The Beginning of Revival
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
try me, and know my thoughts:
24 and see if [there be any] wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 – AKJV)
An old Gospel chorus (hardly ever sung these days) goes like this:
“It’s me, me, me, Oh Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer;
Not my brother or my sister,
It’s me, Oh Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
I think the writer of that chorus was spot on; he hit the bulls-eye of spiritual reality. He knew exactly where true revival begins – in the heart of the one seeking it.
It is easy to lament the wickedness of the days we live in; government corruption; the lukewarm state of the church, or the permissive life-styles of other church members. It is quite another matter to detect these things in our own hearts and in our own attitudes.
The psalmist had it right when he said, “Search me, O God…” (Emphasis mine).
I could wax eloquent on the theme, and bring in all kinds of arguments to support my contention that revival begins nowhere else but in our own hearts, but I don’t think there is any need to do so. True-hearted Christians already know this; the Word of God has already penetrated to the depth of their being:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 – AKJV)
Dear reader, if you know, as I do, where revival begins, let us not delay. Ask God to search you as I ask God to search me, and let Him lead us in the way everlasting. If we do this, and if we mean it with every part of our being, I have no doubt revival will come. It may not come in the manner we expect, but it will surely come.
(Sunday 13th November 1994)
“Oh that You would bless me indeed . . .” (1 Chronicles 4:10)
The touch of Heaven needs to rest
Upon those souls within my sphere;
To each one in whose aching breast
A longing grows to bring You near—
I plead, in truth, to let it be . . .
Begin, Oh Lord, the work in me!
I long that blessing from Your Hand
Would reach to every soul around;
That everyone in Truth would stand,
And find that Love and Hope abound.
And yet . . . I cannot help but see:
It were best if it begin in me.
To be the instrument You use
To gently lead those gone astray,
I dare not for a moment lose
The kiss of Heaven— or its Way.
To this all reason will agree:
You need to start Your work in me.
Please visit My website: www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
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Gravesite at Garden Valley Cemetery in Garden Valley, Texas by Roland Heddins. Copyright. Used under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this link. We made no changes to this photograph.
Gems of Discovery - Nuggets of Truth 
