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The Jerusalem Prayer List - January 12 2012
by Joseph Shulam
Revival is a popular term in some evangelical circles. The essential meaning of Revival is that someone was alive, he died or is dying, and he needs revival. Revival is not for people who were never alive or for those who are still strong and living and functioning well. So, the majority of the evangelicals who are using the word “Revival,” like “We are going to have Revival in our church,” are actually confessing that they are dead or dying and in need of revival. The word Revive in Hebrew appears 21 times in 20 verses. The root meaning of the word is to give life or bring back to life. The major places that use this term in relationship to the people are post-exilic that is during the period of Ezra and Nehemiah. During this period the Jewish people who were exiled to Babylon for seventy years are beginning to return to Judea and to Jerusalem. During these seventy years they were outside the land of Israel and God's face was hidden from them as Ezekiel the prophet says in chapter 39:21-29. For this reason the Jews in Exile (Diaspora) were in need of revival and Ezra says it in these words: “And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.” (Ezra 9:8-9)
If you exchange the word "Revive" in the above text to the word “Restore” you will see that it makes more sense in the context of the English translations. In other words the word “revival” is a synonym with “restore.” The same is true with the passages in the book of Psalms. Now if I look at the passages in the book of Psalms I see that in the use of the word “Revive” the text often mentions the means of the Revival that the Psalmist is seeking. Let us look at some of these passages from the Psalms:
Psa. 85:6, “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?”
We see here that God is doing the Reviving and that revival enables the people to rejoice in Him.
Psa. 119:25, “My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.”
The Word of God gives us the prescription for Revival. If we want to be revived we need to find in God's Word the instructions for Revival so that we can do it according to His Word.
Psa. 119:37, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.”
Looking at worthless things is a way to keep revival away from us.
Psa. 119:40, “Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.”
Revival from God comes in His righteousness and in the hunger and longing for God's precepts.
Psa. 119:88, “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”
God’s lovingkindness is a part of the instruction for revival and the results of that revival according to God's lovingkindness is the ability to keep God's testimony - what He has spoken from His mouth. This point is very important for the western church. The result of God's revival is not building the private empires of the churches, but the ability to keep God's testimony the ability to do God's commandments.
Psa. 119:107, “I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.”
This passage is just like Psalm 119:25. Please note that most of these passages are taken from Psalm 119 - the longest Psalm and a very Messianic Psalm that is often times not studied by Christians enough.
Psa. 119:149, “Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O LORD, revive me according to Your justice.”
Without God's justice there can also be no revival - A church that does not care about Justice, social, political, personal, and spiritual justice, can never have a real authentic and true revival. Only a church that has the heart of God and a heart for God and for His people and cares to fix the injustices of our modern Society can have a real revival. One reason that the Western Church is dying is because for years and years the church ignored the issues of justice and especially social and racial justice and did keep their mouth closed on all these issues and even when the government took away the right to pray in school and the right to read the bible in schools and the ten-commandments from the court houses.
Psa. 119:154, “Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.”
Revival is intimately connected with redemption. If people are not redeemed by the Lamb of God they are dead in their trespasses and revival will not help them.
Psa. 119:156, “Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your judgments.”
The Revival is a matter of God's judgments and a part of His character of mercy and longsuffering. When we pray and ask for Revival we are not asking for something that is extra or strange to God's nature. We are asking for Revival because it is according to His judgment. We must comply to God's will and celebrate His justice and His lovingkindness and that will bring God's revival and make it a daily experience for God's saints. You can see this in Psalm 143:11, “Revive me, O LORD, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.”
There are other passages that speak of God's revival of His people. I shall not exhaust all the teaching on Revival and Restoration of our relationship with God and with each other. I will only say to all of us who seek and want revival from God for His people. We have to see that Revival is synonym to Restoration. Both Revival and Restoration have requirements from us. Anything less than obedience to God's commandments and walking in His path and seeking His righteousness and Justice and acceptance of His lovingkindness. These rules taken from God's Word are not only useful for churches and communities, but they are also useful especially for individuals who feel the need to revive their faith and their relationship with the Almighty God and Yeshua our Messiah. You can start by praying for your personal revival and restoration of healthy relationship with God the Almighty. I am praying for my own life and for our congregation in Jerusalem to have revival and restoration of relationships between all our members and also with God Himself and the Messiah.
In Netivyah we have started the process of re-printing the Commentary on the Jewish Roots of the Book of Acts. On our web page we have made a button for pre-purchase of the two volumes for 100 dollars US and the shipping will be free only until the books come off the press. As soon as the books will actually be printed the price will still be 100 dollars and shipping will be at least an additional 20 dollars. So, if you are interested in the commentary of Acts and want to save 20 dollars please go to our web page and pre-order. Our web page is: www.netivyah.org
The Lord willing, Marcia and I, shall be traveling to the United States next Monday night. Our first stop will be California. The schedule in California is:
On January 21st, From 10:00 – 14:00 hours I will be teaching a special seminar in the CrossPoint Church (Student Center) 6950 Edison Avenue, Chino, California 91710. The topic of the teaching will be based on my book, “Hidden Treasures” - the Jewish way of understanding the First Century Scriptures.
On January 22nd, I shall be attending the Culver Palms Church of Christ, 9733 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034 – (310) 202-7667. I will be only doing 10 minutes of communion presentation and than later that night speak in a home group.
On January 27th, the Lord willing, Marcia and I will fly to Nashville, Tennessee, and on Sunday the 29th, in the morning service, I shall be teaching in the North Boulevard church of Christ, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The topic will be: I want to be a Jackass, with a capital J. On Sunday evening I shall speak again in the North Boulevard church in Murfreesboro, TN.
On February 1st and 2nd, We will fly to New Jersey and speak in Love and Truth Church in Fort Lee, N.J.
On February 4th - 5th, we will be in Virginia – teaching. The church is a Korean American Church and if you are interested to know where and when – please write me an e-mail.
On February 6th, the Lord willing, we will fly to Atlanta, Georgia and drive to Athens, GA. On February 7th – 8th, I will be teaching in the Campus View church of Christ, on Lumpkin Avenue, Athens, Georgia. I shall be teaching from 13:30 – 15:30 on both days and again on Wednesday night service in the same location. The topic of the mini seminar in the afternoon will be, “Introduction to Paul's letter to the Galatians.”
On February 9th, the Lord willing, we will fly to Brazil. We will help dedicate a Torah Scroll in the Sar-Shalom congregation in Curitiba and from there fly to Vitoria to be with the Rechovot Congregation, and from Vitoria to Belo-Horizonte to participate in the Yearly Conference at the Har Zion Congregation. In this conference there will be participating Dr. David Stern and his wife Martha, Barry and Beth Shulam, Victor Escogniard from Jerusalem, and Marcia and I, with all the Brazilian brothers and sisters and many leaders from Brazil and other countries of South and Central America, and Portugal.
As you can see our cup is very full and the challenges are very big. We ask for your prayer and help on this trip. We are asking you to pray for our health, and for the message that we carry with us -the message of Restoration and Reconciliation between Jews and Christians, and between the different Christian denominations that need to revive and restore their faith for the truth and the unity of the Body of the Messiah.
During this year Netivyah needs to raise 1,500,000.00 U.S. dollars for the restoration of our building and the enlargement of our auditorium and addition of an extra floor. We need this remodeling because we can't function without more space for both the worship for the food distribution service and the youth activities all need more space and more useful space. I ask you to please continue to pray and to present this need before the Lord and if possible before the church or fellowship were you attend. They can go to our web page and learn more and see who we are and what we do: www.netivyah.org
Our sister Liz Johnson from Georgia needs your prayers. She has been in the hospital and now is at home but in serious need of God's grace of healing her body. Ruby our dear sister in Oklahoma is in pain and needs God's healing and has been waiting for God to heal her for many years. In Jerusalem we have the older generation of our congregation that all need God's grace of healing: Ahuva, Ilana, Leah, Miriam, Sarit, Sara, Zvi, David S., David K., Zvi D., and Marcia. We also have Merav of Jerusalem, and Tim Tucker in Finland, and Mr. Ishiida and Mrs. Sadako in Japan. We also pay for the health of our children and grandchildren in the United States. All these and many others are in need of your prayers of intercession and healing.
Kol HaYeshua Radio – is in need or fresh, young, and dynamic, producers for the radio programs. We need to refresh and renew our programs and make them more attractive for the younger set of Israeli listeners. Please pray for Kol HaYeshua. Please pray for Ms. Hannah Kovner who is going to Holland next week to promote Kol HaYeshua Radio with Trans World Radio. Pray for her success and effectiveness and for her health and safe travel. Netivyah often sends members of the board to places to represent and promote Netivyah's ministry. Last summer we sent Elhanan and Julie to Finland, and Yuda to Brazil.
The Food Distribution Service under Yuda's leadership is doing just great. Yesterday was the first day that the new people that the Social Services have enrolled came to receive food stuff from our service. Yuda said that it was not easy to receive and service several the representatives of 80 new families who came in one day to receive the provisions that we provide. The Fax machine worked all morning long yesterday. The Social Services from different part of the city sent the completed forms of the new families and Yuda had to scrutinize these forms one by one and add them to the list of recipients of food. We understand well the problem that existed in Jerusalem during the time of the Apostles when the Hellenistic Widows complained that they are not getting their fair share from the food distribution. It is not an easy thing to administer needy people whom you are trying to serve with a smile and a whole lot of good will and joy. Please continue to pray and support the Soup-Kitchen – the Food Distribution Service. The statistics are that last year we received ear-marked funds for the Soup-Kitchen of 75,000 dollars and spent for groceries only more than 250,000 dollars. The difference came from Netivyah's General Fund.
Please Pray for Israel. Israel is the doing something about Iran's Nuclear Program and they are doing it with good and wise sense, both in the Cyber Space, and on the ground. The sanctions that Europe is just dilly dalling with and the United States is trying to impose on Iran are not very effective. Israel is brave country with good security services and one of the most morally upright militaries in the whole wide World. Israel needs God's blessings and protection.
Please don't forget to pray for Jerusalem! Thank you dear brothers and sisters for your love, prayer, and support.
Joseph Shulam
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