Lord, Send Revival

Happy New Year! 🎉

Can you believe it's the first day of 2025? In one way it doesn't feel like a year has passed already, but in another way it does. At this time last year, I was preparing to go to Honduras for what would be some of the best months of my whole life. 2024 contained sadness, mourning, happiness, laughter, and many new experiences which I'll never forget. Most of all, though, for me it was a year of lots of personal growth. What about for you friend? How would you describe this past year?  

What do you want for this coming year? I don't make new year's resolutions, though I do have goals. One of my goals is to be consistently growing in the Lord. I don't want to be in the same place spiritually as I was last year. How about you? I think all of us as Christians need to ask the Lord to send revival to our hearts.  

The 4th verse of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is not in some hymnbooks and it's not sung much. Take a look at these words.

Come, Desire of nations, come! Fix in us thy humble home.

Rise, the woman's conqu'ring seeds, bruise in us the serpent's head. 

Adam's likeness now efface, stamp thine image in its place.

Final Adam from above, reinstate us in thy love.

I love that third line. Adam's likeness now efface. Efface means to rub or wipe out, erase. What a great prayer for all of us - that God would erase the first Adam's image and stamp his own in its place. Christians have 2 natures - the old man and new man. This is why Paul writes in Romans 7:22-23, "For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." He writes in Colossians that the Christian must kill and put off the old man. 

Do you want to stay the same? If you stay the same you won't be growing. We as Christians desperately need revival. We should be wanting to constantly grow to be more like Jesus. If you've been slacking off in your walk with God, this new year, right now, is a great time to start improving. Friend, how close do you truly want to be to God? Then that's how close you'll be. "The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth." Ps. 145:18 

James 4:8 - "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." This offers a guarantee: you draw close to God and he will draw close to you. The choice is up to you. Let's not stay the same. Grow in your knowledge of God. Grow in your knowledge of God's word. Grow in your prayer time.  Grow to be eternally minded. Grow in your passion for lost souls who are on the road to an eternal hell where there will be no more chances for their salvation. Grow in your desire for God to do a work in your life. Ask God for it. Plead with God to change your heart. Sincerely ask him to search it and be willing to change.

Search me, O God, and know my heart today. 

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts I pray. 

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin.

Fulfill thy Word, and make me pure within.

Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame.

Grant my desire to magnify thy name.

Lord, take my life and make it wholly thine. 

Fill my poor heart with thy great love divine. 

Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;

I now surrender, Lord, in me abide. 

O Holy Spirit, revival comes from you. 

Send a revival, my own heart renew. 

Your Word declare you will supply our need. 

For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.