Live Again!
The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
John 6:63
Never lose sight of how dependent you are upon the Lord in all that you do. Though a fire burns brightly when all the wood is together, you can’t remove one piece of wood and expect the fire on that solitary piece to last. In any true revival, we need the fire of God to ignite us, and we need each other.
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:3
By His divine power, God gave you everything you need! In order for the church to be what God created it to be, we need His divine power! The church should be a camp of soldiers, not a hospital of invalids. Be careful not to go to church with a patient mentality, seeking medicine for all your problems. God intended believers to be strong soldiers in the army of the Lord. You must be connected to the power of God to accomplish the work of God!
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
As Duncan Campbell put it, “revival is not our churches becoming filled with men, but men in our churches becoming filled with God!” It is God in you! A functional New Testament church does not succeed by programs, staff, better organization, or by any other human effort! The early church ran on the power of God alone, and they turned the world upside down!
You need God, you need His presence, you need His power, and you need His purity. There is no substitute for His supernatural power!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for spiritual life. Thank You for inspiring me to intensely seek You. I am moving beyond my former ways and I am excited to see men and women of God rising up to serve You wholeheartedly. I pray there is an increase in the fire within me and that this fire spreads to those around me! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Further Reading: Psalms 119:33-40
Fuel the Fire
Revive us so we can call on your name once more. Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
Psalm 80:18-19
We sometimes hear of repairmen who go down into large tanks without knowing if there is still an unsafe, over-powering amount of chemical residue inside. When they are brought to the surface, they urgently require oxygen and medical attention.
Some Christians are like this, just barely alive spiritually. They carelessly allow themselves to descend into a pit of carnality, ungodly decisions, and sinful company. When drawn up from their backsliding, they desperately need reviving.
…those who repent will be revived by righteousness. But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who desert the LORD will be consumed.
Isaiah 1:27-28
The apostle Paul reminded Timothy not to let his fire be extinguished and encouraged him to be sure to fan the flames.
I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.
2 Timothy 1:5-6
Just as a fire needs fuel and care to maintain its flame, you must be careful to fuel your spiritual life, to maintain your fire. In every church, there are people whose hearts cry out for the fires of revival, and in every church, there are usually “fire extinguishers.” Ask yourself; “Am I a fire starter, or am I a fire extinguisher?”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that the fires of revival are already burning in Your church. I pray that the fire that is in me will only grow stronger, as I stir up the faith that is inside of me. Connect me with others who are strong in the faith. Let us build each other up, as we reach out to the world with Your love and power. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Further Reading: Psalms 119:33-40
Supernatural Awakening
Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
Psalms 51:11-12
Even if your spiritual fire has dwindled to ashes, you can restore the joy of salvation. God has a supernatural way of bringing joy to the heart that comes before Him in a humble or broken state. He will not turn you away!
If your fire is nearly out, if you have lost the love that you once had for Him, it is not too late to return to Him, to turn your eyes and heart back to Him. Come before the throne of heaven with repentance, and you will find your Father running toward you with open arms.
Isaiah 57:15 says, “The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”
You must have a true desire to repent before God! True repentance requires humility and brokenness. True repentance requires a willingness to change. It is not merely a recognition and acknowledgement of sin. Repentance is a turning from sin and a turning to God. A contrite spirit takes full responsibility for what they have done wrong. It agrees with God with how evil it is! A contrite heart does not consider repeating its sin.
An unrepentant heart will always be estranged from God. Take time today, repent of your sins, not generically, but specifically. Identify sin, identify barriers between yourself and God, identify yokes that need broken. Get personal with God. Jesus Christ very personally took the penalty for your sin. Don’t be shy about thanking Him for everything that He actually did!
Even to us, a specific expression of gratitude has more appeal than a vague and general thanks. Let God know that you understand exactly what He has forgiven. Let Him know that you are thankful for the many benefits He gives you. List them! Don’t rush. You won’t regret time spent in the presence of God!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your guaranteed acceptance of a humble and repentant heart. You promised that You will not turn me away when I come back to You. Lord, I may not have gone far from You, but sin still creates distance between us. Thank You for Your forgiveness, as I come before You now in repentance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Further Reading: Psalms 119:33-40
“Welcome Home”
Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.
Hosea 6:1-3
Hosea pled with the people of Israel to return to the Lord! He called them to know the Lord! An entire nation needed to press on to know Him. They had generations of recorded information about Him, but they had fallen away from knowing Him. They had lost closeness with their God. That distance left them torn and injured.
Knowing God means entering into an intimate relationship with Him. It means identifying with God and learning to view everything as God does. Knowing God will transform your thoughts and actions, your priorities and values.
Knowing God is far more important than religious ritual or any other religious activity. Religion will never replace relationship. It will never replace fellowship. Just as in human relationships, you have to build relationship by spending time with each other, sharing thoughts, sometimes just being together. You must have a desire to return to God before you will ever experience personal revival! When you press in to know Him, He will respond to you as surely as the arrival of the sunrise.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for having a personal, intimate relationship with me. Thank You for initiating such a relationship with me while I was still far from You. I know You always are there, wanting to spend more time with me, to show me Your ways and Your wisdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Further Reading: Psalms 119:33-40