Quote from Forum Archives on July 1, 2005, 11:53 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Word for Today, Fri, 01 Jul 2005: Personal Revival
Dear friends,

Have you read your Bible yet today? If not, please do so now.

Challenge: By the end of the week, read at least one book of the
Bible. (Hint: several of the letters, called epistles, in the
New Testament are easily read within a week, or if you are a good
reader, even in a single sitting). Personally, I love Paul's
letter to the Philippians and also his letter to the Galatians,
and I also love the first letter of John, but all of the letters
are great and worth reading.

Revival is a kind of renewal. You cannot have a revival unless
there is something to be revived. When speaking of spiritual
matters, revival concerns an awakening of the things we know and
believe. If you do not believe that we need a Savior and that
you, personally, need a Savior, then there is nothing to revive,
you are spiritually dead. For such a person, there is great
reason to fear, for there will come a day when the living and the
dead will be judged.

Those who do not believe will find themselves at the Great White
Throne of God, and they will find themselves there without
excuse.

Those who have realized that there is no way to earn your way
into heaven and understand that our own "goodness" is like filthy
rags in the sight of God are the ones who have hope. Once we
realize that WE are hopeless in ourselves, we are ready to see
that God is not content to leave us like hopeless orphans. No,
the reason Jesus came as a child to live among us was to redeem
us for God. Our deeds deserve wrath, but out of His Goodness,
God sent His Own Son to be sin in our place. Our sin was imputed
- that fancy word essentially means transferred, taken away, off
our souls on onto Christ.

The reason that Jesus, on the cross, said, "My God, My God, why
have you forsaken me?" is that God DID forsake Jesus. He was
forsaken at the time that He bore the sin of the world, and
that's when He was crucified and buried.

How we renew ourselves and revive our spirit is that we remember
the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sake, then we turn
away from our selfish ways and look to God for direction.

Being like sheep, we need a leader, a shepherd to guard us, for
even after these wonderful revelations, what do we tend to do?
Be honest now, we tend to wander, don't we?

Aren't you glad that we have a Good Shepherd, THE Good Shepherd,
in Christ?

Renew your mind by reading His Word, thinking about it, pondering
it deeply, confessing just how much you really need Him.

I know that I desperately need Christ.

Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, the late Bill Bright, wrote
a message before he died concerning personal revival. I share it
with you so that you can consider in your own heart some ways to
revive your personal relationship with God through the Spirit of
the Living God, made possible by Jesus Christ.

If, by chance, you don't really know what that is all about,
begin today by reading the passages of scripture mentioned below,
then some time soon, continue to read the Sermon on the Mount.
If you have already read chapters five and six, please read the
conclusion of the sermon in Matthew chapter seven.

Dear Lord,

I believe that you have created your Word for the purpose of our
good as well as for your glory. May we glorify you by giving you
thanks and praise when we realize what a wonderful plan You have
for each of us.

Ignite our hearts and cause us to either find or renew our
passionate love for you. Amen.

Yours in Christ,
Brian

____________________________

INSIGHTS from Bill Bright
Reflections from the late Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus
of Campus Crusade for Christ International

How To Have Personal Revival

Create in me a clean heart, O God (Psalm 51:10, NLT).

Dear friends:

World and national revival begins with each one of us, individually.

Someone once stood, drew a chalk circle around his feet, then
prayed, "Lord, please send revival, and start inside this
circle."

Do you want revival in America? Then in your mind symbolically
draw a circle around your feet. Let revival begin inside your
circle.

Do you need a jump-start in your spiritual life? Do you
sometimes feel spiritually dry? If so, you need personal
revival. There is nothing more invigorating that experiencing
personal, spiritual refreshing. "Repent, then, and turn to God,
so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may
come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19, NIV).

Here are some suggestions to help bring that revival and
refreshing to your heart:

1. Love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy
6:5).

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any unconfessed sin in your
life.

3. Seek forgiveness from all whom you have offended, and forgive
all who have hurt you. Make restitution where God leads.

4. Examine your motives in every word and deed. Ask the Lord to
search and cleanse your heart daily.

5. Ask the Holy Spirit to guard your walk against complacency and
mediocrity.

6. Praise and give thanks to God continually and in all ways on
all days, regardless of your circumstances.

7. Refuse to obey your carnal (worldly) nature (Galatians
5:16,17).

8. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior and
Lord. Develop utter dependence on Him with total submission and
humility.

9. Study the attributes of God.

10. Hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6).

11. Appropriate the continual fullness and control of the Holy
Spirit by faith on the basis of God's command (Ephesians 5:18)
and promise (1 John 5:14,15).

12. Read, study, meditate on, and memorize God's holy, inspired,
inerrant Word daily (Colossians 3:16).

13. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

14. Fast and pray one 24-hour period each week. Prayerfully
consider becoming one of the millions of Christians who will fast
for forty days for revival and spiritual awakening in America and
the world.

15. Seek to share Christ daily as a way of life.

16. Determine to live a holy, godly life of obedience and faith.

17. Start or join a home or church Bible study group that
emphasizes revival and a holy life.

Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

-------
The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman
Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which
began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000
full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196
countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's
population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has
seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide.
The film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through
Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and
viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in
1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed
or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries.
Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty
books. Dr. Bright recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to
"Touch, Teach and Train" a group of 5 million new house churches
around the world 24/7/365 at
www.crosswalkmail.com/ztvpwsn_pgpziz.html.

Copyright (c) 2003, Bill Bright. All rights reserved. However,
readers may copy and distribute this message as desired, without
restrictions in number, as long as the content is not altered.
Forwarding this e-mail to friends is encouraged. For many
evangelistic and spiritual growth materials, visit the Campus
Crusade for Christ Web site at
www.crosswalkmail.com/tluehzx_pgpziz.html. See
www.crosswalkmail.com/kbvsliv_pgpziz.html for Bill
Bright's own materials.

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
www.crosswalkmail.com/qzopmel_pgpziz.html

For Copyright Terms visit
www.crosswalkmail.com/ehruemn_pgpziz.html

--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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