing in you. I want this word to stir up a rebellion in you against everything that is contrary to the Word of God in your life. I don't care how long your addiction or struggle has plagued you, or how long you have suffered in your heart, body, or mind, if it is contrary to the Word of God, then it’s not normal!

You may have learned how to coexist with it. You may have your nitroglycerin tablets, your insulin, your Lortabs, your Xanax, and your Nicotine gum.  All these things may help you cope with your lions and your giants, but it is not normal.

Cancer is not normal, diabetes and heart trouble are not normal, drug addiction and alcoholism are not normal, divorce is not normal, homosexuality is not normal, strife and division in your church are not normal, and struggling to pay your bills and living under a burden of debt is not normal.

There may be a history of cancer or diabetes in your family, and the doctors may tell you it's in your DNA, but it’s not normal because you have a new bloodline and a new DNA…

II Corinthians 5:17

“If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new”

You may look at your family tree and see alcoholics, drug addicts and wife beaters, but it’s not normal you have a new family tree, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches!  There may be homosexual and lesbians in your family line, but it’s not normal! I’m not concerned with being politically correct this morning, I'm trying to start an uprising against anything and everything that is less than God's will for your life.

You will never experience a change until you recognize what is abnormal, until you identify those things which are out-of-order in your life and you rebel against it.  And you will never rebel against what is abnormal and out-of-order until you are convinced of God’s normal and God's divine order for your life.

Sickness cannot be normal when Jesus was beaten to heal us from it! Poverty and lack cannot be normal for children of the King of kings! Fighting and arguing can't be normal in marriage, if our marriages are supposed to be mirror images of our relationship to Jesus! Living under a yoke of fear and worry can't be normal because the Bible says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind!”

I don't know who I'm talking to, but somebody is making up your mind right now, that the devil has pushed you around long enough, and now you're the one who's going to do the pushing.

I hear the spirit saying, “Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

I began writing today with this word in my spirit, God told me to prophesy and tell His people, “It’s not over, it’s not ending, it’s not finished, it’s only the beginning – when God is in it, all things are new!”

God said that he is getting ready to put a period at the end of a long hard battle.  He said to tell you to quit looking for those old familiar enemies, because you're not going to see them anymore.  

He's drowning your enemies.

• Sickness and disease are going down.

• Addictions and bondages are going down.

• Depression is going down.

• Poverty and lack is going down.

• Marriage problems are going down.

• Worry and stress are going down.

You might be asking yourself, ”What do I have to do?”

Here's what God says for you to do…

“Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord that He will show you today, for the Egyptians which you have seen today you shall see them again no more forever.”

In other words, God is saying, just stand over there and watch me work, and while you're praising me, I'll take care of business.

The more you praise Him the bigger he gets.

There are some things God expects us to do and requires us to do. He requires us to read his word and learn his will. He requires us to believe His Word and confess His Word as truth.  But when you have done everything you can do, when you prayed, you fasted, you confess the word, you rebuke the devil, you plead the blood, and you shout the name of Jesus, and then you stand!

That’s when Jesus says, ‘I'll take it from here! You stretch out the rod, I'll divide the Red Sea. You walk around the walls and shout, I'll knock them down. You stand on my words, I'll rebuke the cancer. You prophesy to the wind, I'll make the dry bones live again. You surrender to my will, I’ll break the yoke of addiction. You sow your seed, I'll bring the harvest. You stand still and praise me, I'll lose your chains and open the prison doors.”

Today is your day to look from the shore and see your enemy removed from your life forever!

The Chain Breaker

Isaiah 61:1

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”

There are many kinds of captivities, various types of chains that hold people in their grip, people are bound by many prison, but there is one God who can break them all – His name is Jesus!

There is spiritual captivity, emotional captivity, and mental captivity. There is the bondage of addictions, lust, and various other evil desires that hold millions of lives in chains. There is the prison of sickness and disease, poverty and lack, and the prison of fear.

According to the Word of God, Jesus came to set the captives free!

Luke 4:18

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”

Acts 10:38

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”

Psalm 107:20

“He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from all their destructions”

Today, the Spirit of God is upon me, and he has anointed me to give you a word that has the power to set you free in every area of your life! I have been anointed today to proclaim to you the good news that Jesus saves, delivers, and heals!

The same spirit, the same Holy Ghost anointing and power that was upon Jesus, to preach deliverance to the captives lives in me! There is no captivity, there are no chains, there is no bondage or prison that cannot be broken in the mighty name of Jesus!

I talk to people all the time about their chains, the things that have them bound; things that they just can’t seem to break free from. I always ask them the same thing: Do you want to be free? Just like Jesus asked the man on the porch, “Do you want to be healed?”

It’s that simple, Jesus is waiting for you to turn your situation over to Him. “Well preacher,” they say, “That’s easy for you to say, you don’t know what it’s like to be in my shoes.”

Yes, I do! I was addicted to drugs and alcohol for years, and He Jesus delivered me! I smoked two packs a day, Jesus set me free! I serve a Jesus that healed me from cancer. Jesus has the power to deliver! And I refuse to accept your weak understanding of my Jesus!

Don’t talk to me about a Jesus that can save your soul from hell, but can’t deliver you from nicotine, alcohol, or drugs! Don’t talk to me about blood that was shed on a cross to redeem your soul, but can’t heal your wounded heart, and deliver you from bitterness, and rejection!

I am not going to listen to a testimony about a Jesus who can save your soul, but can’t deliver your mind from the tormenting power of the enemy! Because I serve a Jesus that breaks every chain, destroys every captivity, opens every prison door, and lays my enemies at my feet! That’s the Jesus I want you to see today!

The God of the bible, His name is Jesus, He not only saves, but He delivers and Heals!

I don’t know what your captivity is, but I have a personal relationship with Jesus, and I know from experience that He can set you free!

He delivered Daniel from lions, and the Hebrew children from a fiery furnace. He gave David the strength to kill a bear, a lion, and a giant named Goliath. He opened the prison doors and Peter walked out. He gave Paul and Silas the courage to praise him after being beaten and thrown in a dungeon – and they walked out free men.

He made the lame walk, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead – and He did these things many times, in front of many witnesses – leaving no doubt that Jesus is the God that delivers!

On the day of Pentecost, His Spirit blew into a room filled with 120 men and women with the Holy Ghost and with power! We can instantly see the transformational power of the Holy Ghost when Peter, a man who had just a short time before, denied that he even knew Jesus to save his own bacon, got up and preached to all who were in Jerusalem and 3,000 repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus!

The same God that saves, will fill you with the Holy Ghost, and give you the power to be delivered from your chains!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!

If he could deliver the demoniac and set him free, he can deliver you!

I came to proclaim good news to those who are captive today: I don’t care what you are going through, Jesus can deliver you. He set me free from alcohol and drug addiction, he broke the chains off my life when I surrendered to His love and power. Jesus saved me, He healed me, and He filled me with the Holy Ghost. 

I know there are many kinds of chains, but I also know the “Chain Breaker!”

Personal Prayer and Personal Repentance, Lead to Personal Revival and Personal Power

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 37

You hear a lot of talk amongst believers about the ‘Body of Christ,’ and rightly so, but I want to remind you today that the ‘Body of Christ’ is made up of many parts and all of them must function properly for the body to work the way it was created.  Just like the human body has many bones, muscles, limbs, and organs to cause it to function properly, but if disease overtakes one part of the body, the rest of the body is weakened. 

Just like a wall has many stones to give it support, but if all the stones are not properly maintained, and a few of the stones begin to fall apart, it weakens the wall. And an army has many soldiers that give it strength to overcome its enemies, but if some of the soldiers decide they are going to stop resisting, the rest of the army is put at risk of defeat. The point I’m making is basic: The Church, the ‘Body of Christ,’ can only be revived as each of its members are revived.

There is no doubt that in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel that God is asking the prophet if revival is possible.  ‘Can life be restored to a bunch of dry bones?  Can dead hearts come alive?  And the answer is clear: Yes, but only if the blowing of the breath of God, the power of the Holy Ghost is reintroduced into their body.  And when this happens a great and mighty army arises from the ashes of despair, as each member of the body begins to lay hold of victory.

I believe there is a spirit of Revival on the horizon for many in the ‘Body of Christ.’ I believe the wind of God, the breath of God, the Holy Ghost is getting ready to move again just as he did on the day of Pentecost, and revival is coming to Church of Jesus Christ, I believe it and I prophesy it to you now.  I can already see it in the lives of the members of my home church as we are experiencing a great move of God’s Spirit and I believe it is going to spread.

I believe God is raising up an army of blood bought, Holy Spirit filled, fire baptized, Bible thumping, pew jumping, Isle running, tongue talking, sin hating, Jesus loving, members of His body that are going to invade and overthrow Satan’s strongholds.

But even though an army is many soldiers, a wall is many stones, and the body is made up of many members and many bones.  Revival must be personal.  Before there was an army in Ezekiel 37, there was just a valley of many dry bones, some leg bones, some arm bones, some neck bones, and some toes and fingers, all it was in the beginning of the prophet’s vision was a boneyard.  It was a cemetery where shattered dreams and hope had been buried.

The point I’m trying to make is that every bone needed a personal revival.  The breath of God, the fire of God, and the power of God had to get inside of every one of those bones, and as it did every single one of those bones began to shake and move.

We have come together with the desire to experience a divine visitation, a revival, but the only way to have revival in the ‘Body of Christ, is for each individual member to experience the power of God and begin to move under the direction of the Holy Ghost.  Each of us must experience a revival.

Every bone must commit to the process and the product of personal revival.  The wall is only as alive as the living stones that make up the wall are alive.  The church is only as alive as the individual members that make up the body are alive.  We must commit ourselves personally to the process of revival.

Remember the words of this old song, “It’s not my brothers, nor my sisters but it’s me O Lord standing in the need of Prayer”

We can all come together, we can shout and praise God, and we can experience the fire of God, but when each individual bone begins to catch fire, we will take it beyond the four walls of the church house and carry it with us everywhere we go.

True biblical revival is more than the Holy Spirit coming into a service here and there and giving you a spiritual jump start, revival is not a “5 Hour” Holy Ghost energy shot, true revival is getting back to the foundation of our faith and it begins with repentance.  Let me say this boldly, you can measure the success of a revival by the genuineness and the depth of the repentance of the individual.

A.W. Tozor said: “The blessings follow the plow.”

In other words, Gods blessings come where the word of God is allowed to deeply penetrate the heart, and to plow up the soil, and root out that which is offensive to the Holy Spirit. Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord until He come and rains righteousness upon you.

John the Baptist’s message was, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Jesus’ message was, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

The message of the Apostles was, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

“Refreshing,” the revival of the Holy Ghost always follows repentance!

2 Chronicles 7:14

“If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

The first step to personal Revival is to humble ourselves and pray.  One of the greatest sins of the church today is the sin of prayerlessness.  We have all seen on the evening news that California has been in a severe drought for several years, but the worst drought in America, one you unfortunately won’t be hearing about on the news, is the drought in the church for tears of repentance, it is the drought of dry eyes.

I am not surprised at the lack of power in the church in America, because a prayer less church is a powerless church.

The internal combustion engine is powered by fuel.

The steam engine is powered by steam.

An electric motor is powered by electricity.

And the church is powered by prayer.

In many churches today, the only prayer you ever hear is a short opening prayer and a short dismissal prayer, but God said, “My house shall be called of all nations, a house of prayer.”

It seems like in many of our churches today they do everything except pray.  They have eating meetings, dramas and plays, seminars, and hold ‘singspirations,’ it seems the church has time for everything but prayer. And they wonder why they don’t see revival: Why they don’t have power over sickness? Why they don’t have power over the devil? Why aren’t people getting saved and delivered? Why aren’t people getting filled with the Holy Ghost? I can tell you why, God doesn’t recognize your voice because you never call unless you need something!

If we want God to send the fire, then just like Elijah on Mt Carmel we must build the altar and we must pour water on the sacrifice.  Because it’s still true: The fire will fall when the wood is wet.  The Power of God only comes on those who pray!  Prayer less saints are Powerless saints!

It was as 120 waited and prayed in the upper room that heaven opened and fire fell upon every head. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and power and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Every Head got a Flame, every dry bone was made alive, and personal power accompanied personal revival.

It’s time for a personal prayer, and personal repentance, that lead to personal revival and personal power.

Anointed or Disappointed

Scripture reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Ezekiel was a very unpopular prophet when he first started his ministry.  He had been prophesying to the children of Israel for years that the sins of Israel were going to cause the fall of Jerusalem.  It was a message that didn’t tickle their ears, so they chose not to heed the warnings that He gave them.  Many of his contemporaries, who were proven to be false prophets, proclaimed positive, feel good messages, but Ezekiel continued to proclaim the truth of God and eventually his prophecies came to fruition.

Now as we find Israel captive, Jerusalem in rubble, we see God giving Ezekiel a new message, a message of hope in a valley of dry bones.  The man of God is surrounded by death, hopelessness, and despair. As far as his eye can see there is only brokenness emptiness, despair, and death. The valley that he is standing in, is the valley of death.

Today, especially here in the United states, many in the church are discovering that they are in a valley of death much like the one in Ezekiel’s vision. Ministries have died here, hope for healing has died here, marriages have died here, dreams have died here, and hope for a better tomorrow has died here.  The smell of the corpses is in the air, there is not one drop of blood or moisture anywhere because the altar has been torn down.  There is nothing, not even a hint that their situation could change.

But don’t you know that the God we serve loves impossible situations?  Why?  Because when the impossible becomes a reality, He gets all the glory! I want to tell somebody today who is facing an impossible situation:  God can turn it around!  It doesn't matter how impossible it looks, you just need to look at that mountain or look at the valley of dry bones and start speaking, “thus saith the Lord.”

The key to everything is in v. 9: it is the wind.  The wind represents the Spirit of God being placed back into their hopeless situation. In v. 14 God says He will put his spirit back into their dead bodies and they will live again.  Without the operation and activity of the Holy Spirit’s power instead of a mighty army all that would have been there was a valley full of dead bodies with no power and no life.

The bones were connected and muscles, ligaments, sinews and skin were restored to them, but there was still no life in them.  There was no power in them until the wind began to blow.  When the wind began to blow everything changed.  When the wind began to blow power and life came.  As the breath of God filled them the valley of dead corpses became a mighty army of God.

The breath of God, the wind in Ezekiel’s vision, is the same wind that flooded the place where Jesus’ followers were gathered on the day of Pentecost, the same breath that filled the bodies of 120 men and women with the supernatural life of God.

One of the most important lessons we learn from Ezekiel 37 is that as far as God is concerned, if you leave the Holy Spirit out of the equation you have nothing.  Without the activity and operation of the Holy Spirits power instead of a mighty army of warriors’ ready for battle all we would have seen was a valley full of dead bodies.

We can put it together, we can dress the way that God expects, we can put on great Sunday School lessons, we can sing the right worship songs, we can preach all the feel-good sermons you can imagine, but if we don't have the life giving anointing that comes from the presence and the power of the Holy Ghost we have nothing.

Without the Holy Spirit's power, it doesn’t matter how many people are sitting in the pews of our church, it doesn’t matter how big our offerings are, or how big of a following we have, our church is dead, it's worthless, it's powerless, and it's impotent.  Without the Holy Spirit's power and presence and operation, all of our activity is dead and all death can birth is more death.  Dead preaching kills, dead teaching kills, and dead singing kills.  Only the Anointing of the Holy Spirit can produce life.

Just as the body without blood is dead, the church is dead without the presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Dead means void of the presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. Death is incapable of producing life.  It is powerless to lift, powerless to heal, and powerless to deliver anyone from the chains of sin.

We see here in Ezekiel’s vision that one of the first things that must happen is a divine connection.  We must find our divine connections. God’s children don't fit everywhere with everybody.  One of the biggest hindrances to gaining the power and anointing that God wants for us, is wrong connections.  

Flesh connections, connections and relationships that are birthed by fleshly lusts, wants, and desires. 

You cannot have fellowship with the world, and with the Savior of the world at the same time. You cannot win the lost by becoming lost yourself. No matter how well-intentioned you are, my grandmother was right (she was always right), bad company corrupts good moral. You will never have the full potential of God’s power in your life until you have broken your flesh connections.

Flesh connections war against the will and the Spirit of God.  Abraham had a great promise and destiny, but it could not come to pass until he cut off his flesh connection with lot.  Flesh connections will always war for first place in your life, they will always war against the Spirit.

Divine connections will always feed into your anointing and your destiny.  They will always strengthen your faith in God. If you have fleshly connections, get rid of them, cut them off before they destroy you, your family, and your ministry.

Now in the valley the bones are connected to their right bones and then muscles and flesh and skin come upon them, but they are still dead.  Why?  Because the Word alone is not enough.  Yes, the Word will put meat on your bones, yes the Word of God will fatten you up.  But without the anointing the bones are still dead.  The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.  It doesn't matter how much Hebrew and Greek you have studied or how many verses of the Bible you have memorized, what matters most is that you have the Holy Spirit.

The bones were placed in order, all the components were there, on the surface everything appeared good, but they were still dead.  The Holy Spirit is the life source and the life force of the church.  The Holy Ghost is not an optional accessory like power seats or power windows, or heated mirrors. The Holy Spirit is a necessity, in fact the Holy Spirit is a command.

Acts 1:4-5

“4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with[b] water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

We need to understand that we have a very real adversary who is bent on destroying us.  The one who gives you power over the devil is the Holy Spirit.  The name of Jesus gives us authority to exercise that power.  Every believer has the right to the use of the name of Jesus to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit, but if you do not have the Holy Ghost, you don't have power.  You're like a security guard with a badge but no gun.

The church that rejects the Holy Spirit and all His manifestations and operations will experience death.  Their building may be beautiful, their message may sound good, they may have a large congregation, and the services may be impressive, but without the Holy Spirit, it is dead. Life in the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, or death in a valley of dry bones: It’s a choice we must make, anointed or disappointed!

The Church can survive without a lot of things: we can live without stained glass windows, we can live without padded pews, we can live without great talent, and we can even survive without central heating and air conditioning, but we cannot live without the breath of life.  We cannot live without the power of the Holy Ghost!

You Shall Be Witnesses!

It doesn’t matter how “good” you think you are, how much time you invest in your community, or how much money you give to charity, you’re not getting into to heaven unless you are born again!  Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that unless a man is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Acts 2:37-38

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Following Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, they believed his words, that God had made Jesus whom they had crucified both Lord and Christ, they believed and were convicted, and asked: What must we do? Peter gives them a very clear answer: Repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus, and receive the Holy Ghost.

Many Christians begin the process, but never complete it. They live powerless lives, constantly struggling with the same weak and defeated existence. Never overcoming their temptations, they constantly struggle with the same sins, year in, and year out. Their life is weakened by sin, and their witness for Christ, well it is non-existent. Because they never seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Jesus believed the Baptism of the Holy Ghost to be so important that he commanded his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they had received it. (Acts 1:8)

Acts 2:1

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Why is this Holy Ghost so important?  Because the Holy Ghost is the power of God, filling the human vessel with the very presence of the indwelling Spirit of Jesus, allowing us to live lives that reflect His image (Romans 8:29). The only way we can become His witnesses, and advance the Kingdom of God, in through that indwelling presence.  The Holy Ghost is God’s supernatural way of equipping us to fulfill the great commission and to carry on the ministry of Jesus.

What was the ministry of Jesus?  “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.  He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the captive free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’” (Luke 4:14-19)

Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, to comfort the sick, to reach out to those in need, establish the Kingdom of God and to destroy the works of Satan.

I John 3:8 – “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Jesus ministry has never changed and we have been commissioned and anointed to continue his ministry in the earth.  If you read the book of Acts you will discover that is an account of the NT church in her infancy, it is the record of how the Holy Ghost operates through yielded vessels.  The book of Acts is the pattern for the church.

Mark 16:17-18 - And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost are the defining characteristics of the NT church. To put it more simply, the Church acted just like Jesus; they healed the sick, they cast out devils, and they performed signs and wonders. How?  Through the Power of the Holy Spirit!

There are a lot of things that are lacking in our lives today, but of all the things that we need, it is a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit!  We need an invasion of the Holy Ghost!  We need God to storm our services, we need a divine interruption to “our” agendas, and we need the Holy Ghost to show up like He did on the day of Pentecost and fill God’s people with power from above, power to be His witnesses!  We need a sudden, undeniable, supernatural stirring of the Holy Ghost! 

We need to pray like they did in acts 4:29-31, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.  And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

Come on Lord, stir us up!  We need an invasion of your Holy Ghost today!  Something that originates from heaven, something that will shake us up, something that will wake us up, something that will stir us up, and set us on fire! 

We need a divine interruption!

You can be saved right now, you can be set free right now, you can be healed right now, you can be delivered right now, and you can get your miracle, or your breakthrough right now!  Everything you need is a breath of God away, but it can only come to you through the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost.

I started with Paul’s words to Timothy, but he might as well been speaking to us.  If there’s one thing we’re missing in many of our lives today, it is the vitality, the life, the fire, the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

We can look at the world, we can try and blame the government, we can claim religious persecution or the atmosphere of our society, but the truth is that we have no one to blame but ourselves.  We are the keepers of our flame.  Every person is responsible to stir up the gift, the flame that is in them and it is our job to keep the fire burning.  We have to stir up the gift!

There is an anointing in you, a fire in you, it may be low, and it may seem like just a flicker, you may think it has gone out, but if you’ll begin to stir the embers a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit will begin to blow again and the fire will burn.

We can’t afford to let the fire go out, it’s too close to midnight, too close to the end and the bridegroom is drawing closer.  There are people who are falling asleep all around us, still singing the same songs, still saying amen and hallelujah, but the fire has gone out!  It’s time for us to stir up the gift that is in us, time to wake up our calling, time to wake up our destiny, to stir up that anointing and wake up that fire!

I’ve worked on some pretty high-performance engines in my secular job, some that give you goose bumps just listening to the sound of them roar and you can tell that their power is intimidating to every other car on the road, but one thing is true about every one of them; if the battery is dead, you’re dead in the water.

It doesn’t matter how much destiny is in you, or how many gifts or callings are in you, unless they are activated by the Holy Spirit, they’re dead.

I doesn’t matter how many God given dreams you have, or how many prophecies you have been spoken over your life, they are not going to come to fruition without the stirring of the Holy Ghost.  When we allow the fire to be stirred in us, we can activate the flame in others and then we become a threat to hell.