REVIVAL??

Sunday’s Monday

I have been seeing many signs in my area saying pray for revival, and I’m not sure that I understand that to be totally correct. You see I grew up in a small rural Baptist church that regularly and religiously prayed for revival and as a child, I never saw what I expected. I even prayed as a young adult for God to send a revival, but I wasn’t factually praying for Him to send it to me, because I didn’t feel I needed it. However, I knew people that did, and I watched a lot of them during our special event say the prayer, attend for a while, and fall away. Even as a young adult I watched many of these same Christians (including me) still praying for a community revival event (for others). But then some 20 years ago I came to realize that I along with these people was still praying for revival because we hadn’t been revived. Ergo, the sign should read pray to be revived, as some of us seem to have invented a gray area between God’s light and the darkness of the world, which is spoken of in 1 John 1:5-6 (NLT), 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

We wouldn’t need to pray for community revival as much if we lived as revived Christians! Prayer is good and prayer has power however the power that God places within us can only be appreciated by mankind if he can see it at work. Now understand I’m not speaking of raising the dead or healing the blind although that will work, I’m talking about being kind to others, nice, encouraging, and pleasant to be around. Joyful, forgiving, and understanding in all situations always works. I am a firm believer that one revived life can lead to others being revived. Just as described in dicitionary.com, restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, etc. It was said at a recent meeting, if we live in the spirit, we will walk in the spirit! When we’re walking in the spirit, we best be aware of others noticing the Jesus within us. As is stated in 1 John 1:7 (NLT), But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. People living in darkness are naturally drawn toward the light as it is from the sovereignty of God, and we (His creation) are to be a bearer of His light. As Leonard Ravenhill said, “You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there's a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it.”

I remember singing a hymn that said, “O Lord, send a revival! Lord, send a revival! O Lord, send a revival, And let it begin in me!” Written by James M. Gray. The first time I heard the song, I knew that if I allow God to renew, rejuvenate, and revitalize my love and faith for Him every morning, I would witness a fresh revival in my life every day. Now that’s big news! The key for me was to stop the ritual of rushing through a devotional ending with a quick prayer, which was fruitless, and begin meeting with Jesus through prayer and meditation. I recognize that I don’t have to know or understand every word that God inspired and accept His ways are beyond my limited understanding. I accept that I will never know everything about God and I’m ok with that. I’m concentrating on following the writings in Romans 10:9-10 (NLT), 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. My heart and my head must be in one accord at all times because this alone will change everything about me, as a deep desire begins to boil within me to know more, and I develop an appetite of curiosity to understand what I can about this man on whom I have founded a relationship. I pray for my whole being to be transformed and my life to be turned into a beacon of God’s grace for everyone to enjoy in wonderment.

Lord, I ask that you help every reader receive these words in the spirit in which it is written. I pray over each one today, Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT), 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation -the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ - for this will bring much glory and praise to God. Amen

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

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