Unbridled Revival Part 6

The next key to Unbridled Revival we want to explore is unbridled praise and joy. Let's take a look at some key scriptures and see how our heroes of faith overcame the awful conditions they were going through.

Heb 10:23-Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.

Did Jesus do that? You bet He did. The day He was crucified, he stood in front of Pontias Pilate bound, bruised and bloodied. The crowd was yelling all kinds of insults at Him. They were telling nothing but a pack of lies. They never gave Him credit or praise for any of the good things that He did. Notice this scripture.

Pilate asked Him, John 19:10-Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

To which Jesus replied, John 19:11-Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Whatever it is that you are facing or going through right now could not have come except our Heavenly Father allowed it. That person who is persecuting you is only able to do it because our Heavenly Father allowed them to. Here is a very important point you need to understand while you are in the middle of a rought situation. If you are living in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, whatever trial you go through is God's declaration of how strong you are in Christ Jesus. Pilate tried to throw his power around. Jesus, on the other hand, threw God's power around. Jesus knew that He was walking in the very center of God's will and that God had a plan for him. You do the same thing. Don't moan and groan and whine all day. Stand up to the devil. Tell him God has a better plan for you. Shout to him that God didn't intend for you to stay in the valley of the shadow of death. Tell him over and over that you are going THROUGH this valley and come out of it praising God.

Pilate asked Jesus something else. John 18:37-Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born,

Jesus held fast His confession of the truth. Bound, battered and bloodied, Jesus looked Pilate right in the eye and with great boldness He declared to Pilate that He was born a king. He didn't look like it right then. He didn't feel like it right then. Everybody around Him contradicted what He said, but He held fast His confession of the Word of His Lover.

Let's go back to our first date. We asked the young lady out. She said 'Yes'. Did we moan and groan? No. We rejoiced. We rejoiced, not at what was happening right now, but at the promise that our Lover made to us. We knew that it was not going to take place right then and we were OK with that. Still, we rejoiced and began to tell others what our lover had promised. They might have made fun of us, but WE KNEW AND BELIEVED THE LOVE that she had displayed and rejoiced through EVERY adverse circumstance. Our Lover, God Almighty, has given us exceeding great and precious promises. Begin to confess those promises because they are His love desires for you. It's OK to rejoice and praise Him for something that has not come to pass because you believe that God's love will bring it to pass just like He said.

Look at Abraham and Sarah. They rejoiced over having a child for 25 years. Do the math. That's 9,125 days that they waited and praised Him until they got what God promised. They were convinced that what God had promised, He was faithful to perform. That's found in Romans 4:21.

What about Paul and Silas. They were persecuted, beaten and put in jail unrighteously for doing the will of God. Yet, they CHOSE to praise God in the very middle of hard circumstances. Did they know that an earthquake would come and free them all? No. They did not know what God had up His sleeve. But, they did know Jer 29:11-For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. They knew that their Lover was not through with this situation because their Lover was planning on bringing them peace. So they held fast that confession and began to rejoice and praise Him for whatever it was that He was going to do. Paul later wrote to the Romans, Rom 8:28-For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Notice that Paul didn't say that all things WERE good but that ALL THINGS would WORK TOGETHER for our good. Then, he said that love-dovey remark again---to them that love God.

Find the promises that our Lover gave us concerning the situation you are going through. Hold the promise close to your heart. Don't hold what you are going through to your heart. That hurts. Hold the promise of our Lover and begin to rejoice that all things are going to work together for your good. Rejoice that what your Lover has promised, He will be faithful to perform.

2 Peter 3:9-The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Along with John 3:16, this verse should spark joyous praise in the daily lives of the believers. It is God's will that the lost, all of the lost, to come to Jesus. That is HIS will. It needs to become the desire of our hearts and the reason we praise and rejoice. Make it a daily habit to lift up praises to our Lover that the lost are coming to Jesus. Boldly tell the devil that his hold over your loved ones is broken because God is not willing that they perish but His will is for all the lost to be saved. Until we take the bridle off of our praise and begin to rejoice in God's Word, then revival will never come. Souls are being lost because of the inactivity of God's people, not because it's not the will of God. Do something productive today, saints. Hold fast your confession and give Him praise that the lost are coming to Jesus.