Revive

And a very good morning to you. I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 16th of September 2022, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 57:15

To revive the spirit! The Oxford Dictionary explains the word, “revive” - it means to make conscious, healthy or strong again, to up-turn, or up-swing. It's a resurgence, a come-back, to re-establish, restore, to bring back. That is what revival means. Isn’t it amazing that the world always backs the underdog? Have you noticed that? The one who is never, ever given a chance, why? Simply because we see ourselves in that position.

Two words will change a so-called loser and make him into a champion. Two words, “But God!” When people say to you, “This country is finished”, you say, “No, but God!” When people say to you, “That boy will never make anything of himself, you say, “But God!”

One of my favourite scriptures is Philippians 4:13: 

I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.

We are believing for the greatest revival the world has ever seen. Do you know why? Because that is the heart of God. I remember many years ago I was preaching in Wales. I love the Welsh people. They sing everywhere and always, even their language seems like they are singing when they are speaking. One of the greatest revivals that took place was amongst the coal miners. They would come up in the evenings and go to the meeting halls and start to praise and worship God.  

I remember going to a meeting in Wales with about a thousand farmers and their wives. When they sang, they started in English and then in their mother tongue, Welsh Gaelic. They sang that beautiful hymn, “Here is love”, and you know, I just started to weep. This is how it goes:

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Loving-kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.

Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Well, there we have it and we are waiting for it to come again. It is on its way, I can tell you, I can smell it, I can taste it, I can see it!

Jesus bless you as you go out and revive the person in the street.

God bless you and goodbye.