FIVE KEY STRATEGIES FOR REVIVALISTS Carrying God’s revival fire comes with a price - you SHALL be misunderstood, your motives SHALL be questioned, your reputation SHALL be shredded. I guarantee it. I am sharing 5 scriptures for a 5-pronged strategy of Heaven to keep revivalists pure in heart and on fire, and then I’m going to comment a little, from my own experience, at the end. Read the whole context of these passages, because you will see why purity in heart links to JUMPING FOR JOY, FORGIVING, PRAYING FOR THEM, SPEAKING GOOD TO THEM, and LOVING ONE ANOTHER UNCONDITIONALLY: 1. JUMP FOR JOY – Matthew 5.1 Then, seeing the crowds, he went up a mountain, and when he was in position, his disciplined ones came to him, 5.2 and he opened his mouth, and he taught them - 5.3 “Happy are the beggars in spirit, because Heavens’ kingdom and dominion and government is theirs. 5.4 Happy are those who mourn, because they shall be comforted. 5.5 Happy are the meek, because they shall inherit the Earth. 5.6 Happy are those who are craving and thirsting after justice and right standing, because they shall be filled. 5.7 Happy are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy. 5.8 Happy are the pure in heart, because they shall see God. 5.9 Happy are the peace-doers, because they shall be summoned and designated the sons of God. 5.10 Happy are those who are persecuted for justice and right standing, because Heavens’ kingdom and dominion and government is theirs. 5.11 Happy are you, when they defame and persecute, and they say all types of evil against you falsely, for me. 5.12 Be happy, and jump for joy, because your reward in the Heavens is great, because that is how they persecuted the revelators who were before you. 5.13 “You are the salt of the Earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how will it be salted? From now on, it is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by people. 5.14 You are the light of the world. A city that lies on a hill cannot be hidden. 5.15 Nobody lights a candle and puts it under a container, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to everybody in the house. 5.16 Let your light so shine before people, so they see your good deeds, and they glorify your Father who is in the Heavens. 2. FORGIVE - Matthew 6.9 “So, pray according to this way - “Our Father, who is in the Heavens, your name is set-apart. 6.10 Your kingdom and dominion and government, come! Your purpose shall happen as in the Heavens and on Earth. 6.11 Give us our necessary bread, each day, 6.12 and forgive us our debts as we forgive those who owe us, 6.13 and do not lead us into a trial, but rush us away from the evil one, because the kingdom and dominion and government and the miracle power and the glory are yours, into the eternity. Amen 1,” 6.14 because if you forgive people their wrongdoings, your heavenly Father will forgive you too, 6.15 but if you do not forgive people their wrongdoings, your Father shall not forgive your wrongdoings either. 3. PRAY FOR THEM – Matthew 5.43 “You have heard it said, “Love your neighbor unconditionally, and love your enemy less,” 5.44 but I am telling you, love your enemies unconditionally. Be happy with those who curse you. Do good to those who love you less, and pray for those who insult you and persecute you, 5.45 so you become the sons of your Father who is in Heavens, because he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, 5.46 because if you love unconditionally those who love you unconditionally, what reward do you have? And do the tax collectors not do that? 5.47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more are you doing? And do the tax collectors not do that? 5.48 So, be complete and whole, even as your Father who is in the Heavens is complete and whole. 4. SPEAK GOOD TO THEM – Luke 6.28 Speak goodness to those who curse you and pray for those who despise you, 5. LOVE ONE ANOTHER UNCONDITIONALLY – John 15.17 “This is what I order you - love one another unconditionally. 15.18 If the world hates you, you know intimately it hated me before it hated you. 15.19 If you were from the world, the world would love its own, but you are not from the world, but I chose you out of the world, so the world loves you less. 15.20 Remember the Word I am telling you. The slave is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too. If they guarded my words, they will guard yours too, 15.21 but they will do all these things to you through my name, because they do not see him who sent me. 15.22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had missing the mark, but now they have no cloak for their missing the mark. Is your reputation getting shredded? Are you encountering opposition that will not openly attack but operates in the shadows? Excellent news! This means A) you are a real threat to the enemy, and you carry the Good Message (evangellion, what we call the Gospel) and B) you will shortly be DEAD to man’s opinion of you. Rejoice! Great is your reward in Heaven. But this opposition will become a snare to you and impede you ONLY if you accept the wounds and allow resentment to make you bitter. So, follow the words of Jesus, and JUMP FOR JOY, FORGIVE, PRAY for and BLESS those who are persecuting you, and LOVE ONE ANOTHER UNCONDITIONALLY. That way, your smile will stay sunny, your heart will stay free, and you will be a TERRIBLE THREAT to EVERY strategy of the enemy. I really don’t believe that revival meetings and healing meetings pose any real long term threat to the enemy, and I don‘t think he is that bothered by them - UNLESS the impact of those meetings spills out into the surrounding region. Because the move the enemy truly fears is across communities where people fully surrender to Jesus, and then you have an ARMY OF PEOPLE JUST LIKE JESUS, an army of people who look and act and think and operate JUST LIKE JESUS. satan is terrified of such an army. And that is TRUE REVIVAL. That is what is just about to break forth, in North America and the British Isles. The men and women called to lead that army are going to get the most unimaginably hostile reception from the religious Christian community, even from Christians who have experienced revival 10, 20 or 30 years back. So I’m talking to you revivalists who God is raising up for this time. You know who you are, and yet what you probably don’t yet know is the nature of the fight you face, or how to successfully wage this kind of war and win. I want to draw on some lessons that I learned, doing selection for the reserve arm of the world’s toughest military unit. When I did 21 SAS selection in the Brecon Beacons, in 1986, the test appeared physical (it was) but the reality of the test was spiritual. Do you stay cracking jokes when you were soaked through, tired, cold and pushed for time? When you reach an RV (checkpoint), do you run into it with energy and enthusiasm, or do you look down and out? You see, the instructors would aim to pull off selection those looking downbeat, but offer some encouragement to those who are upbeat. JOY is really important. And there is a never ending source of joy when you stir yourself up in the Holy Spirit. Loyalty to one another is tremendously important in the SAS. You cannot allow any negativity to impact your relationship with your brothers in arms. The key to everything the SAS walks in is below the radar, lack of visibility, refusal to grandstand, humility, the total rejection of arrogance, recognition of personal weakness, completing the objective no matter the personal cost, and instilling that same determination into those you are leading. When developing a group of people, do not assume all of them will pay the cost. Allow those who are not prepared to pay the cost to walk away. The battle is not for woosies. A tiny number of determined people can achieve far more than a large number of people with mixed levels of determination. When ambushed, run straight at the point of attack and rapidly overwhelm your enemy - you will either die trying, or you will rout them because they least expect you to run INTO the ambush. Fear God alone. Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. So ALWAYS get the heads-up from Jesus before moving into battle. Always know what to expect. Know your enemy. Understand the strategies of satan, so that you are aware of likely methods of attack, so that his strategies do not impede you in completing the objective God has given you. Refuse to be predictable. Who cares if you are thought a maverick? The enemy targets and takes down predictable people. Refuse the comfort zone. Do not be surprised if those living in the comfort zone seem to enjoy an easier life than you - satan leaves them alone, because they are happily distracted by the world’s comforts. Somebody said to me this week, “I want to come prayer walking with you in such-and-such-a-place, but my son plays ball (baseball) 2 nights a week and I play ball 2 nights a week so my time is taken up.” Most people never spend time before the Father in Heaven. But even those who do, often never make it to the next step - visiting the real world where real people live, and listen in the Spirit to the screams of pain that real people are experiencing in the real world where real men live - seeing the volcano pouring out unholy fire and destruction on the world of real people and real families. And the worst of it is, the Christians, many of them, are crowing, “Serves them right. God is judging them.” So let me ask you, which of you went into that living hell on Earth to rescue some people? It is not enough to evangelize your children. It is not enough to live a good life. It is not enough to have a good marriage. None of this is good enough when people are heading rapidly towards an exit called Hell, where people experience eternal torment and destruction. I am so fed up of wishy-washy watered-down weak Christianity that focuses on ourselves and our needs and our blessings - screaming “Me! Me! Me!” I belong to the Lord. Not to me. Jesus I belong to you and to you alone. My life does not belong to me. I have been nailed to a cross with The Anointed One. It is no longer I who am alive, but the Anointed One who is alive in me. The life I now live, I live by trusting in the Son of God who loved me unconditionally and who gave his life for me. And I say, Lord, have your way, have your way in my life, have your way, raise up an army of people who have already counted the cost and who consider themselves dead to this world and its comforts, an army to preach and proclaim and announce your Good Message of rescue, through the blood that you shed when you died for us on the cross. freeedom.info/networks--denominations-and-streams.html
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:42:37 +0000
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