RESPECT J.C.

REVIVAL? What is True Revival?

respectjc | May 06, 2009 20:13

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Revival? What is True Revival? 19 Apr 2005

When Revival comes to your church, how do you accept it? Do you take what the evangelist has to say while he is there, and then when he leaves, is Revival still going on, or is it gone?
What does the Bible say about revival?
Nehemiah 2:17-18--Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.
Spiritual revival starts with a vision, and Nehemiah had this vision. And he was excited about it and he shared it with Jerusalem's leaders to rebuild the walls and they became inspired. We frequently underestimate people and don't challenge them with our dreams for God's work in the world. When God plants an idea in your mind to accomplish something for him, share it with others and trust the Holy Spirit to impress them with similar thoughts. Don't regard yourself as the only one through whom God is working. Often God uses one person to express the vision and others to turn it into reality. When you encourage and inspire others, you put teamwork into action to accomplish God's goals.
This is what an evangelist does that comes to your church during revival. God has given him the vision for what needs to be said and to be done for that church he is going to be speaking at. He already knows ahead of time the needs of the church, and its situation where it stands with Almighty God. And he begins to share these visions with the congregation, and then it is up to the Holy Spirit to convict the congregation of what they are doing or not doing for God's kingdom. As the evangelist continues each night to express what God has laid on his heart, more and more people are going to realize whether they are on the right page or not! And when everyone realizes, through the Holy Spirit, not self, and not the evangelist, that they are on the right page or need to get on the right page, then the teamwork part begins in the church. I am blessed to be in a church that this is the vision that is given to our pastor every service. He makes sure that we, through the convicting of the Holy Spirit, are where we need to be daily with our walk with Christ. These are things that are supposed to be taking places in churches everyday, not just when revival comes to town. These are the last days, and the Bible tells us that in the last days, God's Spirit will be pouring out on all of us to receive, in bountiful amounts! And we have to be in a position to receive it. Our lives need to be as such that when the Spirit blows upon us, we recognize it and are ready to receive it. I like the comparison of the Holy Spirit to the wind. Wind blows from high pressure to low pressure, to the point of weakest resistance. That is what the Holy Spirit also does. He blows from our highest point to our lowest point, to our point of weakest resistance, and it is then that we feel the Holy Spirit in our life. Have you got down to your lowest point, to the place of least resistance to receive what the Holy Spirit has to bring to you?
2 Chronicles 31:20-21--This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.
Because Hezekiah did "what was good and right and faithful before the Lord," he led the people of Judah in spiritual revival. His actions serve as a model of renewal for us:
1. he remembered God's compassion
2. he kept going despite ridicule
3. he aggressively removed evil influences from his life
4. he interceded for the people, asking for the Lord's pardon
5. he was open to spontaneity in worship
6. he contributed generously to God's work.
If any of these are lacking in your life, consider how they might apply, and renew your commitment to God.
When Peter, James and John witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, Luke 9:28-35, they experienced a wonderful moment, and they didn't want to leave. Sometimes we too have such an inspiring experience that we want to stay where we are--away from the reality and problems of our daily lives. Knowing that struggles await us in the valley encourages us to linger on the mountaintop. Yet staying on top of a mountain prohibits our ministering to others. Instead of becoming spiritual giants, we would soon become dwarfed by our self-centeredness. We need times of retreat and revival, but only so we can return to minister to the world. Our faith must make sense off the mountain as well as on it.
So what happens to you after revival? Are you still on that mountaintop, reveling in the experience you had, or are you coming off that mountain top, still reveling in the experience you had, and ready to share it with others who need it.
The Lord knows that there are people hurting everywhere in our cities, communities, and towns. And when He sends a revival to a church, He doesn't expect them to just sit on it and leave it as an experience for them only to share, He expects them to carry it on into the world, not just the week after, but 365 days a year and 366 in leap year. So where are you at?
And one last question, and this is to all pastors. When revival hits your church, are you equipped and prepared to handle it, and equipped and prepared to follow through with what God wants you to do with it?
In His Grip,
Jeff
(scripture references and commentary references are from the Life Application Bible, NIV)