The Inseparable Love of God (1) [ Romans 8:38-39 ] Why can nothing separate us from the love of God? 1. Because God’s love is eternal. Romans 8:29a says: “For those whom He foreknew…” The word “foreknew” refers to before eternity began —before the creation of heaven and earth . The phrase “those whom He foreknew” does not simply mean knowing about someone intellectually, but rather loving them. In other words, it refers to “those whom God loved from eternity past.” Amos 3:2a says: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” If “known” merely meant intellectual knowledge, that would imply that God only knew Israel and did not know the other nations—which cannot be true, because the all-knowing God lacks knowledge of nothing. Therefore, “I have known you only” means “I have loved you only.” God loved Israel among all the nations of the earth. Hosea 13:5 says: “I knew you in the wilderness , in the land of great drought.” The “wilderness” was where the Israelite...
For a true revival
[Acts 2:37]
Last week, I listened to an
interview with Pastor Kyung Won Kim on the Korean Gospel Broadcasting radio,
who will be coming to our church revival meeting to preach. In the interview, when the host asked Pastor
Kim how we should prepare for the revival meeting, his answer was that we
should prepare with a heart of repentance. When I heard this answer, I couldn't agree
more. I thanked God for it, because I
believe God has been preparing not only my heart but also the hearts of our
church members for the upcoming revival meeting.
Today, during this Wednesday prayer
meeting, I want to further prepare for the upcoming revival meeting. I want to listen to the word of repentance to
ready our hearts. And I want to
earnestly seek a heart of repentance before God. I want to offer this supplication based on
Acts 2:37, saying, "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart
and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we
do?'"
We need to pray together to God, asking that we are cut to the heart by
the words of our Lord.
We are living in a spiritually
insensitive era. We increasingly witness
hardening of hearts in our lives. We are
losing reverence for the Word of God. We
are facing an era that even shies away from efforts to obey His word. We must heed the words in Hebrews 4:7: “… Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden
your hearts.” We should emulate the
example of David. After he counted the
number of the soldiers under his command, he was conscience-stricken (2 Sam. 24:10).
In other words, he felt a prick in his
conscience. Afterwards, he repented for
his sin, saying, “… I have sinned
greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of
your servant. I have done a very foolish thing” (v. 10). Therefore, I pray for the appropriate fruits
of repentance. Look at Acts 26:20 and
Matthew 3:8: “… they should repent and
turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds …” (Acts 26:20), “Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance” (Mt. 3:8).
In true repentance, there is
reconciliation, restoration, reformation, and revival among us. I fervently pray for the outpouring of such
amazing revival in our church, brought forth by God.
While praying for God to bring about the work of true
revival through repentance,
James Kim
(Dreaming of reconciliation, restoration, reformation, and
revival through repentance)
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