Substitutes for God's presence, purposes, and ways...

 



Thank you for joining me as we continue to prepare our hearts for revival. We pray you will join us at the Just Give Me Jesus Revival, led by Anne Graham Lotz, Sept. 21-22, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. Please find us on Facebook, Just Give Me Jesus Augusta, Georgia, to keep up with the latest news. For more information you may go to Just Give Me Jesus Augusta.

“My People have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Jeremiah 2:13

This week we will continue our study of the seven phases of revival discussed in Henry & Richard Blackaby’s book Fresh Encounter, Experiencing God’s Power for Spiritual Awakening.

·      Phase 1: God is on a mission to redeem a lost world.

·      Phase 2: God’s people tend to depart from Him, turning to substitutes for His presence, His purposes, and His ways.

·      Phase 3: God disciplines His people because of His love.

·      Phase 4: God’s people cry out to Him for help.

·      Phase 5: God calls His people to repent and return to Him or perish.

·      Phase 6: God revives His repentant people by restoring them to a right relationship with Him.

·      Phase 7: God exalts His Son, Jesus, among His people and draws unbelievers to saving faith in Him.

Oh what a glorious day it is when we first answer God’s call on our hearts to follow Him. We are excited, hopeful and sold out for God. We want to tell others about Him and follow Him wherever He leads.

Then life happens, and little by little - ever so subtly - we begin to drift away from God. At first we don’t realize what’s taking place.

·      We become busy running kids around and don’t take the time to listen and follow God’s path for the day.

·      Clients come into town and we are expected to “entertain” them with a “night on the town”.

·      Stress at work and in close relationships become too much and we turn to “one more” nightcap.

·      We are pressured to make our monthly quota and think, “I can fudge a little on the numbers this one time and no one will know.”

Each of these may seem like something small and no big deal but temptation can be subtle. The enemy will slowly pull us away from a close walk with God without us knowing it.

When we lose closeness with God we begin to turn to other substitutes for His presence, His purposes and His ways.

·      Instead of waking up and spending our first moments with God we turn to email, facebook or twitter to find out what our friends are up to.

·      Instead of standing firm on what is right we do what our boss tells us and take our client out for a “night of fun”.

·      Instead of resting in God’s calming presence and trusting Him to sustain us we look to a “quick fix”.

·      Instead of trusting God to provide, we take matters into our own hands.

When we stop relying on God’s presence, His purpose and His ways we fall further and further away from Him.

Is there something in your life that is pulling you away from a close relationship with God?

Lord, open my eyes so that I may see what stands between you and me. Reveal to me areas of my life I need to give back to you. Help me to focus completely on you and turn to you for strength and direction each day.

In Your Name I Pray, Amen.