Time For A "Refill"

Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?
- Psalm 85: 6

One of the most interesting things about Christians – all Christians - is that we sometimes “leak”.

God wants us to be filled with His Spirit, and He provides the ability for us to be just that, and sometimes we are! But sadly, we tend to leak. It’s hard to identify one particular thing that causes us to lose the closeness of our fellowship with our God. It’s often a combination of things. Sometimes it’s weakness during a time of temptation, and we find ourselves in some type of situation where God would not want us to be. We might get there through lack of personal Bible study and prayer time. Maybe we get cold due to laziness and a lack of being with other believers in regular church attendance. Possibly the lack of applying the truth of scriptures and Christian principals to our daily lives brings us to a low spiritual ebb. Maybe it’s just letting our problems and the cares of this world get the best of us, when God wants us to cast all of our cares upon Him.

Whatever the reason (or combination of reasons) we often find ourselves recognizing our need for REVIVAL. Like the Psalmist in the scripture verse above, we need to realize that true REVIVAL only comes from God, and that He is the one who can once again bring rejoicing in the hearts of His people.

We have certainly sensed the seeds of REVIVAL at Westmoreland Baptist Church. We have seen a number of people follow Christ in Baptism. There have been several other new additions to our church body. In the last few months I have wonderfully felt God’s presence in my life, and in the services in our church. God’s Spirit has been knitting hearts together in love and fellowship. He is moving upon individuals to step out to serve Him and to begin new ministries. He is working in individual lives exhibited by actions in which folks have put the happiness and well being of others ahead of their own desires. I have seen people reaching out in love to others in a particular time of need. I could go on and on.

However, I don’t believe that we have even scratched the surface of the spiritual blessings that God wants to pour out upon us in real REVIVAL. All of these good things are just a foretaste of the time of REFRESHING that God wants you and I to have in our relationship with Him! I’m thirsting for that. How about you? Will you join me in effectual fervent prayer that God will REVIVE us again, that we, His people, may rejoice in Him? It must start in my house and in yours.

All around our nation there is a rising sense of our need for prayer and spiritual awakening. Yesterday Baptists from the all around Kentucky joined together at various locations around the Commonwealth to pray for spiritual renewal. Here in West Virginia we are preparing for the “Broken Before The Throne” prayer conference week in November. I hear reports of other rumblings of spiritual revival from various places around the country. Could it be that God is preparing to bring about another “Great Awakening” in our midst?

My challenge to EACH and EVERY member of Westmoreland Baptist Church and every reader of this blog is this. Let’s prepare in prayer. Let’s commit to present ourselves fully to God – as a living sacrifice. May we parents and grand parents lead our families by example. May church leaders lead in the most important areas of God’s Grace. Let us lay aside the peripheral issues of our “busy” lives for a season of dedication to God and to hearing His Word. I challenge each reader to prayerfully, expectantly, and with your cup turned up to receive what God has for YOU!I truly believe we will experience not only REVIVAL, but a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING in our community!