REVIVAL

What does a revived heart look like? According to Webster’s New World Dictionary the word revive means, "to return to life or consciousness, or to come or bring back into use, attention, or popularity." As I look back at the moments in my own life, were I thought God had revived my heart, my spirit, I now begin to wonder if I was ever really ‘revived’. As I look at my own life, and wonder what God’s intentions for me are, I find it extremely difficult to not feel overwhelmed by the opportunities He places in my path. It may not be news for you, but when we talk about God’s will for our life, God’s will isn’t a physical place. It isn’t whether or not we should have a hamburger for lunch, or take a healthier route, and go for the salad. To find God’s will for our life we simply need to constantly pursue a greater understanding of His love.
When we go to church on a Sunday morning, how can we sit there, sing a few songs, listen to the message, and then go home as if nothing happened? I realize we are ways in God’s presence, but on a Sunday morning or evening, when we sing, or when we listen to His word being spoken by our ministers, for some dumb reason, we feel closer to God. We feel as if some how we are doing our part by being in church. I am guilty of this as well. While the pastor is speaking, I will follow along with him as he reads from God’s word, and as I’m doing that, a different verse will catch my eye. I will then spend the next 10 minutes reading up on something that has nothing to do with what the pastor is speaking on, just because I am too lazy to do my devotions at home, by myself or in my own time. After the service is over, we stick around, have our little conversations with our closer friends, or in some bizarre circumstances, we might actually reach out to a new person, and then we get in the car, and go for a family dinner or out for lunch. Somewhere between the message and the door, we lose our focus. The focus that seemingly gets a boost that lasts only for a moment. It’s not that we’ve forgotten who we are, and that we are believers, but somehow we forget to show the world. Or maybe to take what we believe and forget to put it into action. Again, I am guilty of this as well. We might get behind the wheel of our car and become impatient with the 80 year old driver in front of us, and make ever attempt to get around him, no matter what. What we don’t realize is that he just saw us drive out of the church parking lot. Based on that little incident, no wonder the world thinks we’re hypocrites. I’m not even talking about everything else we do that the world sees. We get so caught up in our own lives that we totally miss God’s purpose for us in this short time we have on earth. After all, are we not God’s hands, feet, and arms?

Getting back to the revived heart. What should it look like? It can’t be as easy as just sitting in church on Sunday and being nice to a few people throughout the week can it? Does it actually go deeper then this? I would dare say yes. We may help out in a Sunday school class, or help with the offering, or the nursery, or even the worship service, and that is all great. I fully believe that we need to be involved in some aspect. But is merely giving a couple hours each week, to ‘further His cause’, enough? Or should we constantly be seeking ways in which we can further his cause. Maybe constantly be looking for situations to input ourselves, to make ourselves available.

This brings me to my first question. Where is your passion? I think on a large scale, we as ‘believers’ have lost our passion, as well as our longing to truly know God, and to be His body here on earth. Each of us has at least one or two gifts that God has given us to use; and I realize that a lot of us use them to some degree. But what gifts do we have that we aren’t using, because we are afraid of where they could take us? Or what they could do to us? One of the reasons I believe we are not using some of our gifts and have lost our passion, is because we have become so involved in the culture of the world, by putting our desires before God’s.
Right now I’m attempting to read a book written by Shane Claiborne titled The Irresistible Revolution. In one of the chapters, he talks about how "Jesus wrecked his life". That may sound a little out there. After all, God isn’t out to ruin our lives. What Shane is referring to is that if we would just allow God to truly run our lives and to actually believe and do everything the Bible commands, our lives would be turned upside down. We in North America have grown so accustom to having everything we want, and having it now. We put our materialistic desires before God’s desires. How is it that we put our evening television watching ahead of His Word? Maybe we spend 5 minutes reading at family devotions, or 5 minutes reading His word, and call that our personal devotions, but then, for the next hour or two, we put down the Word and turn on the TV, or the internet, or maybe pick up a different book, not related to God at all. If we say we are Believers, if we say we don’t have any idols, then why have the things of our world’s culture taken precedence over God? I am not saying that everything we view and read is bad for us, but is it really that good for us? Over the past few years I have become somewhat ‘addicted’ to certain television programs. Not that they are necessarily bad for me, but they certainly haven’t helped me to further God’s will for our world. In all the time I spend watching these shows, how much time could I have spent reading God’s Word and praying? There are so many resources out there for expanding our relationship with God, and yet I would rather watch a show on tv that will do absolutely nothing to further God’s work. It will do nothing to help me become more like Christ. A lot of these shows have a running story, so that each show is connected to each other. Maybe making us feel that if we miss a show we will be left behind. We grow so attached, and yes, in some cases addicted to those shows. That is what the television companies want. To keep up their ratings, so they can make lots of money. But further than that, that is what Satan wants too. He wants us to be so involved in the false reality of television, that we neglect the Word. That we neglect our relationships with God. That we neglect God. And then we say we have no idols.

This brings me to my second question. Where is your focus? What are you truly seeking from this life? Do we really want God’s will to be our will? Maybe we pray the Lord’s prayer, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one,’ Matthew 6: 9-13. (NLT) If we pray this, do we mean it? Do we really want to follow God’s will? If so, are we doing EVERYTHING we can to do that?