When viewed from the perspective of eternity, the most critical need of this hour may well be that the Church should be brought back from its long Babylonian captivity and the name of God be glorified in it again as of old. Yet we must not think of the Church as an anonymous body, a mystical religious abstraction. We Christians are the Church, and whatever we do is what the Church is doing. The matter, therefore, is for each of us a personal one. Any forward step in the Church must begin with the individual.
What can we plain Christians do to bring back the departed glory? Is there some secret we may learn? Is there a formula for personal revival we can apply to the present situation, to our own situation? The answer to these questions is yes.
Yet the answer may easily disappoint some persons, for it is anything but profound. I bring no esoteric cryptogram, no mystic code to be painfully deciphered. I appeal to no hidden law of the unconscious, no occult knowledge meant only for the few. The secret is an open one that the wayfaring man may read. It is simply the old and ever-new counsel: Acquaint thyself with God. To regain its lost power, the Church must see heaven opened and have a transforming vision of God.
Verse
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; / I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 86:12
Thought
To regain its lost power, the Church must see heaven opened and have a transforming vision of God.
Prayer
We long to know You better, Father. Help us to reacquaint ourselves with You.