How To Have A Personal Revival (1)

'...Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.' 

Psalm 80:18

The Psalmist prayed, 'Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.' Almost a century ago, A. W. Tozer laid out the steps that lead to personal revival. Some of the language may be outdated, but the principles still work today. First, get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself. Complacency is the enemy of spiritual progress. A complacent soul is a stagnant soul. Second, set your face like a flint towards a sweeping transformation of your life. Timid experimenters are tagged for failure before they start. We must throw our whole soul into our desire for God. Third, put yourself in the way of blessing. It's a mistake to expect God's help to come as a windfall apart from conditions known and met. There are plainly marked paths which lead straight to the green pastures; let us walk in them. To desire revival, for instance, and at the same time neglect prayer and devotions, is to wish one way and walk another.

Fourth, do a thorough job of repenting. Do not hurry to get it over with. Hasty repentance means shallow spiritual experience and lack of certainty in the whole life. Let godly sorrow do her healing work. Until we allow the consciousness of sin to wound us, we will never develop a fear of evil. Finally, make restitution wherever possible. If you owe a debt, pay it, or at least have a frank understanding with your creditor about your intention to pay, so your honesty will be above question. If you have quarrelled with anyone, go as far as you can in an effort to achieve reconciliation.

Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Skywatch #127

Wakehurst Arboretum, originally uploaded by duopastorale.

Led By The Spirit

'...led by the Spirit of God...'

Romans 8:14

Life is like a maze; it's easy to get lost. Pressure comes at us from every direction to keep others happy. We study the important people in our lives, trying to decide what they want from us and how to give it to them, and in the process we lose ourselves. You need to stop and ask, 'Who am I living for? Why am I doing the things I do?' Paul writes, 'Having gifts... that differ... let us use them' (Romans 12:6 AMP). What has God called and equipped you to do? Those who succeed at being themselves don't allow others to control them because they're led by God. 'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.' 

Don't be upset because people place demands on you. It's your life, take charge of it! The pressures you feel right now may not be coming from others at all; they may be coming from your own people-pleasing instincts! Yes, there are times when we all do things we'd rather not do. We do them because we love others, and in so doing we show '...the fruit of the Spirit...' (Galatians 5:22). But that's different from being controlled by your own insecurities or the endless demands of others. When you try to become everything to everybody, you get lost in the process. Plus, when you live for people's approval, you risk forfeiting God's. It's time you started praying, '..."Lord, what do You want me to do?"...' (Acts 9:6 NKJV). Once He reveals it to you, commit yourself to it fully, regardless of who does or doesn't agree.

Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Thirsting For God?

A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea... 

1 Kings 18:44

I have been reprimanded for not posting for 2 weeks so here I am to say I'm still alive! It has been a busy few weeks in many ways, but also I have not felt a compulsion to write... It has been great to meet up with a fellow blogger from Colorado over the last few days and it has reminded me however far away we may be from each other, or as yet even unknown to each other, we are family in Jesus. What a great time we will have in heaven meeting all those brothers and sisters that we didn't know we had!

Last night we attended the O2 Arena in London for an amazing Pentecost Celebration with 16,000 people praising God and lifting up the name of Jesus. We called on the Holy Spirit and the sense of His Presence was wonderful! The photo above was taken by Holy Trinity Brompton Church who were part of the event with Tim Hughes and Hillsong London and Joel Houston. Jesus House were also leading the worship and their pastor shared great message about the need to persevere in prayer.

God has been doing great things in my life recently and I am in a time of refreshing. I am experiencing a tremendous hunger for His Presence and everything in my life now seems to revolve around this. A few months ago, a friend gave me a gift of a painted stone with a waterfall and the words Thirsting for God? It was a good question and although I knew that I was thirsty I also knew that there was a deeper thirst that He wanted to give me. From that point the well seemed to start opening up and I am so thankful! This song below from Jesus Culture has meant so much to me over the last weeks as I see the cloud as small as a man's hand and experience that river that bubbles up from within. Have a blessed Spirit filled Pentecost. Let it rain!