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HOPEREVIVAL M IN ISTRIES
New
by Pastor Steven L. Shelley
PERFECT LOVE
1 | Ó 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved | Revival.org
Perfect Love Pastor Steven L. Shelley | New Hope Revival Ministries
Winds of Revival are blowing. Winds of change are blowing, and all we
desire is for God to turn us loose from all that is unlike Him, things we
cannot change ourselves. We all need deliverance from inner feelings,
things we don’t want, and God is sending winds of change. He is nar-
rowing the distance between Himself and us, and is causing us to be
drawn underneath His wings by carrying us with winds of change to
change our circumstances, our situations, our feelings, our hardness of
heart, the infirmities of our body. He promised to restore it all with
winds of change.
There are so many Truths of His Word He has illuminated, and we could
touch on theme after theme, but I wish to focus in on a subject the Lord
has dealt with us so sweetly about, a subject so close to His heart, af-
fecting all of His children. “Love one another!”
1 Corinthians, chapter 13 speaks of a love that is not haughty, not puffed
up, a love that doesn’t behave itself unseemingly. It is not proud. It is
not jealous. It boasteth not of itself.
2 | Ó 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved | Revival.org
Many have that kind of love, but there is a measure of love we are miss-
ing. It can only come from the hand of God. It is perfect love promised
to the Bride of Christ in the Endtime. This love is of even higher degree
than the love we read about in Corinthians. The love of God is perfect,
pure and holy, and His perfect love will dwell in His Bride, when she
reaches her adoption of sonship.
How will we experience that love? How will it come to us? Will we one
day wake up and realize, “Oh, I have perfect love?”
No. It will be a battle. It will be a struggle, an effort. Yes, God promised
to baptize His people with perfect love in the Endtime and we’ll see each
other in a different light. It will cause us to see each other’s needs and
feel one another’s heartbeat or pain. That is the kind of love God wants
expressed in His Church.
We had been praying for revelation concerning every stronghold in the
lives of the believers in our church, and we asked the Lord to tear down
every avenue Satan has chosen to bind up God’s people. The Lord gave
us a word and simply called it, “The stronghold of cold love.” We had
beseeched Him, and He addressed our Church local, but it is certainly a
demonic stronghold in the Church universal. Satan has used this very
avenue to build barriers, walls, and strongholds, and God called it, ”The
Stronghold of Cold Love.”
3 | Ó 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved | Revival.org
The cause of cold love is iniquity, and the Lord so desires to purify and
purge our hearts with His real, genuine love, that it can flow forth to
cleanse us from every evil influence of hell, every iniquity taking up
space in our lives, and show forth the purest love one toward another.
It will not cause us to turn away from a brother or sister we see stum-
bling; it will cause us to love them more. When we feel we have forgiven
enough, it will drive us to forgive a little more. When we feel we’ve
been patient and longsuffering enough, the love of God will say, “No,
suffer a little more. Be a little more patient. I am working something out
in that person’s life you know nothing about.”
When we get to the place where we cannot love to the extreme, there is
a stronghold against us: the stronghold of cold love. It doesn’t only affect
those involved in trespass and iniquity, but such a stronghold against a
people affects every person in that arena. It does not mean we don’t
have love, but it is not the strong, burning, sensitive love we need to
have one for another.
The love of God is unconditional. It is strong, compassionate, sensitive,
and will draw us to someone in trouble, someone who has a spirit influ-
encing their lives. As humans we have a tendency to love them less, but
the fiery love of God will embrace them more and not withdraw when
they’re in trouble or rebellion. Often times there is far deeper problem
working in their life, and we’ll recognize it if we ask but a few questions.
4 | Ó 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved | Revival.org
We may find out there is trouble and turmoil, sometimes great tragedy
and pain. The love of God will cause us not to judge amiss and treat
them as though they were diseased or had mental problems, but we’ll
reach out and respond to their actions compassionately.
Often we judge by what we see on the outside and respond very nega-
tively to someone showing a wrong spirit because we don’t recognize
the cause of the deep need on the inside. Oh, how we need to come to
the place where we can look beyond people’s behavior and quit trying
to figure them out by wondering, “Why do they respond that way?”
The love of God in us, compassionate and strong, will not try to bring
His wrath upon someone by isolating and pushing them away by shun-
ning them. It will draw them with cords of love when you say, “Lord,
let me see the deeper need. Let me see the hurt, the pain.” The Lord
didn’t choose us to bring His wrath and judgment on anyone. He told
us to love them, regardless of how they act, how they respond, what
they do or don’t do. He chose us to love them.
There are church people who fall and lose their zeal. They get so far
away from the fellowship of Christ, so low in the valley, they cannot
feel or sense God. They’re in trouble. They’re in such bondage and op-
pression, they feel God doesn’t even know they exist on Planet Earth.
They’re so far away from God, they can’t even call for help. Who will
ever take the love of God to them?
5 | Ó 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved | Revival.org
I believe the finger of God wants to take us out of the condition of cold
love. He is ready to ignite a deeper and greater love within us, so we’ll
respond with greater understanding and compassion, with greater fer-
vency. It will not just be a casual expression of love where we say, “I
love everybody here. I don’t see anybody I don’t love.” That kind of
deep love will not cause you to reach out.
His perfect love will cause you to feel someone’s burden. You’ll begin to
feel their pain and isolation when you see someone losing their victory.
The love of God in you will allow you to feel their estrangement and
division from God, and cause you to reach inside their deepest hurt
through prayer and intercession and touch God on their behalf, so they
are able to release all the infections and wounds, and healing can begin.
You’ll pray and stand in someone’s behalf in such deep level of interces-
sion, you are feeling and experiencing the very pain they’re experienc-
ing.
God will have such a people in the Endtime. His Bride will be so in love
with Jesus, touched and broken by His Spirit, melted in the Presence of
the Lord. She will have found such a love relationship with Him, that
God’s love will flow through her to heal and deliver. She will so love
His Word and be in love with Jesus, that His Word is no longer a de-
tached history book, but to her it is like opening a precious box of love
letters from her Bridegroom, and she reads them again and again.
6 | Ó 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved | Revival.org
My precious friend, the Lord is depending on us to continue climbing to
achieve our highest calling, perfect love. Jesus is depending on you and
me to reach out to His Bride for deliverance, to love them without com-
promising, without patting sin on the back.
I pray that these few words will help you ask yourself the question, “Is
the stronghold of cold love operating in me, or am I so in love with
Jesus, that His love can flow through me?”
God bless you,
New Hope Revival Ministries Pastor Steven L. Shelley
Pastor Steven L. Shelley Senior Pastor of New Hope Revival Ministries
Pastor Steven L. Shelley’s life of ministry was prophesied before he was
even born. His grandmother received a word that “the child your daugh-
ter-in-law is carrying right now is chosen. He will carry the Gospel and
many souls will be won to the kingdom of God, and he’ll start at a very
early age.”
Just like it was spoken, Pastor Shelley was filled with Holy Ghost and
began preaching in 1975 at the age of seven years old and was pastoring
full time by the age of seventeen. People were astounded by the revela-
tion and conviction coming from this very young man. But it wasn’t only
the wisdom of the Word that touched them but the evidence of the su-
pernatural power of God that operated in his life.
His first experience with the supernatural was at the age of three when
the Lord appeared in his room one night and told him things that were
to come. He was told that his mother and father would separate (they
divorced less than two years later) and that he would preach the Gospel
and his life would not be ordinary. His life has been marked by the
supernatural since that time and he has had countless visions, dreams,
visitations and revelatory experiences.
Although his childhood was not an easy one God kept him through
every hardship and gave him the grace not to be pulled into a lot of the
traps that young people commonly face. As a result of that he was able
to lead many of his fellow grade school students and even teachers to
the Lord.
His Pentecostal grandmother, Mildred Shelley, who had a great spiritual
impact on him, pastored a church in Columbus Georgia and he would
frequently be invited to preach for her. He also began traveling all over
the United States holding tent revivals where he would preach and pray
for the sick. Tremendous outstanding miracles and deliverances would
take place and revivals would last for weeks on end.
His grandmother passed away in 1990, leaving him in charge of the
church, New Hope Prayer Center. In 1993, God opened the doors for 60
acres of land to be purchased in Smiths Station, Alabama and instructed
him to name the property Eagle’s Refuge Holiness Campground. By di-
vine direction, the church in Columbus Georgia was sold in 2003 and a
new building was constructed and dedicated in 2004. We are currently
worshipping in this building in Alabama.
Pastor Shelley has ministered in 65 countries and seen an outstanding
harvest for the Kingdom in every one. There is one foreign country that
he feels identified with more than any other and that is the nation of
Israel. When he was 11 years old his grandmother took him on tour to
Israel where he met a part of his destiny. While visiting Yad Vashem he
had a vision where he saw himself speaking to dry bones, as the prophet
Ezekiel did and saw them come to life. At that young age he knew that
he would one day return to Israel and see that vision come to pass. He
didn’t visit Israel again until 2002 at which time the Lord opened a door
for ministry in the Land. In 2003 the Lord opened a door for our minis-
try to rent two apartments in Jerusalem where prophetic prayer and
praise ushers daily. (For more information about Jerusalem Revival
Center please visit us at Revival.org)
Serving the Lord with him is his lovely wife, Stacey Ryan, who fre-
quently travels with him in ministry. They have four beautiful children:
Benjamin Judah (1998), Joshua River (2001), Olivia Zion (2003), and
Moriah Destiny (2006). His mother Jane Shelley was radically saved in
1985 and is an active part of his life and ministry.
So many wonderful promises and prophecies have been given to Pastor
Shelley and the New Hope Revival Ministries. We thank God for the
great foundation that has been laid by the prayers and tears of saints
who have gone on before us. We look forward to the future knowing
that the best is yet to come!
New Hope Revival Ministries Pastor Steven L. Shelley
3668 Lee Road 379 Smiths Station, AL 36877 USA
TEL: 334.732.0050 FAX: 844.272.5845
[email protected] REVIVAL.ORG
ã 2016 New Hope Revival Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
HOPEREVIVAL M IN ISTRIES
New“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8
