What On Earth Is God Doing?

Well, this morning as we are in between teaching series, I want to take a week and just pause on a moment we are seeing in the world right now. This may be something you are or are not aware of, but God is doing something in the earth at the moment, and He’s doing something here in our country, and it’s a good thing. So I want to talk about that this morning.

I have often asked myself the question what would life be like if we didn’t have this little window of a phone into the rest of the world? How would we live differently when it comes to the information we have access to. Just a hundred years ago only 35% of homes had a telephone in them. And yes, cars had been around for a bit, but they weren’t common in every home and the road system didn’t allow you to go long distances. Life was local.

Of course news has its way of spreading, but today, news is instant.

Depending on your social media news feed you may have seen some posts about a little university in a small town in the middle of Kentucky. Asbury University, a small Christian Private school with about 1600 students in the town of Wilmore, KY, which is about 30 minutes from downtown Lexington. This little school has been experiencing what people are calling Revival for the last 11 days. To oversimplify what is happening there, basically, on February 8th, they had their normal morning chapel service as usual, and after chapel people left, but felt like they wanted to go back, and they did, and continued to worship God and they simply have not stopped since. For 11 days they have been worshipping, and people are coming in from all over to experience the presence of God that is there. It has gone from one room to many rooms to groups all over campus. And from what I have seen and can tell there is no physical manifestation or representation of something God is doing that you can see. There’s no notable preacher, or worship leader. People aren’t going to see something, they are going to experience something, to feel something. People are walking away saying they have encountered the transforming love of God in a more real way than they have ever experienced.

Now, like I said, depending on your social media feed you may or may not have seen anything about it at all. But, because of the world that Kelley and I come from, and what we have been involved with over the years our social feeds are flooded with reports from people that have been there or are passing on second hand experiences from those who they trust. What I want to talk about this morning is not necessarily what’s happening specifically at Asbury University, but the fact that what is happening there, I believe, is a sign, and that sign is pointing to a God who is doing something in this earth.

That’s why I’m asking the question, What on earth is God doing? or you could phrase it, What is God doing on the earth?

But when things like this start to happen a lot of opinions start to come up, a lot of people begin to talk about what they think is happening, what they define as revival or renewal - and that can end up being be both positive and negative, and so this morning I want to hopefully bring some light and clarity to what is happening and what it means for us.

Because Wilmore, KY is nearly 16 hours away from us by car, so does it even have anything of meaning or significance for us? And I think that’s a fair question.

Like I said, 100 years ago we wouldn’t have any clue what was happening there. It would still be those few students, maybe a couple hundred, even if the whole school was involved, or the town, it would have its barriers of how far it would extend and how fast. And I think in some ways what we have now is both a blessing and a burden. Let me explain that.

It is good to see what God is doing in other places. It can build our faith. It can encourage us. But it can also bread a bit of malcontent with our own personal situations. Social media does that in general, doesn’t it? We see the best of people’s lives. People rarely, if ever, show the pain, hurt and struggle, unless they’re trying to get some likes to feel better about themselves. This little window into the world is rarely humble. Rarely honest. Rarely authentic. And I don’t mean that to be a downer, I mean that to bring a touch of reality.

What we see in the news is a glimpse to what is happening.

What we see on people’s Instagram is only a glimpse to what is going on in their lives.

And what we see through this lens of what God is doing in other parts of the world is simply a glimpse into a much smaller world where it is happening, and it’s also giving us a glimpse at a much bigger plan to which God is working in the earth.

There’s an old question. / / If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?

What I mean by that is, what if we didn’t ever hear the sound, or see through the digital window, what was going on in other places, or we never saw the “only good” and the “only what people show us” on their IG feeds. What if we were responsible only for what is local to us, without the window into the rest of the world. What if the pressures of society, the bigness of the global political and economical and even religious and spiritual world had no immediate impact on our daily lives. What if all we had was to focus on today? I think it would have an immediate impact on our stress levels and on what would make us feel content, in my opinion.

But, like I said, the ability to be able to see beyond our own personal and community centered world although it can be a burden, can also be a blessing.

Right now, it’s a blessing to see what is happening at Asbury University, because I believe it shows us God’s heart for a generation.

And again, depending on your social feed, it can also open up a world of doubt and disgruntled and unnecessary commentary. People can easily brand something both negatively or positively. Some immediately, within 24 hours were calling what is happening in Wilmore, KY a revival, while others were hesitant to label it, and some critical of it.

So, let’s first start by defining what is meant when people say the word Revival or Renewal, because a lot of people pray for revival, and don’t know what it means, they pray for another spiritual awakening, and they don’t really know what they’re praying for, to be honest.

We pray easily things like, “God, we want you to move.” or “God, come have your way.” “God, come do what only You can do.”

A common prayer here in our church is, / / “Thank you for what You have done, what You are doing, and what You are yet to do.” Which I stole from our friend Shawn Gabie up in Ottawa that we worked with years ago. There’s an expectancy there that God is going to do something, both today as we are here together, and in our lives as we leave this place. I want to live with that expectancy, because our God is a God of miracles and beauty and wonder, and I would say, maybe being a little naive, I want God to do in my life whatever He wants. I think that is the real prayer, regardless of the words we use. God, I need you to do something in my life. And sometimes we don’t even know what that is!

So, we’re going to ask some questions this morning and hopefully in the process we’ll come across some clarity and maybe even a little desire or hunger for the things of God.

/ / What is revival?

In the simplest of definitions, or how I would explain it personally, / / Revival is recognizing that God is doing something special in a moment of time and usually in a specific location. Sometimes I think we use the word revival because we just don’t know what else to call it. We know God is doing something, but we don’t have a word for it, and so Revival has become the word to mark that God is doing something special, or unique, something out of the ordinary.

At Asbury University last week on February 8th, by the next morning it was being reported on Social Media as a revival. Why? Because people were experiencing something of God they have either not felt before, or not felt for a long time, and it is good. It‘s God doing something in the hearts of people, drawing them in. And so they continued to worship, and for lack of any other words, we call it a revival.

But if we look at the definition of the word revival itself it gives us some good clarity on what God wants to do through it.

By definition / / revival means - an improvement in the condition or strength of something, an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again, a new production of an old play or similar work.

This is basically what God is doing through what we call revival. If you look at it biblically, the word revival simply means renewal or awakening, and like I said, you’ll see those words interchanged pretty frequently, revival, renewal, and awakening.

Something has to exist and be in a bit of a bad place before it can be revived.

Something has to exist and be in need of help before it can be renewed.

And something has to exist but be asleep before it can be awakened.

See, the commonality in all three of those statements is that the thing you are talking about isn’t doing what it supposed to be doing at the moment, or it’s struggling, or it’s broken, or worn out. Maybe it was once a beautiful piece of furniture, but over time it’s lost it’s lustre, it’s shine, and so you renew it, you revive it, you sand it down and put a fresh coat of paint on it. Or maybe it’s a plant that is on it’s last little bit of life but you nurse it back to health, you revive it, you awaken it again.

Whatever it is, the commonality is that it needs something. It’s no longer popular, or it’s become weak and needs some attention.

So, what is revival? We could say revival is God saying to the church, “Guys, something has become weak, or tarnished and needs some attention.”

If we look at what would be considered some of the great revivals that have happened in our own country we can kind of get a sense of what it means to experience revival.

And I’ll say most of the time when people use these words, revival, renewal, great awakening, spiritual awakening, outpouring has become a more popular one as well, they mean essentially the same thing.

Most of these moments, or revivals are marked by something specific that God is doing, and rarely are they exactly the same, and that will be important for us as we look through this this morning. And we will see that there is a common thread through revivals, but there is also usually a feel or expression for the moment of time and place that it happens in.

So, the / / First Great Awakening in the US was in the 1730’s - 1740’s and was marked by a return to devotion to God and commitment to the church. Through many different preachers a similar message of both repentance, or recognizing our wrong doing and turning back to God, as well as a renewed devotion to God. And what was happening here in the American colonies was really an extension of what was happening in Europe.

Again, almost 100 years later, what is now called the / / Second Great Awakening, was marked by the same, an invitation to renew and profess faith in Jesus by repenting and committing. Charles Finney was bringing a message that clearly stated Jesus calls everyone, and anyone can answer that call. Evangelical churches, which simply means churches preaching the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, grew from 7% of the population to 13% over the course of 40 years or so in the 1800s.

Fifty years later, near the end of the 19th century, the / / Third Great Awakening comes in the wake of the civil war and the great Chicago fire. People are at the end of themselves. Vulnerability and peoples awareness of their own humanity was incredibly evident. Most of the time it is in our moments of despair that we feel our greatest need for Christ. A main message of this time was that Jesus was returning soon, and he didn’t care what you came from, he just wanted you to be with him. Think about that for a moment. The country has just seen a civil war. You’ve fought and killed your neighbors. And for some, this comes after having been an active part of slave ownership or trade. What happens if you suddenly encounter Christ and want to follow Jesus, you would be wrecked with guilt, or worse, you WERE following Jesus and doing actively doing and endorsing those horrible things. The message that God loves you regardless of what you’ve done in your past would be paramount for you. Or what about for the countless numbers of those wrongfully abused and held as slaves who was literally beat down, and treated as completely worthless. The message that Jesus loves humanity no matter what we have experienced at the hands of others, that you have value and worth and are precious and that through devotion to Him our lives can be completely turned around. We can be redeemed from our past - both from what we have done wrong and what was done wrong to us. Our country needed that message in that moment more than ever. So like the first & second Great Awakenings, again, repentance that draws into relationship because the invitation of Jesus is for everyone.

A lot of people just assume that America had a high population of Christians through it’s beginning and it’s only in recent years that we’ve seen a decline, but it’s actually in this third great awakening that we see the rise of the Christian church in America and actually not until right after WWII that Christianity in the US sort of peaked. Again, desperate times push people to God.

And in each of these moments thousands and thousands of people’s lives are changed. To be revived in spirit, renewed in heart and awakened to the love and call of Jesus was happening on a larger scale than normally would take place.

In the early / / 1900’s there was the Asuza street revival that was marked largely by what we call the baptism, or being filled, with the Holy Spirit.

Out of that moment and especially into the / / 40s and 50s there were incredible moments of God’s love being expressed through people. And great healing revivals through people like Oral Roberts, William Branham, AA Allen and more.

Now this might sound familiar. In / / 1970 a regular morning chapel service at 10am at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY sparked a wave of repentance and soon more than 1000 people were trying to fill the auditorium and continued in the following days.

Now this one takes on some personal reflection. In / / 1994 up in Toronto, Canada in a small church at the end of the runway of the Toronto International Airport, the presence of the Holy Spirit showed up and over the next 10-15 years more than an estimated 4 million people would walk through the doors of that church to experience God’s presence and be transformed by His love. And not out of that, but definitely revived and renewed through it came IRIS ministries, Heidi & Rolland Bakers work in Mozambique, and Bethel Church, Bill Johnson’s work out in California. And this little place - Kelley and I were completely changed due to what God did in Toronto. Kelley spent 8 years there, I spent 6 years, after having gone to yearly conferences since I was 12 years old. I feel like I grew up in that place.

A year after the Toronto outpouring started, in 1995 in Pensacola, FL at Brownsville Assembly of God - same thing, the presence of God filled the place and for the next 5 years both of those places had daily meetings with people coming from all over the world to be impacted by God.

Why go through all of that?

Well, when we look at what God has done in the past we can get a sense of what He wants to do in the present and future. Just like reading the bible gives us a framework for expectation, what God has done in the earth, that is in line with scripture, that fits in that framework of expectation from the bible, those things help us recognize God in what we see around us. So then we have to ask the question:

/ / What is the Purpose of Revival?

Well, just like the definition of revival, the purpose of revival is exactly that, to revive, renew, and awaken something. If Revival is God saying to the church, “Hey, Guys, there something that we need to look at here, we need to address this… It’s not working properly.” Then the purpose of that is to allow God to fix, or revive and renew, awaken what needs to be awakened.

And when we look through each of these revivals, and I’ve just grabbed a handful, but there is a commonality in all of them, and then there is something specific to each of them. The commonality is that there was a decline in something of spiritual life, people had walked away from church, or from God completely, or were Christian by word but not by deed, or their dedication to God and following Jesus had simply become cold in some way, and repentance, a turning back to God, on mass was necessary.

In the book of Revelation, the writer, who is the apostle John, has this vision of Jesus, and he is told to write letters to various churches, and in Revelation 2 he is told to write down a letter for the church that was meeting in the city of Ephesus. And Jesus says to send this to the church, Revelation 2:2-6, / / “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.”

So, look at that for a second. Seems like they are doing well. They don’t tolerate evil. They don’t fall victim to bad teaching, or bad theology. And they have learned to be patient in any of the difficult things they have endured. But then Jesus says this,

/ / “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolatians, just as I do.”

The Nicolatians were a group of people who had compromised on their faith and were joining in on the Ephesian way of life that was definitely not following the way of Jesus. Ephesus was a city of a lot of idolatry. It was a hub of different religions and a lot of sin followed all of that. And so some of these people had taken what they liked about Christianity, then a bit of Greek and some Jewish practices and made their own sort of civil religion.

But, more importantly look what he says. Sure, you’ve done well, you hate evil and you show endurance, but you’ve lost your love of me and each other. Jesus said in Matthew 24, When sin abounds the love of many will grow cold… needing revival!

You can read that and go, “Wow, Jesus really gave them a scolding” or you can read that and go, “Do you see the invitation to return to love?” / / (Revival is an invitation to return to love!)

But that returning takes something that is evident in every revival - it’s a word that most people don’t really like at all, and that is repentance. And I am going to be as bold to say that / / Revival starts with Repentance. It starts with a turning back to God. Or, we could say it is fueled by repentance. It won’t exist without it. If there are not those who want to be revived, renewed, awakened, to turn back to Him, then where will He go?

And repentance requires humility, it requires recognition, and it requires a heart that wants to change.

If someone comes to me and says, “Rob, you’re not doing this right in your life.” I have two option:

I can be offended and hurt, “How dare you tell me how to live...” or

I can recognize how that person is right, and begin the journey of humility that leads to transformation.

The Great awakenings were marked by repentance. Brownsville was marked by repentance. Toronto for me and Kelley was a massive turning back to the way of God. We both grew up in church, but our love of God had grown very cold...

And now we have what’s happening at Asbury University. And guess how it started? During their normal, unassuming chapel service, a young guy got up and started sharing his deepest flaws, his humanity, and they said the atmosphere in the room changed. The student body president, being interviewed said that what they are seeing is this mass of young people claiming Christianity as their own. They’ve seen Jesus, and they are committing to following Him. It’s beautiful.

Biblical repentance means to have a change of mind. To allow yourself to see something new and make the decision to follow it instead of what you are currently doing. And this has been the message of Jesus since before he was even preaching. It started with John the Baptist as he prepared the way for Jesus. And both John and Jesus preached, / / “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

Repentance is that decision to change your way of thinking so that you can be obedient to the word of Jesus. And every revival has that element to it. A call to repentance, to turn back to God in the ways we have forgotten him. In that sense the bible is full of revival stories. Israel experiences this revival time and time again. They realize their need for God, turn back to him and experience His presence.

So, that’s the first part, each revival is marked by a turning back to God, repentance. But also I read something yesterday that brought into perspective what God is doing currently at Asbury… It put words to what I was feeling about revival, that each one also carries something for the moment that it happens in. And that just makes sense. A healing revival isn’t necessary for a group of people that are in good health, but a revival of the heart may be more than necessary if they are all carrying deep shame from their past.

So, the post I read yesterday, from a student at the University, Madison Pierce - he said he was actually hesitant to post on what’s going on simply because it is so intimate and now with it getting such a global spotlight he didn’t want to add to the potential for misuse. And I’m going to just read what he wrote simply because it was so good:

To quote Professor [Dr. Thomas] McCall, a theology professor at Asbury Seminary, / / “What we are experiencing now - this inexpressibly deep sense of peace, wholeness, holiness, belonging, and love - is only the smallest of windows into the life for which we are made.”

The movements of the spirit in western evangelicalism always exist in the middle of a cultural moment. A generous interpretation of these moments reveals unique traits for each one. For example, fervor for the great commission at the Mt. Hermon Conference, overwhelming joy in the Toronto Outpouring, zeal for the lost in the Brownsville Revival, acts of healing at the Kansas City Awakening, and manifestations of tongues at the Azusa Street Revival. In each move of the spirit, God clearly manifests in a special way for that generation. I find it interesting that God would mark this outpouring with:

A tangible sense of peace for a generation with unprecedented anxiety

A restorative sense of belonging for a generation amidst an epidemic of loneliness

An authentic hope for a generation marked by depression

A leadership emphasizing protective humility in relationship with power for a generation deeply hurt by the abuse of religious power

A focus on participatory adoration for an age of digital distraction

It feels as if God is personally meeting young adults in ways meaningful to them. My generation was formed differently than previous generations and so the traits of this revival are different than revivals of old. The new outpouring is not the signs and wonders nor zealous intercession nor spontaneous tongues nor charismatic physicalities nor the visceral travail. It is marked by a tangible feeling of holistic peace, a restorative sense of belonging, a non-anxious presence through felt safety, repentance driven by experienced kindness, humble stewardship of power and holiness through treasuring adoration.

It is important to reflect on the words of Jesus...

And he quotes Mark 2:22, / / “…no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”

I don’t want to make the mistake of trying to fit this new work into old paradigms. The new wine cannot be understood with the old expectations of revival.

As the revival has grown, people attempt to evaluate and participate from their old expectations. You cannot keep new wine in the old wineskin; or it may cause disappointment, disillusionment and divisiveness. In humility, you must receive the new wine with an open hand without trying to force this spiritual movement into our well intended but old expectations of renewal. We must strive to humbly participate, appreciatively celebrate, and intentionally respond to this surprising work of the spirit with openness and hunger.

Man, there’s just so much to pull from this but I want to highlight a few things as we ask our last question this morning:

So, / / what does this mean for us?

Asking the question, What on earth is God doing? Naturally will lend itself to the question, And if God is doing something in the earth, what does it mean for me?

I will say this. First and foremost, / / you have to want God to move in your life for God to move in your life. Rarely, if ever, have I seen God do something in someone’s life against their will. Rarely have I seen God do something to change someone’s life when they don’t want that change in their life.

Now, this is where it gets complicated. A lot of us want God to bless the things we are doing, or bless our lives, but aren’t the keenest on changing our lives to accommodate his move. What do I mean by that?

I have met a lot of people that want God to bless their marriage, but don’t work at what needs to be worked on in their marriage. Same thing with dating couples as well.

I’ve met people who want God to bless their finances, but aren’t too sure if they want to be told how to use those finances, especially if it involves giving it away.

We want God to bless so much in our lives, but we have to ask the question, are we willing to follow the way of Jesus on the road of blessing? And after the last few months y’all get what I mean by blessing, to be truly happy and content when and where God has us. That doesn’t always mean more of the things.

I would say that step one is always up to us. The ball starts in our court. Hebrews 11:16 says, / / And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

And Jeremiah 29:13 says, / / If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

But what precedes the reward and the finding? seeking, and not just a casual glance, but wholeheartedly, sincerely.

The invitation to encounter God is always there. To experience his transforming work in our lives. He is always inviting us. But as the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book The Cost of Discipleship, When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

Sounds very much like Jesus words in Matthew 16:24-25, / / If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

So, the question is, “Do you truly want God to move in your life?”

What we are seeing right now is God doing something unique and special, and even though it isn’t happening right here and right now, I believe 100% this is an invitation to experience what God is doing. If He can do it there, He can do it here. That doesn’t mean I’m looking for something in particular, right? I don’t want to dictate to God how he needs to revive my life. And it doesn’t mean I’m wanting exactly what is happening there to happen here. That might not make sense. What it means is,

God, move in the way you see fit to move in this place. In Cutler Bay. What does our town need? What do you need? What do I need? What do we need as a community?

The wonderful thing about God is that Jesus says in Matthew 6:8 that he already knows what we need before we even ask. And he knows what we need MORE than we do. He knows what we need in our lives that we don’t even know we need yet.

Paul says in Ephesians 3:20 / / Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

God knows better than you do!

So in asking God to move in this place, I’m not asking for what I see over there, or what I’ve seen in the past, or the stories of old and new, I’m asking for what He sees for us that we need.

So, here’s 5 things I want you to take away from today for both personal and corporate prayer, because I believe this is an issue of prayer. We are in what would be called a liminal moment, that simply means we are in the transition from one place to another.

I don’t know about you, but I think what this world needs is a move of God. It needs a call to repentance. It needs a revival of right thinking, a renewal of morality, an awakening of our spirits to the presence and purpose of God.

/ / 1. Revival is personal, because Jesus is Personal

Yes, there are corporate moves of God. Moments where God shows up on mass to impact a group of people. But within that moment it is individual lives that are being transformed by His love.

Don’t crave what someone else has, seek God, begin to pray for Him to move in your life, and be open to his leading.

Remember what I read from the report in Wilmore, KY, what they are seeing is what is needed so desperately in this moment for that age group, the University age kids in this world:

A tangible sense of peace for a generation with unprecedented anxiety

A restorative sense of belonging for a generation amidst an epidemic of loneliness

An authentic hope for a generation marked by depression

A leadership emphasizing protective humility in relationship with power for a generation deeply hurt by the abuse of religious power

A focus on participatory adoration for an age of digital distraction

/ / 2. Revival is not one size fits all, one way of God moving or one method

Don’t crave what someone else has, or what you see in the natural as an expression of revival. Pursue God for you. Pursue God for His work in your life, in what you have influence over. Be praying for your family and this community. Our church and our town.

And yes, you need to be open to being led into the scary places of your heart where you are still holding pain.

Be open to being drawn into the secret place with Holy Spirit where he shows you where you need healing.

Be open to being drawn out of your comfort zone into the wild unknown with God.

/ / 3. Revival is available if you are available.

I know this may sound like a strong statement. In general most people just want God to do it all without us having to do it. They sit around just kind of waiting for God to break through without any need to do anything themselves. Anyone who has ever had a challenge they have faced knows that’s just not the case. I keep waiting to wake up having already gone for a walk by the spirit, but it’s just not happening. I guess I better set my alarm and do what I know to do while praying for God to do what only He can do.

To be available means to be at one’s disposal.... God wants to move in your life, but you have to be actively seeking after Him to move.

I’ve been reminded of this statement a few times lately. Pray like it all depends on God, work like it all depends on you. Meaning, where you see what you can do, do it. But don’t ever stop praying for God to work in your life and move in your life, especially in ways and areas you have no control.

And if you aren’t doing that now. Do it. Pray. Seek God. Read the word. Seek Him!

/ / 4. Revival will happen when it happens. It will not be rushed, it will not be hurried, and you don’t want it to be.

1 Peter 5:6 says / / So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

What is the right time? I don’t know. But I do know He’s doing something right now. We can see it in Wilmore. Does it look like what we need? I don’t know, but God is moving, that much I know is true, and if God is doing something in this earth, that means He is still active and still working and that gives me hope for my life, for our community and for our town.

/ / 5. Revival isn’t the end goal, Jesus is.

Don’t get caught off guard with talk of the next big thing, or the next move of God. Those are good. but it’s the God behind the move that we are after. It’s the giver behind the gift. The presence behind the present. If you know what I mean.

Matthew 16 says that one day the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders, came to test Jesus and demanded that he show them some miracle to prove that he had authority… Jesus response was, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

He was speaking about being in the grave for 3 days and coming back to life just like Jonah was int he belly of a whale for 3 days. If you haven’t read that story, it’s a riot, go read the book of Jonah, it’s short, like 4 chapters.

But the point is this. Check your heart. Check your motive. Don’t seek a sign, Jesus isn’t a magic show. The Holy Spirit isn’t our next high, or a feel good moment to get us through the day. God is a personal, relational God who wants to meet you and love you to full life.

The last thing I will say is this. Be excited. God is moving. Let yourself have some expectancy. God is doing good things in this earth.

Someone posted the other day of things they were seeing around the world where God is doing something significant. There are numerous things happening. Not just in a little university in the middle of Kentucky, but all over the US and all over the world.

Allow the truth that God is doing something significant to spur you on to pray for him to do something significant in your own life and in this church and in this town. I’ve said this before. My belief when it comes to revival, to healing, to all of the ways God moves in our lives is that my purpose is to be faithful to His leading. I will walk to the best of my ability in the direction I’m supposed to walk, and if I find at some point that I’m 10 steps ahead of where I was supposed to be and it was by the power of the Holy Spirit and a miracle in my life then I’m going to praise him. And if it takes as long as it’s supposed to naturally take, but by the grace of God I make it there in the end, I’ll praise him along the way and the moment I arrive. I don’t need a miraculous sign to prove He is real, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is. But I won’t say no to the miracle either!

Let’s pray...