James MacDonald Lecture Series on Downpour – Week 1 Rate This James MacDonald Lecture Series on Downpour – Week 1 WEEK 1 – WE NEED A DOWNPOUR “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.” Hosea 6:1 Message Music: “Downpour” words by James MacDonald, music by Andi Rozier, copyright 2006 Harvest Songs - youtu.be/A5vORrlhU9I The focus for this week is on REVIVAL. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary “revival” is: 1) a renewed attention to or interest in something; 2) a period of renewed religious interest; or 3) an often highly emotional evangelistic meeting or series of meetings. On page 12 of the workbook James MacDonald describes revival as a spiritual “renewed interest after a period of indifference or decline.” The word “Revival” is not mentioned in bible. But, the word “Revive” is in Psalm 138:7, Isaiah 57:15, and Hosea 14:7 in the King James Version and in Ps. 119:107, Ps 119: 37, and Ps 80:18 in the New American Standard Bible. HEART CONDITION Is your heart heavy and weighed down by sin, shame or regret? Has it robbed you of your joy? Guard you heart, for everything you do flows from it…..Prov. 4:23 (NIV). The human heart is like a garden; if it’s watered it will grow and produce a bountiful crop. However, if you neglect it, fail to water it, or allow it to become overgrown with weeds, then it will become lifeless and wither away. The first place to start is with repentance. Turn away from your old path of sin. Start fresh with a relationship with God’s son Jesus. Ask Jesus to forgive you, to give you strength and guidance in your life. Secondly, trust in Jesus. Pray for aid and He will help you because He loves you. Third, read the bible every day. Meditate in obedience on the scriptures. Apply the lessons and instruction in your life. Isaiah 58:11 states “The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” PERSONAL REVIVAL Have you been experiencing some parched days in your relationship with God? Does disorientation, dislocation, busyness, crises, loss, turmoil, exhaustion or doubts currently have a foothold in your life? Has it grabbed a hold of your attention – making it difficult to see God’s bigger picture for you? Perhaps you need the kind of revival Josiah experienced. Josiah became king of Judah when he was eight years old during a time when unchecked evil reigned in Judah. When Josiah was 25 years of age, he set about rebuilding the LORD’s temple, which had deteriorated with age. During cleaning, workers found an obscure book — the Bible or Pentateuch (first five books of the bible), forgotten by previous generations. An amazing thing happened. The young king listened to the Bible as it was read out loud and was instantly struck with grief and terror – certain the LORD was furious with Josiah and his people for their disobedience, wickedness and sin. Immediately, Josiah set upon a campaign to eliminate pagan worship and renew the ancient covenant of the LORD with the population of Jerusalem. He toured the land, destroying pagan shrines, and celebrated the Passover for the first time in decades. His heart-changing revival was wonderful. Source: 2 Kings 22:1 – 23:28; 2 Chronicles 34:29 – 35:19; Deuteronomy 28:15 (MacDonald 15). The lesson here according to James MacDonald is that like Josiah, we too must: 1) Realize that sin is wrong and change is necessary to avoid God’s wrath in our lives; 2) Repent to acknowledge our error and turn the direction of our lives around; 3) Return to God and start living according to His Holy ways and not our own imperfect ways. MY PERSONAL INSIGHTS In this week’s study MacDonald makes sure to point out that you have to have gone through the conversion experience first before you can experience a revival in your heart and your life. Conversion primarily involves belief (faith) in God, repentance of sin, confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and the receiving the Holy Spirit. The premise is that you can’t have a “renewed interest” in God or Jesus unless you’ve known them first or previously. I believe the need for revival is based on the assumption that a person has fallen away into a backslidden spiritual (heart) condition. To “backslide” literally means “turn back” or “turn away” from God (1 Ki 11:9); or from our first love (Rev 2:4); or from the gospel (Heb 6:4-6, Gal 1:6, 7; 3:1-5) to Satan (1 Tim 5:15); or to evil (Psa 125:5); or to the world (2 Tim 4:10). I am not sure if this is the meaning MacDonald intends in this week’s lesson. There are Christians (including me) that occasionally falter in their Christian walk. It’s not a matter of our hearts going astray, but of personal weakness causing us to stumble (i.e. sin). Satan is very good at attacking us at our weakest times and in our weakest areas. I am reminded of the letter to the Hebrews in which Christians faced intense opposition and rejection. These believers were in danger of growing weary and losing heart (Hebrews 12:3) in their Christian walk because of the pressure they faced daily to conform. What they needed was not a revival, but rather encouraging messages of hope and diligence to persever to the very end. “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1 NIV) “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1 NIV) “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for [in Christ] may be fully realized” (Hebrews 6:12 NIV). “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12: NIV). I like MacDonald’s use of the garden analogy in comparison to our heart and lives. Our garden must be carefully tilled and weeded (Hos 10:12; Mat 13) and our spiritual lives require diligent attention (2 Tim 2:15, 21; 2 Pe 1:5-7) in order to survive and thrive. If we are neglectful, lazy, and allow the vines to be trampled, then our garden (or body/spirit/soul) will perish. Source: MacDonald, James. Downpour. Nashville, TN: LifeWay Press, 2006. Reprinted 2007. 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Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 14:23:13 +0000