behemoth_and_lebiathan – We Love God!

We need revival: -when we do not love Him as we once did. -when earthly interests and occupations are more important to us than eternal ones. -when we would rather watch TV and read secular books and magazines than read the Bible and pray. -when church dinners are better attended than prayer meetings. -when concerts draw bigger crowds than prayer meetings. -when we have little or no desire for prayer. -when we would rather make money than give money. -when we put people into leadership positions in our churches who do not meet scriptural qualifications. -when our Christianity is joyless and passionless. -when we know truth in our heads that we are not practicing in our lives. -when we make little effort to witness to the lost. -when we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for Bible study and prayer. -when we do not tremble at the Word of God. -when preaching lacks conviction, confrontation, and divine fire and anointing. -when we seldom think thoughts of eternity. -when God’s people are more concerned about their jobs and their careers, than about the Kingdom of Christ and the salvation of the lost. -when God’s people get together with other believers and the conversation is primarily about the news, weather, and sports, rather than the Lord. -when church services are predictable and “business as usual.” -when believers can be at odds with each other and not feel compelled to pursue reconciliation. -when Christian husbands and wives are not praying together. -when our marriages are co-existing rather than full of the love of Christ. -when our children are growing up to adopt worldly values, secular philosophies, and ungodly lifestyles. -when we are more concerned about our children’s education and their athletic activities than about the condition of their souls. -when sin in the church is pushed under the carpet. -when known sin is not dealt with through the biblical process of discipline and restoration. -when we tolerate “little” sins of gossip, a critical spirit, and lack of love. -when we will watch things on television and movies that are not holy. -when our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless. -when our prayers are empty words designed to impress others. -when our prayers lack fervency. -when our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry. -when we aren’t seeing regular evidence of the supernatural power of God. -when we have ceased to weep and mourn and grieve over our own sin and the sin of others. -when we are content to live with explainable, ordinary Christianity and church services. -when we are bored with worship. -when people have to be entertained to be drawn to church. -when our music and dress become patterned after the world. -when we start fitting into and adapting to the world, rather than calling the world to adapt to God’s standards of holiness. -when we don’t long for the company and fellowship of God’s people. -when people have to be begged to give and to serve in the church. -when our giving is measured and calculated, rather than extravagant and sacrificial. -when we aren’t seeing lost people drawn to Jesus on a regular basis. -when we aren’t exercising faith and believing God for the impossible. -when we are more concerned about what others think about us than what God thinks about us. -when we are unmoved by the fact that 2.5 billion people in this world have never heard the name of Jesus. -when we are unmoved by the thought of neighbors, business associates, and acquaintances who are lost and without Christ. -when the lost world around us doesn’t know or care that we exist. -when we are making little or no difference in the secular world around us. -when the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages, and the church. -when we are blind to the extent of our need and don’t think we need revival.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss