Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend. We got some fresh snow in the night and more coming down all the time. I made some egg dishes this morning and not sure if I will get to my exercise class. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I think most of us would concur that America has gone far astray and has need to return to our Christian heritage and to be a nation under God again. Sometimes I remark to Al, after watching the news, that I wonder how it can get much worse in our culture. We have a vivid picture before us of what life is like when God is left out. But revival often happens when people pray and recognize that we have lost what matters most.
  I am encouraged by the revival that is taking place at Asbury University and over 21 other college campuses; also, the good news that in the Philippines and India thousands are being baptized daily. God is up to something that we don’t want to miss out on.
  I was reading what Dr. Roger Barrier, who is now a retired pastor from a megachurch in Tucson writes about Revivals. He studied revivals of the past of Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday etc. but he and his wife were personally touched by the Asbury revival in 1970. It went on for 185 hours as students and faculty gave their testimonies and prayed for one another, asked forgiveness and worshiped together. Asbury students went to campuses sharing about the revival and then new ones broke out everywhere. When a team came to Baylor where Dr Barrier was, he and his wife were deeply touched and committed to full-time ministry. When this new revival broke out now at Asbury, he was thrilled but also wanted to check it was the Holy Spirit moving and not just an emotional high.
    He shared the characteristics of genuine revivals of those who participate: they enter into fervent praise and prayer, and sense the presence of the Lord in a powerful way; they sincerely repent when convicted by the Holy Spirit, and thirst for God’s Word; they begin or renew a deep relationship with the Lord and share personal testimonies with gratitude; and finally have a new passion for sharing the gospel and living the Christian life. Dr Barrier believes that the Asbury Revival has all of those characteristics and is authentic.
  One of his friends went to Asbury to find out for herself. Her words: “We arrived on campus at 12:30 a.m. this morning. The atmosphere was electric. Within a few minutes, it was standing room only. Singing, Cheering. Hands raised. Some people sat quietly with heads bowed. The worship was spontaneous and Spirit-led. Honestly, it felt to me like we were seeing a repeat of the Acts 2 birth of the early church. Only it’s happening again in our Gen Z generation (and beyond.) There is a hunger and a fire and a passion for what is true, and pure, and holy.” She left there praying for more of Jesus and full of hope.
Challenge for today: Pray for revival and open your heart in new ways to the Holy Spirit.