"It is true that we must wait God's time for revival, and cannot force it; but is it not also true the HIS time is the Church is prepared for the blessing? There is nothing fluctuating or spasmodic about God's desires for His people. Their UNPREPAREDNESS is the only problem. The Church might have revival as wide and deep and as powerful as she please, if she would only comply with the conditions on which God can grant it.
One of the most important things to observe in our Christian life and service is the CONDITION attached to any blessing that we may need....when there is obedience on our part to the divine condition, there follows abundant blessing and continuous victory."
~James A. Stewart
Revival in the body of Christ has been on my heart a lot lately. (How could it not, when reading James A. Stewart's "Opened Windows"? Of which I highly recommend.)
And the big question has been, "What can I or should I do to help bring revival about?"
And really it goes back to being "a one-man revival." All I can do is make sure that I am doing the will of God for me and serving Him in obedience. But practically, what does that look like in my life?
Well these are the steps that He has shown me to prepare the soil of my life for the harvest He wants to grow there:
1. Turning away from ALL known sin in my life.
2. Obeying His Word even in the small stuff.
3. Interceding for His body, the lost, our nation, and the world.
4. Serving others with the love of Christ.
5. Living out His priorities for my life.
Those are some huge things. But God promises to do each one in my life.
"As His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." ~2 Peter 1:3-4
He's only asking me to be faithful in my day to day life. And He's promising His strength and help. In some ways it doesn't seem like enough to bring about the revival I desire to see in the Church today. I can easily fall prey to doubts. But God desires MY faithfulness. He doesn't ask me to save the world; He already did that! He asks that I live a holy life that others can see. He asks that I serve those closest to me with joy so I can then with good conscience serve those in other places. He asks that I be prepared for the blessing He wants to send.
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, January 07, 2011
Fear is Dispelled
"For He Himself is our peace..."
God has been my peace in the last few weeks, despite myself and my circumstances. Fear is something I continually struggle with and have to keep giving to God to heal me.
In the past month I have dealt again with the presence of a rash on my hands and face. (For those of you who don't know last winter's story of my crazy skin issues, you'll have to ask me about it all some other time.) A couple weeks before Christmas it appeared again on my hands, not in full strength, but just enough to freak me out. I was so afraid that last years trial was going to be repeated again. After a few days of silent fearing, I exploded at my poor husband who was only trying to give me ideas of what might help. Luke had been giving me suggestions which he intended for me to at least try. After my yelling at him, he calmly said something along the lines of, "Dessa, I don't know if this is the full reason that God is having you deal with this, but I want to you to talk to God right now and see if He might be giving you this trial to force you to deal with any sin that might be in your life. Take a real close look." And he walked off, leaving me there to think and pray. And I did just that. I was humbled by what God showed me--a spirit of rebellion in my heart towards Luke's authority and leadership in our home. Ouch. I confessed that sin to the LORD and to Luke. Was I immediately healed? No...but God gave me the peace that I had been asking for all those days that had avoided me. God doesn't give us the peace we pray for when we are in sin, I've found.
My rash slowly went away that week, to only come back a week later on both my hands and face, after spending time around a Christmas tree. What I now believe to be at least part of my problem is a pine tree oil allergy (based on a lot of what went on last year). But you know what?!! I didn't freak out! I had a complete and utter confidence in God! I was blessed by the peace that God can give. The rash is now gone again.
God is healing me. He has healed me in the flesh (for now anyway), but most of all He is in the process of healing my soul and spirit from the affects of my sin. I pray that God would keep me close to Him, no matter what happens in the flesh. I pray that I wouldn't live in rebellious sin, but submit to the LORD and my husband.
As Elizabeth George says in her book A Woman After God's Own Heart,
God has been my peace in the last few weeks, despite myself and my circumstances. Fear is something I continually struggle with and have to keep giving to God to heal me.
In the past month I have dealt again with the presence of a rash on my hands and face. (For those of you who don't know last winter's story of my crazy skin issues, you'll have to ask me about it all some other time.) A couple weeks before Christmas it appeared again on my hands, not in full strength, but just enough to freak me out. I was so afraid that last years trial was going to be repeated again. After a few days of silent fearing, I exploded at my poor husband who was only trying to give me ideas of what might help. Luke had been giving me suggestions which he intended for me to at least try. After my yelling at him, he calmly said something along the lines of, "Dessa, I don't know if this is the full reason that God is having you deal with this, but I want to you to talk to God right now and see if He might be giving you this trial to force you to deal with any sin that might be in your life. Take a real close look." And he walked off, leaving me there to think and pray. And I did just that. I was humbled by what God showed me--a spirit of rebellion in my heart towards Luke's authority and leadership in our home. Ouch. I confessed that sin to the LORD and to Luke. Was I immediately healed? No...but God gave me the peace that I had been asking for all those days that had avoided me. God doesn't give us the peace we pray for when we are in sin, I've found.
My rash slowly went away that week, to only come back a week later on both my hands and face, after spending time around a Christmas tree. What I now believe to be at least part of my problem is a pine tree oil allergy (based on a lot of what went on last year). But you know what?!! I didn't freak out! I had a complete and utter confidence in God! I was blessed by the peace that God can give. The rash is now gone again.
God is healing me. He has healed me in the flesh (for now anyway), but most of all He is in the process of healing my soul and spirit from the affects of my sin. I pray that God would keep me close to Him, no matter what happens in the flesh. I pray that I wouldn't live in rebellious sin, but submit to the LORD and my husband.
As Elizabeth George says in her book A Woman After God's Own Heart,
"Faith is the opposite of fear...It is by faith that you and I believe that God works in our lives directly through our husbands. It is by faith in our sovereign God that we trust that God knows our husbands' decisions and the end results of those decisions, and trusting that God redeems, if not guides, those decisions. And so it is by faith in God that our fear is dispelled and we gain the strength to submit."
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