The Welsh Revival

The great Welsh Revival began in 1904. Prior to this revival an article appeared in a Welsh magazine in 1902 written by Dean Howell, shortly before his death. Many believers were concerned about the state of the nation and the direction Wales had taken. Many regarded the following article, in hindsight, as prophetic.

“What is Wales greatest need? Some point to the need of political reform ... A better educated ministry? A better health service and social services, all things which are important. But are any of these the main need of Wales at this time? In my estimation there is a greater need than all these, something that will reach into the soul of a nation, something that will create a greater effect than all of them, something more lasting in its fruit and all-encompassing in its blessing spiritual and temporal. Spiritual revival, not reformation but revival. And I don't mean local missions either; rather I'm speaking about the need for a high tide of the Spirit flooding over the whole country that will touch all classes with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This surely is Wales greatest need at this time.

There has never before been so much preaching, but what of the effects? ... From all directions there are complaints that the ministry has lost its power and its convicting edge ... The preaching is scholarly, interesting and educational but there is little anointing and convicting on it. Consciences are not pricked as in days gone by, and old phrases of long ago - such as conviction, conversion, repentance, adoption, dying to sin, self-loathing, etc. have become alien and meaningless, while old experiences that came out of these phrases have become fossilised and without life.

And the result? Family worship is quickly disappearing ... The Sunday school is only just holding its own. Congregations in many places are lessening. Keeping the Sabbath has become a matter of debate and the prayer meeting is nearly extinct ... The authority of the Bible and foundational truths of Christianity are being judged in the court of reason and criticism ... Unshakable belief in the unseen, the miraculous and the supernatural is questioned openly. Temperance is not as prosperous as it used to be, with the curse of drink rearing its head in town and countryside ... the desire for pleasure has totally captivated the age ...

But what is the answer? There is no argument about this. If there is such a thing as truth between the covers of the word of God - here it is. The Spirit of God is the only source of spiritual life. There is no way to produce or revive this life other than by the instrumentality of the Spirit. ' "Not by might and not by power but by My Spirit," says the Lord of Hosts' ... It is man's fault and not Gods will that there isn't the same unction and authority in the preaching in this generation ...

Reader! Will you do your part in this blessed work? Will you give yourself fully to the cause? Morning, midday, and night? Will you do your best jointly to work with others so that you can create circles of intercession? Great is your privilege - great too is your responsibility. 'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down ...'

... Take note, if this was to be my last message to my fellow countrymen throughout the length and breadth of Wales before I am taken to the judgement it would remain thus - the greatest need of my dear nation and country at this time is spiritual revival through a specific outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Jubilee, let me see the break of day."

(Extract from 'A Diary of Revival - The Outbreak of the 1904 Welsh Awakening' by Kevin Adams)

Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful!

It's been a while since I last blogged. Time seems to go by so fast. I found this quote whilst going through some paperwork. I'm not sure where I got the piece of paper it is on, but I do think it is so powerful and true. Read and meditate on what this is saying.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?"

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in Everyone!

And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others!"

(Nelson Mandela, inaugural president speech 1994)

These are powerful words. Imagine what we could do with and for God if we truly believed them!

God's Hands

Isaiah 40:12 says: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens?”

The answer is - God.

Look at the palm of your hand and make a dish. How much water can you hold in that hollow of your hand? Not much. Yet Isaiah says that the hollow of God’s hand holds all the water of the earth.

How much is that? The total water supply of the world is 326 million cubic miles (wikipedia.org). That’s a lot of water!

Now stretch out your hand, fingers as wide apart as you can. What is the distance from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your small finger? Isaiah says that all of the heavens - the planets, the stars - in the universe fit into the breadth of God’s hand.

How many planets are there? How many stars are there? Even though we cannot be accurate there are approximately 4.6 billion planets in the galaxy and 100 billion stars (100,000,000,000) in the galaxy.

God holds ALL of this in the breadth of His hand!!

Now we cannot restrict God to a human image, but this picture describes how large and all powerful God is. How safe and secure do you feel!

On top of this I love the verse in Isaiah 49:16 which God gave specifically to the Israelites, but I believe is also for us, His people: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…” God has tattooed us onto the palms of his hands.

How powerful is this image – we are tattooed on the palm of God’s hands. Does this mean our names, our image? Does it matter? We are engraved on the palms of God’s hands. We are ever before Him. We are in the security of His hands!

The Jesus I Know

'The Jesus I Know' is a book I read recently of collected writings, edited by Adam Harbinson, where people share their thoughts on the Jesus they know. As I read this book I was inspired to write this short piece on the Jesus I KNOW.

The Jesus I KNOW has loved me since before I was conceived in the womb and I KNOW it. Just trying to get my head round that one is extraordinarily hard. My Christian story began at university 17 years ago. At university I met some people who seemed ‘different’ – stereotypically. They took me to hear an evangelist/speaker who made the best appeal any speaker could make for me. He said that if I would take that one step towards God, God would take the 99 steps towards me and prove He is real. ‘Okay’ I thought, prove it. Within weeks I was a completely different person. One guy I had known from the beginning at university said that all the hardness in my face had disappeared and I had softened. Up until that point I knew things had changed, but that one sentence described so well what had happened to me.

The Jesus I met all that time ago has never left me and has never stopped loving me. I KNOW His presence in my life daily. Jesus is real and living. He is not someone who has disappeared and is a legend. He is here now. I KNOW He is in the room with me as I write this. I KNOW I can talk to Him. I KNOW He speaks and intercedes on my behalf to God the Father. I KNOW His guidance, his steering. Every Christian can KNOW this too. I am continually frustrated that I cannot verbally or in written format get this point over so strongly that people would fall backwards under the sheer immensity of this truth. How powerful it is to have Jesus in our lives!

The Presence of God Gives Courage

People seem to be worrying about so many things: the credit crunch, job losses, house prices, stabbings, gang culture…so many things!

There is actually a list of things people can have fears and worries about:

1. Fear of failure
2. Fear of rejection
3. Fear of public speaking
4. Fear of criticism
5. Fear of what others think
6. Fear of being alone
7. Fear of financial collapse
8. Fear of failing health
9. Fear of success
10. Fear of death

The Presence of God gives us courage. Courage is not having no fear, it is moving ahead in spite of your fear, knowing God is with you.

The Ark, the Presence of God, was with the people at the fall of Jericho.

“So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."

When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.

Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.” Joshua 6: 6 - 14

It took courage for Israel to do this; Israel was wide open to attack during this time, and it would have been easy for the people of Jericho to attack them from the high position of the walls. With the Ark with them – the Presence of God – they had courage.

What are you fearful of, what do you worry about? When we have the Presence of God in our lives we can have supernatural courage.

This courage is not just for us but others, those God wants us to support, encourage and cheer on.

Billy Graham said: "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened." This is part of our witness.

So as 2010 approaches maybe you need to make a change: take whatever you are worried about, give it to God and draw close to Him - as you do this you will become strong and courageous. If you don't need to make this change - you're there - then look to those who God wants you to support, encourage and cheer on.

Negativity Kills...YOU & OTHERS

Numbers 13:30-33: “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

10 spies saw the problems - the walls are too big, the people are too big - 2 saw the promise.

You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able (2 Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I FORGIVE YOU (1 John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (1 Peter 5:7)

You say: "I feel all alone”
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Behold God's perspective! Believe God's promises! Be like the 2 spies!

Why Pray?

I’ve been reading R.A. Torrey’s book ‘How to Pray’. This is a powerful book. I thought I would share some text extracted from the first chapter on 'The Importance of Prayer'. A couple of my thoughts are added in italics.

"But why is this constant, persistent, sleepless, overcoming prayer so needful?’

1. First of all, because there is a devil. He is cunning, he is mighty, he never rests, he is ever plotting the downfall of the child of God; and if the child of God relaxes in prayer, the devil will succeed in ensnaring him…

2. Prayer is God’s appointed way for obtaining things, and the great secret of all lack in our experience, in our life and in our work is neglect of prayer…

3. Those men whom God set forth as a pattern of what he expected Christians to be – the Apostles – regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives…Read Acts to see how prayer and Holy Spirit empowered ministry went hand in hand

4. Prayer occupied a very prominent place and played a very important part in the earthly life of our Lord…If so important for Jesus, how much more should it be for us

5. Prayer is the most important part of the present ministry of our risen Lord…He intercedes for us now

6. Prayer is the means that God has appointed for our receiving mercy, and obtaining grace to help in time of need…

7. Prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is the way Jesus Christ himself has appointed for his disciples to obtain fullness of joy…

8. Prayer, in every care an anxiety and need of life, with thanksgiving, is the means that God has appointed for obtaining freedom from all anxiety, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding…

9. Prayer is the method that God himself has appointed for our obtaining the Holy Spirit…

10. Prayer is the means that Christ has appointed whereby our hearts shall not become overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so the day of Christ’s return come upon us suddenly as a snare…

11. Because of what prayer accomplishes…

- Prayer promotes our spiritual growth as almost nothing else…
- Prayer brings power into our work…
- Prayer avails for the conversion of others…
- Prayer brings blessings to the church…"

I hope this has informed, refreshed and blessed you.

How is your prayer life?