The Beginning of Revival

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.

Begin in Me

(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.

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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.

Keeping Your Heart in Tune

My Violin, by Joanne Shennan. Used by permission of the photographer.

Keeping Your Heart in Tune

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace… (Romans 8:6 – NASB)

The final words in a popular chorus ends with the words, “So keep your heart in tune.”

As my wife and I sang these words together in our morning devotions, my mind dredged up the memory of my fruitless attempts to play the violin.

Perhaps if my parents had been able to afford violin lessons for me when I was eight, I would be telling a different story. Yet here I was, nearing seventy years of age(I am now well into my seventies), trying to draw sweet notes from an instrument I could seldom keep properly tuned. Added to that, I had several other ministries occupying my time, so it was certainly not at the top of my list of priorities. It was a frustrating business, so I finally had to face the music (or lack of it). I was never going to be a competent violinist. I finally gave my violin away and had to settle for listening to it, rather than playing it.

It was the tuning, however, that got me beat – that and the broken strings.

Life can be like that, and the Christian life in particular.

Have you ever felt your life was out of tune and producing sour or discordant notes? You have tried everything to make your life harmonize with God and His Holy Word. Sometimes you’re in harmony, and sometimes you are not.

While I was taking lessons I would rely on the teacher to tune it for me. She had no trouble at all. She was the expert, and my violin was soon producing pure notes – till I got it home again.

So, I guess that is the secret to bringing spiritual harmony into your life.  Go to the master regularly, and get Him to tune your life to perfect pitch.

I AM LIKE A VIOLIN

(c. Thursday 11th March, 1999, by Christopher Shennan)

I am like a violin

With a broken string or two,

And a song of praise inside

That cannot get to You.

Some strings are fine, and tuned;

From these sweet melodies rise,

But the range of praise they bring

Leave me dissatisfied.

Come mend my broken strings, Lord,

And tune them fine and true,

So that a paean of praise

May ever rise to You.

My life will ever praise,

When once all strings are there,

And the melodies I play

Will sound like heart-felt prayer.

The music I play

Will strike a cord in some

Who will bend their knee before

The True and Holy One.

I am like a violin,

With all my strings made new,

And every tune I play

Is a song of praise to You!

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The Source of Power

The Source of Power

Public Domain CC0

Read: Zechariah 4:1-6

Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Genesis 41:16 – NASB)

I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself,

Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23 – NASB)

A television preacher kept on repeating like a mantra: “You have the power! You have the power! You have the power! He kept this up through most of his allotted time. I am sure he impressed his audience, but his declaration was a half-truth that was completely untrue.

If we have the power, it follows we can use that power in any way we like. We can use it to gain wealth, honour, or even revenge. This is what the ancient art of sorcery promised; it is the “unlimited human potential” doctrine. It is New Age and totally unbiblical.

What then is the Biblical view?

The Bible teaches that born again Christians have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the One Who has the power.

…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 – NASB)

The Holy Spirit has the power, and He works His power in us in order to enable us to witness to the Gospel. The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to do only what He is comfortable doing. He will only work in us, through us, and for us those things that are consistent with the will of God. He does not give us power to wield at our own discretion.

You cannot separate the power of the Holy Spirit from His character. He is holy and He will only perform holy deeds. You can have all the power from God that you want, so long as you are totally surrendered to do His will, and not your own. For it is not your power you receive, but the power of the Holy Spirit,

It Is Not In Me

(31^st December 2011 – by Christopher Shennan)

Joseph was a man

With an excellent spirit, true;

He had many dreams and visions,

And mighty deeds to do.

He interpreted for Pharaoh,

And the future he could see,

But then he said with fervour,

“This power, it is not in me.”

Now, many gifts and graces

May on your spirit rest,

May fill your heart with fervour,

And help you pass each test.

Though these may bring you honour,

Let there be humility;

Say, like Joseph said to Pharaoh,

“This power, it is not in me.”

It is not in me to vanquish

The powers sent from hell,

Or even to guide my footsteps

In the paths that serve me well.

I cannot bless my brother,

Or my sister, this I see:

Though I give them many blessings,

I know it did not come from me.

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Dead in the Water

 

Dead in the Water

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:1-2 – NASB)

We have all seen pictures of those old “Tall Ships” that operated on wind power alone.

Sometimes those ships had to endure periods in which there was no wind for days at a time. The term used for a ship in that situation was that she was “dead in the water.”  The sailors were stranded in one spot till the wind started to blow again.

On the day of Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit is described as a noise like a violent rushing wind.

A wind like that may put one of those Tall Ships in some danger, but it certainly would not be “dead in the water.”

May I suggest that many of our modern churches today are “dead in the water,” or at least many of their members are? There is no movement of the Spirit in their lives; they are not moved by the Spirit to engage in evangelism, works of service, or acts of mercy. Their lives are static and they have never uttered an “Amen!” in a church service in their lives. They are “dead in the water.”

In the Old Testament a message was delivered to a man named Zerubbabel we could well apply to our hearts today:

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.’ (Zechariah 4:6b – NASB)

If we did, there would not be so many of us sitting “dead in the water.” The “wind of God” would move us to do mighty deeds in His Name.

Dead in the Water

(© Tuesday 17^th June 2014 – by Christopher Shennan)

I’d been “dead in the water” for years;

Nothing stirred in my soul to be true.

My heart was not touched or inspired

To love and be worshiping You.

 

I went to church often, it’s true;

And often I’d say a long prayer –

I was asked to do a great deal,

But the power of God was not there.

 

I was not content in those days,

With the way things happened to be –

I called on You Lord, in earnest –

And in no time You answered me.

 

The Wind of the Spirit then blew,

Softer at first and then stronger;

The sails of my heart then billowed:

The “deadness” was there no longer.

(Picture by Kerri McKinnon – Used with permission)

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