Greetings.
Here we are in 2009 and January is just about over. Time just seems to fly by and there never does seem to quite be enough time (so it seems) to get things done. On February 8, as you know, we are having a prayer summit here at Burwell Baptist Church. One of the areas that we will be praying for that night is revival – not only in our lives as individuals but in our nation.
In saying that, it is not my thought that we are a messed up church in desperate need of God’s work in our lives. Not at all. In fact, it has been exciting to see God working in the lives of the people here at Burwell Baptist. And it is all because of the great God that we serve.
I do though want to mention revival in our devotional. Revival is something that happens to Christians. It is God’s children getting serious about their relationship with the Lord and dealing with areas of their lives that need to be dealt with. I have seen so many Christians that are loaded with head knowledge regarding the Bible but are rude, arrogant, critical and negative. Their attitudes are terrible. In fact, I have seen them make excuses for that type of behavior time and time again.
Revival would mean dealing with these attitudes if that person were to get serious about what God wanted of their life. We don’t have to be rude, critical, etc. to be in need of serious spiritual look at our life. Some things that we may try to excuse, things such as gossip, destructive habits, etc. may be things that we need to deal with so that God can really bring us to the point we need to be as His children.
One of the verses that ties with the Prayer Summit is 2 Chronicles 7:14. The setting is the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem under King Solomon. One night after the Temple was done the Lord appeared to Solomon to let him know that He would answer the prayers of the people if they offered them with the right heart. That passage says:
"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."
Though written to Israel there are a few principles that we all can relate to:
1) If God’s people will humble themselves and pray He will hear. We need humility when it comes to our life with the Lord. James 4:10 says, “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.” Humility is not seeing ourselves as compared to others; it is seeing ourselves as compared to God.
2) If God’s people will seek His face and turn from their wicked ways God will respond. To “turn” from our wicked ways would be repenting. Repentance is doing a 180 degree turn around in our life. It is going in one direction and choosing to go another. Repentance means not only acknowledging sinful areas of our life but then doing something about them. It is a radical approach that says we will deal with the sins in our life to whatever extent it takes to get rid of them. That is tough but repentance is something that we all have to do.
3) If God’s people do the previous two things God will forgive and restore us. As we have mentioned in a message on Sunday mornings, forgiveness has already happened through the cross of Jesus Christ. Healing though is something that many of us need. We are talking specifically of spiritual and emotional issues that we may be struggling with right now. God wants to help us, He wants to love us – we just need to let Him.
It is a humble gracious opportunity God has provided me to be your pastor. Thank you and may God richly bless you in the days ahead.
Pastor Scott
