If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Tomorrow morning, my church will begin a revival meeting, and I must say, I'm very excited about it. Such meetings are very refreshing and can certainly give us a spiritual recharge. But when we go to such meetings, is that all we look for? Do we hope to be simply refreshed and recharged, only to go about business as usual afterwards?
We all need to be refreshed and recharged from time to time. Quite simply, the cares and difficulties of life can easily wear us down, making such a time of renewal necessary. The sad thing is that we so often are willing to settle for that instead of looking for all God wants from us.
Think back to the day you were saved. You no doubt remember the feeling of being on fire for God and wanting the world to know about it. I was only five years old when I was saved, and while some of the details of that night are now a little fuzzy because of my young age, I remember that part of it very well. I wanted everyone to have what I had just gotten.
When you think about that time, I have no doubt that it brings back fond memories. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to cool off after a time. In just the reverse of what the hymn speaks of, we become focused too much on the world, and the things of God grow strangely dim. In goes without saying that that is not God's desire for us. He has given us the Holy Spirit, and if we remain filled with Him, we can keep that burning in our souls. God wants us to be on fire for Him at all times, but in order for that to be so, we have to remain focused on Him.
That's what revival is. We take our eyes off of the inconsequential, and focus on the supremely worthy God of the universe. We dedicate ourselves to His service and once again feel the same passion for Him that we did when we were first saved. We're brought back to life at the same level we had when we were born again.
The concept is a great one, and we often speak of wanting to see it. We say that we want to have revival in our churches and in our nation. Those things are needed. Too many churches have gone cold (or worse, lukewarm), and our nation has turned its back on the Godly principles on which she was built. Our churches and our nation have left their first love.
How badly do we truly want said revivals, though? If we really want them, we must be willing to act. The verse at the beginning of today's post gives the recipe for revival, and it is based on the actions of God's people. This is a conditional promise. God promises to do something if we will do something. If we want revival, we must be willing to humble ourselves before Almighty God and repent of sins in our own lives. If we are willing to do so, we can have revival in our own lives. If enough people in a church does so, that church can experience revival. That can spread to a community. A springing out such as that is the only chance for revival in our nation.
Do you truly want revival? How much are you willing to pay for it? Are you willing to cut things out of your life to achieve it, even if doing so is painful? If so, let your actions say so, and God will bless, if only in your own life. But that's worth it, isn't it?
Tomorrow morning, my church will begin a revival meeting, and I must say, I'm very excited about it. Such meetings are very refreshing and can certainly give us a spiritual recharge. But when we go to such meetings, is that all we look for? Do we hope to be simply refreshed and recharged, only to go about business as usual afterwards?
We all need to be refreshed and recharged from time to time. Quite simply, the cares and difficulties of life can easily wear us down, making such a time of renewal necessary. The sad thing is that we so often are willing to settle for that instead of looking for all God wants from us.
Think back to the day you were saved. You no doubt remember the feeling of being on fire for God and wanting the world to know about it. I was only five years old when I was saved, and while some of the details of that night are now a little fuzzy because of my young age, I remember that part of it very well. I wanted everyone to have what I had just gotten.
When you think about that time, I have no doubt that it brings back fond memories. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to cool off after a time. In just the reverse of what the hymn speaks of, we become focused too much on the world, and the things of God grow strangely dim. In goes without saying that that is not God's desire for us. He has given us the Holy Spirit, and if we remain filled with Him, we can keep that burning in our souls. God wants us to be on fire for Him at all times, but in order for that to be so, we have to remain focused on Him.
That's what revival is. We take our eyes off of the inconsequential, and focus on the supremely worthy God of the universe. We dedicate ourselves to His service and once again feel the same passion for Him that we did when we were first saved. We're brought back to life at the same level we had when we were born again.
The concept is a great one, and we often speak of wanting to see it. We say that we want to have revival in our churches and in our nation. Those things are needed. Too many churches have gone cold (or worse, lukewarm), and our nation has turned its back on the Godly principles on which she was built. Our churches and our nation have left their first love.
How badly do we truly want said revivals, though? If we really want them, we must be willing to act. The verse at the beginning of today's post gives the recipe for revival, and it is based on the actions of God's people. This is a conditional promise. God promises to do something if we will do something. If we want revival, we must be willing to humble ourselves before Almighty God and repent of sins in our own lives. If we are willing to do so, we can have revival in our own lives. If enough people in a church does so, that church can experience revival. That can spread to a community. A springing out such as that is the only chance for revival in our nation.
Do you truly want revival? How much are you willing to pay for it? Are you willing to cut things out of your life to achieve it, even if doing so is painful? If so, let your actions say so, and God will bless, if only in your own life. But that's worth it, isn't it?
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