Days of Awe

Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins, and the proof of His presence is how we live and reflect His
glory. 1st John 2 states:
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

He became our substitute on the cross - we deserved eternal punishment because of our sinfulness, but Jesus sacrificed His life so that we might experience freedom from sin's power.  Now, He calls us not to routinely walk through this life, but to thoughtfully consider what He has done for us and how we might appropriately respond to His great love.  We need to periodically slow down and focus more wholeheartedly on allowing His Spirit to control our hearts and desires.

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In the book of Hebrews, we see the correlation of and the contrast between the Old and New Covenants - Jesus did not come to abolish the teachings of the Old Testament, but to enhance and
fulfill them. We read in Hebrews 9:
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Dexter Upshaw is a minister in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and he has a desire to see people experience the power and presence of God...even in New England.  He tells CBN:

"It's gonna continue into New York, and we just believe that God wants to demonstrate his glory in New England 'cause everybody says, 'This is the graveyard for preachers and churches,' and we want to see a different report concerning our city and our region..." 

Bridgeport is one of the cities participating in Ten Days of Prayer recently. Upshaw said: "And so literally our vision is that Bridgeport would take 10 days – it's between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur," adding, "These are the Days of Awe, according to the Jewish calendar and the Jewish New Year."

He said that "hundreds" attended the 10-day Bridgeport event each night, and "prayer and worship happened 24 hours a day."  He stated: "So literally you could come to the church, and at 3:00 in the morning, there was someone doing a worship set," adding, "Four am, 6 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, and then at 7 pm every night we had a unity worship service that ranged from 400 to 700 people on a nightly basis."  He relates, "...it was just so powerful to see the Body of Christ become one."

There was even a "testimony wall," where people could write what they had seen the Lord do in their lives.  Upshaw sees the event as being a catalyst for revival in New England, saying, "So much started here in New England; so much revival occurred back 200, 300 years ago," and added, "And to a certain extent New England has kind of strayed away from its original purpose, but we believe that revival is happening."

Northfield, MA was also a "10 Days" site this year, followed by a four-day event called, "Repent and Revive."  Its website said:

We are beginning to see a significant move of God to both Restore and Revive the church of New England before our eyes!

This year, 10 Days and Restore and Revive will serve as the kick-off for a regional two- year focus on evangelism. We believe that God is inviting New England to enter into a time of His favor and a season of harvest leading up to 2020 and the 400th anniversary celebration of the Pilgrim’s landing.

The "10 Days" concept, according to 10days.net is for city-wide movements.  The site promotes the concept of "stopping" the city.  The site says:

It’s a call to take a break from what’s normal on earth so we can enter into what’s normal in heaven. Revelation chapters 4-5 describe the kind of worship that’s normal in heaven. 10 Days is a call to take vacation time, fast from ordinary life and daily distractions in order to see what’s normal in heaven happen in your city.

And, the majority of the "10 Days" cities are in New England, which is generally not considered a bastion of spiritual activity.

It's important that we consider how God is working in our midst.  That was really one of the purposes of the feast days - in the fall, you have Rosh Hashanah, which is the beginning of the new year, ten days before Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement.  There is also the Feast of Tabernacles, which concluded yesterday on the Jewish calendar.  You could say that all these feasts celebrate not only the greatness of God, but also signify His desire to be united with His people.

And, one of the ways that under the Old Covenant, people would be united with God is through the High Priest going into the Holy of Holies once a year to present a sacrifice for the sins of the people.  Under the New Covenant, we have a great High Priest, the Lord Jesus, to Whom we can turn and confess our sins at any time so that we might be restored to God.

The thought of being reconciled with Almighty God - that can certainly produce a sense of rejoicing in our lives.  But, we need to slow down and experience what God has in store for us - the Old Testament prescribed a time leading up to the Day of Atonement and a celebration shortly afterward.  This is instructive for us, and we can be encouraged to make sure that we are taking time to reflect on what God wants to do in our lives.

We not only slow down, but we focus on the concept of surrender.  The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us.  We are one with Christ, and He calls us to follow Him in obedience.  In salvation, we make a conscious decision to renounce the old and allow the new life of Christ to flood our lives; and daily, as disciples, we continue the process of dying to self and living to Him.

We also consider the sacrifice that Jesus has made - He gave His life, and He calls us to give our lives to Him.  We no longer belong to ourselves; we belong to Him and He wants us to enjoy the sweet fellowship that is offered to us by our Savior.