Dear Friends & Prayers:

When the Hebrews were about to cross over the Jordan into the promised land, they were given apparently contradictory instructions. "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, ...then you shall set out from your place and go after it... Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before." Joshua 3:3-4

It seems that the Lord's instructions to Joshua apply to our times as well. I can't remember a period when there has been so much turbulence and unrest in so many places around the world, and it can be quite unsettling. I don't need to elaborate on this as we are all aware of it.

And it is from this place where we have not been before that our instruction is clear—to keep our eyes on the Lord. We are invited and commissioned to stay in close fellowship with Him at all times, although He might appear to be miles away from our personal, social, or national circumstances. That is part of the glorious mystery of belonging to Him.

Another important application of not having passed this way before is our ongoing prayer for revival. We carry a yearning in our hearts for people to know Jesus for themselves. This is what the Lord also desires as we read in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is... not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." He longs for them to embrace His son. We don't yet know when the extraordinary coming move of God will happen or what it will look like, but we know Who does, and so just try to stay as close as we can. It's kind of like Joshua not wanting to leave the tabernacle, even when Moses went back to camp for lunch, in case he might miss "something." (Exodus 33:8)

There is a beautiful phrase in Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." How exactly that works is also part of the mystery, but as the indwelling Holy Spirit instructs our hearts and thoughts, He also can show us spiritual things through our natural eyes. Think about words of knowledge as we pray for someone or visions the Lord might give that come through a particular scene or view. It was just such an experience the Lord gave me in 1999 that led to us moving here in 2005.

I can't resist the urge to include this stunning image of the final harvest. It was part of a presentation by prophetic artist James Nesbit during a recent worship and teaching gathering in Alabama that we heard about from friends here in Wales. You can watch the evening session from Tribe Quantum Live 2022 on YouTube at this link.

As each of us forges ahead in the path God has set out for us, it is wonderful to know that we all are participants in preparing for gathering the coming harvest in one way or another. The scriptures are so full of wisdom and encouragement along the way, and the stories and testimonies are better than any vitamins!

Speaking of testimonies, I've recently gotten a book called The Welsh Revival, Its Origin and Development. It is about the beginnings of the 1859 revival and was written by Thomas Phillips in 1860 who experienced it firsthand and records testimonies of many others. Here's a brief sample that also describes places not passed through before.

“The next Sabbath day Mr Morgan heard Mr Jones preach from 'Woe to them that are at ease in Zion;' and this sermon took so strong a hold of Mr Morgan's mind, that he was at once aroused to the work. A person who was present at this service writes: ‘There was no visible effect during the preaching of this sermon; and in the society afterwards, Mr Jones said he had found it very hard to preach. One of the elders got up and said it was a very difficult thing for a man to say 'Amen’, under a ministry which he felt condemning him; and as he said these words he sat down as if fainting away. At this moment, there was something (I cannot say what it was, but that it was something that neither I nor any one else present had ever felt before) went through the whole congregation, until every one put down his head and wept!”

I have since discovered that the entire book is available to read online through Google Books, and have just added a link to it on the Resources page that I'm slowly developing on our website at https://walesawakening.org/resources. It is always uplifting to see how when the tide of living water is running low in the church, the Lord's faithfulness meets us at our point of need.

One last note about unfamiliar roads. Both Gladys and I are facing ongoing health challenges, and we really would appreciate your prayers for us in this area. (I'll be happy to supply more details on request.) When we started off on this amazing journey of faith all those years ago, we didn't realize that the closer we come to the pearly gates, the bumpier the road gets!

Thank you for your labors together with us for the coming fulfillment of God's rock-solid promises. "'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." (1 Cor 2:9-10 NKJV)

Dick & Gladys