No Revival Without A Death

 2 Kings 13:21

So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. 

    Scattered throughout the Bible are references where we see that several people have died and someone is there to speak life back into their bodies, or, as here, the mere touch of an anointed dead person speaks life to another dead person. Only God can do that. 

    In Matthew 27:52-53, after Jesus rose from the dead, all the dead saints rose, entered Jerusalem and spoke  with many people. How cool is that? Totally freak a body out! And by this event, we see that every saint from then on who dies before Christ's second return, only dies in body. The spirit of life is ongoing and the soul enters heaven. 

    But what about this thing called revival here? What is that? It's not like we die physically. No, we die a spiritual death. We give our hearts to Jesus Christ when we believe on His Name for our salvation. We surrender our lives to God's service after we believe on The Only Name under heaven for our salvation. 

    Revival happens when the old nature we lived in for so long is dead and the life of Christ within us takes the reins, directing our steps through the power of God's Holy Spirit. And when this revival takes place, a chorus of hallelujahs leaps from our hearts into our mouths and is instantly sung or shouted out loud from our lips. What an Amazing Grace God has given the sinner who repents! 

    To be revived is to give life where there was none. That's what Jesus does, when a person believes that HE IS LORD. Lord of Life. Lord of All. LORD OF LORDS. 

    That thief on the cross may not have had the opportunity to turn his life around, but he did have the opportunity to believe that the Man next to him was, indeed, Christ The Lord, because that is how he addressed Him in Luke 23:39-43. On his cross, his revival was both spiritual and physical, because after he believed Christ and received forgiveness (pardoned), his old nature died and his new nature was born. And, if he did not die soon after that experience, then the Roman soldiers would have broken his legs to hasten his physical death: John 19:32. 

    Jesus is Life! He tells us this throughout the Book of John: John 3:16/John 5:24/John 6:35/John 14:6. Romans 6:23 emphasizes the difference between life and life eternal: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

    1 John 5:11-12 "And this is that Testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. / Whoever has The Son has life; whoever does not have The Son of God does not have life." 

    It is The Spirit of God that gives life: Romans 8:11 "And if The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you." We need The Holy Spirit of God living in us, not only to guide us (mentor, disciple us), but to give us life after death. It is absolutely necessary to have God's Holy Spirit living in us to bring us into the living, holy presence of God in heaven after we die. In this verse we see that all three Persons in the trinity are not only real, but work together to bring new life to every believer. 

    If you need a revival, then you need to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. No one can make you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. No one can force you to become a Christian. No one can demand that you follow the rules in their religious dogma to become saved. Only you have the power of choice, free will, to surrender your hearts to Jesus Christ and your lives to the flow of God's Holy Spirit in your lives: directing your steps in God's Word and helping you to fill your minds with The Word of God. 

    But remember this: without Christ Jesus living in us through The Holy Spirit of God, we are not going to make heaven our home after we die. Why would anyone choose to go to hell, when hell wasn't even created for people? Is it such a hard decision to become a Christian? Yes, yes it is. It's a decision that will change the course of our lives when we believe. It's a decision that will affect our decision-making. If our faith in Christ's Name is real, then the people closest to us are going to see a remarkable change in us. And maybe, just maybe, they will want what we have: A close personal intimate relationship with our Lord and King Jesus Christ. 

    Lord, Send a revival. And let it begin in me. 

I NEED YOU NOW - Matt Redman

    

    

A Crucified Life - - Is A Repentant Life

 

2 Corinthians 7:10

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There is no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No.

Worldly (in this context): ungodly, alienated from God and hostile to the cause of Christ

From the Greek word 'kosmos' (pronounced kos'-mos)

Sorrow: pain, distress, grief, emotional pain that weighs on a person

From the Greek word 'lupé' (pronounced loo'-pay)

    Being sorry and apologizing for that offense which we say we are sorry for is not godly sorrow. 

    We can regret the words we have said but we cannot take them back. The damage has been done and cannot be undone. Remorse is not godly sorrow. 

    Though a person may change on the outside, and believe themselves to be fine, better or good enough, but have not repented of the sin they have committed, there is no forgiveness, no salvation, no real change in the heart. 

    Repentance activates God's forgiveness and makes it possible for God to change the repenter's heart. It is impossible to change ourselves by ourselves. We need God to change our hearts by the blood of His Lamb, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Who became sin for us and died on the cross so we wouldn't have to die and pay the penalty for our sins.

    Hebrews 9:22

In fact under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment].

     1 John 2:2

And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.

    Romans 3:25

God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

 INTO GRACE   

The Secret Place - Phil Wickham

The More I Seek You - Kari Jobe

Jesus Have It All - Jeremy Riddle

I Need You - Jessie Harris

Run To The Father - Cody Carnes

Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin

Washed By The Blood - CityAlight

At The Cross - Chris Tomlin

Thank You Jesus For The Blood - Charity Gayle