DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT – FRIDAY - A PENTECOSTAL REVIVAL! #2

"There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools as to refuse good bank notes because there are false ones in circulation; and although we see here and there manifestations of what appears to us to be nothing more than mere earthly fire, we none the less prize and value, and seek for the genuine fire which comes from the altar of the Lord." - William Booth.
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When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. -Act 2:1-4. ESV

Yesterday we posed the question... What is a true "Pentecostal" Revival?" And we said that the picture of Acts is often a far cry from what we see in many churches today. We looked at what it is not a Pentecostal revival, and discovered that it is not a revival of programs, a revival of human personalities or a revival of pomp and circumstance. Our understanding of ‘A Pentecostal Revival’ is…

A REVIVAL OF THE POWER OF GOD
They went out in power and turned the world right side up. Jesus having told them… But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8.

I thank the Lord we serve a God of POWER, and not like gods of wood and stone, which have hands but cannot save, ears but cannot hear, eyes but cannot see. Not like the gods of secular humanism, which have no power to transform a person, or lift them out of their sins! Our God is an awesome God! Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, - Psa 62:11.

All else may fail, but the power of God will never fail. Not only does God have power, but He wants that Power to work through us... Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, - Eph 3:20.

One New Year's Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.

Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are "clothed with power" (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas. - Max Lucado.

Why Do We Need Power?
We have been given power to witness and to walk the walk. It does not honour God to hear Christians talking about having the Power of the Holy Spirit, but can't stop their bad habits, can't stop gossiping about their neighbours, can't stop sinning and won't witness for Jesus. If they have they are filled with the Holy Spirit, then there will be enough power to witness, to be obedient, and to live right! A Pentecostal revival is…

A REVIVAL OF HIS PRESENCE
The early believers lived in His presence; they walked in the Spirit... And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. - John 14:16-17.

The Holy Spirit doesn't want to visit us just on Sundays, or when we have a revival, the Holy Spirit was sent to “dwell” with us. He wants to take up residence within our heart and soul continually bearing witness with our spirit that we are the Children of God.

We cannot be satisfied with going through the motion, we must long for the presence of the Lord, He is the source of revival... One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. - Psa 27:4. How can Christians be prepared for the eternal presence of God, if they are not interested in His presence here on earth?

"If our GOAL is Revival, we will be quite unbalanced when it comes. If our goal is God, we will be able to walk with Him calmly and steadfastly through
years of waiting and through the joys and victories of a season of refreshing. Christ crucified and risen is not only the Door, and the Way, but the End also. It is our personal relationship to Him which counts more than anything else. Oh, the need for men and women who know their God! The Church of Christ will only arise militant, triumphant, an 'exceeding great army', when individuals get rightly related to God." - Nancy B. Morris.

Are these attributes of a Pentecostal revival part of our lives? If not, then we need revival. Let us hunger to experience the Passion, the Power, and the Presence of God in our lives, and we will experience A Pentecostal Revival in our lives! Hallelujah! Praise the mighty name of Jesus!

Loving Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, blow across the glowing embers of the Church of Jesus Christ again, and revive within us a passion for the lost, a passion for prayer, a passion to praise, a passion for God in all of His splendour! In Jesus wonderful name I pray!

GBYAY