Where Are We Now

It is always important to understand where we are in God’s time and season. We don’t want to be like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day that could not discern the signs of the times. (Matthew 16:3) Instead we want to be like the sons of Issachar, who were men who understood the times. (1 Chronicles 12:32) So, where are we right now in God’s timetable? If we look to the Scriptures, we can find the answer.

 

“He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” Hosea 6:2 & 3 NASB

 

These two verses give us a clear picture of where we are in God’s timing and what we should be experiencing. I think most people in the Body of Christ understand Peter’s explanation of God’s timing in 2 Peter 3:8: 1000 years = 1 day, 1 day = 1000 years. It has been 2000 years since Jesus’ earthly ministry, or 2 days since Jesus walked the earth, so what happens now? I see four things: He Will Revive Us, He Will Raise Us, He Will Reveal To Us and He Will Refresh Us. Let us consider them briefly one at a time.

 

First, HE WILL REVIVE US. Notice in our text that He will revive us, not the world, us (His people). Notice also that this will take place after two days, or 2000 years. The people of God are about to walk into the greatest revival that they have ever experienced! Most folks in the church don’t understand revival; they seem to think that revival is when people get saved, however that is evangelism and conversion, which are offshoots of a true revival. Let us look to the definitions of the word revival for a better understanding. Revival means: To come or bring back to LIFE or consciousness, resuscitate. Its second definition is: To come or bring back to a healthy, vigorous, or flourishing condition after A DECLINE. Isn’t that a picture of the church today? God is about to bring us back to a healthy, vigorous and flourishing condition! We are no longer going to be sleep walking, going through the motions of our Christian lives! It is time to sing with the great hymn writer: “Revive Us Again”!

 

Second, HE WILL RAISE US. Notice in our text that on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him. I want to focus on the two words, raise and live in this verse. At first glance, you would think that God will elevate us on the third day (or the beginning of the 3000^th year according to Peter’s equation), which would be good, but a deeper look at the original Hebrew reveals quite a bit more. This word raise carries with it the added meanings of: CONFIRMING, ORDAINING & ESTABLISHING.

 

Notice also that the text says that the reason that He will raise us is so that we may live before Him. There is an intended purpose to this raising. A deeper look at the meaning of this Hebrew word for live carries the added meaning of: NOURISHING, SAVING & BEING WHOLE. Therefore we could say that on the third day (which is the day we are living in), that God will CONFIRM, ORDAIN & ESTABLISH us that we may be NOURISHED, SAVED & WHOLE before Him!

 

Third, HE WILL REVEAL TO US. Notice the words of our text, so let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. This speaks of revelation. A closer look at this word know in the Hebrew carries with it the meanings of: PERCEIVING, HAVING REVELATION & BEING SHOWN. We are living today in the day that the people of God are going to walk in the greatest revelation that any people of God have ever walked in throughout all of human history simply because of where we are in God’s timetable! God wants us to know: WHO HE IS, HOW HE THINKS, WHAT HE FEELS & HOW HE WORKS. This revelation will come to us one of three primary ways: The Spirit of God will open the eyes of our understanding as we spend time in His Word, The Spirit of God will speak to, give images to, or make impressions on our hearts during prayer, praise and worship, and finally the Spirit of God will manifest His gifts in our midst and speak to us prophetically as we are open to His moving amongst us.

 

Finally, HE WILL REFRESH US. Notice in our text He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain. Rain in Scripture is a symbol for the refreshing that comes from the manifest presence of the Lord (see Acts 3:19). The prophet stresses that on the third day God will come to us not just as the rain, but as the SPRING RAIN. This is a key phrase in Scripture. In studying the rain of the Holy Spirit in Joel chapter 2, the footnotes of my New American Standard Bible make mention of the fact that the Early Rain = the Autumn Rain, while the Later Rain = the Spring Rain. The early rain came at planting time, the spring rain comes at harvest time to get the crop to a place of maturity, and ready to be harvested.

 

There are going to be two great coming harvests. The first is the last day great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God. The second is the harvest of God’s people being caught away (The Rapture Of The Church). Jesus is coming for a spotless bride that is mature and ready to meet Him when He comes. It will take the last day outpouring of the Spring Rain to get this crop of the church to come to a place of maturity ready to be harvested. I can remember all the books written about the Second Coming (like 88 reasons Jesus was coming in 1988). Obviously the church was not ready, because the third day outpouring of the Spring Rain had not yet come to bring her to that place of maturity, ready to meet Him. We are living in the day of that outpouring! Get ready for it!

 

It is clear from these two verses of Scripture that God has some specific things in mind for His people of the THIRD DAY CHURCH. It is up to us to recognize what His purpose is and place a demand on the purpose of God. It is up to us whether we walk in the fullness of what His purpose is or not. As for me, I will experience HIS REVIVING, HIS RAISING, HIS REVEALING & HIS REFRESHING! How about you?

 

Where Are We Now

It is always important to understand where we are in God’s time and season.‭ ‬We don’t want to be like the Pharisees of Jesus‭’ ‬day that could not discern the signs of the times.‭ (‬Matthew‭ ‬16:3‭) ‬Instead we want to be like the sons of Issachar,‭ ‬who were men who understood the times.‭ (‬1‭ ‬Chronicles‭ ‬12:32‭) ‬So,‭ ‬where are we right now in God’s timetable‭? ‬If we look to the Scriptures,‭ ‬we can find the answer.

‭“‬He will‭ ‬revive us after two days‭; ‬He will‭ ‬raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him.‭ ‬So let us‭ ‬know,‭ ‬let us press on to‭ ‬know the Lord.‭ ‬His going forth is certain as the dawn‭; ‬and He will come to us like the‭ ‬rain,‭ ‬like the‭ ‬spring rain watering the earth.‭” ‬Hosea‭ ‬6:2‭ & ‬3‭ ‬NASB

These two verses give us a clear picture of where we are in God’s timing and what we should be experiencing.‭ ‬I think most people in the Body of Christ understand Peter’s explanation of God’s timing in‭ ‬2‭ ‬Peter‭ ‬3:8:‭ ‬1000‭ ‬years‭ = ‬1‭ ‬day,‭ ‬1‭ ‬day‭ = ‬1000‭ ‬years.‭ ‬It has been‭ ‬2000‭ ‬years since Jesus‭’ ‬earthly ministry,‭ ‬or‭ ‬2‭ ‬days since Jesus walked the earth,‭ ‬so what happens now‭? ‬I see four things:‭ ‬He Will Revive Us,‭ ‬He Will Raise Us,‭ ‬He Will Reveal To Us and He Will Refresh Us.‭ ‬Let us consider them briefly one at a time.

First,‭ ‬HE WILL REVIVE US.‭ ‬Notice in our text that He will revive us,‭ ‬not the world,‭ ‬us‭ (‬His people‭)‬.‭ ‬Notice also that this will take place after‭ ‬two days,‭ ‬or‭ ‬2000‭ ‬years.‭ ‬The people of God are about to walk into the greatest revival that they have ever experienced‭! ‬Most folks in the church don’t understand revival‭; ‬they seem to think that revival is when people get saved,‭ ‬however that is evangelism and conversion,‭ ‬which are off-shoots of a true revival.‭ ‬Let us look to the definitions of the word revival for a better understanding.‭ ‬Revival means:‭ ‬To come or bring back to LIFE or consciousness,‭ ‬resuscitate.‭ ‬Its second definition is:‭ ‬To come or bring back to a healthy,‭ ‬vigorous,‭ ‬or flourishing condition after A DECLINE.‭ ‬Isn’t that a picture of the church today‭? ‬God is about to bring us back to a healthy,‭ ‬vigorous and flourishing condition‭! ‬We are no longer going to be sleep walking,‭ ‬going through the motions of our Christian lives‭! ‬It is time to sing with the great hymn writer:‭ “‬Revive Us Again‭”!

Second,‭ ‬HE WILL RAISE US.‭ ‬Notice in our text that on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him.‭ ‬I want to focus on the two words,‭ ‬raise and‭ ‬live in this verse.‭ ‬At first glance,‭ ‬you would think that God will elevate us on the third day‭ (‬or the beginning of the‭ ‬3000th year according to Peter’s equation‭)‬,‭ ‬which would be good,‭ ‬but a deeper look at the original Hebrew reveals quite a bit more.‭ ‬This word raise carries with it the added meanings of:‭ ‬CONFIRMING,‭ ‬ORDAINING‭ & ‬ESTABLISHING.

Notice also that the text says that the reason that He will raise us is so that we may live before Him.‭ ‬There is an intended purpose to this raising.‭ ‬A deeper look at the meaning of this Hebrew word for live carries the added meaning of:‭ ‬NOURISHING,‭ ‬SAVING‭ & ‬BEING WHOLE.‭ ‬Therefore we could say that on the third day‭ (‬which is the day we are living in‭)‬,‭ ‬that God will CONFIRM,‭ ‬ORDAIN‭ & ‬ESTABLISH us that we may be NOURISHED,‭ ‬SAVED‭ & ‬WHOLE before Him‭!

Third,‭ ‬HE WILL REVEAL TO US.‭ ‬Notice the words of our text,‭ ‬so let us‭ ‬know,‭ ‬let us press on to‭ ‬know the Lord.‭ ‬This speaks of revelation.‭ ‬A closer look at this word know in the Hebrew carries with it the meanings of:‭ ‬PERCIVING,‭ ‬HAVING REVELATION‭ & ‬BEING SHOWN.‭ ‬We are living today in the day that the people of God are going to walk in the greatest revelation that any people of God have ever walked in throughout all of human history simply because of where we are in God’s timetable‭! ‬God wants us to know:‭ ‬WHO HE IS,‭ ‬HOW HE THINKS,‭ ‬WHAT HE FEELS‭ & ‬HOW HE WORKS.‭ ‬This revelation will come to us one of three primary ways:‭ ‬The Spirit of God will open the eyes of our understanding as we spend time in His Word,‭ ‬The Spirit of God will speak to,‭ ‬give images to,‭ ‬or make impressions on our hearts during prayer,‭ ‬praise and worship,‭ ‬and finally the Spirit of God will manifest His gifts in our midst and speak to us prophetically as we are open to His moving amongst us.

Finally,‭ ‬HE WILL REFRESH US.‭ ‬Notice in our text He will come to us like the rain,‭ ‬like the‭ ‬spring rain.‭ ‬Rain in Scripture is a symbol for the refreshing that comes from the manifest presence of the Lord‭ (‬see Acts‭ ‬3:19‭)‬.‭ ‬The prophet stresses that on the third day God will come to us not just as the rain,‭ ‬but as the SPRING RAIN.‭ ‬This is a key phrase in Scripture.‭ ‬In studying the rain of the Holy Spirit in Joel chapter‭ ‬2,‭ ‬the footnotes of my New American Standard Bible make mention of the fact that the Early Rain‭ = ‬the Autumn Rain,‭ ‬while the Later Rain‭ = ‬the Spring Rain.‭ ‬The early rain came at planting time,‭ ‬the spring rain comes at harvest time to get the crop to a place of maturity,‭ ‬and ready to be harvested.

There are going to be two great coming harvests.‭ ‬The first is the last day great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God.‭ ‬The second is the harvest of God’s people being caught away‭ (‬The Rapture Of The Church‭)‬.‭ ‬Jesus is coming for a spotless bride that is mature and ready to meet Him when He comes.‭ ‬It will take the last day outpouring of the Spring Rain to get this crop of the church to come to a place of maturity ready to be harvested.‭ ‬I can remember all the books written about the Second Coming‭ (‬like‭ ‬88‭ ‬reasons Jesus was coming in‭ ‬1988‭)‬.‭ ‬Obviously the church was not ready,‭ ‬because the third day outpouring of the Spring Rain had not yet come to bring her to that place of maturity,‭ ‬ready to meet Him.‭ ‬We are living in the day of that outpouring‭! ‬Get ready for it‭!

It is clear from these two verses of Scripture that God has some specific things in mind for His people of the THIRD DAY CHURCH.‭ ‬It is up to us to recognize what His purpose is and place a demand on the purpose of God.‭ ‬It is up to us whether we walk in the fullness of what His purpose is or not.‭ ‬As for me,‭ ‬I will experience HIS REVIVING,‭ ‬HIS RAISING,‭ ‬HIS REVEALING‭ & ‬HIS REFRESHING‭! ‬How about you‭?

The New Move Of God Isn’t Coming…It’s Here!

I don’t know how many of you pay attention to or are students of Prophetic Words. But being a Prophet it is something I pay very close attention to. Not just my own but also those of other national and local Prophets that I respect or am in relationship with. This does a couple of things:

·        It gives you a sense of what God is speaking all over as you compare prophetic words.

o   I liken this to some of the principles of Hermeneutics.

§  One Principle is called the complete mention principle – where you take all the Scriptures that deal with a particular subject as a whole to get the full implication of what the Bible says on that subject.

§  Another Principle is called the comparative mention principle – where you compare and contrast two Scriptures that deal with the same subject to see how they are the same and/or different.

o   We can and should do the same thing with Prophetic Words that come from various sources that deal with the same subject matter. Look at them as a whole and compare and contrast them against one another.

·        Secondly as you compare what others are speaking with what you are speaking it lets you know that you are in the flow with what the Spirit of God is saying through other vessels.

 

We always need to remember that none of us has complete prophetic revelation or gets it all. “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” 1 Corinthians 13:9 NASB We all get a piece of what God is revealing…and when we put all the pieces together…we know what God is saying in total.

 

Having studied Prophetic Words over the last several years, they were full of verbiage like: “We are on the verge of a new move of God” or “We are on the precipice of the next wave that God is about to release”. But over the last several months that Prophetic Language has changed. Now God has been declaring that: “We have crossed over into the new move of God” or “The new move of God is no longer coming…it is here”.

 

That right there should make you shout! But of course one of the ways we judge the Prophetic, besides does it line up with Scripture, or does it bring edification, exhortation and/or comfort, or does it bear witness with your spirit is…does it come to pass.

 

Let me recount for you some things that I have experienced over the last few months that let me know that indeed we have crossed over and we are in it now!

 

The first Sunday of March of this year the Lord gave me a prophetic word that: “We had crossed into a season of seeing, hearing and knowing”. Now for background sake I must make you aware that I have always been predominantly a Nabi Prophet, meaning the prophetic word just bubbled up out of my spirit. I had little if any Seer gifting or anointing.

 

That afternoon while at a ministry board meeting for a dear friend, while in prayer I stared up at the ceiling of her living room and was watching a full color movie. I explained to her everything that I was seeing and she said the fire of God was on her from head to toe as I explained what I saw. Up until that time…I had never operated this way, but that morning I prophesied a new season of seeing, hearing and knowing, and it manifested in my life immediately…and has been growing since.

 

She has confirmed to me that the things which saw and declared to her she is now beginning to walk in. Fast forward to about six weeks ago, I was again at a board meeting for this same ministry. Part of this lady’s calling is clinical Christian counseling and deliverance. At this second board meeting I prophesied to her that in the very near future she was going to have to choose between her education and training and the river that was flowing in her spirit. Exactly two weekends later she had to make that choice and thank God she followed the river in her spirit and not her education and training and God wrought mighty deliverance.

 

The end of September a lady came into the service that had never been in our local church before. Unbeknown to me or anyone else she could not hear out of one of her ears…she only had ringing in the ear. While I was preaching…her ear popped open! I didn’t pray for her, I didn’t touch her, but God did and she could now hear out of that ear. That same service I laid hands on almost everyone in the church during ministry time and a lady who had been having severe back and leg pain for months had all the pain instantly vanish. So much so that she was able to move furniture pain free.

 

The end of October at a recent Apostolic & Prophetic Summit that my Mom and I were privileged to minister at, I ministered to a man by the laying on of hands as my Mom declared a suddenly in his life for healing in his back. He came up to me later to tell me he had been in excruciating pain for years because of two disintegrated discs in his back…but he was now pain free.

 

Folks this is just a sample of what is taking place. I want to encourage you that the new move of God is not coming…It Is Here!

What Is Revival

If I were to ask most folks in the church what Revival was I am sure I would get several answers, but the most common I would suspect would be when a lot of folks get saved. Is that really what a Revival is? In order to answer the question we really need a good definition of the word Revival.

 

I heard a definition this past Sunday morning by my good friend Pastor Barry Habib that I really liked. One of the definitions he found was: a new production of an old play. Well we have heard Revival used in that context before haven’t we? Every so often we see or hear ads here in the NY metropolitan area where I live of a Revival of a Broadway Show. What does that mean? In means they are bringing back a show that is an old show but that they are bringing it back in a new way.

 

We can further understand Revival if we look at the meaning of the root word of Revival which is Revive. I have found a couple of definitions of the word Revive that I really like. 1. To come or bring back to life or consciousness, to resuscitate. 2. To come or bring back to a healthy, vigorous or flourishing condition after a decline.

 

Now in light of these definitions…does the premise that a Revival is folks getting saved hold water? If we are honest we have to say NO! To bring back to life or to resuscitate indicates that those involved must have had life already. The teaching of the Bible is clear that before a Christian comes to Christ that they are dead in their trespasses and sins. (Ephesians 2:1) So someone getting saved is not coming back to life but rather getting life. Folks getting saved is actually a byproduct or result of a genuine Revival.

 

Let’s take a look at a couple of Scriptures.

 

“Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” Psalms 85:6 NKJV (emphasis mine)

 

“O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2 NKJV (emphasis mine)

 

Notice the highlighted portions of the above verses of Scripture. In Psalms 85:6 it says: “revive us again” and “your people”; while in Habakkuk 3:2 it says: “revive your work”. All of these phrases that I have drawn your attention to refer to the people of God. Those who are not saved yet certainly don’t qualify as “your people” or “your work” do they? It is only after we come into a relationship with God through the completed work of Christ that we become alive to Him.

 

So going back to our definitions…if Revival is to bring back to life…then bring back to life must mean that the person already had life…right? So can a person who does not have life…be Revived? No they need to get life. Only a person who has had life can be Revived. Notice again in the Scriptures that we looked at Revival is for the People of God…not for those apart from God. “Will You not revive us again?”

 

So since a Revival is not folks getting saved, but rather a coming back to life of the church or people of God…what should a Revival look like? There are several components to a real Revival. They can be outlined for us in the story of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple in Matthew 21.

 

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written, [My house shall be called a house of prayer,] but you have made it a [den of thieves]’ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant.” Matthew 21:12-15 NKJV

 

In this story we see four components of Revival:

 

·        Purity – Jesus drove out the corruption. He got the sin out. We need to too. Repentance is always a starting point to a Revival.

·        Prayer – Jesus said My house shall be called a house of prayer. A prayer foundation was established, and is still a foundation of a Revival today.

·        Power – Jesus began to demonstrate the power of God as He healed the sick. Revival brings demonstrations of Power.

·        Praise – They began to cry out Hosanna to the Son of David. There will always be a great release of Praise and Worship in a Revival.

 

I trust these few brief thoughts have been a blessing to you. This is by no means an exhaustive study on Revival…but some thoughts to steer you in the right direction and spurn you on to further study on this subject.