revival

This is in an effort to offer a Sunday post with a little more direct scriptural reference – keep in mind that it comes simply from a layman that has been saved by the grace of God. A little known verse in the Old Testament of the Bible that has caught my attention several times goes like this: “O Lord, I have heard of your renown, I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work. In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy.”

This is the beginning of a prayer of a so-called ‘minor’ prophet and he is recognizing the awesome and even terrifying deeds of God done in the past. He is desirous of these things being revived in his day, yet calling for mercy because he remembers the disasters God brought about because of the sin of the people. This took place hundreds of years before Jesus came into a spiritually dark world and died for the sins of mankind so we could have the hope of salvation and rose from the dead for us to have the possibility of eternal life.

The deeds and love of God through Jesus was and is an awesome thing for us today. May we as practicing Christians stand before God with earnest and honest hearts and pray for a revival of God’s grace and mercy to come to our town, county, state, country and our world. Many are puzzled as to why we can’t have peace on earth and it’s because its inhabitants do not know the God of peace.

Cynics would say that many have been maimed and killed for the so-called ‘cause of God’, yet that is not the way God works since Jesus came – these are instead the power struggles of those using the name of God for perverted purposes. These selfish and destructive acts do not change the fact that God is a God of love and still offers forgiveness and redemption from every wrong thing we have ever done – and that for the asking. Give God a chance to change your life for the better, forever – it’s your choice. ec