According to the Bible, there is something fundamentally different about the Children of God, something that keeps them from blending into the crowds of unsaved people at their door – their lives are exciting, moving in dynamic ways, focused, powerful. Admit it; as you read the quote above, something in your heart was stirred, longing to live a life like Joyner describes, longing to experience so much of the Spirit that you are able to constantly move in the exhilarating flow of God’s plans and purposes for you. There is something in all of us that longs to stand apart, even when it’s difficult, longs to have a profound impact on the Kingdom of God like that – because that’s the kind of life that we were created to live. Scripture alludes to this over and over again, emphatically inviting us to the adventurous and exciting life God has planned for us. For example:
- Daniel 11:32 tells us that, “The people who know their God shall be steadfast and will accomplish notable feats” (N. Berk).
- Psalm 108:13 (Darby) says, “Through God we shall do valiantly …”
- In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that He came to give us “life in all its fullness” (GNB).
- And in 1 Samuel 10:6, as Samuel is anointing Saul to be King, he gives us great insight into the anointed life of God we were destined to live, when he says, “Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you with power (NCV), grip you (N. Berk), and you will join [the prophets] and sing songs you’ve never sung before. As you do this, the Lord will open your mind, and you’ll understand things about God and His claim on you. He’ll give you the gift of leadership (Clear Word), and you will feel and act like a different person (LB).”[1]
Are you getting this? Do you understand the powerful life, the adventurous life we were called to live in Christ? He never meant for us to blend in, to be ordinary, to be the same as everyone else! Our lives were never meant to be so dull! Do you understand how boldly we must live if we want to be prepared for a move of God in our own lives, then? For truly, as Joyner writes, “Those He uses for His great purpose are being propelled into the greatest adventure, and the most exciting and fulfilling life that can be had upon the earth” (p. 9).
In our 2 Timothy 2:15 Book Challenge, June’s book is Power to Change the World by Rick Joyner, a study of the Welsh and Azusa Street Revivals, and a training manual for believers who want to see God move more mightily in their own lives and communities. It is difficult to describe how I was stirred and personally challenged by the material in this book, challenged to grow, to cultivate the gifts God has given me and allow Him to be more fully in control of my daily life. If you have not yet read this book, I encourage you to do so, for it will awaken something in your heart, cause a renewed passion to stir up in you … And it will equip you, in many ways, to be used of God in more powerful ways. But how do we prepare for this new move of God in our lives, you ask? How can we know we’re even equipped to do this work?
First of all, the book encourages us, and helps us overcome a basic fear/lie/deception that so many Christians somehow have bought into: that the Lord is going to give us work to do for the Kingdom that bores us. No! He hasn’t called us to be bored, has not called us to drudgery and lives of endless duty. Remember Jeremiah 29:11? He has good plans for us, plans to give us a future and a hope! And the work He has planned for us to do, will likewise, be good and pleasing to us as well. Joyner writes that, “When we have taken the Lord’s yoke and are working with Him, our labor actually refreshes us instead of tiring us, and men can experience superhuman endurance” (p. 61). Furthermore, he writes, “Those who allow God to build the work will not be worn out by the work, but will be refreshed in it”(p. 74). This is completely Scriptural, as Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Rooted in His good plans, the work He gives us to do will not be unaccompanied by His strength to perform it. The new work God is getting ready to do through us will not be boring.
However, it will also not be done our way. The great works and revivals God is preparing to pour out in our generation are hinged entirely upon our obedience to Him. Joyner writes on page 65 that, “Obedience to even the most seemingly insignificant promptings of the Spirit can have consequences in the spiritual realm that the natural mind just cannot comprehend.” If we are not obedient, we will not see God move. Mark 3:35 tells us that we are only considered by Jesus to be a part of God’s family if we “do the will of God” (emphasis added). Matthew 7:24-27 counsel us that a life built on anything less than obedience to act on the Word of God will result in nothing but disaster and destruction. If we want to be agents of life-changing power, if we want to stir up in others a zeal for the Kingdom of God and cause others to seek hungrily after God, if we want to be carriers of His presence and flames of passionate excitement for the Kingdom of God – we must begin by being obedient. If there is an area of your life that you know God would have you change in, if there’s something He’s calling you to do that you are not doing – make a change. Become willing and obedient to the plans of God, so that you can be swept up in His greatness.
Furthermore, if we want to prepare ourselves for a great move of God in our lives and our communities, we must become people of prayer. On pages 76-77, Joyner writes, “As they prayed with more faith, they began to see quick answers to them. When they became increasingly specific in their requests, the answers became even more spectacular … Few things can so energize believers as when they discover the power of prayer.” How is your prayer life? Are you seeing dramatic results from your prayers? Are you believing you receive when you pray, as Mark 11:23-24 tell you to, or are you doubting? James 1:6 tells us that if we doubt when we pray, we should not think that we will receive anything from God. We must be people who pray boldly in faith, believing God will answer our prayers, if we want to prepare ourselves and our communities for the great move of God that is coming, if we want to prime our lives for more of God. We must, as Jude 1:20 says, keep building ourselves up on our most sacred faith, praying in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17, pray at all times, be persistent in prayer, keeping alert and giving thanks to God (Colossians 4:2). We must seek God!
Finally, we must gather together in like and precious faith, seeking God with boldness together, as a unified body of believers. As Evan Roberts (leader of the Welsh revival) encouraged the people whose prayers formed the foundation of the Azusa Street revival, we need to “Congregate the people together who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings” (p. 122). Even thinking about this kind of fellowship and commitment to pursuing God’s radical plan makes me excited. Can you imagine the power of even two or three people, gathered to pray in the Spirit for even one hour each and everyday day, praying for wisdom, praying for guidance, surrendering their own wills and desires, and committing to believe God’s promises to the fullest – even the radical and frightening ones? Believing John 14:12, that all those who believe in Christ will do the same things that He did, and even greater things, because Christ went to the Father and intercedes for us there? Believing that the commission Jesus gave in Matthew 10:8, to heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from diseases and drive out demons, is not just for the disciples at that time, but for us as well? Can you imagine the power that would be released, if we prayed about these verses everyday as a fellowship of believers? And then went out to labor together in the harvest fields of the earth as a team? Joyner reminds us on page 130, that “The Lord still sends His disciples out two by two. Regardless of who we are and what the Lord has entrusted to us, we will not be able to accomplish what we have been called to do without others.” We must band together in faith, gather together to seek the Lord and prepare for the work He is calling us to in these last days. The salvation of many depends on it.
So … are you willing? Are you prepared? Will you seek the Lord, trusting His plans for you are good? Obedient to even the slightest command He gives? Committed in prayer and fellowship together as a community of faith? Are you ready to see God move? I hope so … I certainly hope so …
1 Samuel 10:6
- N Berk – Then the Spirit of the Lord will grip you, and you will share their ecstatic prophesying; you will become a different person.
- Clear Word – Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will join them and sing songs you’ve never sung before. As you do this, the Lord will open your mind, and you’ll understand things about God and His claim on you. He’ll give you the gift of leadership and you’ll be a changed person.
- LB – At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come mightily upon you, and you will prophesy with them and you will feel and act like a different person.
- NCV – Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you with power. You will prophesy with these prophets, and you will be changed into a different man.
- NEB – Then the spirit of the Lord will suddenly take possession of you, and you too will be rapt like a prophet and become another man.
- Moffatt – The Spirit of the Eternal will then inspire you till you prophesy along with them and become a different man.
- NLV – Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you with power. You will speak God’s Word with them and be changed into another man.
- (Fenton) Then the Spirit of the Ever-Living will seize you, and you will recite with them, and dance in unison.
- MSG – Before you know it, the Spirit will come on you and you’ll be prophesying along with them. And you’ll be transformed. You’ll be a new person.
- Amp – Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will show yourself to be a prophet with them; and you will be turned into another man.
- Jerusalem – Then the spirit of Yahweh will seize on you, and you will go into an ecstasy with them, and be changed into another man.
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