I heard one of the best descriptions of revival from John Arnott, Pastor of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship when he visited IHOP on December 8, 2009. He was invited by Mike Bickle to share his experiences in revival and impart wisdom. His church experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that started in the 90’s and went on for 12 years. He and his wife and church leaders have seen much in that time and came to offer us guidance on how to steward the Student Awakening going on presently at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO. John made a statement that caught my attention. He said that revival “is the life of the Father on His people.” As he said this I felt the power of God come upon me. It’s as if the Heavens opened above me. I clearly felt God’s love for us [his people] and I began to weep. I cannot do justice in explaining what happened to me or what I felt but it overwhelmed me in an instant. I felt so much love for God at that moment that all I could do was love Him back, worship Him and give Him thanks for the opportunity to experience His love. I felt privileged – if I could say that – that he would choose to love such a person like me. I felt the warmth of His presence and it was wonderful. How do I know I was touched by God’s presence Answer: Because the outcome of that experience drew me closer to Jesus, not to myself or any one else. That experience opened my heart to 1) understand by personal revelation that He truly loves me (in case there were doubts before); 2) it energized me to love him more deeply, and 3) it brought a peace into my heart. Lastly, I can say that it moved me to prayer for lost ones who have no idea what that kind of experience does to a person. I prayed for those I knew to be indifferent and unconcerned about God in their lives. Of course, I pray for them all the times, but experiencing God’s love makes you more in tuned to His desires for creation and His yearnings for man to join His family and be with him forever. Oh that we would give the God of creation half a minute to experience His presence and see for ourselves that He is and He loves us truly.

 The New Testament is full of amazing yet mysterious events and phenomenon that took place after the death and resurrection of Jesus. One of them, recorded in the Book of Acts, is an unusual yet significant event that changed the course of history. It was the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. In the gospel of St. John, chapter 14:15-27, Jesus said he would ask the Father to give the disciples another “counselor” (Comforter) to be with them forever. That comforter is the Holy Spirit also known as the Spirit of Truth who would teach them and remind them of the things Jesus spoke about.

Acts 2:1 says that “When the day of Pentecost (Jewish festival of Shavuot) had come, they were all together in one place.” The question is who came together and in what place on Pentecost? Well, as we look at the original Greek text we find that “they” refers to the disciples that Jesus appeared to in person after his resurrection. We find proof of this in Acts 1:2-7. Jesus, before leaving the earth, gave instructions to the apostles that they were to wait in Jerusalem for the “Gift” that was promised by the Father. (John 14:25). The promise of the Father was not intended for the world but specifically for those men and women who love Jesus and obey his commands (John 14:15) and to none other. Jesus was letting them know the Father would give the gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and the disciples who followed after him wholeheartedly. The original Greek phrase “they were all together in one place” does not indicate there was a physical place but we can assume they met somewhere. The original Greek word implies place but actually means they were agreed or in the same place of agreement. They were united in spirit and in completely agreed, not divided, in terms of what they were to do as the remaining followers of Jesus. Each were not doing his own thing but were in agreement in following what Jesus commanded them to do. So they waited as a small group as if “one,” or in one heart, believing for what the Father promised them would come. They were in agreement in all things they did because they were not living for themselves but were living for Christ and as Paul later speaks of, they died to themselves to live for Christ. (Acts 17:28, Rom 14:7, Phil 1:21, Gal 2:20)

Thank God for the Holy Spirit! What an amazing promise and gift the Father has given to those who love Jesus and follow him. This promise is meant for you and me today when we accept Jesus Christ and love and obey him in righteousness with all our heart.

These were Jesus’ instructions to the believers recorded by Mark. They were to preach the gospel, make converts and demonstrate the power of God through faith and the Word of God. And those who believed the message unto salvation and were truly converted would bear the mark of signs following their lives. Signs like those listed here.

It amazes me how God’s word is true and unchanging. Even today I am witness to the fact that these signs to accompany those who believe in JEsus and the good news of the gospel. Over and over again I have seen true Christians walking out these signs in laying hands on the sick and watching them recover. I have seen young and old call on the name of Jesus to cast out demonic spirit that were tormenting the weak. I have seen many call on the name of Jesus and he delivered them of affliction, torment and destruction. Jesus would not leave us instructions to fail, rather he left us instruction to follow and be successful in the process.

These signs were a part of normal life for the believers in the early church. They are the same signs that are to follow true believers in Christ Jesus today. There is no time indicator on God’s word. It has maintained the same life and power from the beginning which is why some, like myself, have seen and continue to see these signs manifesting. So if these signs are supposed to be part of the normal Christian life, why are we not seeing more of them on the earth today? Why are we not walking in the demonstration of power that St. Paul walked in. These signs were evident in his life and in the life of the apostles and disciples that followed. If the church walked in these signs today with conviction, power and unity of spirit, what would the earth look like today?

At home with family, Christmas used to be about family coming together, midnight mass, and celebrating the birth of Jesus. There was a closer family tie and it centered around our Catholic beliefs in Jesus’ birth as Savior of the world. Christmas carols and Christian hyms were a big part of our Christmas as was midnight mass followed by a big meal and opening presents. Life centered around mom and she made sure we respected God by going to midnight mass in honor of Jesus’ birth.  We may not have been strong on the doctrinal side of things but we were sure harcore about our Christmas celebrations and honoring Jesus birth. That much we had down pat.

Today, mom is gone and half the family comes together for the usual celebratory festivals like Christmas. For the last couple of years, however, during Christmas season my family is stressed out, working late hours and hardly coming together in a spirit of unity .Oh and forget the Christmas carols, who has time for that. Jesus is left out of our conversations and the bearded man in the red suit is now the constant topic of conversation AND exaltation…and he’s not even real, go figure!

We’ve strayed  from the real meaning of Christmas. And why?

Our civil laws dictate if and how we celebrate Christmas, and depending on which jurisdiction you live under,  you could find yourself being penalizedd for not obliging or offending someone’s civil liberties.

Our culture dictates is what is acceptable in celebrating Christmas. We can’t go outside the realm of fantasy and say that Christmas is really about Jesus. To do so would be to mount a war against Santa and his reindeer and we just can’t let him be upstaged with the likes of a man who died a criminal’s death.

Our families dictate how we celebrate Christmas as long as it doesn’t break “tradition.” Christmas has to be just so in some families and there is no room for deviation. The family becomes the focal point of Christmas, which really isn’t all that bad but in the case of my family it was bad. Family was everything to mom so she gathered her chicks to the coop every Christmas (gee, how sweet!) but family is not family when half of them are not talking to each other! Hello? That is not celebrating Christmas!

Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God who came into the world to save us. SAve us from what? Our sin. That simple. It’s about a man called Jesus who was inactuality God. Oh yes, that’s right. God came into the world as the man Christ Jesus so thathe could undo the damage we did in Adam and make things right as He originally intended. God’s plan in Jesus was to restore things back to the way He intended them to be: God and man in unity and in communion. God wanted a family and he almost had it until Adam screwed up and bought into a lie that has cost all of us a horrible separation from union with God  Well, Jesus came to restore all that and make things right, i.e. into righteousness. If it weren’t for Jesus life and death adn resurrection we would all be bound for eternal separation and damnation. We owe him a debt of gratitude. PErhaps that’s what the early church Father’s had in mind when they instituted a day of celebration in honor of the One who made it possible with his life for us to finally enter into peace and rest in communion with the Father of Heaven. That man is Jesus. It’s no small thing when you give your life for someone else, and that’s what Jesus did. He’s worthy of our honoring him and not just one day out of the year, but everyday.

The meaning of Christmas has to do with us in this generation honoring Christ Jesus in the way we live – in giving, in loving, in helping, in honoring and esteeming others less fortunate then ourselves. It’s about walking in the steps of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus whichhe bid us to do.  The way the world sees Jesus is through his family – the church and it is up to us to keep the focus of Christmas on Jesus and not on every other things that the world says Christmas is about.

Yes, I complain about Jingle Bells, Santa and his crazy reindeer and all the stuff that goes with the commercialization of Christmas because that’s not what celebrating Christmas was intended to be. Oftentimes, I hear no mention of Jesus in our Christmas celebrations and it saddens me that we so quickly forget the real reason for the season. We’ve strayed quite far from the real meaning of Christmas but it’s not too late to recapture that truth and begin to walk in it.

Make Christmas real this year. Love someone that doesn’t know how to love; give to someone who can’t pay you back; help someone who can’t help themselves and honor someone who is overdue the honor and esteem. That’s what Jesus would do.

To her family, Tammy is worthless and good for nothing but in God’s eyes she is beautiful and worthy of living  life abundantly – to the fullest. God though Tammy special enough to shed his blood for her, to give His life in place of her so she could have life with God. Tammy rededicated her life to the Lord.  God answered her prayer but not in the way she thought He was going to answer it. All I know is that God does hear the cry of the desperate who are willing to come to him not on their own merit, but in brokenness. God loves to restore that which was broken with new life. God does respond to prayer and the evidence of that in Tammy’s case is her new disposition on life and her disinterest in the past and in wanting to kill herself. Now she wants to live. Only God can heal a broken heart that wants to give up. That’s Tammy today.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God Himself. He was released upon the Church of Jesus Christ after Jesus ascended into Heaven. In John chapter 14, Jesus speaks to the disciples about the Holy Spirit being sent by the Father in Heaven to be a “helper” to all believers . The early church understood the role of the Holy Spirit as the one who would teach, guide, help and comfort the believers of Jesus Christ and would remind the disciples of all the things Jesus said. He was sent to guide us in all things so when we ask for God’s help the Holy Spirit responds.

In prayer, the Holy Spirit leads us to pray in a supernatural way, meaning in a manner above the normal way we pray. Before I became born again into new life in Jesus Christ I prayed but never felt satisfied that my prayers were doing anything for anyone. My prayers were repititious utterances scripted like formulas to be read and recited according to the specific need. I didn’t have to think about what to pray, someone else did it for me and created a prayer book.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us by the Father to help us in all things, especially prayer. I learned to partner with the Holy Spirit in prayer by trusting His leading when I didn’t know how or what to pray. As I studied the bible and learned the scriptures the Holy Spirit would help me recall what I read and learned about Jesus and the kingdom of God.  I wanted to pray but pray effective, impacting and meaningful prayers and thought this meant making earnest requests from my heart. I was taught by mature believers to pray “according to the will of God,” but didn’t know what that meant. I eventually learned that effective prayer is praying in according to the will of God. It is actually partnering with the Holy Spirit in agreement with God’s Word. I soon found my prayers being laced with the scriptures. I was praying God’s word back to him and prayer started becoming enjoyable and meaningful.  I learned to wait on the Holy Spirit to lead me on what and how to pray. He will help us recall the things Jesus taught and will inspire us to pray in the manner that Jesus prayed – with love and compassion in agreement with God’s word making his requests known to the Father with earnest faith and boldness in the grace of God.  We, too, can pray as Jesus prayed. That is where the help of the Holy Spirit comes in. What a wonderful blessing the Father has given us in the gift of His Holy Spirit so that we can pray and commune with the Father and make a difference in heaven and on earth.

Prayers led by God’s Spirit are

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams.  (New Living Translation)

Then Samuel said, Do you think all God wants are sacrifices – empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. (The Message Bible)

In the Book of 1&2 Samuel we see the story of two kings: Saul and David polar characters serving one God and one nation. Saul was Israel’s first monarch and a great military leader who God raised up to lead Israel after the time of the Judges. Saul and his sons victoriously fought against their enemies with a measure of success but sometimes they failed because of sin and disobedience to the will of God.

Saul was a weak and insecure man who was double-minded, demon oppressed and weak under social pressure. He was bent on destroying his rival David because he had the favor of God and the people – something his jealous heart could not tolerate. God honored Saul as Israel’s first king until rebellion was found in his heart. God is merciful and forgiving when we humble ourselves and confess our sins. (1 John 1:9)  Saul in his pride denied that he was disobedient then made partial confession and refusing to admit his full error because his heart was not surrendered to the Lord. Saul dishonored the Lord by his disobedience in what God asked him to do and because he presumed it okay to take matters into his own hands. Saul’s was not submitted to God’s authority or leadership, nor was he upholding God’s kingdom, but his own. God resists the proud but draws near to the humble. (James 4:6)  Saul wanted to do things on his terms so thinking that the sacrifice he presented to the Lord was acceptable despite his rebellion against the instructions he was given by Samuel the prophet. This cost him his kingdom, his family, and his legacy as Israel’s first monarch. God withdrew His presence from Saul and tore the honor, power, authority and dignity of his reign away from him and gave it to another more worthy than he. That other was David, and Saul knew it.

Saul’s reign was marked by faulty leadership, impetuous actions and rash decisions that affected the morale of the people and the military forces, and unnecessarily cost lives, resources, energy and time which could have been used wisely in Israel’s interest.

This seems like a gloomy picture of Israel’s first king but compared to Israel’s king David’s, it is.  The author of Samuel 1&2 wanted to convey the story of two kings who served one nation and one God, and how they responded to Him, and how God responded to them respectively, according to their hearts.

Saul’s heart stands in stark contrast to David’s in that he was not after God’s heart, but his own. He acknowledged God existed and was sovereign but his person was not given over to follow wholeheartedly after God’s will and His purposes. Saul was his own person despite God. That is the difference between Saul and David and I believe the author of 1 Samuel wanted us to see understand the contrast of a life given to God and a life in rebellion toward God so that we can make the choice for ourselves who we will follow and who are hearts will be given to –God or ourselves.

As the story goes, in 1 Samuel chapter 25, David sent his servant to call upon a certain man named Nabal during a time of festival. Nabal was a wealthy man who possessed much resource but had a reputation for being mean and of bad character, and his wife, Abigail, was beautiful and intelligent . Nabal foolishly insulted David’s men and in contempt sent them away empty-handed despite that David’s men had freely protected his herds from marauders not taking advantage of the man’s herds or servants. The news angers David who impetuously mounts an army to retaliate against Nabal. David rushes to war seeking to avenge himself for Nabal’s contempt and scorning when on en route he encounters Abigail and her servants. Abigail comes bearing gifts and in humility throws herself before David and begins to intercede asking for forgiveness for the wickedness of Nabal and beseeching his mercy. She makes no excuses for Nabal’s transgression but instead numbers herself with his sin and does “identificational repentance” for her household and ask for forgiveness even for Nabal. Abigail stood in the gap for her people hoping to avert a disastrous consequence of Nabal’s sin. She pleads to David to not sin but to honor God and not stain his hands with innocent blood. She then begins to prophesy of his kingdom and reign as the Lord’s anointed. David is quickened from his raging stupor through her humble pleas remembering his divine destiny as king and God’s mercy upon his own life. David having known God’s mercy and forgiveness hears Abigail’s humble pleas for mercy and realizes that He was about to make a big mistake in taking vengeance upon himself instead of waiting for God to avenge him.

David was moved by her reverence for God, the beauty of her humility and brokenness when interceding for the innocent of her household , and her willingness to let the wrongdoing be placed on her account. David could not but melt under the power of God’s grace on her intercession. David awakens from his raging stupor upon hearing the woman’s earnest pleas and is reminded his prophetic destiny and of God’s mercy and forgiveness. He gratefully thanks her for her intercession which stopped him from taking vengeance in his own hands instead of waiting on God to avenge him. Moved by the pleas of this beautiful woman David graciously grants her request for mercy and withdraws his judgment against Nabal and his household. He accepts her gifts and send her away in peace. What a picture of God and his response to his people who intercede on behalf of the ungodly who truly merit judgment instead of mercy.

The role of an intercessor is to stand in the gap between man and God and to petition and supplicate the Lord for his mercy that lives would be spared unto eternal salvation.  Abigail inspires us to be that intercessor that stands before the great God of heaven whose kindness has been spurned by sinful mankind. We are like Abigail; we are intercessors who give their lives to prayer and fasting, supplicating and petitioning God in order to stay his hand from releasing eternal condemnation on those who stand a chance to be saved. The prayers of an intercessor can powerfully avert judgment and make peace and bring about good as Abigail’s intercession did for her household. 

Another wonderful part of the story is that in the end, God avenged David and Nabal died. David remembered Abigail and took her for His bride and brought her into his kingdom. What a wonderful prophetic picture of the end-time marriage of the lamb to His Bride.