What Hood Scholar??? You are talking about repentance? Revival??? Yes, I'm also Reverend Travis Harris and God gave me this word for God's people. God is calling us to pray for repentance and revival. Let me take you on the journey of how I received this message.
It actually all started on Instagram. I came across Deonna Monique's page. There were several posts that stood out to me. They were:
You may be wondering who is Deonna Monique? She has an amazing story. She started Boho Exotic Studio, became extremely successful while making appearances in magazines such as Vogue and Essence and stars wearing her hair products in movies and TV shows such as Orange is the New Black. Even though she was that successful, God called her to ministry and she became an ordained minister.
At the time I came across her page, I was listening to Fire of God.
During this time of worship, they started to sing: "I hear the sound of rain, coming to America again." This was echoing and reverberating in my mind. They kept proclaiming "America is yours." I know this is long so skip to 1 hour and 30 minutes mark.
I came across her page and this worship while struggling. What, Hood Scholar was struggling? Haha, for those who know me, I'm always going through something. This isn't new, but it's during these times of suffering that I seek the Lord more than I usually do. I pray a little bit more. I'm in the word a little bit more. I'm spending time in worship a little bit more. I'm saying a little bit more because prayer, the Bible and worship are all apart of my daily routine. I could reach another level of worship and focus because that was my norm. And here is where God spoke to me. In my tears, in my pain, in my heartache, while I was crying out to God, I could clearly hear God's voice.
God is calling God's people to repentance and revival.
Let me break this down. In the song, when they were singing about America, it also rubbed me the wrong way. Usually America is thought of as something special. People think about America as this great nation. Some even think about America as a Christian nation. In One Nation Under God, Kevin Kruse explains how this idea of America being a Christian Nation was invented in the 1950s. He talks about it in this NPR interview. America never was a Christian nation. In fact, I would say it was the opposite. It was founded on the oppression, death, and abuse of non-White people. Thomas Jefferson was a Deist, not a Christian. America has done and continues to do major atrocities and injustice. The message is not for God to bless that evil and injustice. The message is not that America is holy and has some special anointing to deliver God's people. What God is saying is that the believers in America need to return back to God. When John wrote to several churches in Revelation, he wrote to the church at Ephesus:
Revelation 2:4 AMP But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me].
God is speaking this to the remnant of people here in America but also those outside of this country. God is calling us back to fall in love with God again. Think about how we treat people when we fall in love with them romantically. They are always on our mind. We want to give gifts to them. We want to spend time with them. We cherish their presence. Yes, you know what I am talking about. This is exactly what God wants from God's children.
Colossians 3:2 AMP Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].
This shift and refocus on God is the revival that God is calling for.
Let me bring it all together. On Deonna's page, I shared the post about Bishop Charles Mason. Bishop Mason was active during a time of revival. Here he talks about his trip to Azusa Street. Seeing that post is what pointed me in the direction of hearing God say revival. Deonna also talked about and broke down repentance. To repent means to change directions from the way that we were going and to return back to God. The most important take away is the returning. So many of us are going in so many directions but towards God. The directions that we are going away from God is not pleasing to God. Those actions do not sit right with God. I'll be transparent and share that I needed to repent in trusting God with my relationship with my future wife. I did not trust God in that area. My repentance looks like trusting God with my future wife. It may be that I'm not supposed to get remarried after getting a divorce. I don't know what it is but what I realized is that God is even in control of this and I don't have to make it happen. I signed up on dating apps and went to single events. They didn't work at all. Side note, for some people, this may be a good way for you to meet your spouse. I am not saying that dating apps are sinful. For me, taking these steps were a reflection of not trusting God in this particular area. Moving forward, I don't know how it's going to work out but it will. That is faith, that is trusting God in this area. I repent and I'm returning back to God, not Black People Meet and not a singles event such as a Sip and Paint.
This is what God is calling God's people to do in America, to repent and fall in love with God again. Get back to prayer, reading the word and worshipping God. When the remnant of God's people do this across the land, we will have revival. Revival is coming.
Awesome, bro!
Lord thank you for opening our eyes to see you and ourselves as we should.