More than anything, America needs a profound spiritual awakening to sweep across the land. In these uncertain times, I feel a clarion call in the spirit that we must get close to God. He has not given up on us—for when we draw near Him, He draws near us.
How does revival begin? First and foremost it should start in our homes, then in our churches, and permeate the entire society.
Acts 3:19 gives this important key:
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (NKJV).
Repentance brings refreshment. In His presence we find hope, strength and wisdom for every situation.
God assures us in Psalm 32:8,
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
To be guided by His eye, we must be close enough to see His face. The next verse cautions: Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.
I was raised on a farm with horses. If a 10-year-old boy tries to do something good for an 800-pound horse—yet it resists by pulling back on its haunches with all its might—that animal won’t be moved. We don’t want to be like stubborn mules who will not come near our loving Master. God can do wonderful things if we will just cooperate.
He makes this great promise in Leviticus 26:40-42:
If they confess their iniquity … in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—then I will remember My covenant … I will remember the land.
Think of the covenants that have been made over America—how the English settlers raised a cross and dedicated this land to God at Cape Henry in 1607; and how the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact at Plymouth, praying they would be a city on a hill and a shining example of what happens when people willingly follow God’s principles. Think of the prayers that were offered when our Constitution was formed, and of the great awakenings and revivals over the centuries.
When we repent, God remembers the covenants—and the land.
And here is the good news:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us … (1 John 1:9)
Our sin was taken care of 2,000 years ago on the cross. The Lord is always ready to forgive—so we can walk in freedom and enjoy “times of refreshing.” God bless you.
Streams in the Desert – February 20
- 202220 Feb
Nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matt. 17:20).
It is possible, for those who really are willing to reckon on the power of the Lord for keeping and victory, to lead a life in which His promises are taken as they stand and are found to be true.
It is possible to cast all our care upon Him daily and to enjoy deep peace in doing it.
It is possible to have the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts purified, in the deepest meaning of the word.
It is possible to see the will of God in everything, and to receive it, not with sighing, but with singing.
It is possible by taking complete refuge in Divine power to become strong through and through; and, where previously our greatest weakness lay, to find that things which formerly upset all our resolves to be patient, or pure, or humble, furnish today an opportunity — through Him who loved us, and works in us an agreement with His will and a blessed sense of His presence and His power — to make sin powerless over us.
These things are DIVINE POSSIBILITIES, and because they are His work, the true experience of them will always cause us to bow lower at His feet and to learn to thirst and long for more.
We cannot possibly be satisfied with anything less — each day, each hour, each moment, in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit — than to WALK WITH GOD.
–H. C. G. Moule
We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank, and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor? Whose fault is it that Christian people generally have such scanty portions of the free riches of God?
–McLaren
Today’s Devotions
February 20
Exodus 32:31-32 31So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32But now, please forgive their sin–but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
While Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s instructions, the people had gone their own way, insisting that Aaron make them a god to lead them. Freed from the bondage of Egypt and now thinking they are free of a moral leader, they threw caution to the wind and gave in to their lusts. While Aaron formed a golden calf from their donated earrings, the people partied wildly.
God told Moses to return to the people, for they had already broken the commandments He had just given. God described the people as stiff-necked. In other words, if you call to them, they will not turn their head to hear. They go their own way. God said He will destroy them and make a nation for Himself with Moses’ children. Moses pled to God with the above prayer. Imagine if Moses had not had such a heart for the people. The nation would be called the Children of Moses, not the Children of Israel. Here we see the real heart of an intercessor. Paul the Apostle had the same burden for Israel. These men shared the heart of their LORD.
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that we would not perish. How much are you willing to give of yourself for the lost around you? Ask God for a heart for others like Moses and Paul had, and most of all, like our heavenly Father, who is not willing that any should perish.
Consider: Do we carry such a burden for those whom God has called? Would we give up our eternity to gain theirs?
Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle: 365 Sermons
The centurion: or, an exhortation to the virtuous
‘They came to Jesus…saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: for he…hath built us a synagogue…; the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:…but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed…When Jesus heard these things, he…said…I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.’ Luke 7:4–9
Suggested Further Reading: Proverbs 26:28–27:2
This centurion certainly had a high reputation. Two features of character blend in him which do not often meet in such graceful harmony. He won the high opinion of others and yet he held a low estimation of himself. There are some who think little of themselves; and they are quite correct in their feelings, as all the world would endorse the estimate of their littleness. Others there are who think great things of themselves; but the more they are known, the less they are praised. Nor is it unusual for men to think great things of themselves because the world commends or flatters them; so they robe themselves with pride and cloak themselves with vanity, because they have by some means, either rightly or wrongly, won the good opinion of others. There are very few who have the happy combination of the text. The elders say of the centurion, that he is worthy; but he says of himself, ‘Lord, I am not worthy!’ They commend him for building God a house; but he thinks that he is not worthy that Christ should come under the roof of his house. They plead his merit; but he pleads his demerit. Thus he appeals to the power of Christ, apart from anything that he felt in himself or thought of himself. O that you and I might have this blessed combination in ourselves; to win the high opinion of others, so far as it can be gained by integrity, by uprightness, and by decision of character, and yet at the same time to walk humbly with our God!
For meditation: A good reputation amongst outsiders and an absence of pride are characteristics which must be true of those appointed as church leaders (1 Timothy 3:6–7). They should also be amongst the aims of every believer (Matthew 5:3,16).