Worship

“Revival’s in the Air” by Dante Bowe

Scripture

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposedand the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” -Psalm 18:6-19, emphasis added

Please don’t skip over the worship song because it informs this whole devotional so beautifully. Love is returning and in a year of challenges and heartaches, you need to hear the words: Love’s returning to you all the enemy has taken. Love goes before you into 2021 to revive things that need the life of Christ! We need to know that Love is returning for His people!

When God Arises

This portion of Psalm 18 has been on my mind nonstop for weeks now as I sense strongly and with great sobriety, the movement of God coming with His hand of justice and mercy. He has seen the affliction of His people across the earth and it has not been okay with Him. As we have contended with the Lord over the course of these last 52 weeks of 2020, our cries have gone before Him. He has heard every one of them. According to this passage in Psalm 18, there’s a powerful response of God to the cries of God’s people as He hears us. This is a psalm of great victory as David faces the reality of his enemy. But God does not sit by silent or passive; He arises and both David and the world encounters His power and deliverance. He thunders from Heaven and moves with accelerated speed on the ‘wings of the wind.’ Beloved, hold tight, He has not abandoned us.

There’s been a deepening urgency in my heart over the course of this year that we, the Bride of Christ, would live with a revived fear of the Lord, coming out of the sheer knowledge and experience of His goodness and His power, His awe and wonder. There are things that are not in agreement with the heart of God right now across the earth. If we are weeping regarding the injustice and evil happening across the globe, how much more the Lord is seeing and grieving. I have to believe that as we contend for God’s heart to be released in the earth, we must know His character and this glorious dimension of His justice and mercy, His judgment and love.

He loves the world He died for and He is ever-committed to the preparation of His precious Bride He is coming back for.

Fear of the Lord: A Gift Wrapped in Holiness

I want to bring back in this moment the words I wrote to you a month ago:

I believe that God is releasing a new wave across the earth, especially as it pertains to His Bride. This wave is a holy fear of the Lord. It’s not about Him being angry with us, but rather about consecration and holiness and purity for the people of God. When I was sitting with Him last week, I penned these words in my journal from Him:

A fear of the Lord is being established in the hearts of My people. It is what I Am doing, not as a result of the forces of darkness. My people need this because they are floundering. They have been taught to trust and believe a very small God. How do you trust a God who has been minimized to humanity? I will change their perceptions. They need to know who I really Am and that they can trust Me. I Am good, and My love endures forever! But, I also mean what I say. Christianity isn’t some kind of game or social group; it is a life of intimacy with Me, the God of the universe. The church has made Me so small. I AM He, and there is no other. I will not be mocked. I will not be silent or silenced in the Earth. My roar will be heard, and My people will respond in worship. Do not fear the terror of day. Fear the Lord and His power! Receive the gift of the fear of the Lord as it covers the Earth like a blanket. Fear the Lord, all you people! The fear of the Lord will cover the earth like a canopy. It is coming. Prepare your heart to receive it. Open your hands, and I will deposit it deep inside of you like a gift from Me. It will transform My people and set them free from their prison of small thinking.

God, touch our lives with a reverence and an awe and a fear of the Lord in this hour!

I know of no other word the Lord wants me to release to you as we wrap up this incredible year of 2020. I was struggling deeply because I want to give you a soft and loving word of prophetic encouragement and at the same time, this passage and these words are weighing heavy on my heart. Just yesterday, this is what the Holy Spirit prompted in my heart for you:

The enemy has overplayed his hand with My people. He has caused them to defile what once belonged to Me, in innocence and purity and holiness. And they handed it to him without reluctance. I am awakening my Bride to show them what they have handed over to him; they didn’t even know they were doing it. I’m calling for holiness and purity in my people. They cannot look at the world any longer with a gaze of longing. I want my people to lay down all the places in their hearts–every one of their desires. Ask me to sort them out. I want to expand, fulfill, and even remove some of them.

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” -1 John 3:2-3

Consecration and Heaven’s Perspective

These are such crucial days of consecration as we cross from 2020 to 2021. When Joshua called the people to break camp and cross over to the Promised Land, not everyone broke camp to leave with God’s people, some stayed on the other side. Out of sheer disobedience they just didn’t want to leave the familiar for what God had ahead of them. But the Lord is calling us to lay down our love and attention and affection on the edge of the wilderness for anything other than Christ Himself. We are moving into a new territory. There are two doors of invitation to us right now–the door of your heart and the door of heaven.

“Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.” -Revelation 3:20, TPT

“After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’” -Revelation 4:1

He stands at the door of our hearts and it’s our moment to ask Him to sort out every affection and attention of our lives. What do we hold so dearly that He wants placed in His hands? I had to sit with Him and bring Him every last desire, longing, and passion for Him to expand, fulfill, and even remove. It was my moment of consecration with Him.

There’s a second door before us and it’s an invitation to see things from heaven’s perspective. In both passages, Jesus doesn’t come barging His way in. He is kind and patient but He is also intimate and relational. And these two places of encounter are intimate invitations so that we can walk in holiness and purity and purpose, bringing heaven to earth because we know the One our hearts adore and He has taken up full residence.

Crossing Over

Revival is coming to a people prepared to carry it!

The Church is awakening to her calling to demonstrate and proclaim the power and love of Christ. A world is awakening to the “good news that will cause great joy for all the people (Luke 2:10b).” We have been shaken so that we could not be moved. We are being prepared for a crossing over into a new year. God’s people are being strengthened and stretched. And we will walk in a fear of the Lord in this next year as we see the hand of God move, the feet of God step into this chaos and the voice of God thunder righteousness and deliverance. As the enemy overplays his hand, you better believe that God is on His way! Love’s returning.

“Revival comes to turn us back, to restore our lives in God. This is God’s central purpose, His number one priority: to make sure His Son has supremacy in our lives in all things. (Colossians 1:15)” -Jeremiah Johnson

A Returning King

As we close out 2020, will you take a moment before the Lord in consecration and invitation to ask God to do something intimate in your heart? Would you ask Him to ground you in a fear of the Lord as we move into 2021? I want to pray for you a blessing of endurance and increase and strengthening.

Jesus, we stand before an open door of heaven today and I ask you, Lord, to take us up higher in an intimate encounter with you to see what you see in preparation for 2021. We have been shaken but not moved because You are our strength, our rock, our fortress, our deliverer, our shield, our horn, our stronghold and our strong God. You battle our enemies and You deliver Your people from the grave. I pray, Lord, that we would be sober and joyously awaiting Your power and wonder to astound us. I pray that every distraction and every affection for the world would fall at Your feet. Make for Yourself a holy and pure Bride who knows only the love of the One our hearts adore. I pray for this army of revivalists who are lovers of You, Jesus, to walk in boldness and courage and a faith that is supernatural. I pray that as we stand on the shores of our promise land, face to face with our Promise Keeper, that our hearts would be secure in the love You have for us–an immovable love that knows no limitations. Holy Spirit, fall afresh on Your daughters and sons and lets us walk about in peace to this world in turmoil because You have the final word! We join our voices with the four living creatures around the throne and declare, “’Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8b).” Amen.

I will see you on the doorstep of January 1, 2021 as we head into 31 days of encounter and intimacy with the Lord. Many of us are fasting and heading into the secret place with Jesus like we did last January. You can use “Arise My Darling” as a resource for this journey. I would encourage you to ask at least one other woman to do it with you. You can purchase this book on Amazon.

May the abundance and goodness of the Lord follow you all the days of your life as you walk and dwell with Him!

A Few Key Notes

• This Friday is New Year’s Day, so we will not have any Arise studies this week. Happy New Year!
• Join us February 25-March 1 in Fort Hood, Texas, to share the love of Jesus with others! Apply to be on the team today.
• As you know, this is a significant year-end for East-West (and Arise). There is a $750,000 match in place for all year-end gifts! I have budgeted $55,000 for Arise for 2021 in order to open new cities this next year. Every gift you give will be doubled dollar for dollar. Give now!