WEBVTT

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I've been thinking a lot about revival lately

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and what that actually means in my life and what

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that means in your life. How does that look for

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us? We hear a lot about revival in society today.

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I went down yesterday and I helped with the Sorghum

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Parade and went down to the festival for a while

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and helped with the Shriner's Booth, selling

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some great Brunswick stew, by the way. But I

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was talking to a good friend of mine who was

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also there and he was talking about they had

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revival at their church this past week. And I'm

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not knocking that. Please don't think I am. Because

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it's very important for us to have times of worship

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that we come together in longer periods of time.

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That's great, but what does revival actually

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look like for me and for you? According to Webster's

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Dictionary, revival, in part, is an act or instance

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of reviving. The state of being revived, renewed

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attention to or interest in something, restoration

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of force, validity or effect. As it pertains

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to a contract. So obviously revival means much

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more than us getting together for a week of meetings

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and coming together each night to worship. And

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to study revival means more than that. But what

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does it actually mean in our lives? What does

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it look like for us? Most of you know my story.

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Or many of you know my story. Some of you better

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than others. For those of you who are here who

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don't know my story, if we live simply by the

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Ten Commandments, I've broken every one of those.

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Some say, Aaron, have you killed somebody? Well,

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the Bible says if you hate someone in your heart,

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it's the same thing. So, yes, I've killed somebody

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as well. I've been a heathen most of my life,

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a lot of my life. I think about the times that

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I've confessed my sin in my life, and I beg God

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and ask God to give me the strength to be a new

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kind of man, to be somebody different. And God

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offers his strength. I'm weak, though. And the

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next thing you know, I'm right back in the same

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situation. I've tried to get out of over and

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over and over again. Am I the only one that does

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that? Am I the only one that struggles with the

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same sins over and over and over again? Is that

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just me? That's always led me back to one verse

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in the Bible I don't particularly agree with.

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Bear with me and listen to me. In 1 Timothy chapter

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1, Paul is talking about Jesus and about the

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forgiveness he offers and that he came to save

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sinners. And Paul said, of who? I am the worst.

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I disagree with that. I don't think it gets much

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worse than me. I've been a heathen most of my

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life. In 2 Chronicles 6, King Solomon is praying.

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He's asking God to forgive the children of Israel.

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He's asking him to direct them back where they

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should go because, like we understand, the Israelites

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also had been heathens most of their lives. They

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had done a lot of stuff wrong. In chapter 7,

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when you move on there, chapter 7 is based largely

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around the dedication of King Solomon's temple.

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And we see here that God answers the prayers

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that Solomon has been praying. And we see that

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he renews his covenant. He gives them again what

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it takes to seek revival. He said, if my people

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who are called by my name will humble themselves

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and pray and seek my face and turn from their

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wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and

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I will forgive their sins and heal their land.

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Let's say it in Chronicles chapter 7 and verse

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14. So it turns out that first and foremost,

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confession is a large part of revival. Confessing

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our sins and confessing our lives to Christ and

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to God is a large part of our revival. The same

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God that created the earth, the same God that

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forgave you of your sins, that offered you salvation,

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is the same God who can heal your land in your

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life today. He can heal the land in your personal

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life. He can heal the land in your family. He

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can heal the land in our community. He can heal

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the land in our country. His power is limitless.

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He can heal the land in whatever and whenever,

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wherever the situation you might be in your life.

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God has the power to heal that. But that healing

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requires something of us. It requires us to do

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something. The writer of Chronicles chapter 7,

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some think Ezra wrote Chronicles. I don't know.

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Some say he didn't. But the writer of Chronicles

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7 first called out those who were called by his

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name. We call ourselves Christians. I'm pretty

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sure he's talking to us. The Israelites called

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themselves the children of Israel. He was talking

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to them, those who call themselves by my name.

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Then he said, if my people who are called by

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my name will humble themselves and pray and seek

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my face. If you stop right there and look at

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that, that means that we have to take ourselves

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out of this equation. We have to lower ourselves

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to the position that we actually belong in here.

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FYI, we have no control over any of this. We

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don't do this. We talk a lot about, or I've talked

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a lot about, how I don't care to give all this

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to God, but I've got this one thing here that's

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mine. I'm going to hold on to that. I don't have

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control of that. This all belongs to God. None

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of this is ours. None of us control anything

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that we are doing. We have to lower ourselves

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to that position that we belong and realize what

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God is. And talk to him about that and seek after

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him to live up to that Christian, that name that

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we follow after him, Christ -like. And then,

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it says we have to turn from our wicked ways.

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The writer here is talking about true revival.

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He's talking about true confession. He's talking

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about true repentance. You know how you can always

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recognize true revival, don't you? True revival,

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true confession, true repentance will always...

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be recognized by a change in behavior. Always.

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God knows our heart, but the outward evidence

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of true revival is changed behavior. An alcoholic

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who is still drinking is a practicing alcoholic.

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An addict who is still using is a practicing

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addict. A liar who is still lying is a practicing

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liar. A murderer who is still killing is a practicing

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murderer. Changed behavior, not drinking, not

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using, not lying, not killing. Change behavior

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is the outward sign of true revival in our lives.

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Giving up our sin to God, giving up that life

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that we hold on to, that one thing we keep in

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our pocket, giving all that up, that is what

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true revival looks like in our lives. And as

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I read through this and through my notes and

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thought about it, I thought, you know, I can

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hear you saying, Aaron, that's so elementary.

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And you're right, it is. That is so basic. The

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newest of Christians understands this. That turning

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away from our old life is what being a Christian

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is all about. But if it's so simple, then why

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do I find myself back in the same messes over

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and over and over again? It sounds so simple,

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but if it's that simple, why do I keep going

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back to the same place, falling for the same

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tricks, the same schemes that the devil throws

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at me? We talked about this some time back about,

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you know, the devil works a lot like fishing.

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When you're there and you're trying to live for

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Christ and you're trying to do the right thing,

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he baits his hook and he might throw lust in

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front of you. If that don't work, he changes

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bait and he throws greed in front of you. If

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that doesn't work, he takes it off and he throws

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anything else he can throw in front of you. He

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finds something that you stumble over. And trust

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me, folks, there is something that we all stumble

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over. There's something that we all struggle

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with. And it's the same thing over and over.

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Once the devil finds out what you struggle with,

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the rest of your life, he ain't got to change

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bait. He just keeps throwing the same thing.

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Sometimes you don't fall for it. Sometimes we

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take the strength that God gives us and we get

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through that, but you know what? We're human,

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and I'm weak, and God knew that. God knew that

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so much that he sent his only son to earth to

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die for my sins because he knew I couldn't get

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it right. He knew that. We keep falling for the

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same things over and over and over again. That

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is why we have to live these words every single

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day. We have to humble ourselves and pray. And

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seek his face. And turn from sin every day. We

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have to work in that. Then God will hear from

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heaven. Then God will forgive us. Then he'll

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heal our land. It's only after that. I love that

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verse when you look at it and read through it.

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It sounds so powerful. If my people who are called

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by my name will humble themselves and pray and

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seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.

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Then I will hear from heaven. And I will forgive

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their sin and heal their last. So it's so simple.

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It sounds so good. And it is awesome. It's amazing.

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But oftentimes we skip to that last part about

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God healing. Why are you not healing me? Why

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are you not doing what I'm asking you to do?

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Because we ain't let go of the first part yet.

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We find ourselves stuck back in the same place

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over and over and over again. But when you truly

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find revival, when we truly find that in our

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lives, that's what revival really looks like.

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When we can give it all up and let God have everything

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and let it all go, that's when we find true revival.

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My wife's laughing, so maybe she disagrees. I

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don't know. I don't know what to do. I'm kidding.

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Do you need revival? I need revival. All the

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time in my life, every day, I need revival. I

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need to remind myself every day to seek God's

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face, to be more like Him, to be the man He called

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me to be. And I'm not. I'm not always that man.

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And I ask your forgiveness and your prayers for

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that. But do you need revival? Maybe you've never

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found revival. Maybe you've never experienced

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revival out of the mess that you live in. And

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you've never had your land healed, whatever that

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land might be. Maybe you've had that revival

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like I have, but you find yourself back in the

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same mess over and over and over again. God can

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change that too. Revival is not just a group

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of meetings that we get together for for a week.

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Revival is not just a one -time thing that we

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come and do and He forgives for our sins. It's

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all over with. Revival is a daily devotion to

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God. Revival is a daily turning from the wicked

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ways of the earth and seeking His faith, seeking

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forgiveness. If you've never experienced revival

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in your life, then I beg with you and I plead

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with you not to put it off. You never know how

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much longer, how much time we've got. We're not

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promised tomorrow. We're not guaranteed another

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day, another hour in this life. If you've never

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had a revival in your life, you can do that right

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now. Tim, while we stand.