Revival in the land

There were a few words I received from the Lord this morning and last night. The one that stuck out the most was this. Everywhere you go you hear about revival. Look on any church and it will be there in their goals.... 'true revival'. Revival this, revival that....

There will be no true revival until there is true repentance.

That's the word I was revealed. It seems easy right? How easy is it for us to get over ourselves and see the destructive nature of our sin? Can we in 2011 really truly humble ourselves? We've become such a people of 'me first' that it permeates our very soul. Just as there is no true salvation until a person experiences true repentance, there can be no revival without it. Why?

2Corinthians 12: ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

If Christ is perfect in weakness then why can't we humble ourselves and just admit our sins? Why can't we ever be weak? It seems as though no one really wants to talk of repentance. Please understand that I'm not talking about an alter call. I'm not talking about saying a prayer and then going on. I'm talking about being truly disgusted at the sins you've committed and being fearful before God for them. See, we've taken the fear of God out of our churches and along with that true repentance. Why are we even sorry for our sins? What is it that we should even be worried about because of a life of sin? Consider this from Isaiah...

Isaiah 8:¹² “Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
¹³ The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread.

I always hear of a place called 'a devil's hell'. But do you know that the devil has no power over hell? He has power over the Earth, but hell is his punishment. It's God's hell. It's God's punishment for sin. Be it angels or humans it must be punished by hell.

Ezekiel 18^:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

This is why we must first repent. God must punish sin because Holy cannot mix with sin. So, if you've never truly repented and asked for forgiveness in Jesus then please don't hesitate one second more. After a true repentance comes a true salvation. After that salvation is a call to holiness. Consider this...

John 8:¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Go now and leave your life of sin.... Jesus didn't command her to go and try not to sin. He told her to leave her life of sin. I do believe the KJV says to go and sin no more. Why would Jesus tell her that if he didn't really want that? The answer is that he does want us to live a holy life. He wants us transformed by his love and grace. So am I saying that if you sin that you're going to hell? NO! What I'm trying to do is show you that God has great plans for all his disciples and if we would just start ACTING like his disciples he could reveal these plans. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to come and help us act like his disciples.

The Holy Spirit comes to pinpoint sin in our lives and to bring us to repentance so that we can be clean for Jesus. Now we use the word sanctification as an excuse for sin though. I hear so many times that we can't leave our life of sin because we have to be sanctified. That's true, but the process of sanctification is not one of living in the world and jumping at every sin that presents it's self. It means true sacrifice and devotion to a Holy God. It means that when the Holy Spirit convicts our heart we need to hit the airwaves of God and honestly be truly sorry for our short comings. When you make yourself weak by putting God over your life and submitting to his Lordship, then you will make the Holy Spirit alive in you. Only through this can true revival happen. Remember that Holy cannot mix with unholy (sin). So....

There will be no true revival until there is true repentance.

Repentance starts today. Will you not bend your knee to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?