Cornerstone

John 16:7-12 (8)

⁷But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt^[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.”

After moving to Los Angeles my 92-year-old father wanted to learn how to get to the store, the bank, and other points of his interest.  I printed a map and marked where the locations he desired including the home address.  We took several trips to these places and I had him tell me which way to turn as he consulted the map.

Several weeks later I had to return to Kansas City on business.  During my absence he decided to go to the grocery store.  He made the trip safely and bought his groceries.  While in the store, however, he unknowingly became disoriented.  When he left the store he turned South instead of North.  He traveled through the city for quite a distance before he accepted the fact that he was in unfamiliar territory.  Stopping, he asked a FedEx employee directions.  The man showed him on the map how to return home.

Although we study God’s road map for our lives there may be times when circumstances in life cause us to lose our sense of direction.  When our spirit begins to warn us that we are getting farther away from home it is important that we consult our map and ask the Holy Spirit to once again help us to get on the right path.

Later we purchased a compass to put in our truck.  It constantly informs us what direction we are going.  In like manner, the ever present Spirit is an assurance that the believer need never stray from God’s presence.

Dr. Gayle Woods

Psa 85:1-13

In a seminary class entitled “Revivalism” we conducted research on the movement of the Holy Spirit in awakenings among the Christian people. The subject matter was fascinating. The variety, the spontaneity, the powerfulness of these times was exciting. The personalities involved were glamorous. The astounding thing that surfaced during this time of research, however, was that it appeared that revivals seem to come in cycles of seventy-five years. As we plotted not just meetings but awakenings of various intensity it seemed that the pattern held true for the most part. Every seventy-five years in some part of the world a spiritual awakening was in progress. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit would not be willing to keep His people stirred to a red hot heat with revival fervor. It is to say that in the frailty of our humanity, and in an environment of depravity the human race has to learn and re-learn its intense need for God. Another thing that surfaced during this research complimented this thought. Each period of revival was preceded by a prolonged period of intercessory prayer by a group of people who were sick of sin and desired to feel the flame of God’s presence once again. Revival, drift, apathy, apostasy, destitution, repentance, revival seems to be the cycle that we follow. Where are we now in this cycle? Can we skip a step or two in the cycle if some of us get serious and begin to plead the blood of Jesus Christ for a revival of spirituality? I believe so.

Dr. Gayle Woods