It's been a little while since I returned from the IF gathering in ATX {that's Austin, Texas for those of y'all who aren't from around these parts!} I'm still processing everything that the Lord worked in me during my time there... and my time here since the gathering.
If you aren't familiar, the whole purpose of the IF gathering is to beg the question, "IF God is real then...." you fill in the blank.
I actually had a few of these "fill in the blank" moments from the weekend, and after letting the weekend marinate and combing through my pages of notes, I feel the need to share the main "fill in the blank" from my weekend in Austin. One that I think almost everyone had to have taken away from the weekend.
IF God is real then I will not remain silent.
"If...My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." {2 Chronicles 7:14... the "if" part is in the 13th verse, btw}.
I feel like there is a lot of talk out there about revival lately. Key word :: talk. They say that talk is cheap, but can we agree that not all talk is cheap? Some talk is used to stir people up and grab people at their core. Some talk is meant to encourage and convict. Some is even meant to push people in a way that they see fit to go. I pray that today, you might find these words in the "not-so-cheap" talk category.
I love talk of revival. I love dreaming about it and praying for it and thinking about it. It's encouraging, uplifting and spurs me forward when I let my heart linger on thoughts of revival. However, it's also in this space that I can easily feel quite overwhelmed by the needs, the horrific circumstances and tragedy that people face on a daily basis.
How in the world could their ever be revival when we murder thousands of babies every year? How could their be revival when it's obvious that Isis is on a mission to take over the world? How could revival even begin when the majority - the majority of christians perhaps as well - don't place value the core values of the Bible?
It is E A S Y to get caught up in this. To stop my thoughts + prayers for revival in our country the moment that they really even start. {This is Satan's goal, by the way.} It's easy to get hung up on how lost people are acting - when why should I be surprised? Lost people are going to act - get this - L O S T! They don't believe in the same Jesus that I do. They don't believe in the ten commandments or even the perfect love of the Bible. So how could I expect them to do anything other than live in a totally opposite way?
Y'all, revival starts with us. It starts with me + you. Revival doesn't start with lost people finding Jesus - it starts with believers finding Jesus. It starts with the church returning to it's first love. It starts with every believer humbling themselves before our Lord, begging for forgiveness for our sins {and the sins of our country} and turning our hearts + eyes to Jesus. I believe that it is in that turn that we will begin to find our voice.
What if every believer did this? What would the world start to look like if every believer in every church began to humble themselves before the Lord and we began to beg for mercy for us and our country? What if I started to practice what we preach and begin to fall in love with Jesus all over again? Don't you think that love would spread like a wildfire? How can that deep love fore Jesus not be contagious if we are living out loud for all to see? If we are each answering the specific calls that God is putting on our lives, whether that is being a mom, a teacher, a servant, a neighbor, a friend. What is your passion? What is your place? What is your purpose??? Answer that call!
Christine Caine {who rocked my socks off, by the way} said multiple times that many of us are searching for our platform instead of focusing on our purpose. My purpose in this life on earth is to love, glorify and serve Him. It is the same for all Christians. I would bet you money that if we, as a "church", focused on our purpose first, instead of our platform, we would not only experience personal revival, but we would experience revival in this country like we've never seen. I would bet that not one of us would be able to remain silent about the love of Jesus. I bet that we would all be so full of His love + His joy that we would radiate His LOVE throughout our families, churches, neighborhoods and states.
So the question is this :: will you remain silent? Will you commit to falling in love with Jesus and digging deep into the Word to see what it says {not what a bible study says} and let God guide you into where He wants you to go? Will you pray for revival for yourself, for your family, for your church and for your country?
The scriptures says if my people who are called by my name .... He's talking to the believers here. Let's, as Christ followers, humble ourselves + pray and then watch expectantly for His love to spread like wildfire, shall we?
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