For A Time Such As This預覽

"For A Time, Such As This" by Rocky Fleming

DAY ONE

Throughout history, and especially Bible history, we have read about special people who were raised up at a time when they were needed by God for a special task. Now let’s remember that God can do anything He wants, with or without people, for He is All Powerful God. But for some people He wants to include in His rescue plan, such as was the case with Esther. She was a woman who was raised up for a special task to save the Jewish people, but she was given a choice, which was to join the Lord in His work, or to protect only herself. Look at an excerpt from that story:

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14 (ESV) 

“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” I’m reminded of special people in history who have been raised up by God for a special task to either preserve a race, such as Esther, to lead a people to freedom such as Moses, to protect a kingdom such as David, to prophesy to a rebellious people, such as Elijah and Elisha, to empower the weak and defenseless, such as Gideon, and to launch a message that would change millions of lives for the next two thousand years, such as the 120 followers of Christ who prayed and waited in that Upper Room for the Spirit to visit them. All these people were raised up for a special time that would require them to join a work that God wanted to do through their lives. I thank God they obeyed and seized the moment, for they are all in our spiritual roots. They are the forefathers and mothers of our faith. God chose them and they agreed to obey Him. He used them, and their lives in some way have reached to you and me today. That was then, and this is now:

Today we are in another crisis, but best viewed as an opportunity. Today millions of people are discouraged, frightened, and dangerously close to giving in to all those fears. But many are also now acutely aware of the thin ice they’ve built their lives on. They are vulnerable, yes. But they are open for hope. They are open for the Good News. This moment will come and pass and that is why we need to be urgent about making disciples. Life after this will not be the same. They, in some way, will deteriorate into an adjustment to a new norm of hopelessness and acceptance of what comes out of it, unless those of us who God has raised up for a time such as this, steps up. How do we do this?  

I believe the Body of Christ, the Church and churches in this country are to be God’s messengers of hope. Before this can happen, we need to be empowered and launched toward the greatest search and rescue operation that this world has ever known. The Church needs to be empowered, and to be empowered I believe the Church in this country needs to be revived. I believe we need revival.

What is revival? Revival is a spiritual awakening. It is to revive a believer or church or the Church from a state of stagnation. It is to be refreshed, to be rebooted, to be relaunched. I believe it is to be restored to our first love, which is Christ love for us. We need to be taken back to this truth so deeply that it reminds us of who we are and WHOSE we are. We have forgotten this, and revival will have this restoration at its core.  

Revival will also have at its core reconciliations within the Body of Christ, which creates mutual vision and massive awakenings of spiritual gifts that work together. Revival will lead to salvations and spiritual growth. Revival empowers us to do what only God can do through us, and that is beyond our understanding. Yes, revival is needed, and we need to pray for it.

I believe with all my heart that our gracious God will hear our prayers: “Lord send a revival, and let it begin in me.”