REVIVAL
50 Days of Faith – The Pathway
of Revival
By Rev. Joel Palser, Ph.D. &
Rev. Craig von Buseck
CBN.com - For most people the word "revival" suggests more church meetings. A visiting
minister preaches to gain new members for that local congregation. For
that reason, a revival week is usually well advertised. A large crowd
may attend, some new converts may join the church, but after the revival
is over, life in the church and community mostly goes on as usual. That
is all well and good, but NOT what we are talking about here. God’s
revival shakes all the churches of an area to their very foundations.
Sinners on the street are called to God; the entire society – yes,
the whole nation -- is transformed as the amazing grace of Jesus Christ
is realized in the lives of thousands, even millions of people!
Now, what do we mean by revival? Revival technically means “life
again.” You’ve had life and now life is stirred again. Revival
takes place when God Almighty enters into the human condition, electrifies
the church, empowers the pastors, and from that transforms society. This
is the miraculous intervention of God, by the Holy Spirit. What we hunger
after is our nation awakening to God in the staggering proportions of
an earthquake or a giant “tsunami wave” of Divine grace sweeping
inland from the coastal regions.
Beloved, only God can change people’s hearts; only God can bring
about true revival.
Remember in Luke 15 where Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son.
This foolish young man had abandoned his father and his principles and,
for all practical purposes, was dead in sin. When life closed in on him
and he was in the middle of an unbearable crisis, the prodigal came to
his senses. His father’s redeeming love reached out over the miles,
through the muck and the mire, to the heart of his son.
In the familiar conclusion the father greeted his returning son with
open arms, rejoicing, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again"
(v. 24). The purpose of personal revival is to raise spiritually someone
from the dead. Revival is miraculous, like a resurrection! Because of
its effect upon those dead in sin, revival is, in a sense, more miraculous
than the resuscitation of a person physically dead. Revival has its roots
in the history of God’s people — from the Old Testament, through
the New, and into today. And no generation is complete without experiencing
personal and corporate revival.
Hear God’s Call To Enter His Revival
Remember, we said revival is a work of God. Yet, He calls each of us
to participate in this process, for God does not work alone, apart from
his people. Because the Church is the Body of Christ, He wants us to share
in his life and His purposes. In fact, our oneness with Him makes our
participation with Him absolutely necessary. The process of revival is
our proper role and position as His children. We align ourselves in faith
with the will and promises of God. He calls us to participate in His glorious
yet necessary work of revival — the marvelous spiritual awakening
of those dead in their sins, and of those whose love for Christ has grown
cold. It is impossible for us to bring about revival. Yet, even our desire
for revival is proof of His desire to send revival. We can prepare the
way for it as we fully dedicate ourselves to God in repentance, holiness,
and love. As we pray earnestly and persistently, we share in the very
mission of Christ himself: "to seek and save what was lost." (Ref.?)
The Keys To God’s Revival
The fundamental components of revival are humility, confession, and true
repentance before a Holy God. Sin hardens our hearts. In a pattern of
what we call “little sins,” you might say a crust builds up
on our heart or conscience. God says, “Break up your fallow, or
your unplowed ground (heart).” This may be personally painful, but
underneath that hardness there is a tender ground the Lord will water
with the rain of his Spirit. The way to open your heart and be humbled
before God is to confess sin. Look inside and say, “I did this wrong,
and I’m sorry God.”
If you are seeking revival don’t try to justify yourself. When
we confess sin, we’re saying, “God, You are righteous and
we are sinners. Lord, Your view is the truth, and we deserve nothing good
because we’re sinners. So, we come before you and we ask you to
help us break up the ground of our hearts.”
One way of repenting is to sit down and ask the Holy Spirit to show us
the things we have done wrong, or failed to do, and write out the list.
The greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” (Matthew 22:37).
We have all broken that one, so start there. Go through a list of people
you relate with and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for sinning in attitude
or action. You may need to go to them seeking their forgiveness. This
may be part of the humbling process – call it “sin,”
(Matthew 5:24). This confession and repentance may be a process, like
peeling an onion. The sin might be in finances, sexual failures, addictive
behaviors and attitudes, or the deep root of materialism -- all areas
of sheer lust. Do not justify yourself; if God points out sin, AGREE WITH
HIM! The Holy Spirit will come gently to you and point out things. Through
confession to the Lord, we have the promise of His complete forgiveness,
(1 John 1:9).
The process of listening to the voice of God and obeying Him by confessing
sin breaks open our hearts. We receive what He wants to give us –
His pathway of revival. God will let the rain of righteousness water your
thirsty soul. The seed of the Word will grow up, and we will begin to
see a harvest of righteousness springing up inside of us! Remember, Jesus
taught, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matthew 6:21). At the core, revival is about our heart before Almighty
God. Jesus promised us “streams of living water will flow from within,”
(John 7:38).
Are YOU Thirsty For The Living Water? Read on….
There are specific things that you can do to prepare your heart to receive
a fresh revival from God -- and to see revival take place in your family,
church, and community. The Old Testament prophet Hosea (10:12) contains
God’s “recipe” revival. “Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed [hardened]
ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness
on you,” (NIV). Here are action steps helping you begin the process
of softening your heart before the Lord:
1. Acknowledge your need for revival. Humble yourself before the Lord.
Get real!
2. Examine your own life to see if anything has become more important
than your relationship with the Lord. Ask for the Holy Spirit to reveal
the Lord and your sin.
3. Repent for any and all sin -- both sins of commission, and sins of
omission (failure to do right).
4. Forgive anyone who has wronged you. If necessary, go to them to make
it right.REF?
5. Make a decision to walk in integrity and truth in all of your actions
and relationships.
6. Commit yourself to quality time reading and meditating on God's Word.
Even a vow.
7. Discipline yourself to a daily time of prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit
to direct you as you intercede. Don’t let anything or anyone rob
your time with the Lord.
8. Pray for revival in your heart first and then in your family. Do spiritual
warfare for revival in your local church and then in your community. Intercede
for revival in the lives of governmental officials on the local, state,
and national levels. Pray for revival in the nation. Finally, pray that
revival would spread from nation to nation until "the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9).
9. Renew your commitment to church fellowship, or a Believer’s cell
group, and accountability. Walk in faith together with others who are
zealous for the Lord.
10. Begin sharing your faith with others as the Lord directs you. Pray
that God will give you Divine opportunities to witness for Him. Encourage
others around you to take the Gospel outside the walls of the church and
into your community.
The Bible says “You will find Him if you look for Him with all
your heart,” (Deuteronomy 4:29). When we really get desperate we
will have more of God. We must truly pray and cry out to God. It’s
time to seek the Lord. He has promised us “showers of righteousness,”
(Hosea 10:12). And, this is what a real revival is, the showers of righteousness
that brings about righteousness in our life. Our lives are transformed
by the righteousness of God Almighty. This grace upon our lives is irresistible
to unbelievers.
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