Zach Williams “Revival” (Devotional #4)
Sometimes itΓÇÖs easy to feel disappointed in ourselves ΓÇô itΓÇÖs easy to think how many times can I mess up before God gets tired of forgiving me? When will enough be enough? The original Greek word for ΓÇÿrepentanceΓÇÖ literally translated means ΓÇÿchanging oneΓÇÖs mind or purpose.ΓÇÖ This goes hand in hand with the word ΓÇÿreviveΓÇÖ which means to ΓÇÿthrive or flourish again.ΓÇÖ Part of what repentance is for believers is telling God that we know we messed up and that we canΓÇÖt go through this life without Him.
Hand in hand with that repentance is revival ΓÇô accepting that we have a new purpose, which is to thrive and flourish in the new life and freedom weΓÇÖve been given because we are forgiven.
Our disappointments then turn into our victories because as it says in Isaiah 25:8, ΓÇ£he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his peopleΓÇÖs disgrace from all the earth.ΓÇ¥ There is something important to remember through all of lifeΓÇÖs ups and downs, in the times we mess up and the times we thrive again ΓÇô and that is that there is nothing we can do, no forces around us that can separate us from GodΓÇÖs love. Can anything ever separate us from ChristΓÇÖs love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble of calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears today nor our worries about tomorrow… – Romans 8: 35, 37, 38 Take heart – you have been given a new purpose and God will continue to revive you because He rejoices when you thrive.
