Making Time For Revival

Posted on by josiahkagin

One of the highlights of the year for me is revival meetings. There is something very special about gathering together with other believers to sing, pray, be challenged by God‘s Word through preaching and to seek God for personal and corporate revival. I have found that not all believers see the need nor will take the time to engage in revival meetings.

Some wonder, “Why a revival meeting?” Don’t we already have enough to do in life? True! There is a lot on our calendars. We are busy. Home, work, sports, friends all have space on our calendars and then there are our devices that deceptively suck hours of our time out of our days. Some will say in frustration and excuse, “I just don’t have any time this week for revival, Pastor!” May I have a moment to challenge your thinking.

Ephesians 5:16 tells us “Redeeming the time because the days are evil.” Paul was encouraging believers, who lived in days that were against God, to buy back time from being wasted on temporal pursuits and invest it in what was truly, eternally important. More important than anything else in our lives, is our walk with God and that walk being revived (reset or refreshed…whatever the need). Who you are with God is more important than who you are with your family, your coworkers and your friends. Your walk with God is more important than any program, than any project or pursuit. When we walk with God as we ought, we are the best spouse, the best employee, the best friend and the best child. Everything flows from my walk with God. Perhaps that is why Solomon challenged his son to “Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.“ (Proverbs 4:23)

Make the time by setting aside things that are not as eternally important as your walk with God. If a few Facebook friends don’t get a like from you, will that really matter in eternity? If you miss a ball game, your favorite TV show or your child misses a sport practice, will it matter in eternity? If you miss some sleep in order to gather with other believers to be under the preaching of the Word, will you regret that in eternity?

No one has time, we all have to make time for what is truly important. Our walk with God and the preaching of God’s Word for revival is truly important.

By His Spirit Reads

Posted on by josiahkagin

This year at Grace Baptist Church, our theme is By His Spirit. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, Saith the Lord of hosts.”  God was communicating a powerful truth through Zechariah that was not for his day only, but for our’s today. 

Many followers of Christ endeavour to live, witness and serve in their own strength and effort. Frustrated and defeat pile up leading to quiet despair. They consider themselves to be lesser Chrisitan who is unable to obey God’s Word and be faithful in God’s work.

The truth is, God did not design the Christian life to be lived out on our own and without help. He has graciously provided all the power with which to accomplish His ‘why’ for our lives. It will not be accomplished by our might or our power, but by His Spirit through us.

Prayer and the Word of God are key to living By His Spirit. I hope you are striving to make these Christian disciplines a daily routine. Beyond, your Bible reading, there are some related books that God has used to bless many followers who hungered for more. I challenge you to make this list a part of your reading goal this year. Each book title is linked to Amazon.

  1. By My Spirit by Jonathan Goforth
  2. I Saw the Welsh Revival by David Matthews
  3. The Calvary Road by Roy Hession
  4. Experiencing Jesus by John Van Gelderen
  5. Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray
  6. The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
  7. Praying Hyde by Captain E. G. Carre
  8. Rent Heavens R. B. Jones
  9. Revival in Our Time by Harold Vaughan
  10. Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray
  11. Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray
  12. We Would See Jesus by Roy Hession
  13. Victory in Christ by Charles G. Trumbull

By Love Serve One Another

Posted on by josiahkagin

Galatians 5:1,13-16 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

In Galatians 5:13 God gives believers a seemly impossible command  – “…by love serve one another.” This is not our natural course of action. In fact, our mindset most often is to by love serve ourselves. We eagerly seek to do what satisfies and gratifies ourselves, not others. We take the liberty that Christ has given us through the cross and use it to satisfy the various lusts of our own flesh. So this command of God goes against everything in our flesh and we discover that in order to obey it we desperately need His help! I am so glad He offers the key to accessing His unlimited help in verse 16 — “…Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” If we will daily, moment by moment, yield ourselves to the Spirit’s control we can obey this command and “…by love serve one another.”

Who is it in your life that you need to “by love serve”? Make it your goal today!

Listen to a message on this subject Striving Together in Love