Something about this story stirs a desire in me that to see the miraculous power of God take over my town. I’ve heard other stories about revivals that emptied and eventually shut down bars. Then there are the tales of entire factories full of workers falling to their knees, weeping in repentance, simply because an anointed man of God walked through the door. These stories are fascinating, but I don’t want to be merely a historian of others’ stories. I don’t want to settle for reading the books of other mighty men of God. I want to partner with God in writing some new history books.

Doubtless, these stories did not happen to just anyone, anywhere. It required sacrifice, submission, and faith. Yet it proves that God can do and desires to do amazing things in America. Am I willing to do my part?

I heard a story a few weeks ago about an old time pastor and his wife who went on a 30 day period of prayer and fasting. This pastor would start praying at 12 midnight and pray until 12 noon. His wife would sleep during this time as well as get the kids ready for school. She would then begin praying at noon while he would sleep and get ready for the evening service. She would sit in the back and pray during the service. Then at midnight he would resume his 12 hour vigil. This continued for the duration of the 30 days. When my astonished mind finally registered the magnitude of this couple’s sacrifice, I profoundly uttered one word. “Wow.” Their church began seeing the results of this intense prayer. As soon as people walked through the doors they would instantly feel the anointing and power of God. Revival swept many souls into the church.

While I’m not attempting to persuade you to embark on such a radical prayer mission, perhaps there is something God is looking for from you that will open the door to another spiritual awakening in your area. Pause and consider: why did God put me where I am? What purpose am I supposed to be fulfilling?

Is it crazy to ask God to give us an Azusa Street style spiritual experience? Is it extreme to ask God to give New England another great awakening? Is it ignorant to ask God for a demonstration of the miraculous, leading to a mass exodus of the hospitals and nursing homes? If so, then I will proudly announce that I am crazy, extreme, and ignorant, because those are exactly the sort of things I am asking and believing God for. The time for stories is past; the time for deeds is here.

This concept can be applied to any person and any walk of life.  It deals with the source we derive our joy and happiness from.  It’s said in this book that there is “a profound difference between happiness and joy.  A person cannot be happy all the time, but he can always be joyful.  Happiness is derived and removed by external factors. Joy springs from within, and therefore cannot be lessened or increased by forces outside us. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit — an invisible power that transcends all volleys against it.” To restate this, don’t wait for the things outside your control to change so that you can live a joyful fulfilled life. Instead, realize that God wants you to be joyful and has given you the power to do so within you through His Holy Spirit.

So if joy is a Fruit of the Spirit, it will be developed in us as the Spirit of God does it work in us.  But then where do we derive this inner joy from? When we receive the Holy Spirit we find that we have been ‘endued with power from on high.’ This is the power to look beyond our present circumstances to the God who is greater than our problems. It gives us a chance to rise above every obstacle that can be put in our way.  We don’t have to be brought down by anything, because God is on our side and gives us the strength we need to carry on.  We can be excited because our joy needn’t come from our external circumstances, but it comes from the power of the Almighty God living in you!

It reminds me of someone I know who has found that recently they have been more overcome with joy, not only because of where their focus lies while in prayer, but also where their focus lies in life. For a while they weren’t focused on and studying the word and seeking in their daily life. They were on fire at church, but less than enthusiastic when they were outside its four walls or not in a special service.  Now that they have allowed their daily life to be filled with thoughts of God, the joy I have written about has been realized in their life.

So I challenge you this week to look beyond your circumstances to the God (Jesus) who is bigger than your problems. Focus your eyes on Him and watch as all else fades into the background. Go in joy, not because your external circumstances have improved, but because you have been empowered to live a joyful life through Jesus Christ. Again, joy is not some mystical object or idea that can’t be attained, but a Fruit of the Spirit that will develop in us as we stay in Christ and focus on Him.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God”  — I John 3:1

Many of us in the United States celebrated Father’s Day recently. As a nation we honor our Dads with gifts, cards, and cookouts. I hope you had the chance to spend some time with a father figure in your life this weekend and thank him for his influence in your life. But as we thank our fathers, we should take time to focus on our Heavenly Father.

One thing I have been working on lately is seeing God as my father. I don’t know about you, but when I think about God, I tend to picture the vast expanse of the night sky, the microscopic complexities hidden within the cells of a human body, or how He can measure the waters of all the oceans in the palm of His hand. Now, while the majesty and power of God are things we need to stand in awe of, here in the wake of Father’s Day is an excellent time to dwell on some of God’s other characteristics.

God is not only the absolute ruler of the universe, he also notices when a single sparrow falls. God is to be feared and respected as the King of Kings, but He is not an untouchable monarch: he is as close as the mention of his name. Though he is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, he is also Abba Father, who loves giving good gifts to his children.

Like every good father, God cares about the smallest details of our lives. He never sleeps or takes his eyes of his children; he has every hair on their head numbered. He knows what we need before we ask, and yet he wants us to share all our needs with him, as well as our troubles and joys. God is not a distant cosmic being who is too preoccupied with running the universe to listen to the cries of humanity. He is a loving father who delights in His children.

Last week we talked about small, low-effort portions of life that make a big difference. We called these small changes “shoelaces”. One example is taking the time to compliment or encourage someone. Now there’s a new question to address, however: how can we keep doing this? Shoelaces are low-effort, sure, but they still require effort. No matter how good it makes you feel to brighten another person’s day, it’s easy to get worn out. At some point, making that decision again seems like too much effort.

This is the hallmark of a lifestyle choice: it’s a choice that’s made over and over, even when it’s inconvenient. Lifestyles are defined not by the great big choices of life — the ones that are made by logic — but by the small everyday choices. These are the shoelaces that tie our lives together. For proof, we need look no further than Steven Levitt’s book Freakonomics. The author, an economist, devotes the fifth chapter to the analysis of parenting, posing the question “what makes a perfect parent?”

Surprisingly, Levitt found no connection between traditional parenting advice and the success of a family’s children (as measured by scores on standardized tests). Instead, factors such as parental education, eating habits, and PTA involvement were the determining influence. The author’s conclusion is that, when it comes to parenting, who you are matters more than what you do.

Why is it that character influences more than action? It’s a question of lifestyle choices. Big decisions, logical decisions, those are easy to replicate. But it’s the millions of tiny lifestyle decisions that change the course of a family, workplace, or town. Decisions like kindness, humility, generosity, and personal involvement shape the environment as well as the person. Those kinds of decisions cannot be duplicated by observation, for they are not logical conclusions, but organic results.

Lifestyles are determined at an early age. The broad decisions about what kind of person you will be are made as early as the middle school or early high school years. In a very real sense, all those millions of tiny decisions were made years beforehand. They were determined before we were aware of the repercussions. A lifestyle can be changed, but only rarely can it be planned. Who you become is more important than what you do, or try to do.

Returning to the original question, how can we continue to do this? Where can we find the power to change our lifestyle for the better? As a previous author has noted, Muhammad Ali understood the process of determining a lifestyle when he stated, “the fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” We need a source of power that affects us before the decision arrives. Matthew 6:6 states this very fact: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

We see from the evidence that it is impossible to consciously effect enough change in ourselves to be consistent in making these “shoelace” choices. We cannot perfect ourselves through force of will; instead, we must let God change us and help us become the kind of person that is loving and kind by nature. He is our source of power, the author and finisher of our faith.

Most people have heard the term “Alpha and Omega”. One thing to realize about any name of God is just how much power is implied behind it! My research turned up many different definitions of this simple yet powerful description of God. Alpha and Omega means the first and the last, the A and Z of the Greek alphabet. But there’s more to it than that. It doesn’t stop with the first and the last — He is also calling Himself everything in between! One definition I found said that Alpha and Omega means the most powerful. God wasn’t being light when he said that he was Alpha and Omega. He was said that He was there in the beginning, that He’ll be there in the end, that He is going to be there in the middle, and that He is the most powerful!

Light of the World

This name seems pretty simple: when God calls himself the Light of the World, our automatic response is to think it means Jesus was the light in the dark world and leading the way. That’s the truth, but we can also see a deeper meaning. Light itself is a pure substance and when it is there, it exposes what the darkness has hidden. By calling Himself the light of the world, God was telling us that the world is a dark place, but when we call on His pure name, He will expose what the darkness has hidden. He will show up the lies that have been told to us. He will guide us, but won’t be a burden. Light is healthy for us and we need the light in order to survive. God is a healthy light and is always shining down on us.

Dayspring

There is only one reference of God calling himself the Dayspring in the Bible, in Luke 1:78. Dayspring means ‘dawn’ or ‘daybreak’. The very beginning, the first thing that happens In a day is the breaking of dawn. Isn’t it amazing that God referenced himself to that? He is saying that He is the first thing that happens when our life truly begins. The brilliant day can unfold, but only after dawn breaks. In a subtle way, God is telling us through this name that he needs to be first in our lives: the very first thing that we should go to. Otherwise dawn will never come and we will continue to live in darkness. Let Jesus be your dayspring, and let him affect your life.

So how many stars are there? A group of astronomers based at the Australian National University have calculated the number of stars as 70 sextillion — 7 followed by 22 zeros — and those are just the ones we’ve found so far. In case you’re wondering, 70 sextillion is 10 times as much as the number of grains of sand on all the world’s beaches and deserts. And yet God knows all these and has named them! Isn’t amazing that God still cares about us? And He has no idle curiosity in us: He knows everything about us! He knows the minutia of our lives, from where we go, when we sit, where we sleep, what we say, (Psalm 139: 1 – 4) and the very number of hairs on your head. (Matthew 10:30)

It boggles the mind! I have tried to comprehend this — the sheer power and knowledge of God, the fact that he knows absolutely everything about absolutely everything, and I am overwhelmed! I can only say with the psalmist, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, I cannot attain unto it.” God knew about each one of us before we were even born, ordaining us for a certain time and purpose, as God says in Jeremiah 1:5.

Even though He could have been counting the stars or creating new galaxies with a single command, God saw you before you were even born . . . and fell in love with you. With all our flaws and blemishes, He loved us enough to come to earth and die for us. He didn’t have too. He could have wiped us all off the face of the earth, and he would have been justified. As it says in Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” There are no exceptions, no room for debate. Therefore we all deserve to die. We broke the law, and we deserve punishment. But thank God the story doesn’t end there! Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” God paid the price that we couldn’t pay. He died for us so that we can live forever with Him in paradise! That is unwarranted mercy. That is unmerited favor. That is amazing.

Some names for God are profoundly simple. The name “Almighty” comes from exactly the words it sounds like: “all mighty.” God possesses all the might and power in the universe. He can control the wind and tides, make things grow, give things life, take life back again, control circumstances, and any other act you can name. That list is just what you can see by looking out the window!

It’s no wonder, then, that God was called the Almighty in the Bible. The writers could see that He is so powerful that nothing is too hard for our God to do. He can heal the sick and give victory in battle. He can make the sun stand still and give greater wisdom than any other oracle.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty.”  –Revelation 1:8

The thing is, God was not just the Almighty in the Bible. He speaks not of what He was, but of what He is: “I am…” We can still call Him the Almighty today! He is just as powerful and deserving. He is still the ruler of everything. He was here from the beginning and will be with us until the very end. He truly is the Almighty.

Master and Servant

When I think of a servant, I think of someone who is always there. A servant does not worry about their own needs or desires. A servant is someone who gives others what they want or need — someone who will serve faithfully and will always be there no matter what time they are called.

To be a servant is a humble, thankless position, and yet God called Himself a servant. Think about that. The master of all called himself a servant. More than that: He became a servant. He chose to come down from his high position to serve in the humblest way He could by becoming a man (Matthew 12:18).

But God is also the Master (Matthew 8:19). He is in full control and has knowledge of situations that a servant would not have. As the master, He makes the decisions and chooses who will do this or do that, managing His Kingdom. How can God be both master and servant? We see both aspects of Him: He is always ready to hear our prayers, but cannot be controlled by us (servants do not dictate to the master). God meets our needs, but in order to have a full life we find that we must also give to others, following the role of a servant.

For most of us, God is both more powerful and more gentle than we give Him credit for.

It’s the same way with God and us. We by ourselves are really nothing. We’re just the shell of what we could be. We can’t energize ourselves enough. That’s God’s job. It’s only through His Word and Spirit that we can be fully energized and motivated. Without God, we’re like that lamp: dull and heavy. The lamp carries power and light wherever it goes – as long as it’s plugged in. It has the capability to use power inside of it, but can only use that power when it’s hitched up to the power source.

God wants to be our power source. We have power, authority and God’s light within us. We need to get plugged into Him and let Him take control so his power can radiate out from us. He is our light source even as we’re a light source in this life. Psalms 119:105 said it like this: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” God wants to be our light and our energy source in times of darkness.

Just like a lamp is a vessel for us to use, we are vessels for God to use. Vessels carry out specific tasks and are used when needed. We are his lamps! We need to shine in this dark world. And we can do that as long as we stay plugged in and ready to be used by him. Connect yourself daily to that energy source and he will be your light in times of darkness. I encourage you tap into that energy: life without it is too dim.

How do you connect with God? Have prayer and the Bible been lights in your life? Tell us a story in the comments section.