The Great Need in Revival

“A revived heart resonates with the presence of holiness, the peace of heaven, and the praise of the Holy One.”

“A revived church loathes worldliness, longs for worship, and laments a lost world.”

A Holy, Hiding Place

“Sometimes God puts us in a place… At times it seems to be a hurtful place, a humbling place….but, when we recognize that He is there, it becomes such a holy, hiding place.”

Wall of Worry

“Worry for a child of God is a towering wall that separates us from being able to see the loving hand of God, waiting patiently on the other side.”

A home built to be blessed

In Genesis 18:17-19 the Bible says this, 17- And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;  18- Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?  19- For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

We find here in this simple passage one of the greatest statements that could be said about a father, and this encouraging statement is being told by God, Himself. The watchful eye of the Lord was looking at the care of Abraham for his children and family and he said, “For I know him, that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord,..” What an awesome revelation to be given by an omniscient God, who knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts. He said of Abraham that I know he will nurture his home in the ways of the Lord. This is a wonderful testimony to be given of the character, wisdom, devotion and love of a godly father. There were many who could have given outward assurance of what a righteous man Abraham was. They watched his steps, followed his pattern, listened to his teaching, and all of that could have brought many to the same conclusion that God portrayed….but, God knew his heart, his thoughts, his motives. I wonder how many people who are watching us as parents, could clearly see that the desire of our heart is to keep our family in the way of the Lord. Could they come to this conclusion by taking notice of our priorities, our decisions, our worship, our faithfulness….but, even more, can God give a witness of what type of example we really are as parents?

I was interested to see if the scripture shed light on what things were noticed by God to bring Him to this conclusion about Abraham.

1. In Genesis 12:1-4.  We find here that Abram had an Obedient Spirit.  What God told Abram to do, he was quick to react in an obedient manner. Certainly, his family took notice of Abram’s response to God. Our children will be much more respective to God’s commands if they find parents  quick to obey the will of God. 

2. In Genesis 13. We find that Abraham chose to Make Decisions by Principle.  Abraham did not make decisions out of convenience or gain, but by deciphering what would be best for his family, through the will of God. Certainly, we see the results of this decision in comparison to the failures of Lot.

3. In Genesis 14 & 15.  We find that Abraham Relied on God to Sustain.  Abraham was not going to look to the King of Sodom to bless him, but to the One who had always, sufficiently met his needs. Our children desperately need to see a trusting reliance on God to supply and sustain His children. How are our children ever going to learn to look to the Lord in time of need, if they do not see dad and mom doing the same?

4. In Genesis 18 & 19.  We see that Abraham was concerned that he Provided a Godly Environment for His Family. Abraham knew that tragedy could come if he would allow his home to be lured into the worldliness and ungodliness of Sodom. The green pastures were not near as important to Abraham as was the peace of mind of being far from the snares of the devil. Too many parents are drawn into the trap of seeking for the green pastures more than protecting the hearts of their children. An atmosphere of godliness goes a long way in hedging our children from the alluring of the world.

Two illustrations come to my mind when I think about the comparisons of Abraham and Lot:

A man who I pastored came to me one day and somewhat indignantly said, “Pastor, I cannot get my family to want to come to church.” He said, “I need you to come by and talk to them and see if you could encourage them to become faithful.”  I set up an appointment on Thursday to come by and meet with the family. I drove into the driveway and I was met in the front yard by the teen daughter. Dressed like a harlot, she was having a gleeful time making out with her boyfriend in the front yard. I guess, with acceptance of her dad and mom. I went from there to the front porch and was about to knock on the door. I heard from the back of the house the dad yelling and screaming at the teenage boy and the same was heard from the boy to the dad. All of this was reverberated by the sound of loud, rock music in the background. The dad finally came and invited me in. He asked me to sit down while he tried to round-up his family. Being, a nosey pastor, I started looking around the living room. I saw stacks of cd’s of godless music, dvd’s that you could tell by the cover where not healthy for anyone, spiritually. I could not see a Bible anywhere in sight. There was an atmosphere of worldliness, sensuality, unkindness, rebellion, and disobedience. I got the dad’s attention, and asked if I could speak to him a minute. To make a long story short, I told him, “I don’t need to talk to your family. I can see the reason your family does not care about the Lord. You have set up an atmosphere in the home that is breeding all this worldliness. The change has to begin with you.”

To look at the other side of the coin, another story comes to mind. I was preaching in a church one day and the pastor introduced some teens from a family that were going to come sing. They got up, and in a worshipful manner, they sang a beautiful song that ministered to my heart. After the service the teens came and very mannerly introduced themselves to my wife and me. They were first-class, confident, but respectful in their mannerisms. We inquired a little about their home. You could tell that they loved and respected their parents. I was impressed with the attitude of these teens. One day Julie and I were invited to come eat in their home. We were greeted at the door with handshakes and smiles from all the children and the parents. Beautiful music was playing in the background. A number of instruments were set up around the home that the children played. On the coffee tables were Bibles and songbooks and you could tell that they were well used. I heard “yes ma’am” and “yes sir”. I saw smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts. We did not see a television anywhere in sight and I could see very quickly what the reason was that caused these young people to catch our attention at that service.

These two examples did not come by mistake or chance. One home had an environment that encouraged the flesh and one had the environment to encourage the Spirit. One home was built to be blessed and one was built to be burdened. Oh, could it be said by God and others, that they know that we will teach our family in the way of the Lord. 

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• By Faith (comeawake.org)

Trading a season for a lifetime

“A seemingly, simple season of two parents being disobedient to God’s will may result in a lifetime of their children running from the will of God. Our children need to see our obedience to God, more than they need to hear our opinions of life.”

Our children are watching

” I wonder how many children could have been salvaged if they had found real living, real love, and real laughter in the home.”

 

Storm of our own making

“Sometimes what we consider “storms” that we are having to endure, are really self-generated catastrophes that we try to weave into a spiritually, self-exalting story”

Dependence on God

“Deepening our relationship with God, deepens our dependency on God and that deepens our desire for God.”

The Heart of our children

“May we plant in our children’s heart such a desire to know God, that when they grow older, the desire of their soul will be to know that same God in a far deeper way.”

Plentiful or Poverty

                                     I have always been blessed by Ephesians 3. It shows that bounty of God’s grace upon the Gentile people. The chapter seems to culminate in Ephesians 3:20 – “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” This statement “exceedingly, abundantly,” gives the meaning of “to an extent which we cannot express.”  Paul wanted those that were in the Ephesus church to be able to comprehend the amazing things that they could experience through the power of Christ. Paul seemed to often chide the churches to remove themselves from living in the state of spiritual poverty to growing in the abundance of God’s goodness. I’ve given the  statement, that”many live a paupers life as a potentates son.” Although we are in the world, god never intended us to live a constant struggle with the world. God has already provided the victory that we can live in abundant blessings.

D.L Moody said, “There are in the churches, stores of unconsecrated wealth, unused or misused talents, multitudes at ease in Zion. witnesses who bear no testimony for the Lord, workers without the Spirits conquering power, teachers who speak without authority, disciples who follow afar off, forms without life, church machinery substituted for inward for inward life and power. Certainly this could characterize what we experience in the church today.

We need to recognize that it is not our abilities that bring on this abundance, but, it His authority. The story was told about a vagrant that walked the downtown streets of a large city begging for every morsel and goodness that was handed to him. There was a wealthy business man who worked in the area where this vagrant frequented. He watched him come in his ragged clothes everyday and sit on the street corner hoping to just pocket a few coins. One day he was in a benevolent mood and he wrote the man a check for $500. He gave him some advice to take it down to the local bank and cash the check and go get yourself some food and clothes. The businessman had to travel for the next several days. When he came back, the vagrant man was found sitting on the sidewalk once again still clothed in his rags. The businessman immediately went to the man and inquired if he had cashed the check. The man hung his head and said, I went to the bank, but, when I saw how everyone was dressed and how I looked, I knew that they would not cash it for me. The businessman sighed and said, “sir, it does not depend on who is cashing the check, but, who has signed the check. Many times we look at our weaknesses and failures and say, I cannot live that abundant life, but, we fail to remember that it’s not dependent on our goodness, but on his riches and grace.

Let me remind us quickly on some of the “abundance” that God wants us to partake in.

1. Abundant Grace   2 Corinthians 9:8 “God is able to make all grace abound.” What a blessing to be able to live in the riches of God’s grace and not rely on the benefits of our own goodness.

2. Abundant Life   John 10:10 ” I am come that might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” For some christian’s, they feel like that life was just something that we received the day of our salvation. This abundance should be growing everyday. 

3. Abundant Hope   Romans 15:13 “That ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Hope in God is the hope of glory. We can hope in His goodness, His strength, His faith. Not any better hope than that in the world.

4. Abundant Love  Philippians 1:19  ” I pray that your love may abound more and more.” Love can flourish when Christ is it’s source and substance.

5. Abounding Work  1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…”  Is it not wonderful to know, that because of the resurrection of the Savior, that we can flourish and prosper in the work of God. That is inward work as well as outward work.

Two poor women came to the soup kitchen to get soup for their families. The sign outside said, ” bring your own pot and have it filled with soup” Both women were feeding the same size family. One women brought a medium size container and the other lady brought the largest pot that she could find. One family had enough to survive, the other had plenty to nourish their hunger and had more left over. Sometimes we just don’t come with a pot big enough to receive God’s bounty.