He Restores My Soul

Psalm 23:1
[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

[3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

A long time ago I learned that life isn’t fair. I remember as a child my Dad would remind me that life wasn’t meant to be fair and that life wasn’t meant to be easy. That was an important lesson in my life because if I hadn’t known that I could be quite disillusioned with life. The circumstances we face in life have a way of subtracting from our love for life.

For those who have lived a few years (or many years), they will know that there is a lot of stress in life. There are definitely going to be seasons of hardship in our life. If you are young maybe you don’t know about this yet, but the older you are it is more likely that you can relate to what I am talking about. Life can be stressful at times, possibly even depleting and distressing.

Through life there are a lot of things that happen to us that are not always our own doing. Some of these include sickness, job problems, relationship problems and even death. These things come along and invade our life, attempting to try and steal the joy of our life. On the other hand though, we can often bring on the bad in our life through our own bad choices, wrong relationships and even sin. We find ourselves feeling flat and even “down and out”. But don’t give up! As we studied this week in our HFG Bible Studies “the thief cometh to steal, kill and to destroy, but Jesus came that we might have an abundant life” (John 10:10). Jesus is the soul restorer! Jesus is interested in leading the lost back home!

From the word of God we know that the Lord is in the business of restoring the broken and bring home the wayward! Jesus Christ is a God who restores and revives! He restores my soul!

David penned this Psalm as the king of Israel, but he was once a shepherd so he knew about being a shepherd. But furthermore, David also knew about his relationship with God, and that he was the sheep and God the shepherd.

Jesus is our restorer! Jesus will leave the 99 and go out and look for lost sheep! Jesus is all about restoring the souls of men, women and children who have lost their way. No matter how far you may have strayed, the distance back to God is not nearly as far as the journey has been away from God. You may have wandered far from God, but when you cry out to God He instantly hears your voice and responds. He wants to restore your soul!

The Lord is our shepherd and He restores our soul! Won’t you just put your life back in the hands of the Good Shepherd! That's my five minutes!

Bend the Church and Save the World – Turn from sin

2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Our attitude needs to be as David’s was in Psalm 51. This whole Psalm is brought about by an experience in 2 Samuel 12. David’s sin was adultery and he attempted to cover up the sin. In David’s sin there was a murder, lies, deception.

There is no doubt that God loved David. In Psalm 51, we get a glimpse as to the reason why God loved David. It wasn’t about his pedigree! It was not because he was flawless. David’s response sin (as pointed out by the prophet Nathan) is the thing that God gravitated to in David’s life. His willingness to confess his sin!

Sometimes we rationalise our sin and try to make it right. The dictionary tells us that rationalisation is “The justification of behaviour to make it appear rational or socially acceptable by (subconsciously) ignoring, concealing, or glossing its real motive; an act of making such a justification”.

Job 1:1 is a scripture we need to take notice of because it is here that we read about someone being referred to as “perfect and upright”. Two things in this scripture help us understand why Job was a perfect and upright man. He “feared God and eschewed evil”.

The word "eschew" means – “to avoid”, to shun evil. This simply means that he turned aside from evil, he departed from evil. He didn’t allow himself to be associated with evil.

We need to turn from sin! 1 Thessalonians 5:22 encourages us to shun even the appearance of evil. This means that the Christian lifestyle should have nothing in it that even appears evil.

That's my five minutes!

Bend the Church and Save the World – Prayer

2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Prayerlessness is a sin! Samuel said “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you”. The Holy Spirit put it in Samuel’s heart to say this. The same Holy Spirit had it recorded in the Bible for us to read in the year 2007.

Luke 11:1
[1] And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

We need to be like the disciples and say, “Lord, teach us to pray”, “Lord help me not to sin in ceasing to pray”.

Edwin Orr a leading scholar on world revivals says that one sure sign that revival is on the way is when people get to praying! Prayer has always preceded the world revivals. Another indicator that revival is on the way (based on history), is that women began to meet in small groups and pray.

One writer once said if you cease to pray then “you are a stranger to the great privilege that is offered to human beings”. Some of the greatest blessings that people enjoy come from prayer. In earnest prayer, you think as the Lord directs, and lose yourself in him.

That's my five minutes!

Humility - The Key to being a Revival Vessel

2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I do not think it is too much to expect that if we would obey God, He will come through for us. God is not slack concerning His promises. I believe, if we obey 2 Chronicles 7:14 (the inspired word of God), that God would fulfil his promise. Although we look around and see this city of Canberra as being “sin sick,” the Bible promises us that if we obey some simple guidelines, God will heal our land. Another promise in the Bible says “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

There is no greater mission field than this city of Canberra. Why can’t we have Canberra for Jesus!

In the scripture and the history of the Church, God rarely bestowed spiritual blessing or increase to anyone until He first found them on their knees, or until God brought them there, in humility and submission to His will. The cry of Evan Roberts exhibits this kind of humility and submission. Sometimes we become so “stiff” and “rigid” and “set in our ways” that we become no use to God. Bend us Lord! In humbling ourselves we become a Revival Vessel that God can use. That's my 5 minutes!
Suggested Reading: Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill - This book will get you motivated as it clearly describes the hinderances to revival!

A Revival Vessel – Evan Roberts

The Welsh revival started when a man named Evan Roberts knelt with his arms over the seat in front, bathed in perspiration, and prayed aloud "Bend me! Bend me! Bend us”.

About two years ago I heard Vesta Mangun preaching at a conference. Very briefly, Vesta Mangun talked about this man Evan Roberts, someone I had never heard of at the time. She quoted his passionate cry “Bend me”. I had to find out more! I began to research the Welsh revival, hoping to find the “spark” that started this revival that eventually spread to the four corners of the world.

1904 Revival historian Edwin Orr writes:

Touches of revival had stirred New Quay, Cardiganshire, on the west coast of Wales where Joseph Jenkins was minister of a church in which he led teams of revived young people in conducting testimony meetings throughout the area. Seth Joshua then held meetings there, then at Newcastle Emlyn and at Blaenannerch, at which students from the Methodist Academy attended including Evan Roberts.

At Blanannerch on Thursday 29 September, Seth Joshua closed the 7am meeting before breakfast crying out in Welsh, “Lord ... bend us”. Evan Roberts recalled that it was the Spirit that put the emphasis on “Bend us”.

Roberts said that the Spirit told him "That is what you need". He left the meeting praying “O Lord, bend me”.
During the 9 am meeting, Evan Roberts eventually prayed aloud after others had prayed. He knelt with his arms over the seat in front, bathed in perspiration as he agonised. “I cried out, Bend me! Bend me! Bend us! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Evan Roberts spoke after the usual Monday night meeting to 17 people. The Holy Spirit moved on them all. He then spoke every night to increasing crowds. By the weekend the church was packed and invitations came for him to speak in other churches and chapels. He usually took a small team with him to pray, witness and sing. November 1904 saw the fires of revival spread throughout Wales. By January 1905 the papers had reported 70,000 converted in less than three months.

Evan Roberts in his twenties was one of God's agents in that national revival.

For the next few weeks, I want to share with you some aspects of a message I preached in 2005 titled “Bend the Church and Save the World”. Keep your eye out for further posts. That’s my five minutes!

Penetrating this World with the Hope of Jesus Christ!

This year Pastor Downs has commissioned the members of Calvary Chapel to reach one soul for the sake of the kingdom of God. Our mission is "Each One, Reach One"! There is no doubt that the word "reach" is a active verb. When I was at school they called these words "doing words". Looking at the dictionary, the word "reach" means to "strech out or put forth". So in order to reach our goal of "Each One, Reach One" it is going to take some action on our part.

A church that "sits" will birth situations and usually they aren't very pleasant. A "sitting" church is not "doing" and eventually becomes inward focused and consumed with internal matters. This is one way that the devil can shift our focus off the great commission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave us in reaching the lost.

The Bible calls true Christians to be three great things:
1. Salt (Matthew 5:13);
2. Light (Matthew 5:16); and
3. Leaven (Matthew 13:33).

If you look at each of these three things you will realise that they achieve one thing…..they all penetrate. Light penetrates darkness, Salt penetrates meat (flavouring and preserving) and leaven penetrates the lump of dough and raises it up.

I heard Rev. Jeff Arnold preach once that we have been saved and commissioned to:

• PENETRATE this world with the gospel
• PENETRATE this city of Canberra with the gospel
• PENETRATE our families with the Gospel
• PENETRATE our workplace and school with the gospel.

If we fail to tell people about Jesus Christ we are like leaven which is ineffective. By being ineffective salt, light and leaven we fail to penetrate the world for the cause of Christ, failing to build up the Kingdom of God as commissioned.

I heard a saying one day….. “You never know how far you can go until you try”. Now that is a tremendous step of faith. We should all understand that none of us as individuals or as a church can know how many souls we can reach, or what we can accomplish for the kingdom, until we try. Until we step out by faith! Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do works far beyond our imagination…you never know until you put your trust in God.

My family (on my mums side) were bee keepers. I heard someone speaking once about bees and they were saying that when the bees leave the hive they have no idea where the necter is. They don’t have some inbuilt guidance system that takes them to the necter. But they just form team and go out until they find the flowers and the necter. They go out by faith and they always find necter. Let us go out in faith! That's my 5 minutes!

Indentity

I saw a quote by Stephen Covey:
"Security represents your sense of worth, your identity, your emotional anchorage, your self-esteem, your basic personal strength or lack of it".

Security seems to be the one thing everyone strives for. Financial, emotion, relational etc. In reading this quote by Stephen Covey i realised that a key to being "secure" is realising our identity.

All over the world people are longing for a realisation of their identity. Through the years I’ve heard some many people ask these three simple questions. Who am I? What am I doing? Where do I come from? This is not something unique to our society but it is a question being asked of people all over the world as humanity struggles to find their identity and purpose.

At the outset I want to say that you will never find your identity and purpose outside of Jesus Christ. And here’s the good news….Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus came to save those who are struggling to find their identity and their purpose.

Jonah chapter one describes a storm a situation where a bunch of mariners where on a ship. During their trip they experienced a great storm. The Bible account tell use that all on the boat where very fearful and all of them cried out to their own god. The storm was so bad that the ship they were travelling on was about to break. They began throwing all their gear and wares overboard in order to save the ship and themselves. But, in the midst of this raging storm, a question of identity was raised.

Jonah 1:8
8: Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

Jonah, who are you? Where are you from? What is your occupation?

In the swirl of a fierce storm of carnality, wickedness, and false doctrine, these questions are still asked of us today. Who are we and what is our mission in this world?

Our identity, origin, and purpose are being put to the test. It is the privilege and responsibility of every new generation to continue this great work of ministering the gospel tp every creature. We cannot simply do this by imitating our forefathers. Rather, we must have the same thing they had!

As a church, our job is to point mankind to Jesus Christ. We need to unite around the common cause of changing and influencing the direction of individuals and society. We must not allow a culture or way of thinking to creep in that says “let’s follow the path of least resistance”. We need to get a realisation of the urgency! There is a urgent need for us Pentecostals, Oneness believing, baptised in Jesus Name, Holy Ghost filled people to influence the thinking of the day in an attempt to turn it onto a new path.

The early church (and you can read this in the book of Acts) followed the command of Jesus Christ to go into the entire world and preach the gospel. Everywhere they went, they baptised and taught in the name of Jesus. In Acts 17:6, we see the dramatic effect that they had on cultural direction; “These that have turned the world upside down!”

The torch has been passed to the new generation. Will we influence our world as the Apostles, or like Jonah, will the storm confuse us and drive fear into our hearts?

I have purposed in MY heart, by God’s grace, to be strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to stand for righteousness and holiness.

That's my Five Minutes!