During my prayer time God has gently nudged me to begin sharing with you the blog posts I am writing as we prepare for revival. Do you need a revival in your heart? Do you need to draw near to God? Please join me each Monday.
I would also love for you to visit our Just Give Me Jesus Augusta website for more information. Just Give Me Jesus is free and open to anyone who would like to attend. You can find information on lodging and any other questions you may have at Just Give Me Jesus August.
“Come near to God and
he will come near to you.” James 4:8
Revival.
When you hear the word revival what comes to your mind? Do
have memories of big tents and long hours listening to “fire and brimstone”
preaching? Do you envision a church full of people singing and an altar call
filled with emotion? Do you think of a time when God quietly called your heart
back to Him and you returned to a close walk with your Lord?
Throughout history revival has come in many forms and
fashions. The Bible is filled with stories of God calling his people back to
him. Over the years books have been written filled with accounts of revival.
If you took the time to read all of the accounts of revivals
in the Bible & throughout history you would become very knowledgeable about
the ins & outs of revival.
Knowledge is good and necessary but what about your heart.
What is your relationship with your Heavenly Father?
The word revive is made of two Latin words: re-which means again, and vive-which means to live. Dictionary.com defines revival
as the “restoration of life”. When God calls us back into a restored
relationship with Him we return to a renewed love and fellowship with God. Our
walk with God is alive again.
Over the next few months we will be talking about what
revival is and how we “come near to God” so that he can “come to near” to us.
We invite you to join us on the journey we are walking with
God as we work with AnGeL Ministries to bring Anne Graham Lotz to Augusta,
Georgia on Sept 21 & 22, 2012 for Just Give Me Jesus Augusta.
Before we close out today I want to share with you a
beautiful picture God gave me recently of what revival can look like.
My 5 year-old
daughter ,who normally goes to Children’s Church, was sitting in the
congregation with us one Sunday morning. She was misbehaving and not making the
right choices. I spoke to her and tried to correct her but her actions did not
change. After a few minutes and increased misbehaving my husband called her
over to him. He bent down to her and whispered into her ear. I couldn’t hear what
he was saying but looking at her body language I knew she was being scolded.
She started crying.
More quiet talking took place, and my daughter started to
calm down. She wasn’t happy, but she settled down and sat next to me pouting. A
few minutes later she looked up at me and then looked at my husband. As she
looked up at her daddy she leaned in gently laying her head on his arm. Her
daddy then reached out and pulled her up on his lap. I heard her quietly whisper,
“I’m sorry”. Her daddy then whispered in her ear “Thank you.” As he hugged her
I heard him say, “I love you.” For the rest of the service my daughter sat
nuzzled up tight on her daddy’s lap.
We can have that same beautiful picture of forgiveness and
return to a close relationship with our Heavenly Father. Just like my daughter
turned from the bad choices she was making and received forgiveness from her
daddy, God wants us to turn from our sin and ask for His forgiveness.
Our
Heavenly Father wants us to crawl up into His lap. He wants to hold us tight
and tell us He loves us!
What do you need to do today in order for revival to begin
in your heart? Do you need to sit down with your Heavenly Father so that He can
quietly whisper to you where you need to change?
