I have an enemy in me. I am my own enemy. I hate the things that my hands do! I claim discipleship by Jesus Christ and yet by my actions I contradict the very things that He taught His disciples not to do!
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out."
In me there is not a single bit of righteousness, Paul would say and I would agree with. But wait a minute, didn't the prophet Jeremiah say that in the new covenant there would be a renewing--a regenerated heart? Yes! Where is this heart in me! How is it that this heart seems to be absent in me? I mean, I want to do good. I have the desire to do good! I have passion to pursue my God and yet the battle inside of me seems to be intensifying! I war against the flesh and often times I am defeated. But wait, I am more than a conqueror I thought! How is it that I am feeling more and more defeated? --Stop! I hear the still small, yet powerful and heavy voice of my Savior cry out to me saying, "This is the normal Christian Life. Now pursue me with all of your heart."
I want more than apathy. I want victory. I want more than the mundane. I want the abundance promised. I want more than average. I want a prophets heart. Enough is enough with the talking about the reformation of the church. Reform begins in the heart of the reformer. There must be reform in my heart, our hearts, before there can be a movement of the Holy Spirit in Portland, on Maui, in the Country.
In one of my favorite books that I've read this year, A.W. Tozer wrote this concerning personal and practical revival in the church today,
"I believe that the imperative need of the day is not simply revival, but a radical reformation that will go to the root of our moral and spiritual maladies and deal with causes rather than with consequences, with the disease rather than with symptoms...for this reason it is useless for large companies of believers to spend long hours begging God to send revival. Unless we intend to reform we may as well not pray."
The sin, the sins of commission as well as the sins of omission, must go Christians. It must stop. We are called to be disciples of Christ and yet we (of whom I am worst of all) live as if we are disciples of the world. Tozer would continue, saying this.
"...It is no longer either dangerous or costly to be a Christian. Grace has become not free, but cheap. We are busy these days proving to the world that they can have all the benefits of the gospel without any inconvenience to their customary way of life."
Immorality, drunkenness, gossip, liars, hypocrites, we are living a lie if we live in these things and claim the name of Christ. Let us reform our hearts and see the Spirit of Jesus Christ take over our lives here watch the change happen in our country, in our world!
What does it mean to reform your heart? It means that we conform our hearts to the heart of God. We put our bottles down, we pull our pants up, we go out and we worship and pray in faith to the Holy One; faith that comes with the intent to walk in obedience to all that God has ahead of us. If we do not have the insight or faith to radically have our lives turned upside down--or should I say right side up--to the way of the church of the New Testament then there can be no true revival. Again, there can be no true revival.
There will be trials. We will fail. How will we fail? Will we fail forward, picking ourselves up and moving forward? Or will we quit at the first sign of defeat?
I don't know about you guys but I want change. I'm sick and tired of feeling as if I have 3 good weeks followed by a week of disaster. I'm beat. I'm over it. I need Jesus. I want Jesus. I want Jesus the way that Peter wanted Jesus after His rise from death. The Bible tells us that when Messiah rose and told the fishermen to lower their nets into the water after a day of unsuccessful fishing, they caught so many fish that they could not haul the nets into the boat. John said, "it is the Lord!" and Peter, without hesitation, jumped out of the boat and to the Lord. He was hungry for the Lord. He didn't care what was ahead of Him, he was hungry for Jesus.
The beautiful part of the story is not that he jumps out of the boat but that he did not live in condemnation. That he knew Jesus would accept him back. Remember, Peter had just denied the Lord 3 days before while He was being accused. We need to remind ourselves of this, that Jesus is waiting for us on dry land. It's a matter of throwing ourselves into the sea by faith and going to Him. Revival is waiting. Are you willing?
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