Revival

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1).

Too many people are tired and worn out. They are so tired, with all of the new gadgets and technology, one would think life would be easier, but the gadgets only add to our tiredness.

How did some of our great-grandparents do it? How did they do so much with so little and we do so little with so much? How did they bring up their children in the things of God and we just watch our children grow up?

Is it because we are trusting in our own lives rather than the One who gives it? I pray that all of us would examine our prayer lives. How are we doing? Are we truly praying? When you and I climb to the Summit it is costly business. The bitter cold, raging winds, rarified atmosphere, the blinding blizzards, engulfing avalanches of snow and rock will try to beat us down from the climb. But it is worth it!

God said that He would look down and come down if we invite Him. The things that wear us out are the things that are keeping us from Him and Him from us. Life on the highest plane is found as we pray, for it is the Upward Way as we press onward and upward. “Comfyness” is a sign of desertion from God.

Someone has said that “the kingdom of God will be brought in by Christians who, when last seen, were heading toward the summit.” How true! Yes, and how thrilling! Have we allowed “iniquities to separate between us and our God?” True obedience is staying in the upward direction in prayer. It is the sign of a soul that is climbing the Summit with God.

Similar Posts

  • Accountability

    “Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all” (I Tim. 4:15).

    Over the years, our understanding of discipleship has changed — and not always in a good direction.  Discipleship has shifted — from an ongoing process over the course of one’s life to a class you sign up and hopefully complete.  Usually after some time the class that started with twenty dwindles to eight or ten.

    I grew up on the tail end of the “training union” of the late 1960s and early 70s.  But even in this the shortcomings were felt.  Again, it was based upon this premise…you come and sit, I’ll teach.  You and I ought to be dissatisfied with mediocrity.  God has placed in each of us the desire to minister and develop through others.

    Discipleship should not be left to chance.  The Lord Jesus was intentional and calculative from the beginning.  In fact, as Jesus discipled the twelve men who would change the world, He gradually released them into ministry through a definitive four-step process.

    First, Jesus ministered while the disciples watched.
    Second, Jesus allowed the disciples to assist Him in ministry.
    Third, the disciples ministered with Jesus’ assistance.
    Finally, Jesus observed as the disciples ministered to others.

    If Jesus had a model and a plan, shouldn’t we have one?  If discipleship was then, should it not be for today?

  • The Up-and-Outer

    “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).

    Confession means to simply admit unfaithfulness to God through your sinful thoughts and actions; to totally agree with God’s point of view regarding your thoughts and actions as inexcusable; to humbly accept any consequences brought about by those thoughts and actions; to diligently act in renewed faithfulness toward your gracious, forgiving God.

    The Son of Man majors in sinners.  He doesn’t major in sin — He majors in sinners.  But then, everybody’s a sinner, right?  Then what kind of sinner does He focus on?

    Hungry ones.  Desperate ones.  And still today, Jesus gives His attention to sinners who desperately need Him to address their sin because of who they know He is.

    Could it be that many of us are just too righteous for Jesus?  You know…we’re too “okay” for Jesus.  We’re part of the crowd.  We have not broken loose to go climb the sycamore tree as Zacchaeus did.  We just haven’t realized, as of yet, that unless we’re galvanized into Jesus’ mission, we’ll miss Jesus.

    How hungry are you?  How bad do you want Him?  That’s what God wants to know from us.  Are you up in a tree looking for God?  Are you out of fellowship with God?  Then look no further for God is passing by and He is passing for you and me.

  • Watch and Pray

     
    “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

    David was at it again. Another day of being a king. It had taken its toll on him. He was tired, mentally tired. Not long before, he had sent his troops off to fight and die in the wars against the hated Ammonites. He had stayed behind, though the weight of his kingship rested heavily upon him.

    David was in bed about all day. He decides to get up and take a stroll on the rooftop in the evening. The man was under pressure. Ruling a country and running a long-distance war can do that.

    We all face pressure. We all seek something to take our minds off of the struggles of work and the battles at home. We all would love an escape. There are many ways we can get that little respite.

    We can take a walk, just like David. We can watch a college basketball game. We can take the wife out for dinner (even McDonald’s). We can mow the lawn. We can play a round of golf. We can grab a good book. Or we can find a woman–man–whose looks and wiles we cannot resist. Umm!

    Don’t yield to the temptation to do something wrong to get your minds off of that which is wearing you down. David’s sin on that cool spring evening followed him the rest of his life.

    We all face pressures and temptations. But we can run to Jesus. He defeated everything that came His way. And you and I can defeat anything that comes our way. How? Why? Jesus lives in us and we are more than conquerors.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Stubborn Faith

     

     “At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us (Nehemiah 4:20).fisher of men net

    When your faith begins to wane before the goal is finished and reached, remember the One who:

    * so agonized in prayer that He sweat drops of blood;

    * so despised, rejected, and crucified by the ones He loved very much;

    * suffered so often that He was referred to as the “Man of Sorrows” who was acquainted with grief.

    Remember that our strength is not compared to the enemy, on the other hand, we size up with the power of God. The enemies we have absolutely have no chance against God, the mighty Warrior!

  • Christ’s Return

    “Even so come Lord Jesus”   Revelation 22:20b

    The longing that so many in the early church had for Christ’s return seems to have burned itself out in many churches and breasts of believers today. The “yearning” and the “fainting” for the return of Christ that has distinguished the personal hope from the theological one in Christians of that day was real and very personal. They could taste it.

    We have spoke of the cross so much that I believe we have forgotten the beauty of the One who died upon that instrument of death. The saved person seems to be more about a contractual system than involved in a personal love. The “work” of Christ has been so stressed that we have eclipsed the person of Christ and His beauty.

    To stay awake and long to see someone involves love and anticipation, and that seems to be lacking immensely today. There is power and joy when we long and love to see someone coming down that aisle, or arriving at the house. It changes the whole atmosphere and endeavors to bring all the senses of mind, body, and soul together.  We have become too comfortable in this world today. The Lord Jesus pulls as a magnet that causes us to jump with joy when we think of Him and our seeing Him.

    May we get our eyes off of ourselves, our problems, and begin to worship Him who is coming in grace, glory, and grandeur. What it does today for you and me will eliminate so much that really does not matter. When the heart is right then the eyes will be looking upward.

  • Repentence as Gentle Rain

    “Then she arose…that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard…how the Lord had visited his people in giving them food” (Ruth’s 1:6).

    Naomi left the Promise Land, the House of Bread, Bethlehem.  She, along with her husband and sons, only planned to stay for a little while in Moab, but she ended up dwelling there in the land that is half-washed.  She lost her husband and her sons to death.  She was a broken woman who was living in a barren and pagan land.

    Repentance can be dramatic, but most true repentance is like a gentle rain, slowly and surely softening the hardened soil of our hearts.  In Psalm 23, the Lord “restores my soul” (v. 3).  The Hebrew word for “restores” is shun, which means “turn” or “return.”  When Naomi returns to Israel, to the house of the Lord, her own soul is restored.

    If you a part of the group that is “weary and heavy laden“, return with your depression, anger, and withdrawal.  You can come back complaining, but “come back.”  Come to Jesus with your mess, grumpiness, loneliness, and your self-centered heart.  He will clean you up.  The point is to come back! He loves you with an everlasting love!