DO YOU WANT REVIVAL? No. 575
DO YOU WANT REVIVAL?
I am desperate for revival? Are you? I guess we should first ask, what is revival? It is turning back to the original, the beginning! It’s reviving the first things.
Before I share a few thoughts on my heart, I must say how encouraged I am to hear of the Asbury College revival and how it is spreading to so many other colleges. How wonderful to see our young people turning back to God in worship and prayer. May it continue to increase to every college in the nation.
In Scripture the “law of the first mention” is very important. When God says something the first time in the Scriptures, we must take note. He lays the foundation for that truth. He may enlarge upon it throughout the Scriptures, but the first mention is the foundation. It must never be discounted.
When we get away from the first mention, we must be revived to come back! Back to God’s plan. Back to the very first commandments He gave us. Back to His heart. Back to His first words. Back to our first love.
We need to forever be coming back to our first love, don’t we? God’s first commandment is to love Him with our whole hearts and whole souls and whole minds and all our strength (Mark 12:30).
With all the distractions in our lives it’s so easy to get away from our first love for Jesus. There’s nothing more important than being in love with Jesus. This is the hub from which everything else in our life flows out. When we are in love with Jesus, we will love our husbands and children and everyone around us.
Jesus spoke to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4, 5: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
And this is what is happening in Asbury and the other revivals. They are crying out to God for their fist love to be renewed. What a beautiful thing.
But we must also turn back to the very first statutes God gave is in His Word. Not one word of God is insignificant. Every word is eternal and life changing.
We must come back to the very first words God spoke to the man and woman He created. Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth.” God has never rescinded these words. They stand forever. If we discard them because we think we know better, we disobey God’s powerful and living Word. We certainly need a revival in the church to come back to these words, don’t we?
We must come back to marriage oneness. God’s eternal plan for marriage is that we are to be one. God’s first description of marriage is in Genesis 2:24: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” We are not two people living in the same house but living our separate lives. We are joined in flesh, spirit, and vision to work together to build a strong marriage and family. It’s time to come back!
We must come back to God’s heart for children. Malachi 4:4-6 says: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
This is one of the greatest revivals needed in the church today. Most of the church has no understanding of God’s plan for children. They limit the number of children in their family as much as the secular world. They have as little regard for the blessing as children as the world does.
This Scripture not only speaks about fathers turning their hearts to their one or two children, but turning their hearts back to the same attitude God has about children. To open their hearts to embrace children. To be fathers who are not afraid to trust God for the children He wants to give them.
We need to come back to believe in the God of the Bible. Many believe in a false God. They believe in a god who is only able to provide for one or two children. Any more would be too much for their god. This is not the God of the Bible.
Do we really want revival? True revival will turn us back to God’s original ways. We love to see revivals of worship and the moving of God’s Spirit. This is wonderful but may it lead to coming back to God’s heart and all His commandments.
May you be blessed and encouraged.
NANCY CAMPBELL
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PRAYER
“Dear Father, how I long for revival. I long to see your church turn back to you in prayer and repentance. I long to see your people reveling in worship and prayer than being intoxicated with the entertainments of this world. I long to see your people come back to Your plan—embracing children and building strong marriages. Please come with a mighty move of Your Holy Spirit drawing us back to You. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I want to walk every day with revival fire in my soul.Don’t miss the podcast for wives and mothers each week:
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell