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I found this cool Greek study tool over at Marc Driscoll’s website, written by Zack Hubert, and I think it is amazing. Use your mouse to hover the cursor over any of the words and they are defined in the lexicon below. Also, you can click on “Other Translations” and get a side-by-side comparison. One of my favorite ways to explore God’s Word in my quiet time is to look up a word in the original language. I like to use many different study tools, especially the Linguistic Key To The Greek New Testament, Zodhiates’ Key Word Study Bible, and Wuest’s Word Studies. But this little tool is just a great quick way to look something up. I’ve added it to the sidebar of my blog - “Study The Greek” in case you want to ever use it again. God bless you as you continue to draw near to Him!

This morning I thought long and hard about the words of Oswald Chambers from My Utmost For His Highest. He commented on 2 Peter 1:5, “And beside this…add…” He said now we need to form “habits, give diligence, and concentrate.” Then he goes on to say that none of us are born with habits; “we have to form habits on the basis of the new life God has put into us.” This morning I began my quiet time in Psalm 57 and then read from the little devotional Scripture Union puts out, Encounter With God. In there I read this comment about David, “David is more concerned that the Lord’s name be exalted than that he be delivered from the cave.” I thought about that statement - you can’t manufacture those kinds of character responses. They are built into the fiber of your being, little by little, as you walk with God, moment by moment. Through habit, diligence, discipline, and concentration, like Oswald Chambers encourages, the Lord forms our character within, transforming us - making us like Christ, “conforming us to the image” of Christ (Romans 8:29). I am thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness in bringing me back to the “one thing” whenever I am distracted by “many things”. He helps me focus and walk with intention. May we this day keep our eyes fixed on Him and desire the exaltation of His name more than our own comfort and satisfaction. Blessings to all.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, tent meetings were held and as many as 20,000 would travel from more than 50 miles away to hear the messages of forgiveness and salvation. By the 1940’s and 1950’s more than 100 revivalists would travel around the country, often holding their meetings in tents to accommodate large crowds. Well, guess what! Our most recent Women of Revival conference was held in a tent! What an exciting day. Jesus House of Prayer, the sponsoring church meets weekly in a tent. Part of their mission includes feeding the hungry and they give away hundreds of free meals each week. On Saturday, May 31, we held a Women of Revival conference in their tent. Hundreds of women came from miles away to spend the day focusing on the theme “Set My Heart On Fire”. As you can see, even from the highway, people could see that something was going on I’ve never seen a sign quite like this! We had an amazing day together. First, the amazing Stefanie Kelly led us in worship. Then, I spoke on what it means to have our hearts set on fire and the need to get back to the Bible. Conni Hudson taught on quiet time and Shirley Peters shared her incredible testimony. Then we broke for a catered lunch in another tent.

The weather was beautiful and women were sharing together everywhere. I was loving it! Then, after lunch Stefanie led us again in worship and sang my most favorite song of hers “I Know He Knows”. Julie Airis spoke and shared many of her unbelievable stories. Kelly Abeyratne led us in a time of prayer. I gave another challenge to personal spiritual revival. Then we watched “The Revival Hymn” (you can watch it up here on my blog - see the sidebar under Main). This is probably one of the most amazing and heart-challenging messages you will ever hear - quotes by men like A.W. Tozer and Leonard Ravenhill - then an eyewitness account by Duncan Campbell about the Lewis Revival. Then I gave a closing challenge to everyone to commit themselves to radical intimacy, radical authority (the Word of God), radical revival, radical power, and radical discipleship - you can read more about these challenges in my book, Set My Heart On Fire. Everyone stood as I gave these challenges and we closed in a powerful time of prayer. What an exciting day. My heart was set on fire to see so many hungry, thirsty hearts longing to draw near to God. The Lord ministered to us in a truly powerful way. What a joy to have had the privilege to serve Him there in Joshua Tree. And may the Lord multiply all that He did there to men and women throughout the world. And may He get all the glory!