Revive the Heart (Part One)

What a Mighty God we serve. Hallelujah!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, 15 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” These two verses mention one lamp and a city of lights. It’s clear that the ‘you’ in verse fourteen is therefore plural and represents the church, which consists of a lot of individual lamps as in verse fifteen.

If each of us let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in Heaven (Matthew 5:16), the whole of Christianity would become a powerful light to the glory of God, wouldn’t it? So revival of the church as mentioned in the previous two postings begins with the individual.

How do you observe the church of today? Are we obeying all of Jesus’ commands, are we actively winning souls, is everybody involved in active ministry, do leaders prepare God’s people for works of service by developing their gifts of prophecy, teaching, evangelising, church planting, pastoral care, encouragement, leadership, serving and mercy (Ephesians 4:11-15, Romans 12:6-8)?

My observation is that in many instances 2 Timothy 4:3 is true today: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” The people of God today are often not sufficiently challenged to obedience.

If individual lamps start getting out from under the bowls of selfishness and comfort and begin shining to the Lord’s glory, soon the whole church will shine. We read in Philippians 2:12b “…continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” We need to save ourselves from being carnal and ineffective. We don’t want to stand before the throne one day with empty hands, do we? We don’t want to be like the man with the one talent who hid it and heard his Master saying “throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).”

What percentage of the church do you think will be counted among those Jesus would say these words to: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Read Matthew 7:21-23*)? Man’s mind loves to be passive, to find a comfortable way that works, tradition, habits and set ways. If we can get away the easy way with a shortcut, we’re pleased. With the Lord everything is vibrant and new every day and we need to hear daily what He wants to do. Church leaders need to teach members how to hear from God and individuals need to make it their ambition to please God in every way. At the end of each day we need to look back together with the Lord asking: “Lord what did I do well today and where can I improve.”

Lord, please challenge our hearts.