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I wish I had time to write an entire thesis about revival. Shucks, I wish I had time to write an entire thesis; ok, I wish I had time to write, period. Anyhow..........I wish I had time to articualte all the thoughts bouncing around in my head about revival and all that it is and isn't, but I'll just have to toss out a few Scriptures which have come to me lately with very little commentary and let you fill in the blanks.
Let me start with Lamentations 2:18-19... Let your tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, let you eyes have no rest. Arise, cry aloud in the night at the beginning of the night watches; pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord; lift up your hands to Him...
As I was reading the other morning these verses jumped off the page at me. Lately I have been feeling spiritually stagnant. My prayers have been that the Lord would revive me; that he would restore the joy of salvation to me; that he would draw me into deeper more meaningful relationship with him; etc. Then I read across these verses and it hit me like a truck...my Father has done everything necessary for my salvation. He has done everything necessary for me to be in relationship with Him, now He's waiting for me to respond. He's waiting for me to be diligent; to be genuine; to desire Him completely. He's done it all and now He's waiting for my response. He wants to answer. He wants to be sought and found. He wants me to desire His relationship more than anything else.
Proverbs 2:3-5 says If you cry for discernment, [and] lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover knowledge of God.
God wants to be found. He wants to be in relationship with us. He wants to revive our spirit. He wants us to experience things we've never dreamed of. But He knows that if we don't desire that beyond anything else we'll take it too lightly. Therefore He requires us to long, to seek, to pursue Him.
Lest anyone thinks I'm preaching a works salvation/relationship message, let me be clear that God has done everything necessary to bring us into relationship with Him. Now He's just sitting, as a Father does, with His arms out waiting for us to respond to Him. Revival awaits. Renewal awaits.
He's promised He will allow us to find Him. Jeremiah 29:13-14a says You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. He'll not hide from us if we are seeking Him. The question is, will I seek? Personal revival like I've never experienced awaits. Am I willing to apply the amount of personal effort it takes to walk in the relationship which Christ has purchased for me?
Or will I continue being spiritually lazy?
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- brother_barabbas
- Eldorado, Ohio, United States
- Who am I? It has nothing to do with who I am! I am the one in whom dwells no good thing. I am as the grass of the field, here one day and ground into flour the next. I am the disciple who Jesus loved! Why, not because of who I am, but because of what HE's done! It has everything to do with what HE's done! He sealed my pardon with His blood! He bought me back from the slave auction, by giving His life. He's done it all! He continually intercedes on my behalf to the Father!
Brains I Pick
1 comment:
Commitment to not "preaching a works salvation / relationship message" makes me laugh. Predictably; "spiritually lazy" is all there is to that Lutheran rhetoric.
Know what I think people must think "revival" is? To revive Martin Luther, John Calvin, Joseph Smith, Russell Taze, Postle Paul, or some other such heroic teacher of “faith without works” baloney – forget-a-bout-it – the only prophet to have recovered consciousness is Yeshua – and Yeshua was determined that humans had value – unlike some of those other prophets who speak out of both sides of their mouths about “God doing everything” on one hand – and “not being personally lazy” on the other – if that is indeed what they were teaching.
If anyone wants revived – as in to recover consciousness – they’ll have to trust that indeed Yeshua is liberating Rabbi and King – because he recovered consciousness and so can we if we trust and obey him… there’s no other way.
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