"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in You?" - Psalm 85:6
Sadly, I must admit that there are areas of my life I need revival in. I don't think you can be too on fire for God. At times, I feel like I'm at the peak and can't stop thinking on his Word and almost feel in constant prayer and connection with Him. But then other times, I get so caught up being busy with worldly things that I simply read my devotional and say a quick prayer to mark that off my checklist and then all of a sudden days have passed that I haven't really felt that connection with Him.
I think that happens between believers too. Something happens to upset us and a small rift begins to form and before we know it, there is almost a hatred or a grudge there that we don't remember it being that big. We're scared to talk about it because we don't know how to handle conflict spiritually.
I don't know what area on this list you may need revival in. But I do know that I plan to use it, or potentially modify it to continue to use as a self-evaluation tool to help monitor my spiritual growth. So as you search your own heart, ask yourself today, do you need revival? If so, pray that God will send it to you.
The thoughts below were in my devotional this morning by Dr. Lee Sheppard:
"So how can we know if we need revival in our lives? Well, we need revival when our salvation has lost its joy, when our sin does not break our heart, and when we make little to no effort to witness to the lost. We need revival when worship becomes boring, when we are at odds with believers and see no need for reconciliation, and when we fail to believe God for the impossible. We need revival when we have to be begged to give and serve in church and when we would rather make money than give money. We need revival when we have to be entertained to be drawn to church and when we are indifferent to the fact that there are 2.5 billion people on the planet who have never heard the name of Jesus. We need revival when we don't regularly see the supernatural evidence of God's power and when we lose our desire to fellowship with other believers."
We talked some in Sunday School yesterday about self-evaluation. We discussed how we will never attain perfection but that we should always be pursuing it and trying to be more like Christ. How fitting of a devotional to read the next morning. It's tough grading myself out in some of these areas at times.
How much joy do I have in my salvation? Does it show in my daily life?
Am I truly upset when I sin?
How much effort am I putting into witnessing?
Do I get bored during worship at church?
Are there any strained relationships between me and other believers?
Do I truly believe that God can accomplish anything?
How much (percentage and effort) am I giving my money and time to serve the church?
Do I go to church to see the show, or to learn about the star character?
Do I take time to see God's design of nature and the human body all around me?
Am I going to church to fellowship with believers, or to perform religious duties?
I think that happens between believers too. Something happens to upset us and a small rift begins to form and before we know it, there is almost a hatred or a grudge there that we don't remember it being that big. We're scared to talk about it because we don't know how to handle conflict spiritually.
I don't know what area on this list you may need revival in. But I do know that I plan to use it, or potentially modify it to continue to use as a self-evaluation tool to help monitor my spiritual growth. So as you search your own heart, ask yourself today, do you need revival? If so, pray that God will send it to you.
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