The first night during the service I was asked to help on the Great Awakening prayer line. I had never been in the call center during any meetings before. I was totally blown away as people called in for prayer who were already under the power of God, saying that as they sat there watching the service they began shaking and weeping. One lady called crying under the power of God who had just answered the altar call Pastor Rodney gave, standing in front of her TV. She already had been saved but she felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and wanted to come back to her first love. One lady who had never received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit prayed to receive it and began speaking in tongues. Another night while praying with a lady who needed healing in her back, I asked her to take a step of faith and do something she couldn’t do before. She felt a warmth in her back and said there was no more pain! For me, one of the most impacting calls this week was from someone who called in awe of what was happening. He kept saying things like “You guys really have the real thing!” As he watched he didn’t know what was happening to him but he found himself shaking all over and crying. He said that he and his friends didn’t want to be in the occult anymore! The connection on the phone was lost but he called back and another prayer partner got to pray the prayer of salvation with him and his friends. It is mind-blowing how the Lord is touching and saving people from all walks of life right in their homes!!-Victoria D.
The Great Awakening is not just another TV-show but it is a life changing fire spreading throughout America and the rest of the world! This first week of the Great Awakening services hasn’t just had an impact on the local church here at The River at Tampa Bay but it has had a great impact in all the homes that it is reaching. The journey of this fire doesn’t end in the church and the homes that are watching by TV or Internet, it continues to people across the globe as all these people that are getting revived and set on fire again for God, are spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Now all these people that are getting a revelation of our first commandment to go out and preach the gospel, are winning souls for the Lord. Peoples lives all over America and all over the world are getting changed and saved. This fire of God is spreading fast and there is no end to it! It is the presence of God touching the lives of thousands of people. It is a tangible presence that is creating an even greater hunger for the power of God and for it to spread like never before. This fire is a soul winning passion dropping down in peoples hearts, a passion and a need for other people to make the most important decision of their lives, to accept Jesus into their hearts. This fire creates a hunger and a need for God and His glory to surround and dwell in their lives, to come back to their first love and passion for Jesus. To once again get the revelation of what Jesus did for them on the cross. This Great Awakening is the fire of God spreading fast and every second it is making an eternal difference.-Sara B.
Went out yesterday and went to a park. We led at least 10 by reading the script and also read out in Spanish to 10 Mexicans playing basketball – Starting a soul winning station in Pinellas
Kathy B.
Thank you both so much for the Great Awakening taking place. My husband and I pastor a church in Knoxville, Tennessee. We have been inspired by watching your broad cast to get our members to join us for a soul winning adventure.
Please pray for us for boldness and the fire of God to come on us as Pastor’s and on our church.
John 1:1-4 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
We know God’s thoughts and ways through His Word.
Many have little understanding of the Father.
John 14:9 – Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
Seventy percent of Jesus’ ministry was healing the sick and casting out devils.
Daniel 11:32 – And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Mark 16:15-18 – And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
People attend the same church with the same Bible. One understands and one doesn’t.
You cannot receive God with the natural mind; you have to receive Him with the heart.
John 4:23-24 – But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God needs to be the final authority in our lives: God’s WORD is to be final authority in our lives. Isaiah 40:8 – The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The fire burns up the chaff, religion, and tradition. (Jeremiah 23:29 – Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? )
Press into Him by studying His Word and following His promptings, the promptings of the Holy Spirit—be willing and obedient. (Isaiah 1:19 – If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.)
Quote: Smith Wigglesworth while preaching the message Power of the Word of God:
“Believers are strong only as the Word of God abides in them. The Word of God is spirit and life to those who receive it in simple faith, and it is a verifier of all who own its sway.
Know your Book, live it, believe it, and obey it. Hide God’s word in your heart. It will save your soul, quicken your body, illumine your mind. The Word of God is full and final, infallible, reliable, and up-to-date, and our attitude towards it must be one of unquestioned obedience.
If a thing is in the Bible, it is so; it is not even to be prayed about; it is to be received and acted upon. Inactivity of faith is a robber, which steals blessing. Increase comes by action, by using what we have and what we know. Your life must be one of going from faith to faith.”
“Great faith is the product of great fights.”
“Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests.”
“Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.”
Psalms 18:30-32 – As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. 31 For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? 32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
Natural persons’ ways and God’s ways are a world apart. God wants to lift us into heavenly places.
Mark 7:13 – Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Hosea 4:6 – My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Prayer: Show me Your ways not through the eyes of religion and tradition. Show me Your plan and purpose for me. I will do Your purpose. I will do Your plan. I am expecting to hear, “Well done thy good and faithful servant…”
Jer 29:11-13 NIV – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
But you know all about me. You know what I teach and the way I live. You know my goal in life. You know my faith, my patience, and my love. You know that I never stop trying. 11 You know about my persecutions and my sufferings. You know all the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra –the persecution I suffered in those places. But the Lord saved me from all of it. 12 Everyone who wants to live showing true devotion to God in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:10-12 ERV
Everyone who wants to live showing true devotion to God in Christ Jesus will be persecuted and go through hard times, but never forget that God is on your side! If you are a lukewarm, compromising Christian, the devil isn’t worried about you, but if you are a Book of Acts Christian – hot, on-fire, living a godly life, submitted to the Word and the Holy Spirit, a doer of the Word, preaching the Gospel, and obeying the Great Commission – then he will be very afraid of you. The devil will always come to try to hinder and to stop the doers of the Word – those who are obeying God – with persecution. You might as well make up your mind now to not get upset or discouraged when it happens. In fact, you should rejoice for it is a sign that you are doing the will of God!
Persecution and hardship is intended to limit your influence. Persecution can come in the form of verbal disapproval or attacks, physical attacks from people or circumstances, and/or spiritual resistance from devils and demons. The devil will try to get you to be discouraged and quit. If you are a touchy person and you take everything personally, then you won’t be able to endure to the end. Paul was just such a one who was bold for the Gospel’s sake and went through tremendous persecutions and hardships as he boldly preached and demonstrated the Word of God. Ungodly people stirred up strife against him; fellow Jews attacked him; other “Christians” questioned his integrity and lied about him; he was arrested and thrown in jail and eventually martyred for his faith – and yet he never gave up; he never quit. Persecution will never succeed if you will just never quit!
Remember Jesus Christ. He is from the family of David. After Jesus died, he was raised from death. This is the Good News that I tell people. 9 And because I tell that message, I am suffering. I am even bound with chains like someone who has really done wrong. But God’s message is not bound. 10 So I patiently accept all these troubles. I do this to help the people God has chosen so that they can have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. With this salvation comes glory that never ends. 11 Here is a true statement: If we died with him, we will also live with him. 12 If we remain faithful even in suffering, we will also rule with him. If we refuse to say we know him, he will refuse to say he knows us. 13 If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he cannot be false to himself. 2 Timothy 2:8-13 ERV
Paul was persecuted for the Gospel’s sake, not because he had done wrong. He was bound by chains, but God’s Word was not bound – he continued to preach, write letters full of God’s Word and minister to everyone he met and the Lord continued to use him. How did Paul endure all this suffering? What Jesus did for him – and all men – was so real to him; eternity was so real to him; the promise of God was so real to him; that he was willing rather to suffer anything than deny the Lord Jesus Christ!
He was standing on the promise of God that:
1. If we be dead with Him, we shall live with Him.
– Romans 6:8 KJV – Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
– 2 Corinthians 5:15 KJV – And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.
– Romans 8:17-18 KJV – And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
3. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
– Mark 8:38 KJV – Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
4. If we won’t believe, He remains faithful: He cannot deny Himself.
- Jesus is faithful. He will still be with us even when we have endured so much that it seems we have no faith left to stand. We may even give up and be faithless at times, but Jesus is still faithful to His promise to be with us “to the very end of the world/age” (Matthew 28:20). If we deny the Lord or walk away and break fellowship with Him, still He will never turn His back on us, but be ready to receive us back, should we come to our senses and turn back to Him.
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Acts 5:40-42 KJV
Persecution did not stop the Early Church from serving God and preaching the Gospel. They counted it an honor to receive persecution for His Name sake!
