Revival is refreshment. Revival is restoration. For the believer, revival is getting back to that first bloom of a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes when we’ve been walking with the Lord for a while, the passion begins to fade. And the zeal begins to erode.
Revival takes place when God’s people come back to life again because they are refreshed. They have been refilled and restored to their original condition.
And what is the original condition? It’s the same condition as the church of the first century, the church of the Acts.
The connection to my church family helped me stay anchored to Jesus — and not drift far from His purpose for my life.
God wants us fulfilling our individual roles in the body. Participating. Contributing. Sometimes, I think we forget that going to church isn’t just for us, but it’s also for all the other people we will see there.
Jesus and the apostles varied their approach to healing, led by the Holy Spirit, to keep people from focusing on methods and miracles rather than God. The Lord will never be boring or predictable in His pursuit of us.
The good news is that Israel’s hardening and casting off is only temporary. In dire threat at Armageddon, toward the end of the tribulation period, Israel will finally recognize its Messiah and turn to Him for rescue from the invading forces of the antichrist. ~Ron Rhodes~
The core virtue of a coward is niceness. You must lick the boot that kicks you. ~
Tim Dunn
Have courage! No matter what fears we face, the Lord is with us! Courage is obeying God’s commands despite fear.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. —Words and music: Helen H. Lemmel, 1922
Obedience to the will of God is the pathway to perpetual honor and everlasting joy. ~C. H. Spurgeon~
Stop playing games with God. It is time to repent of your sin and get right with Him. Are you ready to come back into the house of the Lord? Remember, when you choose to obey, the blessings of God will come.
We were never meant to fight our battles, addictions, and trials by ourselves. The Body of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit can and will help us crush old demons that tempt and harm us! Tell someone! Trust that the Lord put people in your life for a reason!
Gerald Sittser, a pastor who suffered when his family was killed in a car accident, wrote, “Catastrophic loss … will transform us or destroy us, but it will never leave us the same. It is not true that we become less through loss—unless we allow the loss to make us less, grinding our soul down until there is nothing left. Loss can also make us more...I did not get over my loved ones; rather I absorbed the loss into my life until it became a part of who I am. Sorrow took up permanent residence in my soul and enlarged it. The soul is elastic, like a balloon. It can grow larger through suffering.”
Give God his glory by resting in Him, by trusting Him fully, by waiting patiently for Him. This patience honors Him greatly; it leaves Him, as God on the throne, to do his work; it yields self wholly into His hands. It lets God be God. ~Andrew Murray~
People are in denial; they want to go back to the times of prosperity––to buy houses and cars but, in the end, they lose all of their investments. Why? They were not sensitive to what is taking place around them. We may even be heading into a recession!
Ask God for mercy, and from this day forward, get up and worship God. Be in His Word in the morning, afternoon, and evening. God is faithful to warn you to stay clear of trouble––stay out of debt––stay sound in doctrine, and stay close to the heart of God. He will lead you and guide you through these difficult times.
Raul Ries
Jesus knows exactly what you really need and how to provide it in the most loving and edifying way possible. He is committed to seeing you become all He created you to be.
God will never plant the seed of his life upon the soil of a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed where the conviction of his spirit has brought brokenness, where the soil has been watered with the tears of repentance as well as the tears of joy. ~Alan Redpath~
One of the most potentially frightening aspects of being a Christian is knowing that when you put your trust in Jesus, all of Hell takes arms against you intending evil upon your life. And, yet what trumps that fear and evil is knowing that, no matter what comes, God is Master Weaver. He takes what was intended for evil and reweaves it for good. How have you seen that in your own life?
We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all about. ~R.C. Sproul~
He is continually saying to us, "Why will you diet why will you wither and decay? Come to the pastures provided for you, and your souls shall live." John Owen
Keep up a humble sense of your own faults, and that will make you compassionate to others. -- Richard Baxter
"It is awful work when through disobedience to the command of the gospel it becomes a savor of death unto death instead of life unto life, and instead of a corner-stone it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." - Charles Spurgeon
Satan knows well the power of true holiness and the immense injury that increased attention to it will do to his kingdom. -
“Gospel repentance is not a little hanging down of the head. It's a working of the heart until your sin becomes more odious to you than any punishment for it.” --
Richard Sibbes
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