Matt Morgan
Our devotion this week, Awake, comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was provided by Hillsong Worship.
There is a sound that changes things
Awake My Soul, Hillsong Worship
The sound of His people on their knees
Oh, wake up, you slumbering
It’s time to worship Him
Words and Music by Brooke Ligertwood
© 2019 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia
At the beginning of this year, our Senior Pastor Brian Houston declared that ‘REVIVAL IS IN THE AIR’. This was a statement of faith and expectation, both for the local and global church. It is upon the foundation of Jesus’ death and resurrection that everything has new life.
This album project for us was a beautiful reminder that the Holy Spirit is always at work in the story of our lives. He was weaving this narrative long before we ever caught on, the idea that REVIVAL – a bringing back to life the people of God from a state of slumber and apathy – is in the air! REVIVAL is unique to the church, to the gathering of God’s people. REVIVAL starts with us, but it does not end there.
With REVIVAL comes an AWAKENING. The uprising of godly men and women who are committed to prayer, and praise – to not only reading, but obeying the Word of God and to healthy fellowship and community, who’s influence and impartation, then impacts the nations.
Our AWAKENING goes far beyond the four walls of the church and has a ripple effect to the broader community – it is a picture of God pursuing hearts, beckoning those still asleep, still blinded by sin, back into right relationship with Him. It is our belief that REVIVAL has a sound; that AWAKENING has a sound. It is the sound of God responding to His people praying and seeking Him. Together, a people on their knees, desperate for God to move, will undoubtedly unleash that sound to the nations…
One man awake,
Awakens another.
The second awakens
His next door brother.
The three awake can rouse
A town
By turning the whole place
Upside down.
The many awake
Can cause such a fuss
It finally awakens the
Rest of us.
One man up,
With dawn in his eyes
Surely then
Multiplies.
Awaken by Lawrence Tribble
Let’s pray.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You that though I was once dead in my sins, You rescued and redeemed me and that I can live fully awake in You. Lord, let revival start with me. Let the church of Jesus Christ around the world AWAKE, Your glorious bride rising to her full potential. I pray today for an opportunity to share Your resurrection power with those around me.
In Jesus mighty Name,
Amen.
Read Psalm 57:8.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
Read Romans 13:11-14.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Read Psalm 78:2-7.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
3 things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
Our devotion this week, Awake, comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was provided by Hillsong Worship.
No longer I who live
See The Light, Hillsong Worship
Now Jesus lives in me
For I was dead in sin
But I woke up to see the light
Words and Music by Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan
© 2019 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia
Our eternal life began with Christ’s death. It was His death that dealt a fatal blow to death itself and gave us eternal life that cannot be taken away. We are a resurrection people, having buried our own sin with Christ, we are now risen with Him into the glorious light of His forgiveness. Yet, God’s gift of light is not simply for our own restoration, it is a beacon – to follow in His footsteps.
Acceptance of Jesus’ death and resurrection life is not just so that we can have life after death, in heaven. It is also a guarantee of true life before death; a commitment to His sons and daughters that life can be lived now, here on earth, abundant and full.
Living fully awake to life with Christ is a great blessing and the word of God tells us that God takes great delight in seeing His children blessed. When was the last time you prayed a radical prayer of faith? When was the last time you looked around and saw God exceeding those expectations? Because he does that! Think about this – He rescued you out of sin and death. And He didn’t rescue you in order for you to live a lukewarm and sleepy life. Are you living fully awake? Fully aware of God working in your life and bestowing His abundant life in and through you.
There are many examples in the Bible where God not only delighted in giving His children what they asked for – but exceeded their expectations:
Blind Bartimaeus wanted his sight – Jesus not only gave him that, but also restored him to his community.
Peter wanted an opportunity to see Jesus again after his denial – Jesus forgave him, commissioned him and made Peter a leader in the church.
The challenge for us today is to recognise the power we have access to, with Jesus alive in us. After all, the same power that raised Christ from the dead – is now alive in us.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, help me to recognise You in my every day. Help me to live life fully awake, aware of Your blessings and trusting You for with what is ahead. Thank You for Your resurrection power, may I walk in it today.
Amen.
Read Galatians 2:20.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Read Ephesians 5:13-14.
13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Read Ephesians 3:20-21.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Read Romans 6:10-11.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Our devotion this week, Awake, comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was provided by Hillsong Worship.
In the darkness we were waiting
King of Kings, Hillsong Worship
Without hope, without light
Till from heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
Words and Music by Brooke Ligertwood, Scott Ligertwood & Jason Ingram
© 2019 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia & Fellow Ships Music/So Essential Tunes (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com)
There is no doubt – we all began in darkness. In fact, the earth itself was covered in darkness, until the Creator came and spoke light and breathed life into His creation.
Today, God is still breathing life into dead things. Our kind Saviour is still bringing light to dark places, hope to hopeless situations, possibility to impossible circumstances. But before we entered His light, we were in darkness. And before we knew true life, we were destined for death. And before coming awake, we were asleep. The Bible puts it like this: “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.” Colossians 2.13 (NIV)
Earlier this year our Senior Pastor, Bobbie Houston, asked the question “Do you remember the day the lights went on?” What about you? Do you remember the day you found salvation, and the weight of sin lifted off you? The day that from heaven, Jesus came running with mercy in His eyes? Ready to awaken you to all of the hope, grace, peace and joy that is life with Jesus Christ.
It is our prayer that you would remember that moment. That as you listen to the songs from this new album, the lyrics would remind you that you were once in darkness but have been brought into the light – illuminated now to illuminate others.
Let’s pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, through Your Holy Spirit – remind me again of that moment when the lights went on. Remind me today of Your kindness and compassion towards me, and may I walk in the mercy and grace bestowed on me in order to bestow it upon others. Thank You for the gift of Your light.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Read Matthew 4:16.
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
Read John 1:5-9.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Read John 12:35-36.
35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
Read Colossians 2:9-15.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
