Does anyone dare despise?
After that, the Word of God came to me: “Zerubbabel started rebuilding this Temple and he will complete it. That will be your confirmation that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me to you. Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!” Zechariah 4:10 MSG
Small beginnings matter. Last weekend, In Pwin Oo Lwin, Myanmar, The Holy Spirit encouraged me with this verse as I prepared to speak to a small gathering of people from various churches. It was a humble building with overflow chairs off to the side outside of the building and positioned under colorful fabrics to protect people from the sun.
Michael, a pastor that has been transformed by the message of LoveDefined, set up the event and he was bubbling with so much joy and excitement as the building filled and spilled over into the overflow outside. Susu, his wife, led worship and prayer with strength and passion. It was a beautiful preparation by this amazing couple for the message of LoveDefined.
It happened almost immediately, people began experiencing the gentle and powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit. One man on the second row fought his tears for an hour and when the break came, he stayed in his chair. I went to him and put my arms around him and began to pray quietly into his ear. He could no longer keep the tears in, they rolled down his face in huge drops. It was obvious the Spirit was speaking to him and he was listening.
Michael then told me this man was one of the most influential leaders in the whole city. He oversaw 56 churches in the city of various denominations. When this man spoke in the city, things got done. I knew God was dealing with his heart in a profound way about his leadership. Later this man came to me in great humility and said in all his years of preaching he had never heard a message like this before. It had torn his heart open and he wanted to learn how to live like this.
By the end of the day, four pastors had confessed through tears that although they had been preaching about love for many years, today they realized that they did not actually practice love. This took great humility and when it was confessed before the people, the people wept. One pastor, after his confession, could not speak anymore because he was so broken by his tears. This same pastor then went and repented to his wife for ways that he did not love her.
Do not despise the day of small beginnings. It is men like this who can lead revivals that are born of God’s Love and Spirit. These men want to take this message and spread it across the nation!!! And they will because they now know the power of His Love.
