A Kingdom Outpouring

It’s time! God’s Kingdom is breaking-in once again with amazing miracles, signs and wonders, and power! An outpouring of Holy Spirit rain is falling once again on a dry, hungry people. Throughout scripture and church history, we see this familiar story repeating itself again and again:

God’s people, in our self-reliance, selfishness, greed, and sin, let the once-vibrant faith that we were given when we first came to Christ, be put away into a storage shed. It hangs lifelessly on the wall, like an old bicycle with two flat tires. Over time, we tend to forget about it, and in its’ place, we buy a sophisticated 8-cylinder Rolls-Royce, with its’ shining chrome wheels and comfortable Corinthian leather interior, and we begin cruising through life at amazing speeds.

But as they say in the real world, stuff happens, and we begin to find that the cost of maintaining this gas-guzzling cruiser is drying up our resources faster than we can pour it in. With gas prices nearing $4 per gallon, that old bicycle hanging on the garage wall begins to look a bit more attractive, doesn’t it? Eventually, out of near desperation, we decide to pull the old bike off the rack, repair the worn-out tires, and hop on. The ride seems different at first. Yes, even a bit uncomfortable. It’s at times a bit clumsy, as we activate old out-of-shape muscles, and get used to our hind-quarters feeling a bit sore. Yet, despite the radical nature of the new environment, as we peddle our way through the distractions, life seems so much more quiet, simple and enjoyable.

Why? Because we’re traveling through life in and on a vehicle that can truly allow us to stop and smell the roses, whenever we want! And gas is no longer an issue, because the refreshment we receive from being in God’s creation, actually seems to empower us to peddle up those steep, seemingly insurmountable hills! And yes, even when it rains, we shake it off and begin to realize how much fun it can be to act like a kid once again…cycling through life without the heaviness of having to maintain all our adult toys!

So it is with renewal and revival. God is asking us to trade in our more sophisticated and complicated religion and buy in to the simple and yet profund joys of allowing God to indwell and empower us for life. We say…YES, Lord, bring it on! More Power! More Presence! More of YOU, less of us.

So…here we go! KINGDOM COME!

~ by Marty Boller on May 16, 2008.