Revival

What do we need?  Revival

When do we need it?  Now

This country, along with the rest of the world, is growing dark.  We are becoming so distant from our God.  We are mere remnants of what used to be a strong Christian community.  We have fallen prey to the influences of evil.  Satan has disguised himself and hides among all of our desires, our lusts, our greed and our jealousy.  We are quickly becoming worshippers of money, idolater’s of status and we hunger for more.  We can’t seem to help ourselves at times, rolling into whatever the world has to offer, demanding more and more of the stuff we crave.  It may be time that we stop dead in our tracks and take a good look around us.  If we don’t do this soon, we may fail to recognize just how far we have gone.  I think it’s time for a revival.  Not the week long church services aimed at preaching fire and brimstone, but a revival of the individual soul.  We each need to re-examine our hearts to determine just where we want our lives to go. 

I was reading a book titled “The Next Christian” by Gabe Lyons.  He offers this advice.  “The first thing for the Christian is to recover the Gospel—to relearn and fall in love again with that historic, beautiful, redemptive, faithful, demanding, reconciling, all powerful, restorative, atoning, grace-abounding, soul quenching, spiritually fulfilling good news of God’s love.”  This is true revival, a new awareness of just who God is and what He means to us.  We need to discover God all over again, making Him new, making Him to be the omnipotent and all powerful Creator He is to us. 

When we place God in his rightful place in our lives, everything else begins to make more sense.  I think it’s time for revival, both an individual revival and a community or worldly revival.  It will not happen until you make the decision to change.  We cannot change the world if we are refusing to change ourselves.  We cannot expect things to get better until we are willing to improve our lives.  It’s time we made things new again. 

When I researched the word “revival,” I came across a few interesting adjectives used to describe the activities of revival.  One word stands out for me.  It is a “re-awakening.”  Now what this term means to me is that the “re” part means it has happened before.  This should not be strange territory for the Christian looking to engage the world with their beliefs.  We just need to try harder, to put forth more effort to sharing the good news in a world that is in desperate need of it.  We need to create a movement that gains momentum in the face of adversity, not one that fades into the world and becomes transparent.  But all of this can’t happen until we, as individuals, make the decision to change. 

We need revival, and we need it now. 

“in the world, not of the world”

Spiritual Maturity

When we hear the word “maturity” we tend to think of becoming older.  We associate this word with being wiser and smarter, or more experienced in the ways of the world.  We often start to place particular ages on these “mature” people, assuming that once they reach adulthood they are now mature.  It’s not the case when we talk of “spiritual maturity.”  This concept is more about becoming who we are in Christ.  It is about growing in God’s intended direction, making ourselves more like Him with each and every increase.  This can be rather overwhelming and confusing to some, making it something that they tend to move away from or avoid.  God has the right advice for those seeking to be more “mature” spiritually. 

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-3(NKJV)

It is not enough to make oneself more familiar with the Word of God.  Anyone can do this on a daily basis, memorizing scripture as a way of paying homage to our God.  The real effort comes when a person seeks maturity in their spiritual life and begins to apply God’s Word to their daily routine.  This is where memorization can take hold, when we actually start living God’s way, creating a pattern of good behavior that is infectious.  We often approach our spiritual maturity as if we are simply trying to know more about our God.  This can only work when we apply this increase to our lives, creating new attitudes, new behaviors and new impressions on the lives of others.

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Colossians 3:12-14(NKJV)

 We grow our relationship with our God when we live by His Word.  We mature in our spiritual understanding when we can show concern, “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.” 

Through these actions, we demonstrate a level of “spiritual maturity beyond our years.”

“in the world, not of the world”

Our Best Performance

Life has become one huge popularity contest.  We strive to be the most notable, the most famous, the most recognized and the most talked about person we know. We try very hard to please the world in order to receive accolades and applause.  We seek acceptance in our peer groups in order to increase our approval rating.  Our focus is on our performance, or our acting out the part of the person that gains approval from the world.  This is how God gets pushed out of our lives.  When He is not the most popular things going these days, we shift our attention to what is “in.”

Maybe we should work harder at making Christianity the “in” thing, or the more popular alternative.  Do you think it’s possible to make “becoming a follower of Christ” the one thing we all want?  We all would want to act and feel the same way.  But the world would suffer.  The world would not have any influence and would not be able to have any impact on who we are, what we do, what we buy and where we want to go.  That would be a disaster in an economy built on this influence.  God gives us a few tips on just how to become the major influence He needs us to be.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33(NASB)

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21(NASB)

“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20(NASB)

 When we are more accepting of our life, and our God, we intentionally move in situations daily because we realize this is how God wants us to serve.  When we apply God’s Word to our lives, we are becoming very intentional about serving others.  We are not looking for the applause, but simply doing what is right, what is honorable and what is pleasant to the sight of our God.  We find that we are overcoming all of the world’s bad influences and creating a stronger influence of our own.  We are beating the world at its own game.

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4(NASB)

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”  1 John 5:4(NASB)

Make sure you are taking on the role given to you by our mighty Director, our awesome God. 

“in the world, not of the world”

Do I look OK?

 The first thing we do when we wake up in the morning is that we check our reflection in the mirror to make sure no dramatic changes have taken place, no extensive wrinkles have appeared and nothing is missing.  We all want to make sure that we do not have to worry about our appearance because we look Ok.  At first glance, everything looks just as it did when we went to bed the night before.  But the truth of the matter is not reflected in the mirror.  The mirror does not see things of the heart, and that’s where the changes are taking place.  We have allowed the world to change our heart, and we are not even aware of it.  But fear not, the heart is where God can do His best work if you let Him.  He will make sure we all look good before we leave His house. 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NASB

It can be very difficult to protect our hearts from the negative influences of the world.  We seem to have a direct pathway from our eyes and ears that flow into our hearts, allowing us to see only the bad, and never the good.  In turn, we begin to channel these same harsh influences to others without even realizing it.  We internalize all of the harmful and destructive feelings, making it a part of who we are.  We allow the world to have a bigger influence over these matters of the heart, crowding out our God in the process.  We create an appearance that looks nothing like we feel in order to hide these harmful images. 

Sometimes I want to be the person who wears my feelings on my sleeve.  This way, everyone will know just how I feel, and I would not have to make any effort to hide it, even if the feelings are not that wonderful.  But the better solution to the problem is giving all of our cares and worries over to God.  When we do this, we don’t carry them around, looking to hand them off to someone who doesn’t need them because they have enough, thank you. 

Allowing our God to clean our hearts of all of the world’s mess can be helpful when it comes to our appearance. It allows God the room He needs to cleanse our hearts and minds of all the bad stuff that the world throws our way.  When we do this, we are putting on our best face for the rest of the world to see.  We are smiling in the mirror because we have the confidence that God will take care of how we look, how we feel and how we relate to others. 

How do you look today?

“in the world, not of the world”

Stuck in a Rut

We get up in the morning and we go about our daily routine, not even thinking about it.  We go to work at the same place, go to lunch with the same people and we collect the same paycheck all on a set schedule.  We go to the same places for vacation, not because we are thrilled about going, but because it is familiar and we know what we will encounter.  We are a creature of habit, and the same thing applies when it comes to our worship of our God.  We want what we have had because it is familiar.  We look for the routine so that we can become “stuck in a rut.” 

The author A.W. Tozer has this to say about the life of the church.  “The treacherous enemy facing the church of Jesus Christ today is the dictatorship of the routine, when the routine becomes "lord" in the life of the church. Programs are organized and the prevailing conditions are accepted as normal. Anyone can predict next Sunday's service and what will happen. This seems to be the most deadly threat in the church today. When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut. The routine dictates, and we can tell not only what will happen next Sunday, but what will occur next month and, if things do not improve, what will take place next year. Then we have reached the place where what has been determines what is, and what is determines what will be.” 

When we become complacent and expect nothing more from our worship of our God, we make Him smaller in our world.  It becomes easy for our God to give us what we want because we are not looking for more.  We belittle our God when we do not give Him the place of supremacy in our lives, looking for nothing more than what we have, or what we experienced in worship last week.  This can change, but only if we are willing to give God the glory and praise He deserves.

“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,  for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  1 Peter 1:19-21(NASB)

We need to avoid the obvious ruts in the road and look more to the “lamp shining in a dark place.”  We need to make sure that regardless of what we are doing, or who we are doing it for, that we do it giving all of the praise and glory to our God.  We need to make a concerted effort, even in the mundane, routine aspects of our lives, to praise God for the opportunity to complete the mundane, routine task.  We need to avoid the ruts in order to remain free of impediments to our worship of our Lord and Savior. 

The next time you feel like you are “stuck in a rut” praise God for His ability to pull you out of the ditch.

“in the world, not of the world”

Fooling ourselves

We will often “bend” the truth a bit in order to save face with our friends and colleagues.  One may lay claim to something that he or she thought about doing, but did not.  At other times we deny some small transgression because it did not cause any obvious harm or foul.  Either way, we are in denial of the more serious consequence and move on with our lives because it was too small for anyone to see or feel.  After doing this for some time, we find it easier and less stressful to repeat these actions, and before we know it, we have lost sight of reality, or any resemblance of the truth.  We need to get back to reality and into the light. 

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:7-10(NKJV)

The concept of sin has no levels or different means of identifying one sin over others.  Sin is sin regardless of how we look at it.  Often times we calculate the evil based on how many or who the sin impacted.  We often will look at how much damage was caused and begin to create a different level of our sin based on the outcome.  God sees things a bit differently.  He has told us that we need to stop being “liars” and come clean about any and all sin, not just those things we feel are important and may cause harm.   We all need to start walking toward the light. 

We all want to be free of our sinful nature.  We all want to “abide under the shelter of the almighty.”  Psalm 91:1(NKJV)  We just need to focus more on our daily lives and act as if we are a child of light, and not of the darkness.  We all (self- included) need to stop stretching the truth to fit our needs, or denying the obvious so that we feel better.  We all need to be honest about our sinful nature because once we realize we need help, God is there to offer His hand.  When we are aware of our actions and how God sees them, we can make the changes needed to please Him.  It’s when we allow our minds to bend the truth, feeling no remorse, that we disappoint our God. 

I’m no fool, and I don’t think you are either, so we just need to stop playing the part.

“in the world, not of the world”

No Updates Available

We get this message when we try to update our computer software.  We are constantly reminded by the software giants of the world to continuously update our ever changing editions of our trusted programs.  The computer industry has created something that will change daily, if not more often.  We will do what we have to do to have the latest and greatest version so that we can feel that we are ahead of the game, out in front of everyone who are slow to upgrade their software.  But there is one piece of software we should never update.  God’s Word will never change.  His intentions and plans for our lives will never change.  The trusted lessons included in the 66 books of the Bible will never be changed in order to be “current” or become the latest version.  They will always stand as the ultimate truth in a world that is constantly looking for a new version or update.

“Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:6-9(NKJV)

God did not create something that would need to be updated on a regular basis.  This is made known by the fact that He encourages us to “meditate in it day and night.”  If a book is going to change, we would spend more time making sure we had right version, instead of paying more attention to applying what we read.  I find myself at times reading a passage, then struggling to find application in today’s world.  The trick is to ask God to help us with this.  When we pray to God for a clear picture in our mind of what He wants, He will provide us with a clean screen ready to be updated with His will for our lives.  The Bible is fluid, applicable and current.  The problem comes when we rush through it looking for the obvious application and miss God’s intentions.  We need to update our approach to applying God’s Word to our lives, and stop looking for the latest update, because there is no need for one. 

We should spend more time looking at how we can apply God’s Word to our current situations, trusting and believing He will intercede when and where needed in order to get us through the computer crash.  We tend to try several ways of “rebooting” or simply unplugging and we hope that when the switch is turned back on, we will be fine.  We do this because we want to go back in time and do things different.  If we all had a “reboot” button, we would be much better off.  We pretend the bad situation never existed, or will disappear on its own, so we just wait for the our computer to restart. 

We need to apply the fixes we find there and stop thinking we can fix it by just “rebooting.” 

“in the world, not of the world”