I Saw The Lord: A wake-up call for your heart, by Anne Graham Lotz.
“When we call ourselves Christians, we expect that our love for Jesus, our hunger for His presence, our urgent longing to see Him again will be a constant,motivating force in our lives. Yet sometimes …
in the busyness of our days
or the duties of our jobs
or the familiar habits of our worship
or the everyday routine of our homes,the longing becomes complacency, and we sleep through opportunities to be with Him. … It’s then … that we most need … a jolt that pushes us to seek out a revival of our passion for Jesus that began as a blazing fire but somehow has died down to an ineffective glow.”
***********************************************
Since unfortunately I do so often, literally, sleep through opportunities to be with Him, I knew I had to read this book…
***********************************************
Song: Bring the Rain, by MercyMe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU)
Isaiah’s Commission
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
***********************************************
In writing yesterday’s blog, I said that I didn’t want to be ruined. In writing this one today, the translation used for the Scripture from Isaiah has the prophet saying, in verse 5, “I am ruined!” In humility and honesty, I find I must confess with Isaiah that I, too, am ruined. I found myself telling a lie to get my way (actually, out of fear that I wouldn’t get to do what I wanted), and I was convicted almost immediately (although I rationalized it for myself, and for those with whom I shared.) After repenting and asking the Lord’s forgiveness, I remembered instances where this type of behavior was exampled, instructed or accepted in my life. So, like Isaiah, I am a person of unclean (defiled, impure, untruthful) lips living amongst a people of unclean lips. But – praise God! – like Isaiah my guilt has also been taken away and my sin atoned for.
Romans 7:21-8:2 (New International Version, ©2011)Not too long ago, I heard someone speaking on prayer and I believe the statement was made (at least to my understanding) that revival is not something for which we (the Church) are to pray. Because I immediately thought of Scriptures having to do with revival, I didn’t quite agree with what I believed to have been said. The message of this book is for personal revival – “not a tent meeting or a series of church services designed to save the lost” but instead, something that “involves a quiet, miraculous, eye-opening revelation of” God within our spirits that will change us and the way we live our lives for Him.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of in at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Life Through the Spirit
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14, King James Version (KJV)
13If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
The book has much to say of the benefits of daily Bible reading and prayer. While I have been trying to keep up with the lectionary readings (it’s just the third day and I’m already struggling!), I must also do more for a focused prayer strategy (which may include praying the “Jesus Prayer” as mentioned in yesterday’s blog) to “pray without ceasing” during this Lenten season – and beyond. (I do realize that some of the changes I will be led to make during Lent this year may be more in the nature of a permanent lifestyle rather than that of a temporary activity.)
Referring once more to yesterday’s blog of my study involving Luke 18:35-43, I noticed that in some translations the blind man’s request of Jesus was “to see again.” The “again” part is not always obvious when the request is translated “to receive sight.” In this book, one of the chapters is called “A Longing to See Jesus … Again.” To see Him, know Him in a new, fresh way …
So the author says:
“My prayer for you as you read this book is that the eyes of your heart will be opened and you will not just see what genuine revival is but that you will see the Lord.”
“So center down. Be still. Listen with the ears of our heart. Can you hear Him? The still, small voice of God is calling you to see Jesus … again. He is calling you to an experience of personal revival. Here. Now.”
“So …Stir up the fire! Throw on the logs! Talk to Him! Listen to Him! Fan into flame your love for Jesus! Stay Awake!… until your faith becomes sight and you can exclaim, “I saw the Lord!””
…and my journey with Him continues…
No comments:
Post a Comment