The self is never satisfied. That becomes a problem for many people, including Christians. Revival starts with the self, but it’s not all about the self.
Revival is for the covenant people of God. In the book of Nehemiah, the Israelites who had turned away from God went into exile under Babylonian captivity. Once the Israelites come out of exile, they return to a broken-down Israel in disgrace. They set upon rebuilding the wall and gate surrounding Jerusalem.
Today, many Christians fall prey to the enemy: depression, anger, fear, disappointment, defeat, doubt, etc. The walls and gates of their lives have crumbled. Those attacks and traps of the enemy keep people defenseless and weak but also prevent revival.
The problem is self-love, which keeps people focused and hungry for themselves. Self-love overshadows our ability to love God and love others. Self-love has replaced the gospel in many hearts and many churches, but this false gospel is not THE Gospel (2 Cor. 11:3-4; Gal. 1:6-9). The self will never be satisfied and always want more.
Jesus said, “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). God has called us to die to ourselves and to quit living self-obsessed, self-indulgent, and self-centered lives. We need to find the self of God. We need to lose ourselves in the person Jesus. When you draw close to God, He draws close to you.
They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
