Revive Us Again, cont.

I've been continuing my study on God's role in Revival. I didn't know until yesterday that the word "revive" is not found very often in the Bible. I generally read the Holman Christian Standard Bible, and in my concordance the word "revive" appears only six times (it appears seven times in the KJV) and the word "reviving" appears once. Interestingly, though my study is on Revival, the word does not actually appear in the Bible!

I've also discovered that most of the passages that do include the word "revive" are primarily discussing physical revival rather than spiritual revival. But I came across Psalm 19:7 and I realized a fundamental necessity for spiritual revival. "The instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul." The Word of God is the essential element in bringing about authentic and lasting revival.

Thus I started a short study on the "instruction of the Lord" (Word of God) and it's many effects in the lives of Christ Followers. Psalm 119, though long, is very thorough in discussing the Word of God ("instruction" "statutes" "commands" "commandments" and "words" are used interchangeably to describe the Word of God.)

A few Scripture References that discuss studying and knowing the Word of God:

Psalm 119L11 - "How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word and following its rules." (NLT)

Psalm 119:11 - "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." (NLT)

Psalm 119:33-35 - "Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it." (ESV)

Psalm 119:48 - "I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes." (HCSB)

Psalm 119:130 - "The revelation of Your words brings light and gives understanding to the inexperienced." (HCSB)

There are five observations that I made while reading the above passages.

Studying and Knowing the Word of God :

1. Keeps Christ Followers pure (verse 9)

2. Keeps Christ Followers from sinning (verse 11)

3. Brings delight to the hearts of Christ Followers (verses 33-35)

4. Invokes worship (verse 48)

5. Gives wisdom and understanding to the simple and inexperienced. (verse 130)

There are many more passages in Psalm 119 and throughout the Scriptures that discuss the Word of God and the benefits of studying it and applying the truths found within the pages of Scripture. But I found it particularly interesting that the passages listed above, along with the benefits, naturally lead to a sort of revival! Think about it - if Christ Followers saturate themselves in the Word of God, then according to Psalm 119 they will be living pure, sinless lives, their hearts will be filled with delight, they will have a renewed sense of worship, and they will experience wisdom and understanding in life's many situations. I don't know about you, but to me that seems like a pretty great description of spiritual revival!

I think when planning and praying for revival many churches forget the importance and necessity for Christ Followers to be saturating themselves in the Word of God. This is an individual necessity. I know it is easy for me to forget how essential it is for me to study the Bible. I must remember that without the Word of God, there can be no revival.

Revive Us, Again.

Continuing my study on Revival, I've spent quite a bit of time dwelling on what I ready in regards to God's place in revival, or rather His work in revival. I guess I always viewed revival as it is commonly seen in today's churches: planned and dictated.

For example, a moder day church is planning their annual revival. Everything is predetermined, from the evangelist to the musicians and special music. Goals are even established as to how many new visitors and conversions the church wants to aim for. While setting goals and planning for a revival are amiable and God honoring, I can't help but wonder if it leaves very much room for God to do His work. I doubt the the new Christ Followers at Pentecost had set so many goals....

So like I said, I've tried to focus on God's role in revival. Today I'm going to focus on God's role of Restoration, as described in Psalm 85:4.

A few Scripture References Regarding Restoration:

Job 33:26 "He will pray to God, and God will delight in him. Tha man will behold His face with a shout of joy, and God will restore his righteousness to him."

Psalm 23:3 "He restores my soul...for His namesake."
(The soul is defined in my Bible dictionary as the emotional, spiritual aspect of our lives, and our essential being.)

Psalm 51:12 "Restore to me again the joy of Your salvation and make me willing to obey You."

Joel 2:25 " I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten."

There are four observations that I made while reading the above passages.

God Restores:
1. Righteousness to man (Job 33:26)
2. Our Soul, or essential being (Psalm 23:3)
3. Joy to His people (Psalm 51:12)
4. Wasted and barren years (Joel 2:25)

Please note that all of the above can be restored exclusively by Almighty God! No action of man, no chance encounter or spiritual exercise can restore mankind to righteousness, it is the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, and His work alone! Likewise, because our souls are emotional and spiritual rather than physical or chemical, they cannot be revived by exercise and medicine - our souls are only restored and refreshed by our loving Shepherd, Jesus Christ. While happiness can be induced by many factors (material things, exciting circumstances, etc.) joy is inherently the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22 -" But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit...joy...") Thus, joy can only be restored by God! Lastly, wasted and barren years - isn't it amazing to know that God can and will restore lost time? He is so full of goodness and grace, and He alone can take our wasted years and restore them for His glory and fame.

As I seek personal revival, I pray that God will restore these four things in my life. Will you pray with me?

Revive Us Again

Earlier this month Barack Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States. Because of his liberal policies and voting record, many conservative Christ Followers are concerned about the continued decline (and likely free-fall) of the moral standards in our country. Since that the election, I've heard many Christian leaders calling for prayers for the salvation of President-Elect Obama, as well as a spiritual revival in our nation. I too feel the need for a spiritual revival in this country, though it is not solely based on the results of the 2008 elections.

So I started thinking and realized that I can't very well pray for a national revival if I do not first desire and pursue revival in my own heart. I've spent the past week and a half studying revival in the Word of God, and here's some of what He revealed to me:

Psalm 85: 4-9 reads, "Restore us again, O God of our salvation,and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever?Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again,that your people may rejoice in you?7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,that glory may dwell in our land."

According to my Bible Dictionary, "Revive" literally means, "to bring to, or come to life." Except for the supernatural resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, if something is going to be brought back to life, there is a definite need for a purposeful action of someone else. (Example, performing CPR or using a resuscitation unit in a hospital ER.) So here's what I learned about the active roll Almighty God plays in spiritual revival:

1. God Restores His people (verse 4)
2. God Revives His people (verse 6)
3. God Shows Mercy to His people (verse 7)
4. God Grants Salvation (verse 7)

Psalm 85 shows us that revival ultimately depends on an action from Almighty God. He must take my heart, and your heart, and renew it for His passions and for His glory. He must actively revive His people. He must show His unconditional love and mercy to His people. And He must be the giver and source of Salvation. Quite simply put, Jesus Christ is the source, the reason, and the means for revival.

After realizing that revival is primarily about God, I started wondering what roll Christ Followers play in revival. According to Psalm 85, there are two actions a Christ Follower must take in order to pursue revival:

1. Listen to What God is saying (verse 8)
2. Do not return to foolishness (verse 8)

Because Christ is the source and means for revival, my primary action is to listen to Him, to heed the Holy Spirit's prompting, and to honor and obey His Word. Christ Followers need not follow a method for revival. There is no formula or inspirational song that can induce revival. Rather, it starts in the heart of a Christ-Follower who is listening to the heart of God.

If your pastor or youth minister calls you to prayer for national revival, and for President-Elect Obama, I urge you to heed their leadership and honor their request. However, I cannot stress the importance of praying for a spiritual renewing of your own heart for the passions of God. Listen to what the Holy Spirit is revealing to you. Honor the Word of God. This is my own prayer and desire for myself.

I changed my font at thecutestblogontheblock.com

Ichthus - the simple meaning behind the unsual word.

Do you know what an Ichthus is? It's that "stick-man" fish symbol that many Christians put on the back of their car, or on their Bible. It's considered a Christian symbol, and when I was a kid I thought the meaning behind that symbol was related to passages in Scripture where Jesus tells His followers, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17) This week while I was doing some reading for my History of Christianity class, I came across the meaning of Ichthus and how it became a Christian sympbol.

Ichthys is the Greek word for fish. (Hence the illustration of a fish.) In early Church history, Christ Followers developed an alternate spelling for ichthys. They changed the spelling to Ichthus. This new spelling was an accrostic that stood for:

Greek....... English
I esus......... Jesus
CH rist....... Christ
TH eou....... of God
U ios........... Son
S oter......... Savior

The alternate spelling was pronounced just like the orginal spelling, so early Christ Follwers would use Ichthus as a password in conversation to determine whether or not they were talking to a fellow Christian.

Christ Followers living in today's culture do not have to hide their faith in order to preserve their life. We are blessed in this culture to be able to worship God freely. But the History of the Christian Faith is stained with the blood of the early Church martyrs who died willingly and joyfully for their faith in Christ. One early Church historian wrote so poetically and accurately: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

The next time you see an Ichthus on the back of someone's car, I urge you to reflect on it's origin, and thank God for those saints who gave themselves for the cause of Christ.

God's no Genie in a Bottle!

I suppose everyone has heard jokes and stories that involve a magic genie in a bottle. Most of the time the genie agrees to grant three wishes. I think most people use up their three wishes asking for more money, to be more beautiful or younger looking, and for a bigger, nicer car. That in and of itself illustrates the selfish, materialistic world in which we live. Honestly, in those jokes no one ever asks for a cure for cancer or enough food to save the starving families all over the world...

I think many Christ Followers perceive God to be sort of a spiritual genie. I am guilty myself of spending plenty of time in prayer asking god to answer my specific prayer requests. (Not that there is anything fundamentally wrong with presenting requests to God. He tells us countless times to "Tell God what you need." Philippians 4:6.)

Did you know there is actually a Biblical example of Christ asking the people around Him, "What do you want?" John 1:35-42 shares the story of two of the first disciples who followed Jesus. John the Baptist introduced them to Jesus, declaring that Jesus is "the Lamb of God." The two men sought out Jesus and in greeting them Christ literally said, "What do you want?" (John 1:38 - this verse is also translated, "What are you looking for?")

Let's pause for a moment and let this sink in. I mean, do you realize that the Creator of the universe, who has no beginning and no end, who was slain before the foundation of the world, says, "What do you [Royal Daughter] want?"

Some of the possible answers the new disciples could have asked for:
- "I want you to prove you are Messiah"
- "I want you to vindicate every injustice against me"
- "I want more money"
- "I want to be more Godly"
- "I want happiness"

There are hundreds of possible answers the disciples, and we as modern day Christ Followers, could ask for. But notice the last part of John 1:38. "They replied, 'Rabbi, where are you staying?'" These two men wanted to know where Jesus was staying - they wanted to be with Jesus. To follow Him, observe Him, learn from Him. If Christ asked me the same thing, "Royal Daughter, what do you want?" would I be so bold as to answer "Lord, I want to be with you!"

Psalm 37:4 states, "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires." and Jeremiah 29:13-14 reiterates this theme: "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you - the Lord's Declaration." Just like the disciples asked to be near Christ, to abide with Him when they met Jesus, we too, as Royal Daughters must make it our first priority and one request to abide with Christ.

He is not a genie in a bottle, He is Almighty, Unspeakable God - and He will be found by you!