AWAKENING A CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
So, how do you awaken something that supposedly doesn’t sleep? Take for instance New York City, the focus of my attention. The greatest city in the world. The most diverse and most influential city ever known. The city that most people desire to visit and experience at some point during their lifetime. The city that is known all over the world for being lively 24/7/365 days a year. The city that even the late Frank Sinatra felt to include in his lyrics of one of the greatest songs ever written, New York, New York.
Twelve years ago, I had experienced what it was like to fall asleep in a city that doesn’t sleep. The best way that I could explain that last statement is that a person can get so familiar, so numb, so stuck in a repetitive pattern that you can’t seem to awaken out of it. It’s just like daydreaming to the point that you miss things that are going on that are happening right under your nose. The point that I’m making is sometimes a person needs to be removed from a familiar place to later return knowing their true purpose.
When the Lord took me out of New York City at the end of 2009 I had no idea what He was about to do. At that time, I believed that God was playing a cruel joke on me as He sent me to Indiana. I found myself in a very unfamiliar place. I grew increasingly frustrated and angry because I felt alone. Sometimes that is exactly where the Lord needs you, alone. No distractions, no excuses, nothing for you to lean on but Him. That’s where I found myself, in that place for a season. Not even knowing how long that season would last, but nevertheless He had all my attention.
WHAT YOU SEE ISN’T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET
I was so unfamiliar with my new surroundings that I began birthing a new appreciation for New York City. Twelve years later the Lord has given me a new assignment in an old familiar place. The only difference between then and now is that drastic changes have been made. Almost everything about New York City has changed. But it’s the memories of a place that once was is what keeps me focused on what it could be. I’m not wanting to see New York City return to that of old. There’s an excitement in me to see New York City become what it was always intended to be.
The things that my eyes once saw in the natural are not what my eyes see in the supernatural. The reason I say this is because of the things that at one time I could never see in me what Jesus saw. Jesus called two men to pursue me that saw something in me beyond their own natural ability. Their obedience towards Jesus rescued and eventually got me saved. That’s why I believe the impossible is possible with Jesus. Because of what Jesus has done in and through me.
So, what will it take for New York City to be awakened? It will take likeminded ministers of the true Gospel to co-labor having the same heart for New York City. There’s been a recent mass exodus of New Yorkers that just up and left this great city. Satan has caused so much chaos and destruction the past two years no wonder people aborted New York. The answer to this great awakening wasn’t to abort or abandon, it was to stay and to occupy.
A MODERN-DAY GUIDEON’S ARMY
The times that we are living in are not treacherous, they’re strategic times. A time to reposition yourselves according to the calling on your life. In an Army such as the United States America Army, solders are given specific details according to their strengths. Therefore, you only have a certain amount of Army Rangers. Not everyone qualifies for that classification. Same goes for sharpshooters, not everyone man’s their weapon with such exceptional accuracy. In this modern-day Gideon’s Army each soldier of the Lord will fulfill their specific assignment. At the same time targeting the same enemy!
The day of fighting each other and competing against each other is over. Satan has caused such division and separation the past two years that the local Churches and their Communities have suffered. It’s time to get up, dust yourself off and forget about the past. You can no longer carry around the troubles, mistakes, and regrets of yesterday. You must decide what will you do today, tomorrow and every day after that the Lord blesses you with.
One of the most beautiful things you can experience if you return to New York City is the comradery. The coming together of so many Churches, Ministers, and Outreach Organizations. Watching everyone simultaneously toe the line of faith is a true miracle. Completing each other instead of competing against each other is the way things ought to be. It’s the reason Jesus prayed that we would be one with each other. Gathering doesn’t necessarily mean that we are unified, it just means that we have congregated.
JESUS PRAYS FOR ALL BELIEVERS
John 17:20-23 New International Version 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
We are currently in the season of completion. Complete unification where the entire body of Christ, the Shepherd and the Sheep function together. When the Churches Pastors, their Leaders and their Congregations go out beyond the four walls. When we all answer the Great Commission, to go out to seek and save those that are lost. This is when the greatest harvest will be taken into the Kingdom of God. Satan hates and despises when we honor each other. Satan hates the idea of the world witnessing us believers being one with each other. When fully function doing the part that we are all called to do.
Therefore, we at Hitting The Pavement are so passionate. We’re passionate about igniting the Body of Christ, the members of the local churches. One of the greatest awakenings that a Christian could experience is being renewed and revived. When believers fully understand their part in winning the lost and how simple it is, that’s when the local church thrives. Jesus didn’t only pray for us to be one with each other, Jesus also prayed for the workers. That means that Jesus prayed for all of us that received Him. We are the workers that must do our part in reaching those that need to be reached.
TOMORROW IS NOT GUARANTEED
Matthew 9:35-38 New King James Version, The Compassion of Jesus 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
There’s nothing scarier than going through this life with no guarantees about your eternity. I can’t help but remember when times were too hard for me to bare, I wanted to die. But in the moment that I made the choice that I knew I couldn’t un-choose, Jesus stepped in. I know this to be true because I’m a walking testimony that for whatever reason, Jesus kept me. I can’t speak for anyone else but myself, I can just share from my experience. All I know is that I didn’t deserve what Jesus did for me.
We need to awaken out of our slumber. We need to take our rightful place that Jesus has called us to take. The only evidence we ever need and never have to defend is how Jesus awakened us. I know that Jesus will awaken New York City, because Jesus awakened me. A lot of people that will read this blog will agree that one day Jesus awakened them as well. Where were you when you called out to Jesus, and He saved you? I can write for days about the impossible situations that Jesus pulled me through and turned around for me. So how could I go through the rest of my life not wanting to reach millions of lives that need what I so freely received?
Thank you for reading this blog, I hope it has blessed and challenged you!
Carmine Azzato
April 30, 2022, Hitting The Pavement