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Herrnhut, The Lord’s Watch

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David Christian cut down the first tree for the first house for the new community the would call “Herrnhut,” which means the “Lord’s Watch.” The small group now totaled 300. It wasn’t long before Herrnhut began growing and accepted refugees from other doctrinal persuasions. Now there were not only Moravians but also Lutherans, Calvinists, Catholics, Separatists, Reformed, and Anabaptists.

The vision of Count Zinzendorf was that of the restoration of the apostolic community. He worked to establish a community of saints that loved and supports one another through prayer, encouragement, and accountability. John Wesley (founder of the Methodist Denomination) was so enamored with the Moravians that he called Herrnhut the “closest thing to the New Jerusalem that could be.” In 1738, eleven years into the revival, Wesley visited “this happy place” and was so impressed that he commented in his journal: “I would gladly have spent my life here….Oh, when shall this Christianity cover the earth as water covers the sea?”

It wasn’t something that happened overnight. With all the different views and doctrines…trouble soon arose. Many disputes erupted within the other sects over doctrinal language and how the community would support itself. From the start the Herrnhut community showed few signs of spiritual power. Leslie K. Tara described in his book, A Prayer Meeting That Lasted 100 Years, what was happening: “By the beginning of 1727, the community of about 300 people was wracked by dissension and bickering, an unlikely site for revival.” To make matters worse, a new resident, John Kruger, attacked Zinzendorf and his beliefs – preaching that the Count was none other than “the Beast” mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Linda Jacobs writes: “He turned almost the entire community of Herrnhut against their benefactor.” With a pastor’s heart, the Count began going from house to house, counseling each family from the Scriptures. He was teaching and exhorting daily, creating what he called “Bands,” a small group of believers who had “a special affinity” to each other. Before long the small community was becoming one as more and more homes were opening day and night for prayer, fellowship, and teaching. Small groups began holding all-night prayer vigils, and it seemed almost weekly that the spiritual unity and the bonds of love were becoming perceptively stronger. The community pooled their finances for the sick and began distributing goods to the poor among them.

Now that dissension and bickering had vanished, many unbelievers who came to Herrnhut were converted, and on May 12, Zinzendorf covenanted all to pray and labor for revival. The fire of the Spirit on these precious saints was beginning to heat up. Services held at this time usually ended in weeping, deep repentance, and lying prostrate on the floor. By August 5th, anticipation was building to the point where many did not want to sleep for fear that they would miss something God was doing.

Positioning Ourselves for More of God: Part 2 – Our Heart

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In Psalm 139, verses 23-24, the psalmist says: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps 139:23-24 NIV)

Notably, the psalmist makes this request of God to “search” him right after he’s just informed us in earlier verses 1-4 (below) that the Lord, in fact, already knows everything about him. He tells us that the Lord has not only already searched him, but knows his every thought, exactly what he does, what kind of person he is, and every word that will come out of his mouth – before he even says it.

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. (Ps 139: 1-4 NIV)

John 2:25 confirms: “No one needed to tell Him about human nature, for He knew what was in each person’s heart.” (NLT)

So the question is, If God already knows all this, why then does the Psalmist specifically ask God to do something he knows He has already done? Is it some sort of rhetorical device, or is there more behind it?

The answer, I believe, is that its quite intentional. That in requesting God to “search” him, knowing God already knows him, the psalmist reminds us when we invite God into our heart, it is through a door of intentional and voluntary submission and contrition (Rev 3:20). This is the thing that God desires most from us: The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. (Ps 51:17 NLT)

Or, in Isaiah: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me, and what is the place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV)

Thank You Lord for Your Word. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path so that we can seek You and find You. Lord, teach us how to be like the psalmist, submitting our hearts to You so You can find a welcoming place within us to rest. Lead us in all Your ways – continue to transform us and empower us – so that through our words and deeds we can glorify Your Name in greater ways each day. Amen

Ten Days of Awe Begins Tomorrow

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Revelation 20:12 I [also] saw the dead, great and small; they stood before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged (sentenced) by what they had done [their whole way of feeling and acting, their aims and endeavors] in accordance with what was recorded in the books. AMPC

Imagine the day when you will stand before Jesus and every word – thought, every action – taken, and every core motive that is the driving force behind every action – will be brought out in the open to be reviewed. Standing there will be Jesus and His holy angels. You will watch – as the One Who Loves you – clearly seeing how your sins hurt Him and the angels entrusted with your care. Wouldn’t you want the opportunity to erase that record of offenses before that great and terrible day?

Tomorrow begins what is known as the Ten Days of Awe. It is a time your loving Savior has provided to seek forgiveness, and restoration of all relationships. It is a time to make preparation in anticipation of the arrival of Jesus – when He will tabernacle among us. Could it be this experience was what they were trying to alleviate?

Lamentations 3:40 Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord! AMPC

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. AMPC

Scripture records that when we seek forgiveness He will forgive and wash us clean:

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. AMPC

Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. AMPC

Jesus’ Blood cleanses us from all sin. Yet, like any relationship in which you have hurt or offended another, you seek forgiveness to bring restoration to the friendship and relationship.

The Ten Days of Awe give you an opportunity to take account of your ways, seek forgiveness, and restoration to prepare for your soon and coming King. Take time, beginning tomorrow morning – Sunday, September 25 – to draw nearer to Jesus. Take this time to seek Him with whole-hearted obedience, worship, and prayer.

Encouraging Words

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I trust everyone is doing well and adjusting to all the stay at home policies being encouraged by our government. As we are in lockdown (that’s how it feels) many of us are finding new ways of reaching out through a new tool called Zoom. Through it we’ve been able to gather together for prayer, and through internet streaming we are able to maintain a semblance of connection. Just recently I got off the internet doing a conference call through Zoom that enabled 5-6 people to join another 8 of us who were meeting to pray at the church. Since March 1 prayers have been released from 6:30-8:30 asking God to release a wedding of the Spirit and Word in our church, community, nation and the world. We have been calling on Heaven to invade our earth through Spirit sent revival and awakening. Lastly we have been beseeching God to release a sovereign move of His Spirit throughout the globe. Several passages of Scripture have come to the surface repeatedly:

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 If I shut up heaven so no rain falls, or if I command locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,14 If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [O Jerusalem], and His glory shall be seen on you.3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

James 4:7-10 So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].9 [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection andheartfelt shame [for your sins].10 Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

Hosea 10:12-13 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.13 You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men.

Hebrews 12:27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Recently Kristy received a word from the Lord that all the idols of America are being shaken, and that’s what we are seeing. As believers, those who truly cling to Jesus, we are finding out if we built our lives on idols of sand, or the Rock that can’t be moved.

Recently I received an email from a Christian organization out of Israel, Mike Evans, and I thought that I would share it with you:

Dear Robert,
God has given me a word that has shaken me to my knees. As I was working on this revelation that God put in my heart, I picked up an old Bible, and a handwritten note fell out. It was from a meeting I had with Dr. David Wilkerson at the Embassy Suites near the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on a Tuesday in 1986 when we were having breakfast. The letter he wrote was addressed to Rev. Richard Dortch, who ran PTL under Jim Bakker. It said, “Within 12 months from the date of this letter, the judgment of God will fall on PTL. You are fornicating with brick and stone. Flee now and repent. Bats will fly through the empty building.” It was exactly 12 months to the day that the Charlotte Observer broke the PTL scandal story. In that meeting in 1986, Dr. Wilkerson said something else to me: “I see a plague coming on the world, and the bars and churches and government will shut down. The plague will hit New York City and shake it like it has never been shaken. The plague is going to force prayerless Believers into radical prayer and into their Bibles, and repentance will be the cry from the man of God in the pulpit. And out of it will come a third Great Awakening that will sweep America and the world.”
Plan to join us in watching this amazing and prophetic message tomorrow at 6:00 PM (CST) on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1094173014269685/
Your ambassador to Jerusalem,
Michael David Evans
Make an online donation here: https://giving.jerusalemprayerteam.org
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer. —Isaiah 26:20-21

We are seeing the manifestation of this word as I write this. Over 70,000 believers are praying, fasting, and seeking God for a global awakening and revival. Please join them, and us, as we seek God – not simply for an end of this virus, but for the very Face of Jesus to manifest, calling people to repentance, and brokenness.

We love you and miss all of you. It will be a great day when we all can gather together and sing His praises. Remember again to check in on those who are shut in, the elderly, and those alone. Know that you are in our prayers as I trust that we are in yours. It’s time for all God’s people to awake and prepare. Heed the call to show up for the Last Day’s dress rehearsal, and turn to see Jesus.

About Face

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 Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Acts 3:19 So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;

When a person sits still, crawls, walks or runs the action to move must first pass the command center of the brain. The brain initiates the action. The thought must be wedded to the will. The will being the fuel, or energy, to put into action the command of the brain. How I sit, crawl, walk or run will be determined by how I’m feeling. How I’m feeling will be expressed uniquely through my personality. Everything initiates in the mind and is expressed through all the others. What I have just described is the soul of man. The soul of man is separated from God and is at war even with itself. Paul describes that battle in Romans 7 in which he states that the things he wants to do he doesn’t do, and the things he doesn’t want to do he ends up doing. At the end of the chapter he exclaims: O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25

It is only through Jesus that our soul can be brought to conformity to the Spirit of God. But that victorious life of victory can never be achieved until we submit to repenting. At face value repentance means, to turn around, or do an “about face,” but the true foundation of repentance is found in the changing of the mind. Without a change of mind all the other action never takes place. The real kick in the pants is that the problem is so much deeper than a change of mind. Until my spirit man comes to life I might want to change; my mind might initiate the command, but it has to pass through my will, emotions, and personality to become a reality. In fact we can all give testimony to times when our minds were willing to do stuff but we didn’t feel like doing it. The key to our repentance is found in Romans 3:19 when it states: change your mind and purpose. Until our purpose is addressed our minds will see no need for a change. Yet Romans 8:28-29 states our purpose: 

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.

Most claim the promise of verse 28 without asking the question, What is God’s Design and Purpose? The answer is found in verse 29: …He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness]. Another interesting detail that many ignore or fail to address is the statement: …for those who love God and are called…” Until we love God we will never hear. Because loving God is not mere sentiment but obedience. If I love Him I will do what He says. But I can love God, and hear, yet reject His call. I know, I’ve done it many times. Repentance helps us see that if I have done all of the above I will embrace God’s call to fulfill His design and purpose for my life to be a little Christ. No more excuses about being only human, but a change of thinking that declares that I have a responsibility. Responsibility is made up of two words, “response,” and “ability.” I have the ability to respond to the call to be a little Christ. Repentance states I have the power of the Anointed One. How do I know that? Because He was anointed with the Spirit to accomplish all that He did so that He could baptize me with the same anointing – empowering me to do what He did. The question is, Am I repenting? Am I receiving refreshing; recovering from the effects of sin; being revived with fresh air of His Spirit? Am I repenting coming into the presence of the Lord? If our minds are being transformed, conformed to the Spirit and the Word, then I am taking on the Mind of Christ, the thinking of Jesus. If Im thinking the thoughts of Jesus then I’m modeling what He did, and what He does. That’s repenting. It’s not a stagnant thing. It’s not a thing of the past – one time and then you’re done. No, it’s a steady ascent up the Mountain of the Lord, a narrow, harrowing path with even narrower ledges. But we serve the One Who has made the Way and is the Way to the Top.

How’s your entree’? Wash that meat down with a pure drink from the Fountain of Living Waters. Let it bubble up inside of you and aid in your digestion. Both will provide strength for the ascent.

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

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There was an old song from the band Chicago Transit Authority back in 1969 titled, “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” There’s a line in the lyrics that says: “People runnin’ everywhere, Don’t know where to go, Don’t know where I am, Can’t see past the next step, Don’t have time to think past the last mile, Have no time to look around, Just run around, run around and think why”

I bet if people from 1969 were to visit our world that they would think our life is a blur in comparison. Which begs the question, “Do you have time to know what time it is?” According to God – that is?

The Jewish new year began at sundown, Sunday night and went through sundown Tuesday night. Thus today marks a countdown in what the Jewish people called the “Days of Awe.” You may be tempted to ask, “What business does a Christian have with things that are Jewish?” Do you mean other than Jesus, the 12 Disciples, and the Bible? Obviously there are a whole lot of things we are already doing “business” with. Yet there is still one more thing that many Christians ignore because, mistakenly, they believe that it was done away with the Law. What in particular am I referring to? Why I am referring to God’s Calendar. God’s calendar is portrayed in His holy days. The holy days being Passover, Pentecost, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Hanukah.

IN the beginning God created time and you can rest assured that He intended that events on earth should reflect heavenly realities. The Apostle Paul stated that the events that God put on the Jewish calendar were to be to us as a tutor (Gal. 3:24). In fact he stated that they were a “shadow” of things that were to come or occur (Col. 2:16-17). In Lev. 23:2 God calls the feasts of Israel, His calendared items, His “appointed times.”

From today through sundown September 18 the Jewish people observe a time of fasting, confession of sin, and repentance. Thus you have ten days of seeking God through recognizing your sins, asking for forgiveness and grace to repent. It was more than a New Year’s resolution. It was to be a complete life change.

As I arose early this morning to pray and seek the Lord I pondered why there were 10 days. I wondered how many objects were used to worship God in the Tabernacle and I realized if you count the door (there was only one way in and out of the Tabernacle) that there were only 7. Wanting to ignore the obvious I kept hoping there was something that seemed deeper, but when it was all said and done I could only come up with the 10 Commandments. Then it hit me: “What if I took one commandment for each day, meditating on it, using it to prompt me in my confession?”

The first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me.” That didn’t hit me that hard until the Spirit of God stirred up Jesus’ teaching on this matter. In Matt. 22:37-38 “And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.” When I lined my life up against that passage I realized I did have other “gods.” They were things that I loved more than God. Things I had given my whole heart, soul and mind to. Even as I type this I realize that there are some more sins I need to confess. Because even when something is good, like loving my wife or children, I can place them above God. I’ve had times in my life where I loved the martial arts, exercise, scuba diving, and entertainment more than I did God. Also when you think about it, “what is a god?” A god can be anything I place or put my trust in. In fact a god can be anything I serve. What we serve and trust above God, is a god.

God give us these calendared reminders because He knows we all have a tendency to drift off course, especially when our center isn’t His Word and Spirit but our selves. So I wanted to take this time to invite you to join me in seeking God, making an appointment to get on His calendar. Who knows what might happen. Jesus was born according to God’s calendar, crucified according to God’s calendar, raised from the dead on God’s calendar, and His Spirit was poured out on God’s calendar. Guess what else? He’s coming back on God’s calendar. Get on God’s calendar and possibly while you are participating Jesus will show up and you will experience Him in ways you never imagined.