2 Chronicles 35:25: “Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.”

October 22nd, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

After a long and successful reign, Josiah died on the battlefield. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, whose public prophetic ministry dates from that event, lamented the fallen king. Jeremiah’s song isn’t recorded here, but may be part of the Book of Lamentations. Just the fact that Josiah’s passing caused Jeremiah such a feeling of loss gives us an idea of how effective the revivals were that took place during his reign. We all need times of revival, times of refreshing in our lives, like those that came to Judah during this good king’s life. We all need God to stir up the spiritual fire in our hearts.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul instructed Timothy to “stir up the gift of God which is in you” (2 Tim. 1:6). The Greek word anazopureo translated stir means to “kindle afresh” or “keep in full flame,” and relates to fanning the flames of a fire. Paul used it to encourage Timothy to tend the inner fire of the Spirit, keeping it burning fiercely for the Lord. How is your fire going right now? Do you need more spiritual vitality? We can all become spiritually cold and find ourselves accomplishing very little spiritually. Maybe we even find ourselves struggling with old sins that we thought would never reappear.

Even into his 80s, evangelist Gypsy Smith was still delivering the good news to large gatherings. On one occasion, he preached with such passion, enthusiasm, and fervor that some in the audience, sitting far from the front, assumed he was in his 30s or 40s. After the message and a large altar call, a young pastor approached and asked the elderly servant of God this question: “Pastor Smith, I respectfully ask how, at your age, you preach like you preached tonight?” The evangelist said, “Young man, I have never got over the wonder of it all.” His words were later turned into lyrics for a hymn called, “The Wonder Of It All.” When we need refreshing, revival, the stirring up of the spiritual fire in our lives, we need to take a moment to just stop and again be in wonder of all that God has done.

“LORD, revive us again as You have done for Your children down through the ages. Stir the fire again of Your love.”