Forgiven, Restored, Called Part 3 Of Our Revival 2018 Series Series

Forgiven, restored and called

John 13, 18 and 21

As we near the kickoff of our Old-fashioned Tent Revival

I pray you have been seeking God

I pray you have examined your own heart

I pray that you have mad a commitment to allow revival first in your own heart

Then you have sought God’s guidance in inviting people to come and be a part of God’s revival

This is week three of our preaching about revival

And Butch covered some different aspects this Wednesday

Patti and I were in Colorado at a Pastors retreat

Getting some rest and relaxation

But also seeking God’s guidance in our own lives

Your lives

And the life of the church

Mostly we looked deep at our own relationship with God

Who we are in him

And how we glorify him simply by being his sons and daughters

You will hear much more on that in the days, weeks and years to come

As we fellowshipped with other Pastors and their wives

As we enjoyed the company of the amazing staff

Ate great food

Had amazing times of worship

And simply sat and took in the majesty of God in that place

Sometimes in a rocking chair

Other times on the back of a horse

We sought God and, in the quietness,

Of both that place and of our minds and hearts

We were able to hear God in a way that is often difficult in our busy sometimes crazy life

Patti may get a bit upset with me when I tell

You that on our first night there, she missed the last step on the stairs leading down to our bedroom in the amazing cabin that had been provided for us

She was not hurt badly

But still had enough pain to keep here from doing all the things she had planned

And God spoke to her in that place and said

Be still

I need you to just be still

And know me more

Psalm 46:10 was on the gate coming in

“Be still and know that I am God”

It was left as a note on our bed at turndown

On the first night

And was a constant topic in this time of healing for the men and women who were there

For restoration

For rest

For re- affirmation

And for spiritual and physical revival

Our revival was on my mind a lot

And God in the quietness of that place

Spoke to me as well

Let me get back to a starting place and then I will share with you what God showed me

The first week of our sermons on revival

We took a road though a valley full of dry bones

The nation of Israel

Had lost its desire for God

And as a result, lost the blessings he had for them

Mostly in the way of closeness to him

This is where we find our true blessing

It is in the right fellowship

In the right relationship

With God

That we find all that we seek

Peace

Comfort

Love

Guidance

Direction

Purpose

And so much more

We studied from Ezekiel’s prophesy how in order to have revival there are things that must take place

In order to have revival we must have the

Preaching

Teaching and study of God’s word

His word says we are to hide the word in our hearts

To crave it like a deer longs for water

That we are to use it as a sword for protection and defense against the attacks of Satan

And that the word is how God speaks to us the loudest today

And apart from the word

Communication breaks down

And we can’t hear God

Next, we saw the second part of communication

Prayer

How we speak to God

And we saw how God longs to hear from us

And how apart from prayer

Communication also breaks down

And revival does not occur

Next, we studied how God’s power is a must for revival

In Ezekiel’s vision

God breathed life into those dry bones

And they were revived

God breathed life in the dust that became Adam

And God breaths life into us when we accept his gift of salvation

By giving us his breath

His Spirit

To dwell in our hearts

And then we saw how repentance is a must for revival

We must turn from our sins

Turn back to God

And walk in the newness that his breath brings

In simple terms

We need to live like saved people when we are saved

The next week We looked at David and some of the mistakes he made

And how through Repentance

God revived him

And how he can do the same for us

When we admit our sin

Take responsibility for our sin

Cry out for his mercy