The Resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's power and has ongoing ramifications for every person who puts their faith in Him. Jesus made
this clear in his interaction with Mary and Martha at the tomb of their
brother, Lazarus.
When they chided Jesus
for not coming four days earlier and healing their brother, Jesus replied, You
brother will rise again (John 11:23). Martha replied, I know he will
rise again in the last day at the resurrection. Jesus then said, I Am
the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may
die, he shall live (John 11:25).
With these words, Jesus
made clear that the resurrection is more than a past or future event.
Resurrection life and power has been personified in Him. He is the resurrection
and the life. Paul understood this and in Ephesians 1:15-23 he makes clear that
the same power that raised Jesus from the dead has been directed toward the one who believes in Him.
I Learn this Truth in Dramatic Fashion
Sue and I will be
married forty-seven years in May of this year, and about two years into our life
and ministry together, we lost everything. We lost our place to live. We lost
the place where we were having meetings for the congregation we were planting
in eastern Canada. Everything was gone. The God-given vision and mandate died.
In the midst of
this devastation, we sat on a park bench with two friends lifting our hearts to God in
prayer. I remember their 5-year-old daughter, Cara, sitting with us and praying
in tongues.
Suddenly, out of
my innermost being, those rivers of living water that Jesus spoke about in John
7:37-39 began to flow, and I began praying in tongues. I realize that we
charismatics have learned to pray in tongues on cue—at the drop of a hat. Such
prayers, however, are usually from the neck up and powerless.
This was prayer
that I could feel flowing out of my spirit. And all the time I was praying, I
could hear the words, “Don’t be afraid of death because I Am the
Resurrection.” I immediately recognized these as the words that Jesus spoke
to Martha just before he raised her brother from the dead (John 11:25).
I knew that the
Lord was telling me not to fear the death of the vision and mandate He had
given. I knew He was telling me that it would be brought back to life, not by
my scheming and planning, but by His resurrection life and power.
A resurrection did
occur in our lives and ministry. A yielding to God, a determination not to
quit, a step of obedience, and resurrection power flowed forth. The ministry
that came forth was not the same as before; for it came forth in His
resurrection power and in ways we could never have planned or strategized.
There are many
kinds of death that we may experience: the death of a relationship, the death
of a career, the death of a vision or dream. If you have experienced death in
any area of life, I encourage you to put your life in the hands of Him who
declared, “I Am the resurrection!” Victory will come forth out of defeat. Life
will emerge out of death. Success will arise out of failure. His words still
ring true, “Don’t be afraid of death for I Am the Resurrection.”
Will America Have a Resurrection?
Many believe that
America’s best days are over and that no national revival is in her future, but
only continued moral, spiritual, and political decline. That was my belief
until twelve years ago when I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with
the Lord that upended my thinking in this regard.
It occurred one hot, July Saturday afternoon as I began a
two-hour drive from Tulsa to Kingfisher, Oklahoma to speak for friends in the
church they pastored in that town. As I pulled onto the highway, and without
any expectation of any such thing happening, I suddenly was enveloped in God’s
presence.
At the same time, my heart and mind began to be flooded
with thoughts of hope and faith that America “could” experience another Great
Awakening that
would revive and renew the churches of America, impact our culture, and stem
the tide of secularism, immorality, and false religion that is flooding our
land.
I
had studied revivals in history including American revivals such as the First
and Second Great Awakenings. I had, however, given up hope of America ever
seeing another such Awakening. But now, my heart was being filled with fresh
faith and hope for another Great Awakening. This experience continued for at
least seven hours.
Out
of that Divine encounter, I also saw for the first time that the Great Awakening
had a direct bearing on the founding of this nation. Without the First Great
Awakening (1726-1770), there would have been no United States of America as we
have known it.
Over
the next few months, as I prayerfully wrote and did further reading and research,
I began to see something I had not seen before. Not only was this nation
birthed out of Spiritual Awakening, but God had preserved her through national
spiritual awakenings coming at crucial times in our history.
As
a result of this Divine encounter, I continue today praying in hope and faith for God’s
resurrection life and power to be manifest once again across this land in
another Great Awakening. I hope you will catch the vision and join me and
thousands of others who are praying this same prayer.
