Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of a Choral Society singing the old hymn … Revive Us Again … singing of how all off us need to be revived by our saving/sanctifying and renewing relationship with Christ.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 85:6 [NLT] … 6 Won’t You revive us again, so Your people can rejoice in You?
… In need of restoration, the Psalmist prays in song for revival of God’s people.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 85 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist on Israel’s return to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile, calls for revival of God’s people.
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Reference Passage : … Nehemiah 8:9-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Revival was celebrated among God’s people in Jerusalem, being restored upon return from Babylon and the renewal reading of God’s restoring word.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] … 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
… We are restored and made new in our relationship with Christ.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 1:6 [NLT] … 6 And I am certain that God, Who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
… When we surrender to God’s Spirit, He does a complete make-over of our spirit to conform to the Spirit of Christ.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Arthur Jackson, used a reference to restoring an old car to illustrate how God’s people need renewal and restoration in our relationship with Christ. … The ODB author wrote: While stationed in Germany in the army I purchased a brand-new 1969 Volkswagen Beetle [see photo]. The car was a beauty! The dark green exterior complemented the brown leatherette interior. But as the years took their toll, stuff began to happen, including an accident that ruined the running board and destroyed one of the doors. With more imagination, I could have thought, “My classic car was a perfect candidate for restoration!” And with more money, I could have pulled it off. But that didn’t happen.
I totally identify with the ODB story today because my wife and I had a 1969 Beetle when we were first married; but it finally had to be traded in because the engine couldn’t handle the cold weathers where we had moved at the time. Even a revival of that car couldn’t handle the weathers of MN.
Well, … when God’s people were released from Babylon to return to Jerusalem, they were in serious need of revival; and Psalm 85 sings of that need; and Nehemiah 8 documents the revival which occurred when God’s word was brought out and read/explained for God’s people.
Would any reader here deny the need for God’s Church, His Bride, to experience revival today? I think not!! And it could happen, just as it did in Nehemiah’s day, if God’s chosen would immerse ourselves in and live by God’s word. Hence, I sing along with the chorus in today’s linked song, praying that God “REVIVE US AGAIN!”
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for restoring us to wholeness when we surrender to the truth of Your word.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to see revival of our spirits by obeying and following God’s word. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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