Encouragement, Excitement, Prayer:) July 1, 2014

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

Faithful In Christ,

A brother In Christ encouraged me this morning at the gym. It is always exciting to see Enrique. We just start talking about Jesus openly and freely regardless of who’s in the locker room among us. In fact, it is a great opportunity to “spur the resistant” especially me! The ripple effect does occur, resulting in “supernatural power!” Our gracious God! He is glorified and manifest through us as brothers and sisters can’t help but talk about faith, hope, love, joy, loving on each other, and intentionally being my “brother’s keeper” especially in the midst of difficult circumstances and suffering:).

The theme of “drifting away” came up. He said, “I am afraid of drifting because I can’t live without Jesus.” He was serious! :). Praise God! Paul said, “Therefore, dear friends, as you have always obeyed- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works IN YOU to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Phil 2:12-13.

He shared about his uncle who at one time, walked closely with Jesus, attended Bible college, was active, excited, overflowing through the power of the Holy Spirit. He drifted. A common story for many of us, either currently or by history. My sense was that Enrique’s uncle was back in fellowship with our Lord. I pray our gracious God has embraced him back into intimate fellowship! What grabbed me was his comment about his uncle’s recognition of the first thing to cease during his process of drifting: PRAYER.

Oh God! Drifting hurts! Praise our merciful God who forgives and ultimately uses our pain to mold and shape us and bring GLORY to Himself! However, In Christ, may we pursue our Lord moment by moment, crying out for much needed grace to “…pay more careful attention…to what we have heard, so we do not drift away.” Hebrews 2:1 Moreover,

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord– and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly PRAY to you while you may be found.” Psalm 32:3-6a

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

YES! PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! I need your prayers, you need my prayers. We need each other to love and encourage! Nearer, nearer, nearer to our blessed Lord! Intimacy, overflowing, supernatural power to reach the lost in every sphere of influence God places us! Come on brother! Sister!:). I am asking, seeking, knocking our gracious and merciful God to ignite a transformed people “In Christ” folks who hunger for the Word, passionately desire to share the gospel, and glorify our God! To live and work out our living faith, hence strive for holy obedience. Pray for revival, especially in my own heart. We must be balanced, heeding the words of A.W. Tozer,

“Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late — and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work.”

“When did you last hear anyone praying for revival, praying that God might open the windows of heaven and pour out his Spirit? When did you last pray for that yourself? I suggest seriously that we are neglecting this almost entirely. We are guilty of forgetting the authority of the Holy Spirit. . . . When God sends revival he can do more in a single day than in fifty years of all our organization. That is the verdict of sheer history which emerges clearly from the long story of the Church.”(Martin Lloyd-Jones)

“G. Campbell Morgan famously observed how a sailor has no impact on the wind. But a good sailor knows the wind, and knows how to set the sails when the wind blows. Let us study the history of revival and let us gather in what Edwards called “a humble attempt to promote explicit agreement and visible union of God’s people, in extraordinary prayer” so that we will know when the Spirit moves afresh. Then we may set our sails accordingly.”

Pray without ceasing for the evangelical, gospel preaching, Christ centered, churches here in Alpine and the surrounding communities: right now we pray for and meet together with folks from First Baptist, Bethel Assembly, Grace Fellowship, Calvary Chapel, Emmanuel Christian Fellowship, Methodist church in Descanso, Mt. View Bible, East Valley Christian, Alpine Christian Fellowship… we pray for the Anglican church, Keith preaches the gospel and reaches out to the community in many ways, Dan at the Alpine Community church overflows the gospel every chance he gets!:). There are others I failed to mention who we need to reach out to and unite at the CROSS whenever possible. Our strong desire, as is yours, is that the gospel would go forth and hearts transformed! YES! Pray, Pray, Pray for our communities, Alpine Youth Center, and many many people to be drawn by our merciful God to your church and to other churches where the gospel is clearly presented, lived, and enduring!

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! Psalm 133:1

LoVe YOU much! Overflow!

Randall:).