Be Revived!
If you were riding by on Shipyard Boulevard and thought you heard Heaven’s choir, you did! Whether it was that morning or that evening I think the roof was blown off of PVUMC by the praise and worship! It started Saturday night with our wonderful 60th anniversary dinner! Rev Belton Joyner, the founding pastor of PVUMC, was a delight to listen to and we learned so much. Mainly, that keeping the main thing the main thing has been a blessing to us! PVUMC continues to grow while encouraging people with God’s Truth! Thinking about all that is going on in the world right now, we tend to feel a heaviness, Sunday I came to church and got revived. A few weeks ago, Pastor Tim said if we need joy we can start singing. Not only was I singing, I was feeling the emotions and hearing God speak! With every word I sang I was feeling more and more hope.
I am a big water drinker and have been writing about being dehydrated. The more I drink the more I crave it and find myself thirsty - for water. Nothing else will quench the thirst. When I am dehydrated I begin to have a headache and muscle cramps. I now know if either of those things happen, I need to drink water because I am dehydrated. The week before the revival, in a staff meeting, we were asked what our prayer was for the revival. My prayer was that people would feel dehydrated, from this world, and crave the Living Water. I prayed the more they drank (each night at revival) they would thirst for more and want to keep coming back. The Living Water would bring them the Hope they thirst for! I pray that we crave the Living Water. I pray that we realize that we are dehydrated in this world and only One thing will quench our thirst and that is the Living Water.
Sunday night my thirst was quenched listening to God speak through Rev Andy Lambert. He addressed the shape our world is in and how we all need God. I was revived! What is a revival? Revival means to be made alive or be restored. Psalm 85:6, "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" The psalmist is asking God for revival. To be revived you must first be “vived” or made alive in Jesus. John 3: 3, 7, "Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again...You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’" I know you have seen the church signs of 2 Chronicles 7: 14, “...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Solomon reminds us that we are to turn around from our wicked ways, our sin, and turn towards God. We will not have revival without repentance and turning to God! After the last year and a half, God should have gotten everyone’s attention!
If you have heard Rev Lambert you know he is a comedian with a mighty message! He asked us, if someone has been watching us over this last year and a half, what would they see? Would they believe that God still sits on His Throne or would they believe we have been abandoned by God? Hr reminded us that “this is not the time for us to be baptized in lemon juice and weaned on pickles!” Rev Lambert said we need to worship because it is when we worship that we fall in love with God again! He said we may be saved but we need to live like we are saved and that includes worship! That includes living an abundant life! You could tell by the singing that there was a lot of worship going on and a lot of people falling in love with God again! A lot of reviving going on! I cannot wait to go back because I am thirsty for more! My husband is still talking about how Rev Lambert tells stories and loves the story about Spot! If Spot had stayed hydrated, he would not have drowned! Let’s don’t be like Spot!
When you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. In John 7: 37 Jesus said, ““Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”