From Our Book “Why Am I Up? 3 AM”
“ ….that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:10-14
The revival that many speak about is not happening as they foretell. It is in the hearts of men, and is happening every day beyond 3 am. There are many teachings about the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, as if this is an event still to come. I have not quite found a scripture to support that teaching. But I have come to know the word about the New Testament church. We do not have to wait for what is already here! Jesus is raised! Jesus is alive and we have access to him in prayer.
He has sent the Holy Spirit from heaven who is and has been mightily active as shown in the book of Acts, all the way up through this present day. The "hurry up and wait “mentality keeps so many sitting in church waiting for what they already have in them. Waiting for the Holy Spirit to come, is like having a million dollars in the bank and not spending it. The Holy Spirit is here, all we need to do is to receive Him.
Over the past 20 years I have studied all the great revivals and moves of God. Each revival was really God’s constant loving restoration of what he gave us in the first place at the cross, and that had gotten lost through religion, tradition, and doctrines of men. He poured out his Holy Spirit with sign and wonders during those camp meetings and tent revivals. He worked through great men and women of God; William J. Seymour. Smith Wigglesworth, A.A Allen, Jack Cole, William Branham, and Mary Woodwoth - Etter to name a few. They saw great moves of God on millions. There was also the Black Tent revival in Baltimore, the Welsh revival, and the Kentucky revival.
He is restoring every day, every year throughout the world, the things we lost that he gave us. When Jesus was crucified, died, and resurrected he said it was finished. We received all we need from him and got the great commission to go into all the world and do as he commands. Some denominations control the move of his Spirit by hindering it, and this has caused the barriers we feel in the church some times. The revival we are looking for is to go back to where we first believed; cry out to God, and repent for getting off the path. Every revival movement I studied has involved this repentance and refilling from the lost years.
I was at one church on the East Coast that was experiencing a great move of God. I talked to one of the elders then and told him a vision God gave me. God showed me in the service what he was going to do next. And it was even greater than the move the church had been experiencing for the past 2 years. He said, “Oh we are through with that. Now we are just organizing our programs now”. The attitude was that it was done and now order was needed. We have been to so many churches that are going through transitions to Mega church levels. Once they begin to build new buildings, usually with crushing debt loads, they tighten up on the supposed loose canon people who do outreach, prayer, and especially upon those who don’t tithe. These people are targets for the reordering. The size of the building becomes more important than the size of the hearts of men. We have seen this shift and have had to get out of the way, or leave before being run out.
The need for a bigger program becomes more of a focus, with the idea that when we get bigger then we will be able to help the broken hearted and poor. But once they are at the Mega Church size they need to grow some more to get ready for the next phase, and also usually to have more members to financially service the often crushing debt burdens involved. The results are that the people whom the church needs to reach too often get lost or overlooked. There are so many churches with people who are baby Christians forever. They are taught all the principles needed to start their businesses, get a house, drive new cars, invest, and pour into the church financially. But they never get good teaching or training until they attend a fee paid conference. I remember when the Gospel was free. We were sold out about just serving Jesus with whatever we had. I was taught the word of God and how to reach the lost. The idea of wining souls was not a sermon but an everyday reality of living for Jesus.
The real revival in the morning is in our hearts to get back to be revived to the basic fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, and to do his will. The performance oriented Christianity that exists is based upon words and not grace. We judge each other based upon titles, conferences, books published, and what church you attend. The real church knows each other after the Spirit of God and that requires all of us to walk in the spirit and not in our flesh.
The carnal church is producing a generation of performance oriented Christians. That is Christianity based upon works instead of being based upon a relationship with Jesus Christ. The church is build with café, gyms, club house, and sport lounges. When the church was just the church and the business ventures were left outside the door, souls got saved. I am not suggesting to people not to attend church. There are many who desire to go to church, but who feel out of place. The Christian circuit celebrities keep the same people in rotation with the same books that encourage worldly goals. I have met a few of these people and they are very mean and unfriendly. They make you feel as if you are wasting their time even talking to them. Pastors have become life coaches instead of encouraging the five fold ministry to edify and build up the body of Christ. You pay to get counseled now.
Now Church buildings are built first and then marketed for the people to come to with over heads sometimes costing of millions of dollars annually. As I step back and see all this, I know why I am up at 3 am. And not just me but many who are dismayed and disappointed with the agenda in the modern church. I am up to pray for those I know who want very much to go to church, but can’t fit into the modern church system and instead need and want Jesus. I am up praying for slavery across the world to be ended, instead of supporting tea parties, democrats, and conservative values, or the taking back of America. It has pagan roots, plus you can’t take back what does not belong to you. We believe the new kingdom of God is not bounded by country, politics, or geography ,but is infinite size, scope, and in the number of souls saved by the cross of Jesus Christ.
I am praying for hurting people and those who have never heard the Gospel. I am up praying for myself that I don’t fall away, and that I continue to glorify his name some kind of way in my life daily. I am up seeking his face and crying to for my loved ones who are struggling with sin. I am up praying for myself to stay right with God. The new revival is the old revival that started 2000 years ago on Calvary: be restored to God through Jesus Christ.
It is so simple but the church has made it complex. I can remember seeing people get saved right in front of my eyes and filled with the Holy Spirit. They were baptized right then and there with the Holy Ghost. They would be handed microphones to speak in tongues and we all shouted for glory. I recall seeing people get baptized by water every Sunday because they wanted it all at once and to receive the fullness of salvation. Many churches don’t even have baptismal pools built in them or end up using a local pool once every 3 months.
Don’t get me wrong we don’t understand the complete workings of a church. But I also understand that you place your priorities on what is important to you. And if having cafés becomes more important than making sure a sinner can get saved and baptized then we have to look more closely at our priorities. Souls should be our first concern. The Gospel we preach should have an impact on people’s lives.People who are seeking God need to be not just convicted but converted to Christ. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is power. So many sermons are preached from text book knowledge and not first hand and ongoing experience with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
I have turned off from so many preachers on TV who are not anointed. I have seen bishops as young as 26 instead of elders season in the Word and in the world. Too many church leaders and denominations appear to be handing out “bishop rings” like tic tacs and we all just shake our heads and agree. Freemasons are boldly operating in churches, and pastors are part of the organization, while also preaching in the pulpit. There is more to being saved than all of this.
I encourage you that if you are up at 3 am or any time of the day make your calling and election real to you as a Christian. Seek God with all of your heart. When God points out those areas that are sins in your life, quickly repent, asks for his forgiveness, and for His power to live right and walk away from those sins. This includes being a member of any secret organizations to which you have sworn oaths of allegiance. You can’t have divided loyalties. None of us can. Either we will love the world and all of the temporary but pleasurable power and opportunities that seem to come when we join secret and worldly powerful organizations. Or we will follow Jesus with all of our hearts. Come on brothers and sisters, it’s not too late even if you’ve been in these organizations for many years. The Lord Jesus loves you and wants you to follow him. He can and will untangle all of the messy, even life threatening allegiances you have made. He’s able to extricate you from the devilish oaths and covenants you have made. Don’t you want to be free from the burden, the stress, and the pain of those ungodly commitments you made as a young man or woman just starting out? Turn to Jesus and he will set you free.
Why Am I Up? 3 AM
By Ramon and Janie McGee
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