Psalm 80:19 (NKJV) Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! Psalm 80:19 (NLT) Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God of Heavens Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. COMMENTARY PEARLS Refreshed and Restored We often hear the word revival in the church, but we might wonder what revival is exactly. I think we overly mystify this word and dont necessarily understand its actual meaning. Revival is another word for refreshment, restoration, or simply returning something to its original condition. For instance, when someone buys an old car from the junkyard, does bodywork on it, repaints it, adds new tires and wheels, and puts in a new engine, that is a restoration. When you see it rolling down the road, you cant believe its the same car. Or if you have a plant thats withering, but it comes back to life again after youve watered it, that is a restoration as well. The psalmist prayed, Wont you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? (Psalm 85:6 NLT). And Psalm 80:19 says, Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heavens Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved (NLT). Revival is refreshment. Revival is restoration. For the believer, revival is getting back to that first bloom of a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes when weve been walking with the Lord for a while, the passion begins to fade. The zeal begins to erode, and we dont have the same excitement in walking with the Lord as we had before. We want longevity as we walk with Christ, but we dont want to sacrifice our passion. Revival takes place when Gods people come back to life again because they are refreshed. They have been refilled and restored to their original condition. And what is the original condition? Its the same condition as the church of the first century, the church of the book of Acts. Its the church that turned their world upside down. [Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries; https://www.harvestdaily.com] A Supernatural Invasion of God We cant create a revival. We cant organize a revival. But we can agonize in prayer for a revival. A revival is a supernatural invasion of God. It is something that God does for us and not something we do for Him. One person defined revival as a community saturated with God. Richard Owen Roberts, who wrote a great book called Revival, described it as an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results. A. W. Tozer defined revival as that which changes the moral climate of the community. Revival is nothing more or less than a new beginning of obedience to God. And really, nonbelievers dont need revival; they need salvation. The church needs revival. Revival is for believers only, but evangelism is for nonbelievers. Charles Spurgeon said, To be revived is a blessing which can only be enjoyed by those who have some degree of life. Those who have no spiritual life are not, and cannot be, in the strictest sense of the term, subjects of a revival. A true revival is to be looked for in the Church of God. I dont think most Americans have heard an authentic, biblical gospel presentation. In fact, I think we have a lot of almost Christians in our nation today. They know a little about the gospel, but they dont understand it fully. They havent responded to it or embraced it. For example, when the apostle Paul presented the gospel to Herod Agrippa, the ruler said, You almost persuade me to become a Christian (Acts 26:28 NKJV). One of the greatest revivals in human history started with one man, Jonah. Initially he ran from God, but ultimately he came to his senses. God has called us, like Jonah, to go and preach the gospel. The question is, are we doing it? [Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries; https://www.harvestdaily.com] CLOSING THOUGHT Pray For Revival! LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/