There was a story that I heard just the other day.  It just touched my heart.  I just love this.  This young man came to the preacher.  The young man came to him and said, “I just need you pray for me.”  He said, “I’m backslidden.”  So, the preacher asked a few questions.  He wasn’t in what we would call gross sin.  He was asked, “Well, you know, are you involved in this or this?  Have you committed adultery?  What do you mean you’re backslidden?”  He said, “I’m backslidden.”  The preacher said, “Well, all of this other stuff doesn’t line up with that.”  He said, “Pray for me.”  He said, “I know I’m backslidden.”  The preacher said, “Well, tell me how you know?”  He said, “I can’t hear God anymore.  God doesn’t speak to me anymore.”  If anything should strike terror into our hearts, if you can’t hear Him anymore, if your ears are not keen to His call, hear what the Spirit is saying to the church in this hour, then we need to break up the fallow ground; amen?  Look what he says in Hosea 10:12; Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, and we miss this a lot at times till he come.  It’s time to seek the Lord until He comes.  He may not come the first prayer, second prayer; amen?  When we seek Him with all of our hearts, we will find Him, praise God!

When you read every great revival from the nation of Israel and the restorations that they experienced through their repentance up until this day, every great revival of the church—when I say revival, I’m not talking about converts coming in.  I’m talking about you and me being refreshed.  You and I coming back to that time and that place.  When God’s presence was so real to you, it may have been the day you were saved, it may have been the day you were filled with the Holy Ghost.  It may have been another time of consecration but God enveloped you with His presence and there was nothing too great that He would ask of you that you wouldn’t immediately put up on the altar; amen?  We would’ve walked away from jobs, relationships.  We could go on and on.  We sang it in one of the chorus’ this morning.  How long has it been since you’ve been fully surrendered to God?  You think, “Well, I am right now.”  Well, I knew a person who was born-again and with a zealousness that was second to none, ready for ministry, looking to be used of God, at a point where declarations made to the Lord Himself; “Nothing I have is mine, I’m bought with a price.”  I could go on.  As we were talking, actually, they had come to a crossroad.  A decision having to be made.  I’ve always said this is what I would do and now here it is.

How many of you found out that it’s a lot easier to say everything that I have is the Lord’s and then you get opportunity to divest yourself of it to the Lord and it wasn’t as easy as you thought it was going to be?  How many of you say, “I’ve never given everything to the Lord”?  I’ve had the opportunity to do both, to surrender my life and to surrender literally every natural possession I had as a young man.  What I did have was my car and the stuff I could fit in the backseat and that was it.  Making a choice for the kingdom.  Being disowned by my family.  Having my inheritance taken and following Jesus.  My dad confronting me.  He said, “You choose between your family or Jesus.”  I said, “No problem, Dad.  I love you guys but you didn’t die for my sins.”  You make those decisions early on and you know what?  It’s pretty easy to give up everything when you have nothing; amen?  Many years later, I didn’t give up everything but God had spoken to me.  We were involved in ministry and everything that I had in savings, bank accounts, everything I had set aside for the kids went into that education building.  Many of you did the same thing.  As far as liquidity, checkbook, savings, gave it all.  Isn’t God good?  I found out as I was proved in some small things, there was a grace there.  With that same grace, it was just as easy as though when you had nothing.  Many other different things that had to pertain to ministries, etc., etc.  I won’t go into it all.