Heart To Heart With Rev. Peggy I. Kennedy #GTH500 Series

It’s my joy to have Rev. Peggy Kennedy write for us again. She is a conference speaker and author, and her husband Jack are two ” Silver trumpets” committed to hearing the “now” word of the Lord for His church. Enjoy the post.

Rev. Peggy I. Kennedy: Greetings to the many partners and friends of Revive Nations! We celebrate the Lord’s continued advance through your commitment. Your leaders, Shyju and Tiny Mathew, have walked in both faithfulness and expectation. Their vision is bearing fruit. You share their vision and heart. We rejoice that the Lord is being glorified. Nations will bring much pleasure to the Father as they walk in their divine destiny.

1. What’s the one very important lesson you’ve learnt in your walk with God?

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to “keep learning”! A desire and focus on knowing Him better and learning much more of His ways really is the passion of my heart. He will graciously fuel the consistent expectation of that pursuit when we set our hearts to know Him more.

2. What is the key to overcoming temptations?

The Holy Spirit is so faithful to search our hearts and to guard us from the enemy’s schemes. In order to allow Him to do His work, we need to stay very sensitive to Him and commit to obedience in even the “quiet nudges” He gives. We must stay in His Word and be faithful to “tend” the little things before they become major issues to which we become far too accustomed. When we compromise and tolerate things, the enemy gains a foothold. Often temptation comes from our own woundedness. We can seek the Lord’s healing and wholeness in every area of our lives. If we invite Him to guard and protect us, He will! If we respond to His promptings we will be assured of His empowering over temptation and all the schemes of our adversary.

3. How does your personal time with God in a day look like? (What can we learn from it?)

I so appreciate how the Lord has continued to make this part of my life so meaningful…and how He has continued to allow me to see the fruit of my time with Him. My main activity during a minimum of 30 minutes at the opening of the day is to “listen”. There is specific worship music which has become part of my routine and which I value to bring me into His Presence. The “listening” happens as I go into the Word and as I daily take notes from the Word onto my journal page. Each day I entitle the page with a letter of the alphabet…looking for what He will say to me. Today’s letter was “G” and I began to note words that begin with “G” rising up loudly from the passage. While I am not limited to the 30 minutes, I often even set a timer so I stay focused and intentional!

The Lord has graciously led me into a variety of themes that take me to various passages of Scripture. I confess that I am much more often in the Old Testament than the New…Recently I took the “trail” of the single word “Triumph” and was blessed for many days as I pursued where that word is stated. For this current while I am studying the testimony of the Apostle Paul and his statements which define his call to ministry. That has, of course, taken me into the New Testament.

While before the Lord I keep tools handy: a concordance, access to several different versions of the passage, plus the Greek and Hebrew dictionary. I often find the Lord speaks to me out of the definition of a word in a passage.

As I am before the Lord, I am there to “listen” on behalf of hearing His heart for myself. However, it is not uncommon that a word which He gives becomes a message that I end up releasing publicly.

There are other special assignments the Lord will give when He calls me into His Presence at 5:00 a.m. for a period of time or that include fasting. However, my daily time is really the fountain from which my active relationship with Him comes.

4. Your advice to singles?

Being “single” can mean different things in different cultures. However, for all of those who belong to the Lord there are two universal principles:

– This is an area the Lord is concerned about. Whenever anyone takes it out of His hand into their own and makes compromises due to either desire or a sense of desperation, there are often great regrets. Our life partner is a sacred trust before the Lord.

– Being the right one is even more important than the focus of “finding the right one”. [tweet this] If that is our focus, we will be much more content with the timing of the Lord and even His ultimate decision about our singleness or about our marriage. Also, we will have so much more to bring to the marriage and to our divinely selected partner if we have allowed the Lord to resource us and cultivate our relationship first with Him.

5. What must the church do to see a revival today?

The Church must hear the voice of the Lord and be informed of Him as to the times and seasons and the spheres of His divine activity in any given region. Yes, it is “always” harvest. However, there are seasons in which the Lord is doing specific things in strategies that must be followed.   The very fact that Jesus spoke of “harvest” as the ingathering of souls means there is a cycle of harvest—seen in the agricultural world and mirrored in the way He works. The Church must make the commitment to be used of the Lord—to do what He is doing—and to seek His face for the specifics of His heart. He is the Lord of the Harvest. While revival entails more than just soul-winning and societal transformation, those elements will always be the direction of a revived Church. Ultimately, we must commit to His glory being manifest on the earth…and the extension of His kingdom and His realization of His inheritance among the nations.

6. Share one very important lesson to the leaders.

Leaders are “called ones”! That perspective of being “called” really defines so much about a leader’s life and actions and level of commitment. As a “called one”, the Lord has made a tremendous commitment to us. We must know we are loved by Him. There are options that may limit our choices because we are called, but He is neither severe nor an unfaithful taskmaster. Our love relationship with the God of our Calling will both guard us and guide us.  Knowing His pleasure as we know His heart of lavish love for us will free us from completion and self-doubt. [tweet this]There is never an end to pursuing the heart of the God of our calling.

7. What would be the three most important things you want our generation to learn with you?

(1) His lavish love is always the basis of any and all of my responses to Him.

(2) His plans are ongoing. We can deeply appreciate and marvel at His ways. That childlike wonder of the amazing privilege of serving Him keeps us from pride and from dullness.

(3) Life moves quickly! As a child I used to see the saying on the ways of people’s homes:

“Only one life ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last”. I want to be involved in that which is eternal!

8. Could you share about your latest resources that our partners can benefit from?

While each of the three books I’ve authored contain much resource, I especially appreciate how the Lord spoke to me through the life and calling of Gideon. That “conversation” is captured in my book, Chosen. I recommend it to readers to know the transforming power of being encountered by our Lord. His conversation with us will free us from self-imposed disqualifications and will empower us for partnership.

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