An Article of Faith

Only God can save us. It doesn’t take long to see that our nation is decaying from within. Following every other nation in human history, the rise of immorality, greed, and injustice are rapidly eating away at our moral mid-section. No nation in history has survived such fast-growing cancer.
The world has invaded the church with such pervasiveness that they are hard to differentiate. The church mirror’s secular thinking and practice in almost every area of morality.
Many churches are simply dying a slow death. Over 4,000 churches close their doors annually. Every month, 1,500 pastors leave the ministry. There are 50 pastors leaving God’s work every single day. In fact, current studies show that only one out of 10 pastors who attend seminary will retire in any type of vocational ministry.
Nevertheless, there are many churches and thousands of believers who have not “bowed the knee to Baal” (see 1 Kings 19:18). But in spite of the best efforts of all the churches, nothing is stopping the moral and spiritual free-fall in our nation.
What (or Who) could possibly stop this decline? The psalmist tells us: “Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6 NASB.) The writer is so adamant in God’s unique ability to save us that he uses “You, Yourself” in the equation. No man can save us, no denomination, no government, no program, no new idea. We need the Almighty, all-encompassing, life-changing, course-correcting power of God to invade our nation, reviving His people to awaken the lost.
Doesn’t it make sense, then, to do the one thing God asks? To make every adjustment needed in your life to unite with others in one cry for revival and spiritual awakening?
God can save us! It’s one thing to believe that God is the only Source of help. It’s another thing to expectantly believe, and keep believing, that He will help us!
The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this necessity as we approach God. This applies, not only to revival, but to every other issue in life: “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT.)
There are two wings to faith. First is dependence. We must believe that God exists. Second is expectancy. We must also believe that God “rewards those who sincerely seek Him.” (Taken and adapted from: OneCry: A Nationwide Call for Spiritual Awakening. Visit www.onecry.com.)
“If My people,” declares the LORD, “who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV.)

Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.