Tag Archives: gospel

A Call for the Miraculous

02 Sunday Nov 2025

Posted by in The Elisha Code

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“And these signs will accompany those who believe:
In my name they will drive out demons; 
they will speak in new tongues; 
they will pick up snakes with their hands;
and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;
they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
(Mark 16:17-18, NIV)

More Autumn glory — photo by David Kitz

What will it take to turn this nation and the world to faith in Jesus Christ? That question should set us on a Holy Spirit driven quest to see a world-changing, Book-of-Acts revival take place in our time.

There are those within the church who argue the age of miracles ended with the death of the original apostles. But those who hold such a view are not being true to the Scriptures, or the historical record of the church down through the ages.

Have you noticed that most revivals in the last hundred years involved a renewed emphasis on the healing ministry? Many denominations have functionally delegated the healing ministry to the wastebin of New Testament history. Sorry, they might say, this is the wrong dispensation to get healed. Jesus does not do that anymore. Spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and healing have all ceased since the publishing of the New Testament. If you are sick, all that is left is to go to your medical doctor and hope for the best. “If it be your will” prayers have become the dominant way of praying for the sick. Perhaps God nowadays wants us sick rather than whole.

Aimee Semple McPherson and AB Simpson were two Ontario-raised Canadians who challenged that assumption. Both asserted that spiritual gifts are still available today, including the gifts of healing. While both valued the role of medical doctors, they helped many discover that Jesus Christ our healer is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Both asserted that this is not the wrong dispensation to get healed by Jesus. He is still willing and able to heal the sick in body, mind, and spirit.

Both Semple McPherson and AB Simpson helped people rediscover the prayer of faith in James 5:15 where we read that if anyone is sick, they are to call the elders who will lay hands on them, anoint them with oil, and exercising the prayer of faith will heal the sick. They will be restored to health. By confessing their sins one to another and praying for each other (sins like rage, unforgiveness, bitterness, self-hatred), many were healed. In the healing revival, it was noticed that people were often healed first spiritually and emotionally. The outer physical healings often naturally followed the inner healings.

Albert Benjamin Simpson was born on Prince Edward Island on December 15th, 1843, of Scottish Covenanter heritage.  His family had emigrated from Morayshire, Scotland to Bayview, P.E.I. After the collapse of his father’s shipbuilding business in the 1840’s depression, his family moved from P.E.I. to a farm in western Ontario.

Fresh out of seminary in 1865, Simpson had accepted the call to pastor Knox Church in Hamilton, a congregation with the second largest Presbyterian church building in Canada. Over the next eight years, 750 new people joined the congregation.

But AB Simpson had been such a workaholic that he destroyed his health.  In 1881, his medical doctor gave him just three months to live.  But upon meeting an Episcopalian (Anglican) physician, Dr. Charles Cullis, at Old Orchard Camp in Maine, he experienced a remarkable healing of his near-fatal heart condition. His restoration to health was so complete that the next day, Simpson was able to climb a 3,000-foot mountain, and then successfully pray for his daughter Margaret’s healing from diphtheria. This was the very disease which had earlier killed his son Melville.

Simpson believed that Jesus Christ is still healing people today (Hebrew 13:8). His first of many books was fittingly called The Gospel of Healing.

Word spread fast regarding these healings. He was inundated by many with pleas for help. By others, he was vilified and ridiculed as another quack miracle worker. Simpson started Friday afternoon healing & holiness meetings, which quickly became New York City’s largest attended spiritual weekday meeting, with 500 to 1,000 in attendance. He even turned his own house into a healing home where people could come for prayer ministry.

Simpson, as founder of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, brought together four separate movements into one alliance (1) missions and evangelism (2) healing (3) holiness, and (4) Jesus’ Second Coming. His four-fold gospel emphasized “Christ our Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King.”  Simpson saw that the healing ministry as vital in the fulfillment of the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

Few people nowadays realize that Aimee Semple McPherson[i] was the most famous North American woman in the1920s. How is it a Canadian farm girl came to have a lasting impact on the lives of millions around the world?

Aimee Semple McPherson

Growing up on a farm near Salford, Ontario, Aimee was raised in the Salvation Army by her mother.

At age 17, Aimee said, “Lord, I’ll never eat or sleep again until you fill me with the Spirit of power.”

Having been touched by the Spirit, she married the visiting evangelist, Robert Semple. They promptly went to China as missionaries. But within months of their arrival in Hong Kong, her husband died after they both contracted malaria. Aimee came back to North America in 1912 as a broken woman, a widow, and a single mother of a daughter from her brief marriage.

She wrote: “I had come home from China like a wounded little bird, and my bleeding heart was constantly pierced with curious questions from well-meaning people.”[ii]

Remarrying on the rebound to the practical Harold McPherson, she tried unsuccessfully to be the traditional stay-at-home housewife her new husband wanted. It almost killed her. After ending up in hospital, and near death, God told her to go back preaching. She said yes to her calling and was instantly healed.

Leaving that night with her two children, she began preaching in Canada. At her first meetings, only two men and a boy turned up for the first four days. Then, after miraculous healings broke out, the curious crowds appeared.

“My healings?” said Aimee, “I do nothing. If the eyes of the people are on me, nothing will happen. I pray and believe with others, who pray and believe, and the power of Christ works the miracle.”

The next step was travel to the West Coast. Aimee and her mom, Minnie Kennedy, became the first women to drive alone across North America on uncharted roads. After relocating to Los Angeles, Aimee became as well-known as Charlie Chaplain, Harry Houdini, and even President Teddy Roosevelt.

In the 1920s, the sheer numbers of medically verified healings at her services was astounding. This included the wheelchair-bound being able to walk, the blind able to see, the deaf hearing, and tumors disappearing.

Angeles Temple

On January 1st, 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson opened her headquarters church in Los Angeles, the 5,300 seat Angeles Temple. A typical Sunday would see Aimee preaching three services to a full house, while tens of thousands more listened on radio. Her influence on the culture of southern California was so profound that linguists attribute the present-day southern California accent to the impact she had on the language. In those formative years, so many heard her voice in person and via radio that she shaped the pronunciation and syntax of daily speech of that region.

One month after opening Angeles Temple, Aimee started L.I.F.E Bible College which soon attracted 1,000 students. Many of those students became Foursquare pastors and missionaries who spread the Foursquare Gospel around the globe.

Like AB Simpson, Aimee proclaimed a fourfold gospel message centered on Jesus—Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and coming King. She called this the Foursquare Gospel and founded the denomination by that name.

Her legacy remains and flourishes. Today, there are 44,000 Foursquare Gospel churches in 143 countries around the world, and through the ministry of those churches, a million new believers committed their lives to Christ in the last calendar year.

But as we know, each new generation needs to discover the scope and power of the gospel for themselves. We cannot live on our parents’ faith. We must experience God’s grace firsthand. Undoubtedly, it was for this reason that Jude begins his epistle with these words:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people (Jude 1:3, NIV).

Are we contending for the faith that was entrusted to us by the apostles? It is a faith that moved mountains of doubt, fear, and disability and cast them into the sea. It is a faith that healed the sick, restored the crippled, and raised the widow Tabatha from her deathbed.[iii] Are we contending for that kind of world-shaking, bondage-breaking faith?

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

The following testimony from evangelist R. W. Shambach illustrates the power of supernatural healing in bringing the lost to faith in Christ. Shambach made his first trip to India in 1956. He was gripped by the poverty and misery he saw in the marketplaces, and by the many he saw who were sick, crippled, and blind.

On that opening day, I preached for two hours, and my interpreter translated for two hours—for a total of four hours. They wanted me to go on. When I gave the altar call, I was so disappointed. I had preached to 50,000 people, and not one soul had come to accept Jesus.

Although no one came forward to accept Christ, and the crowd was obviously ready for the benediction, I said, “I am not done now. God says that signs follow His Word. I did what God called me to do. Now I am going to let God do what He said He was going to do.”

I invited three people from the audience to come forward—they were beggars. I knew who they were. One was blind, one was deaf and dumb, and the other was a crippled woman who had never walked upright.

Fifty thousand people were watching.

They were all healed.

Do you know what happened? The people in that crowd started jumping out of trees, and a mob came running towards me… I never saw such an onslaught of people. They were yelling something at the top of their voice. I asked my interpreter, “What are they saying?”

He said, “They are hollering, ‘Jesus is alive. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is God.’ They are coming to get saved.”
What a thrill! Not one of them came when I preached, but when they saw the demonstration of the Gospel, they came.

God has called the Church to demonstrate His power. Aren’t you glad He is alive today?[iv]

What will it take to turn this nation and the world to faith in Jesus Christ? Many are blind and hostile to God and the message of the gospel. The only thing that will open their eyes to the reality of Christ’s love is a demonstration of the Lord’s supernatural healing power.

Paul knew the importance of the miraculous in his ministry to the lost of his time.

 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:3-5, NIV).

Is the gospel message we are presenting just wise and persuasive words? To be truly biblical our message needs to be rooted in a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

Healing and the miraculous are an integral part of the Elisha Code. Let’s not miss out on this key to future revivals.

[i] For a complete picture of the life and ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson see Sister Aimee by Daniel Mark Epstein, Harcourt Brace & Company.

[ii] “The Story of My Life”, Aimee Semple McPherson, Foursquare Crusader, September 7, 1927, Page 6.

[iii] Acts 28:8-9, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 9:32-43

[iv] Excerpt From “Miracles: Eyewitness to the Miraculous” by R. W. Schambach, 1969.

This is the eighth weekly excerpt from the award-winning book 
The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival 

A soul-gripping read.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

The Return of the Dynamic Duo

28 Sunday Sep 2025

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When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha,
“Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said,
“yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—
otherwise, it will not.”
(2 Kings 2:9-10, NIV)

The more things change, the more they stay the same.[i] This common expression captures within it the seed truth that history tends to repeat itself. Human nature, social norms and patterns of behavior stay the same across the continuum of time and space. Consequently, though the individual players, time, and location may differ, outcomes frequently are the same or fall into a familiar pattern. For this very reason, Bible stories remain relevant today, despite being written ages ago to people of a different language and culture.  
            In today’s culture when we use the term dynamic duo, several pictures, or scenarios immediately spring to mind. Batman and Robin from DC Comics popularized the term, but throughout history, and within our own experience we have all encountered dynamic duos—individuals who work together well to accomplish a common purpose.
           Can we identify dynamic duos in the Old Testament? We certainly can. Moses and his young successor Joshua spring to mind.
            The prophets Elijah and Elisha are a dynamic duo whose miraculous powers and exploits rival the adventures of the finest superheroes in the Marvel Universe. First-century Jewish teens reading accounts of their miraculous feats would be immediately drawn to them. Furthermore, the last book of the Old Testament ends with the promise of Elijah’s return.    

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction” (Malachi 4:5-6, NIV).

            And if Elijah is returning, then Elisha, or an Elisha-like figure cannot be far behind. As the New Testament era dawns, the stage is set for the return of the dynamic duo. There is nothing quite like a sequel. In this case it’s a prophetic, dynamic-duo sequel that returns after an absence of about seven centuries. Imagine the anticipation.
           Is it any wonder then that Elijah’s name appears twenty-eight times in the gospels? Aside from Peter, none of the apostles are named as frequently as Elijah. It is quite extraordinary for a hero from a previous era to be referenced so frequently. Yet the expectation of Elijah’s arrival was palpable. Jesus was often incorrectly identified as the Elijah who is to come.[ii] With the start of Christ’s ministry, and his demonstration of miraculous powers, the burning question within the first-century Jewish community was “Has Elijah returned?”
             In the eleventh chapter of Matthew’s Gospel answers that question directly. He identifies who the new Elijah—the second Elijah really is.

           And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
          Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
          As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written:
                    ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
                    Who will prepare Your way before You.’
          “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 11:2-15, NKJV)

          So, there we have the answer to the question on everyone’s mind at that time. John the Baptist is Elijah who is to come. The first member of the New Testament dynamic duo has been identified.    

What does Jesus’ identification of John the Baptist as the new Elijah really mean?

It does not mean John is the reincarnation of Elijah. Elijah’s body was whisked away to heaven in a whirlwind on a chariot of fire.[iii] Centuries later, he returns with Moses to meet with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.[iv]

Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Teton National Park — Photo courtesy of Matthew Taylor

            Clearly, John and Elijah are two distinct persons from two distinct historical eras. In fact, when he was questioned about his identity, John denied being the Christ or Elijah.[v] However, Jesus rightly identified John the Baptist as moving and ministering in the spirit of Elijah. He fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi.[vi]
            Elijah’s ministry was a ministry of repentance. His assignment from the LORD was to draw the backslidden people of Israel (the northern kingdom) back to worshipping the one true God. Israel had fallen into the grievous sin of idolatry under the rule of King Ahab and his evil consort Jezebel. Many had bowed their knees to Baal, the male fertility god, and partaken in the worship of the female deity Ashtoreth.
            John the Baptist had a similar assignment. He too was to draw the Jewish nation back to God. But in the New Testament era, the sins of the nation were of a more subtle nature. The worship of Yahweh had become cold and formal while the sinful heart was unchanged.

The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught (Isaiah 29:13, NIV).

This corrupt condition of the heart is what John came to address. He did so with a clarion call to repentance followed by baptism. Furthermore, he insisted no one can claim safety from the coming wrath due to their lineage or national heritage.

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:8-10, NIV).

          What root was John attacking with the above statement? He was hacking away at the presumption of salvation by virtue of national origin. The Sadducees and Pharisees who John was addressing trusted in their Jewish heritage as being sufficient for eternal salvation. Apparently, your birth certificate doesn’t qualify you for entrance into the Kingdom of God. God is looking for a repentant heart—a changed heart. 
                With these words, John was laying the groundwork for Jesus’ core message of salvation through regeneration. We must be born again as Jesus revealed in his conversation with Nicodemus.[vii] And the first step in that regenerative process begins with repentance, initially championed by John,[viii] reiterated by Jesus,[ix] and preached by the apostles.[x]
                Today, we speak of disruptive technology changing the way business and society operate. John’s message was disruptive theology. His message attempted to completely change how Jewish society of that time viewed their relationship with God. Many Jewish people saw themselves as citizens in God’s Kingdom simply because they were children of Abraham. John’s mission was to shatter that misperception. Something more was needed then, and it is needed now. Salvation begins with a repentant heart. And like Elijah of old, John was calling the nation to repent and turn back to God.
                Jesus addressed the same topic in his John 8:12-59 temple discourse with the Jewish religious leadership. In that heated discussion, Jesus’ opponents trumpeted their Abrahamic pedigree, while rejecting the testimony of the Son of God. God is always looking for the fruits of repentance in our lives. But there was an absence of fruit in these religious leaders.
                It was John the Baptist who first raised this issue with the Pharisees and Sadducees. If we are not simply born into the Kingdom by natural birth, as the religious leadership claimed, how then do we gain entrance? Jesus provides the answer:

          “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’ (John 3:5-7, NIV).

                This disruptive theology was introduced by John and advanced to the next level through the ministry of Jesus. John and Jesus truly worked as a dynamic duo. Furthermore, all four Gospel writers recognized John’s foundational contribution. It’s striking that though each Gospel is focused on the life and ministry of Jesus, none of the Gospel writers begin their account with Jesus. They all begin with John. He truly was the forerunner and the way-maker for our Savior.
                Many of the underpinnings of the Christian faith were introduced by John. Repentance followed by baptism is a prime example. Baptism, with roots in the Jewish mikvah, a ceremonial washing rooted in the Books of Moses, was an innovation introduced and popularized by John. Baptism represents a soul transforming innovation that was, with only slight modification, incorporated directly into Christ’s teaching and the Great Commission.

           Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV).

                Baptism is a living picture of new birth. It is the defining symbol and sacrament of the born-again experience. John laid the groundwork for the gospel of Christ. He worked like a bulldozer leveling the way for Christ.[xi] He destroyed the argument that salvation was race based and in so doing he paved the way for Jesus’ teaching on spiritual rebirth.
                It logically follows that if salvation is not based on lineage or race, but rather on a spiritual rebirth, then that experience of rebirth is open to all humanity and not the sole domain of the Jewish people.
                Both John and Jesus were looking for fruit—the transformative fruit of repentance.[xii] And through the work of the Holy Spirit, that fruit could be found among both Jews and Gentiles. It was no longer confined to the Jewish nation. All could potentially be grafted into the vine through faith in Jesus.
                Jesus identified John the Baptist as the new Elijah. Who then is the new Elisha?

Chapter 2 Endnotes
[i] “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, 1849. 

[ii] Matthew 16:13-14

[iii] 2 Kings 2:11-12

[iv] Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36

[v] John 1:19-28

[vi] “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction” (Malachi 4:5-6, NIV).

[vii] John 3:1-21

[viii] Matthew 3:1-2, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:2-3,

[ix] Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:14-15

[x] Acts 2:36-39, Acts 3:19

[xi] Matthew 3:3

[xii] Matthew 3:8, Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 21:33-46

This is the fourth weekly excerpt from the award-winning book 
The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival 

A soul-gripping read.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

The Love of Most Will Grow Cold

24 Wednesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Psalm 144

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”

Today’s Reading: Psalm 144:5-10

LORD God,
I look forward to the return of Jesus.
He alone can fix this mess.
Lord Jesus,
help me to do what I can to speed your return.
Let your gospel be preached
in the entire world as a witness.
Amen.

— — — —

Because of the increase of wickedness,
the love of most will grow cold,
but the one who stands firm
to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom 
will be preached in the whole world 
as a testimony to all nations,
and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:12-14 NIV)*

 

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.

We Long for God to Fix Our Broken World

24 Wednesday Sep 2025

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Today’s Devotion from Psalms 365 by David Kitz

Reading: Psalm 144:5-10
Part your heavens, LORD, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
Reach down your hand from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.
I will sing a new song to you, my God;
on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
to the One who gives victory to kings,
who delivers his servant David (NIV). *

Reflection
“Lord, why don’t you come and fix this mess?” Have you ever had that thought, or voiced that prayer?

When we look at the world around us, there are a great many things that appear to be coming off the rails. This past week the abandoned body of a toddler was found in a church parking lot in Edmonton. Where are the parents? They haven’t come forward. Who would harm a child like that? Sadly, you can check the news services and see that cases like this occur all too frequently all over the globe. It appears the love of many has grown cold. See 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Here’s a chilling statistic. In America on average every month fifty women are shot to death by their male partners. Meanwhile gun advocates keep insisting more guns will keep America safe—safe from whom? It seems the killers are the well-armed and often well-intentioned men in our midst.

On the international scene, wars, violence, and mass migration are creating havoc and instability on America’s southern border, in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Terrorists and dictators continually amp up their threats. Has the world gone mad?

In this context, David’s prayer in this portion of Psalm 144 makes a lot of sense. Part your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them.

David is asking for the LORD to come down and fix this mess. Down through the ages believers have prayed similar prayers. Jesus did come down to fix this mess, and the world he created turned on him and had him crucified. But we can be sure a final day is coming when he returns again triumphant.

Response: LORD, I look forward to the return of Jesus. He alone can fix this mess. Lord, help me to do what I can to speed your return. Let your gospel be preached in the entire world as a witness. Amen.

Your Turn: Do you believe the Lord will fix this mess? Do we have a role to play in Christ’s return? See Christ’s words in Matthew 24:12-14.

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

bgbg_v4.3_1501818
* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Our Struggle Is Not against Flesh and Blood

23 Tuesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Psalm 144

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”

Today’s Reading: Psalm 144:1-4

LORD God,
I need to be trained for battle.
Help me to see and achieve
 the objectives you have set out for me.
I want to hear your voice
and follow your commands.
Lead me to victory, Jesus.
Amen.

— — — —

Put on the full armor of God,
so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. 
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. 
Therefore put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand. 
Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth
buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 
and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace. 
In addition to all this,
take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 
Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
(Ephesians 6:11-17 NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

bgbg_v4.3_1501818
* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.

Keep Me Safe, LORD

08 Monday Sep 2025

Posted by in Psalm 140

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”

Today’s Reading: Psalm 140:1-5

LORD God,
keep me alert.
A spiritual battle is raging around me.
I want to be a warrior
who knows and hears his Commander.
Jesus,
your blood was shed to secure my victory.
Thank you.
Amen.

— — — —
 
Finally,
be strong in the Lord
and in his mighty power. 
Put on the full armor of God, 
so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. 
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 
but against the rulers,
against the authorities, 
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. 
Therefore put on the full armor of God, 
so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand. 
Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, 
with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 
and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace. 
In addition to all this,
take up the shield of faith, 
with which you can extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 
Take the helmet of salvation 
and the sword of the Spirit, 
which is the word of God.
(Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.

The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival

07 Sunday Sep 2025

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Discovering Jesus Blueprint for Renewal

By
David Kitz & Dr. Ed Hird

Foreword by Lee Grady

I became a serious Christian at the tail end of the Jesus movement. I was too young to remember the hippie beads, tie-dyed shirts and “Jesus Is Groovy” slogans, but the songs were still popular when I was in college (including musicians such as Andrae Crouch, Love Song and Second Chapter of Acts), as were the movies—especially The Cross and the Switchblade.

The Jesus movement was like a spiritual tsunami that washed over hundreds of thousands of young people in the late 1960s and early ‘70s and brought them into a personal relationship with Christ. Some of these kids had been drug addicts and social misfits; most were just average Joes and Janes who discovered that Jesus is a lot more exciting than traditional churches had led them to believe.

Lately I find myself waxing nostalgic for those days—not because I want to return to the awkward fashions and hairstyles of 1972, but because I miss the spiritual simplicity of that era. The Jesus movement was primarily focused on—surprise!—Jesus. Theology was not complicated; pastors weren’t trying to be hip or sophisticated or tech-savvy, and we hadn’t yet created a Christian subculture with its own celebrities and political power bases.

Today, we just don’t preach enough about Jesus. In today’s ultra cool megachurch era, we’ve become experts on everything but basic Christian theology 101. In my recent travels I’ve been horrified to learn that many believers have given up the discipline of reading their Bibles even semi-regularly, and very few believers have ever led anyone to faith in Christ. One by one we are trading in our solid moral values for a squishy, spineless, whatever-is-right-for-you faith. People today prefer a steady diet of culturally relevant, fast-paced, techno-theology that is a poor substitute for biblical discipleship.

Even many Spirit-filled believers have developed the attitude that a simple focus on Christ isn’t enough. We’d rather go to a “prophetic encounter” to hear who will win the next election, or experience some exotic spiritual manifestation (gold dust, gems falling out of the ceiling). Or we prefer to ask Rev. Flash-in-the-Pan to pray for us for the sixteenth time so we can receive yet another “special anointing” that we will probably never use. 

In the midst of all this chaos, where is Jesus? Am I the only one out there who is weary of this distraction? Thankfully not. I am so pleased to read this book by Ed Hird and David Kitz because they share my concerns. The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival is a refreshing challenge to return to Jesus—and to expect spiritual revival when we clean up our message.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve decided to get back to the basics of the faith. That’s why I am reading What Jesus Is All About?, a classic book written 70 years ago by Henrietta Mears, a Bible teacher who helped mentor both Billy Graham and Bill Bright in the 1940s. 

Mears explains in her book how each of the four gospels give us a unique, four-dimensional portrait of the Savior. According to Mears:

  • Matthew was written to Jews to tell of a Promised Messiah who is also a King—and it uses the word “kingdom” 55 times.
  • Mark was written to Gentiles to tell of a Powerful Savior—and it reports more miracles than any other gospel.
  • Luke was written by a Gentile to tell of a Perfect Savior—and it has the most references to Jesus’ humanity.
  • John was written by “the disciple whom Jesus loved” to tell of a Personal Savior—and it has the most references to Jesus’ divine nature.

The Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible knew we needed more than a one, two, or three-dimensional look at Jesus. The Spirit gave us a four-dimensional view so that we could gaze at Him from all sides and become captivated by His magnificence—His supreme kingship, His compassionate mercy, His supernatural power, His perfect justice, His amazing humility and His love for sinners like you and me.

There’s so much more to Jesus than we realize. And there is so much more to say about Him than we are telling our generation. Instead of giving people a gospel diluted with left-wing or right-wing politics, or a message mixed with cultural “relevance,” we need to give them the real Jesus.

In this insightful book, full of keen insights from the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, the authors challenge us to examine our message, repent of our unfaithfulness and embrace the raw courage to preach Jesus again. As you read this book, please allow God’s powerful Word to cut deep.

Lee Grady
Former Editor, Charisma
Author, Follow Me and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale
Director, The Mordecai Project

This is the first weekly excerpt from the award-winning book 
The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival 

A soul-gripping read.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Seeking God Instead of Hiding

02 Tuesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Psalms

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Today’s Devotion from Psalms 365 by David Kitz

Reading: Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you (NIV). *

My soul finds rest in God — photo by David Kitz

Reflection
One of my favorite games as a child was hide and seek. Whenever a group of kids got together, it wouldn’t take long before someone would say, “Hey, let’s play hide ’n’ seek.” We settled on who would be the seeker, and off we went, happily playing until the adults eventually called an end to our fun.

I preferred being the hider rather than the seeker. What about you? There seems to be something fun, even natural about hiding. We should be good at it. Humankind has been hiding since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden. After willfully disobeying God, what was the first thing Adam and Eve did? They hid. First, they hid their nakedness from each other; then they hid from their loving Creator. Humanity has been playing hide and seek from God ever since. And yes, we are the hiders.

We should be the seekers—seekers after God. Instead, we find ourselves hiding our sins and hiding from our God and Savior. What utter foolishness this is? The psalmist expresses this reality so well. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there (v. 7-8).

We can’t hide from God. Why can’t we, you ask. Because He is God—all knowing—present everywhere. This behavior—this hiding from God—is nothing more than profound stupidity on our part. Why do we even attempt such an impossible feat? Are we so blinded by guilt and shame that we can’t face the One to whom we must give an account? But the Grand Accountant has also provided the remedy for our sin and the guilt and shame that follows.

The remedy is the blood of Jesus. He is the atoning sacrifice that brings us back into fellowship with God. He became one of us so he could lead us, like errant sheep back to our Father God. There is no need to hide. Speaking of himself, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

Response: LORD God, you know me. You know all my sins, my weaknesses and shortcomings. Yet you love me. I bring all these things before you. Wash me clean. Jesus, your shed blood is my remedy. Amen.

Your Turn: Have you been playing hide and seek with God? Is it time to stop hiding and start seeking?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

bgbg_v4.3_1501818
* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Will the LORD Abandon Us?

29 Friday Aug 2025

Posted by in Psalm 138

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Reading: Psalm 138:6-8

Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
    though lofty, he sees them from afar.
 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
    with your right hand you save me.
The LORD will vindicate me;
    your love, LORD, endures forever—
    do not abandon the works of your hands (NIV). *

The abandoned McNeill Estate in the Spirit Rock Conservation Area, Wiarton, Ontario — photo by David Kitz.

Reflection
There is something tragic about an abandoned house. An empty house has a missing soul. It was built to have souls—people—in it, so an absence of life invokes feelings of sadness in me. At one point, hopes and dreams were alive in that house. It was a place of comfort and love—a refuge from nature’s elements. Perhaps it echoed with the voices of children at play, but now it sits empty and forlorn.

I find it surprising how quickly a home or community deteriorates after it’s abandoned. Have you viewed videos or the haunting images of the abandoned communities around the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear plants? In a few short years everything constructed by humans has become completely overgrown, and it begins to decay and breakdown.  

Turning to today’s reading, we see that David ends this psalm with both a confession of faith and a prayer: The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands (v. 8).

David lives in confidence that the LORD is with him and will vindicate him—will side with him in the battles of life. But he adds this petition—do not abandon the works of your hands.

What happens when God abandons us? I dread the thought. When the LORD no longer lives among us, our lives—our spiritual lives—begin to deteriorate like an abandoned house in a nuclear exclusion zone. Around Fukushima wild boars have taken over. With no one to oppose them, they have ravaged the countryside and have moved into the abandoned towns. 

Will the LORD abandon us? There is little chance of that happening. The far greater concern is that we abandon the LORD. I have witnessed firsthand the devastation that occurs when that happens. When people who respond to the gospel turn their backs on their Savior, over time the outcome resembles the ravages of nature on an abandoned home.

We need to recall these words: Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life (v. 6-7a).

Response: LORD God, I want you to be fully at home in my heart and my mind. Show me your kindness. My body is a temple for your Holy Spirit. Live in me and through me, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Your Turn: How do you feel about abandoned houses? Is your inner man (woman) occupied by God?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

bgbg_v4.3_1501818
* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA


Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Some Fell on Rocky Places

31 Thursday Jul 2025

Posted by in Psalm 126, Psalms

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.

Photo by L. Kranz


Reading: Psalm 126

Father God,
I thank you for times of great joy,
when we experience your salvation
and your felt presence.
Help me to sow the seeds
of your gospel message today.
Lord, bring a harvest
through Jesus.
Amen.

— — — —

Then he [Jesus] told them many things in parables,
saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed,
some fell along the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places,
where it did not have much soil.
It sprang up quickly,
because the soil was shallow.
But when the sun came up,
the plants were scorched,
and they withered because they had no root.
Other seed fell among thorns,
which grew up and choked the plants.
Still other seed fell on good soil,
where it produced a crop—
a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
(Matthew 13:3-9 NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

bgbg_v4.3_1501818
* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, Iran, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A gripping read from David Kitz.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.