Revival!

REVIVAL! We pray for revival, we send preachers around who try to stir us up spiritually, we hold conventions, conferences, concerts and Bible studies...we do all kinds of things to "revive' us...but I'll tell you what it's going to take. We will NOT be "revived" until WE...Christians...cultivate deep in our hearts a true and genuine love for people! We will not get "revived" until we can read about people who have been shot, run over, killed...and it grieves us to our very souls that these people may well have died without Christ. We will not be "revived" until we can look at starving children in poor countries and we weep in our spirits and we are moved in our hearts so that we know that we have to do something to alleviate their suffering! We will not be "revived" until we can look at the lost and grieve in our souls that they could well spend eternity in hell if they don't receive Christ in their hearts. We will not be "revived" until we can look at people we work with, people we shop with, people we bank with, people we meet daily on the streets and realize that if they don't know Jesus they will be lost forever. We will not be "revived" until we know that we know that it's up to us...not somebody else...to do something about it!

When the Early Church were persecuted and their lives endangered, they did not cower down in their homes afraid to speak out because somebody might make fun of them or might reject them...NO! They went straight out and stood in the streets or in the synagogues and preached Jesus Crucified! Why??? Because they cared about souls! They loved people! They were convinced in their hearts that without Jesus there was no hope for humanity, and they went from city to city...town to town...preaching the Gospel! And the Good News spread like wildfire all over the known world. They turned their world upside down! Why? Because those people cared about the eternal destination of people! They cared enough that they were willing to go without food and shelter to take the Gospel to others...they were willing to spend days fasting and praying for lost souls. They cared enough that they were willing to suffer persecution, imprisonment...even death for the sake of The Gospel. Even the religious leaders were baffled as to what to do with them...but they couldn't stop them! 

That is what it will take for us to experience true revival Friends! One more Bible study is not going to do it...one more conference or revival meeting is useless. Until the Good News of Jesus Christ becomes the reason we wake up in the morning and not just a nice addition to our lifestyles...I am sorry my friend...but we will not experience revival! We have to believe it enough in our souls that we are willing to die for it! THAT is what it will take for revival!